Total noob looking for answers

[Duckmeister]

I have never been free diving, scuba diving or uw hunting what so ever, but I have always wanted to, and finally I have decided to actually look into it. I live in the Kootenay Region of British Columbia, Canada and I am wondering if its advisable to hunt in big rivers? I love to fish, but I have never really researched techniques and habitats like I should. Also there is a Large Lake nearby (Christina Lake), where I believe I will have more luck. I will most likely be hunting Walleye in either area, as provincial law prevents the use of spears and spear guns to hunt a lot of species of fresh water fish. Should I go with a Pole Spear or Spear Gun?

Any and all feedback is more than welcome as I am very new.
thank you in advance.

[Marwan]

welcome to deeperblue
i know how you feel, i think we all do , why dont you try the search function for specific info..theres loads of it
another helpful thing is to go to the canada subforum on the spearo network, contact Erik, he'll be able to give you more specific advice about that region...
cheers

[Erik]

Welcome sir! If you're a confident swimmer then I'd say go for it in the rivers, depending on the river of course. Lots have terrible vis and you wont see anything, but some are clear and you'll do ok as far as hunting. I might be wrong, but I believe Walleye can't be taken by spear in BC. Colin (Amphibious) knows the DFO rules for BC really well, and hunts in rivers too.

nb: I'd recommend some non-river diving to get comfortable with the gear before getting into any moving waters.

[foxfish]

Duckmeister ! great name, welcome to db.
Looks like you are on the right path & you are going to have some fun in the water.

[fleshy]

I would start out in body of water that you are familiar with. Polespears are cheaper, so that is one advantage to starting with them. Polespearing is generally considered to be more difficult than regular spear"gunning" under normal circumstances. I would see if i could rent equipment from a local dive shop before going out and making a huge monetary commitment to the sport. See if someone at the dive shop might be willing to take you out. Make sure to check your rules and regs, where I live you cant take walleye by spear. Try for some perch instead possibly. Most importantly stay safe, and have a good time.

[colt.45]

where i live the viz is between 6-20 feet depending on the day and lake
I have a 75cm sporasub black viper that i really like. its short enough that it works pretty well in low viz but long and accurate enough that long shots are no problem. its lazer accurate and has more than enough power for anything your going to run into in canida.