We meet a lot of different characters on this trip. Some of whom, enjoy catching their own dinner. We’ve learned how to fish with Richard, where I caught my first bream, and now I’ve added another experience to the evermounting pile: Spearfishing.
What’s spearfishing?
Now, if your imagination takes you to where mine took me initially, you’ll be picturing me with bulging pecs and abs, standing in knee-deep water, spear in hand, about to spot a fish and throw the spear with brute force. If you know what spear fishing is, you’ll now know that I did not know what spearfishing was. If you’re still picturing a triumphant me with a fish spiked on the end of the stick, please allow me to explain what spearfishing actually is.
Spearfishing uses something called a spear gun. It’s not massively technical, a big rubber band introduces elastic tension on the spear which is loaded into the gun, so when you aim the gun and pull the trigger, the spear is forced through the fish. (video here to explain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLZDnhWYWpE). It’s also something you achieve by looking at the fish under water so a snorkel and fins are pretty handy.
Let’s go spearfishing
Unfortunately, this one arvo (afternoon in australian) Ben was scheduled for work. So when our friend Addy invited us to go spearfishing with him, it was only me that could. At the mollymook bogey hole, an are protected from the choppy waves and wind by rocks, there’s an eco system teeming with life. It’s where I saw a wild octopus while snorkling. This is the place we headed with the speargun, float, goggles and fins.
Addy explained some rules of spearfishing. 1) Never load the gun on dry land. 2) Never point the gun at anyone 3) Behave like the gun is loaded at all times. In we go, and I followed Addy around in the water for a demonstration of how it worked. It seemed simple enough, point and shoot. He caught a bass, stabbed it in the head to put it out of pain then hooked it onto the float so it followed us about as we swam. He handed me the gun and gave brief instructions for success “aim down the barrel, only touch the trigger when you’re ready to shoot. I’ll point out a fish for you”.
Aggressive eel
Under we go swimming about looking for some dinner. There’s a lot of fish about this area, but what really caught my eye was an eel that looked like it wanted to eat me for dinner. This this is curled up with it’s mouth wide open showing its teeth, and I swear, looking me dead in the eye. I point it out to Addy and he thinks I’m suggesting shooting it and he’s signalling no back to me. There’s evil in this eels eye, and I start to think he’s going to attack, my pulse quickens and I feel like I’m hyperventilating a bit. I try to give it a wide berth and get out of its way.
Back to the mission of finding a fish. Addy points a few out I try to follow but lose in some kelp. Finally, he points one out and I swim slowly closer. I look down the barrel, aim and pull the trigger. My first shot sails right through the abdomen of this fish. We resurface and Addy’s pretty shocked I managed to hit the first one I tried. It seemed easier than it should have. Beginners luck? Maybe, but the next one I aim for (which I picked out myself) I hit as well. However, I probably should have waited for the go ahead as this fish was yellow and spotty and we aren’t sure whether it’s poisonous. I did feel bad but the hit was close enough to the tail that the little guy swims off.
Big and even bigger fish…
I hand the gun back to Addy and we swim about some more. There’s a HUGE grouper. I get excited about it, but these aren’t the ones to go for, Addy tells me. It’s bad luck to go for these ‘breeder’ fish that populate reefs such as these. Around the same area I see this other massive fish, even bigger than the grouper, probably around 5 foot. I say ‘did you see that other MASSIVE one?’ He think’s I’m talking about the grouper until he sees it 5 minutes later and I say, that’s the big fish I saw! What I didn’t expect was the response ‘that’s a shark’. And that’s how my first spear fishing experience ended. ‘Do you want another go?’ Addy asks after mentioning the shark. Um excuse me. Absolutely not, I’m out of here. He stays in and gets another fish while I’m swimming with a bit of panic to the safe open air.
So as it turns out, it was a shark. A Port Jackson shark, harmless to humans unless provoked. I can’t believe 1) I thought it was a fish and 2) I was swimming with a shark and had no idea it was a shark also 3) that Addy decided to stay in the water. Alright Mr. Crazy. It’s not all too surprising a shark was attracted to the blood or the hanging dead fish that float about behind you while spear fishing. Anyway, that’s Australia for you!
Will I go again?
Good question. Honestly I thought I would enjoy it more! I love the thought of catching our own food, but it almost felt too easy? I also didn’t like seeing the fish be stabbed in the head but honestly if I’m going to be out here spearing fish I need to be comfortable with putting them out of their pain. There’s also the problem with gutting and filleting them… I’m no expert and if I’m going for these fish I don’t want to waste them. Perhaps I’d enjoy it more if I ever become more skilled at these aspects. In the meantime, I haven’t been looking online for spearguns so it seems this won’t be a hobby I’m obsessed with! Despite being a great way to explore the ocean, spend time in the water and have dinner. Maybe on second thoughts, I will google how much a speargun costs…
