# Spear Fishing the Jetties



## Xray Lima (Apr 9, 2005)

Anyone here do any spearfishing? When ever I fish the Manasquan Inlet Jetty, there are always some kids down by the rocks spear fishing for tog and some actually get stripers. I am very interested and already bought a $90 shortie wet suit from Dick's, a snorkel set, flippers that i've had since 9th grade, and a borrowed speargun. I know it can be dangerous especially near those rocks of the jetty. If there's anyone on this site who spear fishes, your experiences and knowledge would be greatly appreciated.


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## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

*Posted...*

I posted a little message on the NC board, you can check it out there.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Don't know*

You should try the jetty along 2nd street in north wildwood. Right now they are redoing the seawall there. I know there used to be a really DEEP sink hole on the other side of the old church. Rumor has it that it could be 50ft or more. I know there is gret fishin there.


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## RedskinFan228 (Jun 28, 2004)

i used to spear fish all the time. never up north i mostly did it in the chesapeake bay around the tunnel islands. thing i liked the most was the fact that you get to pick the fish not wait for it to bite the hook  

Couple of hints: the fish always look bigger when you are underwater remember that because there is no catch and release. 

be careful because your spear will go all the way through the fish and if it hits a rock it will ruin the spear.

you should try to head shoot larger fish because they will drag you around a bit and thier thrashing around will also damage your spear.


normal range i.e. length of line on your spear is around 15 feet (on an average gun some are longer) fish look closer than they actually are. experience is the only way to learn this. 

last but not least. if you are in an area with sharks be careful attaching your game bag to your waist

I will say it is fun and I loved it. Although i never just snorkled for them I was always using scuba tanks. Only try that if you are certified.

Ken


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## Singletjeff (Mar 27, 2005)

I lived in Hawaii for 3 years and would spearfish every weekend. Its great fun, there's nothing more exciting than seeing your fish, lining up your shot and pulling the trigger. I would highly recommend trying it out in a controlled environment first such as a friend's pool or a calm lake or pond. it also wouldn't hurt to get a piece of foam, cut it into a 15" block (about the size of a fish) and practice shooting, this will help you learn the size and distance when shooting underwater. Your list of equipment is almost complete, but I would add a weight belt to get your to a neutral bouyancy as well as good dive gloves. if you have to Dive down the weight will allow you to sit and wait or aim at your fish without struggling to maintain your depth. There will be times that you will hold onto the rocks or other structure and will want the gloves, not to mention that they will protect your hands from spines and gill plates when handling a speared fish. Remeber, that fish won't die instantly and you'll be handling a fighting fish underwater. One final piece of euipment I would recommend is a Float, in hawaii we called them a kui (koo-e) this was a bright colored float with a coated wire hanging from the bottom. At the end of the wire was a metal rod attached at the middle. Fold the rod to meet the wire and it serves as a needle to thread your wire through the hole in the fish open it up and you have a T to hold the fish on the float. When fishing in open water, especially at night, always have 20-30' of rope tied off to your kui and attached to your leg (with the strap from a surfboard or boogie board leash) but leave a slip knot in the rope shortening the length to about half the length of the over all rope. This will allow you time to remove the float from your leg should a toothy critter decide it wants to munch on your well fought for dinner.


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## Xray Lima (Apr 9, 2005)

Thanks guys for all the info. I acually tried to use my snorkel gear yesterday at the beach. It's gonna take some getting used to I know that much. My flippers hurt my feet though but i dont know if i need little flipper shoes or what. The ones i have are adjustable from a strap in the back. Also what would you guys recommend as a beginner spear gun?


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## Singletjeff (Mar 27, 2005)

Something small and lightweight, you don't want a big expensive one until you get the feel of it. There happens to be a nice one . If you're wearing dive fins (with the strap in the back) Get a pair of neoprene dive boots, those will protect your heels from the rubbing.


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## Fisheadgib (Jan 7, 2006)

In florida it's illegal to spearfish off of a jetty and you can't spear many species of fish. It might not hurt to check you regs before you invest much into it.


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## RedskinFan228 (Jun 28, 2004)

There are many types of guns. I used to use one that was around 3' long and had 2 bands. Remember a three band gun means more power but also more work to "cock it" The two banded gun was plenty I took a 40 lb red drum with itt also many large king mackeral. Never had a problem with lack of power. Yes my range was limited to around 15 feet nut heck my visability was not much more than that. 

I also tried a pnumatic gun that did not use rubber bands to power it. Your spear was actually inside the gun. You had a piece of metal in your hand that had a notch in it. The spear point fit in the notch and you then pushed the spear into the gun. This caused the air to compress which gave you the power. The gun had a switch on it so you could adjust the power of the gun. It is a sweet gun with adjustable power. It is kinda hard to "cock/load" though and rather pricy.

Hope this helps.


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## Xray Lima (Apr 9, 2005)

Fisheadgib said:


> In florida it's illegal to spearfish off of a jetty and you can't spear many species of fish. It might not hurt to check you regs before you invest much into it.


Although I am currently in Florida on vacation and visiting family, I live in Jersey and see people spearing fish all the time were i fish. While I'm hear for three weeks, I'd like to try to master the fishing in the Melbourne area. I primarily fish the causways cause i dont have a boat. Any suggestions? Mangrove snapper and pompano are the fish of choice. If you have any techniques to get em let me know.


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## Fisheadgib (Jan 7, 2006)

Mangrove or "black" snapper as we call them around here are always a sucker for a live shrimp. I've caught them from the panhandle to the keys and live shrimp always works. If you're fishing from shore, light line and a float are an effective method. Sometime in the canals when they're on the feed, we'll tear them up on small white jigs. As for pompano, it's in the surf with sand fleas or pieces of peeled shrimp on a double dropper rig. You can stand there and diligently scan the surf with a jig at the ready, but I prefer to set a couple of surf rods and sit back drinking beer and wait for a rod to bend. But thats just me.


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