Tip of the day,

[ickledevil]

Tip for today..
Dont eat a vindaloo before heading away for the weekend diving. Urrrgghhhh.
Normal service may be resumed shortly.

[Mr. X]

I think one of the Devon (or pos. Cornish) spearos suggested this sometime ago: fit a waterproof car seat cover (advertised in shooting magazines) so that you can drive to different locations in your wetsuit.

[scottwilson]

Mr X the cover works a treat in winter when its to damn cold to be getting in and out of your suit

[Mr. X]

I bet that was your tip Scott. (Give Scott some rep. if you like it).

Originally Posted by devondave

Mr x , i visualize my self being a stone lighter before climbing , it doesn't help i'm still crap . Will be in the Frankenjura being humilated by the local kids next week . Anyway a tip most people might know already, if hunting Bass don't shoot the first Mullet that comes along , you may spook the shy Bass waiting in the wings . Bit of a gamble though it could be the only fish all day , which makes this tip rubbish .

I think we can all relate to visualizing ourselves being in better shape. The idea is to visualize yourself making the moves & clipping the gear, to iron out mistakes, reduce faffing & prepare yourself before the consequences increase; helps in selecting the gear too (I guess it's all bolts these days though). Isn't Frankenjura the place where they used to climb sandstone faces on thin holds, wearing blanket material tied round their feet instead of EBs, with only the odd massive bolt and occasional knotted cord wedge in pockets/cracks for safety? If so, I think I have some old magazine pictures somewhere c. 1980s - amazing black & white photos (the rest of the magazine is colour). Bet its changed a lot since then.

BTW I wouldn't forego a mullet for a (potential )bass - the meat is similar, perhaps even slightly tastier. Not everybody's cup of tea though.

[scottwilson]

If you spearfish off your yak always remember when launching off a sandy beach ( or any beach for that matter)

Once that tide drops, theres a whole lot more beach to drag your yak up

[Pastor]

Try not to push your dives so long that you have to bolt for the surface or when you do catch a fish splash around like a wet cat on amphetamines. Try to finish your dive with the same stealth you started it with.

[scottwilson]

This is one I learned the other day after fixing my suit.

If you sew the outside of your suit,rub a small bit of the glue over the stitching so to stop it coming undone.

[Willpower]

To keep your dive knife free of rust, clean it in fresh water, get all of the rust off with a bit of wire wool and give it a liberal coating with vaseline, esp in the bits between the blade and the handle. This way it has a nice cosy salt free life and it will stay sharp as you like, especially if you do this from new.

[Willpower]

If the vis is good and the fish are hanging back, or if one makes eye contact and starts angling away from you, try closing your eyes for a couple of seconds. Often this will make the fish feel more comfortable and it may come back in to investigate.. Open your eyes in a squint and slowly bring the gun round...

[fearthespear]

Don't miss...

[glowworm]

Don't loose your D3 and fload your camera casing.

[fubar]

1. Don't use single button release dive knives when spearing through thick kelp as its very easy to release and lose em - twice!

2. Always follow your own advice. You might only lose one knife!

[Spaniard]

If you go after pollack, gut them whilst on float/stringer as they tend to bloat/go high much more quickly than other fish once out of the water.

[ickledevil]

Couple of tips as I have been too busy to add one a day the last week...

If your going diving.. let your family know a estimated return time and where your going (and remind them an hour late isn't anormal! lol) Good safety measure should anything go wrong. Plus stops you being in the dog house like me when you return many many hours late!

Keep your spears/tips sharp. Replace or sharpen blunted tips (if sharpening them keep the point central) A blunt or bent tip will affect accuracy as well as penetration etc.

Remember equipment failures are not the end of the world, and many can be overcome. My line catch/release gave up yesterday while diving (after the first shot) carried on a marathon dive without using it (had line loose) just had to be extra careful of the loose line in the water, managed another 4 fish though. My stringer gave up too somehow got tangled in my weight belt reducing its length, couldnt figure it out in the water so just strung it in front of me instead of behind, worked a treat. You can enjoy a dive just as much with no gun, but you will still be annoyed when a massice bass comes to laugh at you!

[deep thinker]

Use 5 or 10m of tuna bungee instead of fixed float line on your gun. This gives you extra play on big fish plus will extend a bit should you want to dive deeper than your line on your gun. In addition to that, if you dont want to buy long pieces of bungee use 5m and add fixed float line on a winder behind that, in this way you can roll off as much line as you need and work from there.
Check all your gear for weaknesses before a big dive.