How do you spear a fish in the water?

golok · Apr 18, 2003

In my teenage years, I have tried spearing fish. I have failed again and again. It was a time when I have not discovered about the mystery of refraction of light.

Now I know better but I still am lousy at it. There is an art of spearing fish somewhere out there but I am not one of those who know how to do it.

This knowledge may come in useful one day when the fishing rod is not near at hand.

Anybody with sound advice?

Pax-V · Apr 18, 2003

I've shot fish with arrows. I try to shoot under the fishes belly.

Nic Ramirez · Apr 18, 2003

If you aim just under the fish you have a better chance of hitting it.

Also it's wiser to use some sort of fabricated or otherwise barbed apparatus on the spear head so the little scaley doesn't just evade with a second set of gills.

It's one of those things that takes five minutes to learn and a lifetime to master.

texascarl · Apr 20, 2003

Keep the spearhead underwater and get it as close as possible before you strike. Wear 'polarized' glasses to help cut glare. Aim at the gills/behind the head. Strike with your 'strong' hand, slide the spear/gig thru your weak hand and pay more attention to your balance than to the fish.

If you can't learn to spear fish, learn to build fish traps.

marsupial · Apr 20, 2003

We speared fish in the Amazon at night time.The way we did this was to float up a tributary along the shore with a flashlight,Shining the light in the eyes of the fish and then spearing them with a frog gig.The light works well and helps reduce the illusion of day spearing.

sargehuf · May 7, 2003

Originally posted by texascarl
Keep the spearhead underwater and get it as close as possible before you strike. Wear 'polarized' glasses to help cut glare. Aim at the gills/behind the head.<snip>

Also, if possible, instead of stalking, work in shallow water and stand very still with the spear tip under water, and wait for a fish to come by. When you spear it, pin it to the bottom, to prevent it pulling off the spear until you can grab it.

akabu · May 8, 2003

Golok , here's a link.His site has some good info on lot's of stuff:http://www.therangerdigest.com/

golok · May 8, 2003

Some good tips from you guys. Thanks.

And Akabu, the Rangers Digest website is a real gem. Thank you.

Carl Theile · May 8, 2003

Golok-
Another "trick" to use is in the way you create the "point" of the spear. Some folks just sharpen and fire harden a stick. Fish are tough to get this way- even if you score a direct hit. The point just glances off or pushes the fish aside. That is very frustrating. I prefer a split-stick point (two points). When these are held vertical and you aim with the top point, your chances increase slightly. But I have gotten fish by propping the split open with a small twig and by creating barbs out of thorns affixed to the inner sides of the split that slightly point toward the back of the spear. When the fish hit the twig and broke it, the two points grasp the fish and the thorns keep him grasped between the two points...

...tough to describe.
-carl

Michael Bennett · May 9, 2003

You can also get them with a snare on a stick. Kephart describes this in Camping and Woodcraft and Buckshot shows it in a video. I believe it's illegal in the States.

Mike