Spearfishing Marlin

[siegfried]

I dont know if this is the right place for this post but here I go anyway. On f^&%net there is apost about a bloke who got dragged several km after spearing a blue marlin, it seems to have provoked the typical responses one has come to expect from that mob but I thought I might raise the issue here in the hope that a more balanced sensible debate about the rights/wrongs that some people have about this form of game fishing. For my part I dont and never have speared and basically all my game fishing consists of fishing wxclusively for blue marlin as IMHO no other fish provokes the exitement and challenge that they are capable of. However I reckon spearfishing for them would possibly represent the ultimate challenge and those willing to put in the time and effort to not only find but get in and spear (no mean feat and totally legal) should not be condemned out of hand. Sh*t it isnt like spearos present a threat to the worlds blue marlin stocks and it isnt like belting stripes around baitballs or little blacks of bait inshore ,which is still quite an achievement.....wot youse reckon

[1lastcast]

I reckon it is the least sporting way to catch a fish .

and does not involve a lot of skill .

The underlying spirit of angling is that the skill of the angler is pitted against the instinct and strength of the fish and that the latter is entitled to an even chance for its life .

spearfishing does not give the fish a chance to win its life or its freedom does it ? .

My opinion anyway

MONOSTRETCHO

[siegfried]

Fair enough but believe me a 120kg blue on 37 is about as sporting as throwing hand grenades at carp

[Horse]

and does not involve a lot of skill .


I did a fair bit of spearing in my younger days and have always thought it takes a huge amount of skill, fitness and preparation to score big fish.

This form of extreme bluewater spearing would not be a sport for the faint hearted and would have minimal impact on Blue Marlin biomass. As long as the fish was put to good use then it is a damn sight better than the 10-15% of C&R Marlin that just go to feed the local Shark population.

[kokomo]

spearfishing is way way harder than you think..

Big game fish are not taken every day and would have very little impact on population etc etc...

[Pistol_P]

I did a fair bit of spearing in my younger days and have always thought it takes a huge amount of skill, fitness and preparation to score big fish.

This form of extreme bluewater spearing would not be a sport for the faint hearted and would have minimal impact on Blue Marlin biomass. As long as the fish was put to good use then it is a damn sight better than the 10-15% of C&R Marlin that just go to feed the local Shark population.

Agree with Horse 100%.

Spearing does take a huge amount of fitness and skill and I dont think the spearos place any pressure on blue marlin stocks.

Pete

[Just_chips]

spearfishing is way way harder than you think..

Big game fish are not taken every day and would have very little impact on population etc etc...

I agree, there is alot more to sprearing than slipping on a mask and flippers and jumping over the side and shooting a quality fish. If it were that simple every meat hunting, fish for the kill cretin would be doing it. There is as much knowledge, skill, fitness and endurance required to shot a blue marlin as there is to catch one on line. Hopefully the fish was not wasted simply as a trophy is all I can say.

Kev

[1lastcast]

i dont doubt it takes a lot of fitness but skill / point , shoot , hold on till the fish dies , hardly the same as tricking the fish into believing your chunk of plastic and rubber is a fish getting it to strike and keeping it conected positioning the boat keeping the line tight when fish charge the boat etc etc removing the hooks and releasing the fish after reviving it , is it ?

It takes years to learn enough about fishing for marlin to be sucessful at it !

[Nofishtoobig]

The question is why do you fish / why do you spear ? Its hardly a sport fishing with 80lb braid and its hardly a sport shooting a gun / harpoon.
Sport is game where either side could win.
I have a stratergy, from the moment the marlin thrill is on the line keep the fish in mind, as i want to release him, If its under 30kg i'll keep if its over what can ya do with 150kg of fish.

The odds are - any big marlin restled for more than an hour has a slim chance to be shark bait, but the hook, if its gill or gut bleed its most likely XXXX.
Where as a fish with a harpoon attched no chance, its shoot to kill, i think the bookies will be paying $1.01.

I prefere to snorkle / dive, I call it my recon mission gathering intelegence on were the big snaps are hiding. As for those who go catchin with guns ?? What do they really catch. Hence why Black rock cod and other cod / groper are protected, they were nearly wiped out in the 70's.

As for the marlin populations i don't think either type will wipe em out in aussie waters, its got more to do with La' nina and El nino that controls there numbers.

[finding_time]

I reckon if a spearo goes out to the shelf and jumps in at the drop and swims around till he sees, stalks , and spears a blue he's a bloody legend , and deserves heaps of credit!

Unfortuately this isn't what happens! They are bassed on a large boat that trolls teasers up and down until a fish is raised , once raised it's kept there with baits whilst the spearo jumps in , gun loaded! Baits are usually still being presented to the fish until BANG!!! The fish is hit for the first time then it becomes a waiting game hitting the fish with more spears when the oppertunity presents it's self!

Not really spearfishing as i know it, no great breath holds ( unless the marlin pulls you deep) No real stalking ( The skipper and boat do that )

Line fishermen are not without guilt in this area also! Take the ultra light attemps to catch blues for world records! Now catching a blue marlin on 2 and 3 kg line may sound impressive but is it really? Again the boat teasers in a fish a bait is presented and as the rules state once the leader leaves the rod tip the fish is deamed hooked and can be gaffed. Now the fish may not even realize its hook and may swim back up to the boat or the skipper may go back on the fish hard and the guy with the flying gaff has his shot! Not real sporting , very difficult to achieve mind you but not real sporting for the fish. Btw it's the skipper and the guy throwing the gaff that have the real skill in the operation all the angler is doing is holding the rod!

Fly fishing for marlin is abit the same , it's not really fly fishing the boat and crew are really doing the work !

ian

[finding_time]

Fair enough but believe me a 120kg blue on 37 is about as sporting as throwing hand grenades at carp


Yes but when a 250kg jumps on it's a differant matter;) But the main reason many up this way use 37 kg to chase blues is that the blue marlin has a better chance of swimming away after being tagged on 37kg than it does on 24 kg! Plenty of fish come up dead on 24kg, it just not enough drag to stop them diving deep and many believe this causes the fish to have a heart attack when it hits the thermocline. Also more fish end up being tail wrapped on 24 than 37 again less drag allows them to swim away from the angler more easily which can cause tail wraps! These were both reasons i considered heavily when i was deciding on what outfits to buy for my boat , I went with 37kgs;)

ian

[Nofishtoobig]

well said FT your right the skip and crew make survival and fair chance of the whole thing. You would be legend to jump out off the shelf and stalk a marlin bwhahaha. Have you ever seen a 6 mtre shark 10 fathoms under the surface ? if you do it will be too late, you'd be sharked before you even saw a marlin.

[1lastcast]

I hooked an astimated 400kg big female blue last year of the goldie on 130 chair tackle its first run stripped of 600 meters with 55lbs of drag and after 45 minutes of sledgeing it out it turned and the hook just fell out with less than 50 - 60 meters to go heart breaking stuff and let me tell you i was stuffed so 37kg standup when theres blues around is definately not overkill !

[TimiBoy]

At one extreme we have people saying we should not catch any fish because it is cruel/wildlife preservation/God knows what other reasons.

At the other we have folks who say we should be able to take whatever we want, whenever we want, regardless of size/species/location.

Everyone else takes a place somewhere in between, and justifies it with various arguments, all of which make sense to some degree.

So who's actually correct? Well, first, is it legal? Yup, OK, you can do it, and regardless of whether I think it's right or wrong, you have the right to do it.

If I do not like it, I have the obligation to organise the resources required to prove it's harmful, then act, otherwise I'm just a whinging pain in the ar$e!

Cheers,

Tim

[michael_mad_fisho]

"spearfishing does not give the fish a chance to win its life or its freedom does it ? ."

gday guys
there have been plenty of times my old man has been spearfishing in new zealand off the three kings and has alomost drowned to death. scary shit being pulled 50mph through the water with a 40 kg king hanging off the end heading for caves and so on. gotta have some big lungs on ya.

[carnster]

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4buSPqOmQs8

Check out the above video to see some amazing marlin spearing action. When the water is clean, the current is still and the fish are not moving, spearing can be a very effective way of actching fish.

[siegfried]

I have fished 130 in a chair and wont do it again, it sucks, the average fish blue or otherwise doesnt have much of a chance if the boat is driven properly. We fish 100lb stand up and the average blue (150 240) is generally knocked arse over head in 20 -40 mins. Interesting to hear peoples perspective on this but .Hopefully I will be able to speak first hand about it because Im keen to give it a go ,got the boat, the gear(mates) Aill we need is one of these retarded fish to come up on a teaser and stare blankly at us for long enough to do it, somehow I think it will be much easier said then done:P >BTW I dont think you have to be a rocket scientest to drag plastic around and "fool" blue marlin into eating it, If your pulling stuff in the right area and their about you just take advantage of the fact that they eat stuff smaller then them;D

[mattooty]

Skillwise I've found spearfishing to be a totally different ball game to fishing. I've had nights where i can go out and regularly catch a good jew when they're in season because that live mullet out there is all on his own, but when ever I've seen a big jew in the wash with my gun they take one look and they're gone.
If you want to call a spearo a 'softy' then try jumping into 30m of water, diving down 20m, equalize and calm yourself into a static and sit there waiting for a spanish or big cobe. Then try shooting a moving target with a weapon that only has a range of 25m on a good day with the water slowing the spear down. Now come to the surface, apply your previously learned skills of calculating your bottom times
and work out how long before you can dive again and at what times.
Then after all this throw in a couple of whalers or bulls that are curiously swimming around you. Maybe shoot that cobe out from under one of them. Or that big GT under the bully.
Then you can call the spearo's softys.
Personally I find fishing a hell of a lot easier and I reap more rewards than spearing.

[Aeon]

here are some links

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24978599-5001021,00.html

http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=37258 (http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=37258)

Being somebody who spears as often as he fishes, I think this is a fantastic achievement. This is the first blue ever speared off NZ.... does that not indicate just how much of a challenge this presents.

You can devote a lifetime of learning to fishing and the same can be said for spearfishing. It's an extremely challenging and physical sport that should not be underestimated.

[Pistol_P]

I reckon if a spearo goes out to the shelf and jumps in at the drop and swims around till he sees, stalks , and spears a blue he's a bloody legend , and deserves heaps of credit!

Unfortuately this isn't what happens! They are bassed on a large boat that trolls teasers up and down until a fish is raised , once raised it's kept there with baits whilst the spearo jumps in , gun loaded! Baits are usually still being presented to the fish until BANG!!! The fish is hit for the first time then it becomes a waiting game hitting the fish with more spears when the oppertunity presents it's self!

Not really spearfishing as i know it, no great breath holds ( unless the marlin pulls you deep) No real stalking ( The skipper and boat do that )

Line fishermen are not without guilt in this area also! Take the ultra light attemps to catch blues for world records! Now catching a blue marlin on 2 and 3 kg line may sound impressive but is it really? Again the boat teasers in a fish a bait is presented and as the rules state once the leader leaves the rod tip the fish is deamed hooked and can be gaffed. Now the fish may not even realize its hook and may swim back up to the boat or the skipper may go back on the fish hard and the guy with the flying gaff has his shot! Not real sporting , very difficult to achieve mind you but not real sporting for the fish. Btw it's the skipper and the guy throwing the gaff that have the real skill in the operation all the angler is doing is holding the rod!

Fly fishing for marlin is abit the same , it's not really fly fishing the boat and crew are really doing the work !

ian

Ian does make a VERY good point.

Teasing up a marlin with lures and bait and keeping it there.....then jumping over the side and spearing it is another story...::)
Thats just not sport and no challenge in my opinion.

The guys that chase mackeral etc and stalk the fish and can hold their breaths for huge amounts of time in pursuit I will give credit too...They are super fit and there is skill in doing it this way only.

Pete

[Noelm]

so then, is teasing up a marlin then feeding it a fly, truly sporting in the true fly Fishing sense? is burleying heavily then setting up a Shark bait really sporting? don't think so, the act of teasing up a Marlin to spear, is no less sporting than using a teaser and switch baiting or anything else, it is just a means to get a shot at a Marlin with a speargun, there has been many speared while "free diving" but to get a trophy sized one needs help and tactics, whatever they maybe!

[finding_time]

Noel

I totally agree about fly fishing for marlin( see first post ) And although i can see why they do it , it's not what fly fishing is all about imho but some people will always want to achieve what they percieve is the apex in there sport. To me the ultimate in fly fishing is chasing big browns in crystal clear streams of NZ where the fish see you just as easily as you see them, one mistake and your stuffed!

I guess it's the same with spearfishing although again i can see why they do it, to me it's taken alot of the skill out of spearfishing where anyone with a little skill who can pay thousands for the boat for the day ( or several days) has a reasonable chance of sucess take that same bloke to a 30m reef and show him a 7 kg trout on the sand beside a bomie and he'll be usless!

I guess in alot of ways it the same as bill fishing where a rich bloke can catch all the fish he wants as he can pay for the best skippers and best crew , but for me the real skills in game fishing are shown by the deckies ( rigging and setting gear and handling big fish on the leader and gaff) and the skippers who make the boat do the work , any monkey can wind in a fish! But this is and what game fish has always been about ! It's not trying to be anything else! Small boat game fishermen excluded;)

Ian

Ps If you see a video of the marlin being speared i bet you dont see any of the lead up , you'll just see the spearo and the free swimming marlin, then the shot then the fight , then the typical end shot of the spearo cradling the fish on his way to the surface. A lone man and a large fish, they dont want to spoil that image with a pic of the large support crew and boat! It's a bit like that guy in NZ that catches large tuna from a small boat or jetski, he got a big boat beside him all day for support but the only time you see it is when the camera guy gets it wrong and you see it's shadow! Hardly a real solo man effort!!!

[kokomo]

There truly is not a huge leap from teasing a fish and presenting it with a livey or fly...

to jumping in and spearing it..

both are as hard as eatchother IMO..

spearo's take such a small % of fish it is not at all an issue..

sure there are the extremes in both spearing and line fisho's that drag everyone down with bad publicity.. take it how you see it and dont waste fish.. if you catch it EAT IT..

IF you think spearing is easy.. ill take you any day... I catch way more fish than i spear..
personally i prefer spearing as i love diving.. 90% of dive trips i return with nothing because i am very selective and am never chasing a 'feed'

[finding_time]

Kokomo

Mate i know some gun spearo and have done a fair bit of it over the years. I know how hard it is! One of the spearo's i know went to NZ for a spearing large tuna trip. He came home very very disapointed. They had burlied up plenty of large tuna then he got in a shot one from about 3.5 meters away and he was still on the surface after 15 min the fish was dead and at the back of the boat , he reckons the posing for photo's took alot longer than the fight. He was really disapointed with the trip and has little respect for blue water spearo's, as he reckons catching cray's in 20 feet is more difficult!


Ian

[kokomo]

yeah its true.. they had a good day.. and good days are good/easy

hard days are hard...

I fish and spear... love both.. prefer spearing for the visual aspect...

what ever makes you happy and as long as you show respect to the ocean..... dont plunder it.. dont waste fish
we should not care what others do IMO

[Custaro]

Anyone saying spearfishing is unsporting without ever trying it is ignorant. Just like fishing, you need to apply skill, fitness and knowledge. Spearing shits all over line fishing for being being a more environmentally friendly and sustainable approach. It is also make great excercise. Bloody hell!! Rudd could use this at the next ellection!!

As Ian said, you can apply common logic to why they use teasers. It would be a complete lottery by jumping over and hoping you see one. Either spearing or using fly for bluewater fish transforms fishing into a great team sport and 99% of the time, the bloke that gets all the glory is the weakest link in the team.

Good on em!!

[flyfisho]

I totally agree about fly fishing for marlin( see first post ) And although i can see why they do it , it's not what fly fishing is all about imho but some people will always want to achieve what they percieve is the apex in there sport. To me the ultimate in fly fishing is chasing big browns in crystal clear streams of NZ where the fish see you just as easily as you see them, one mistake and your stuffed!


And I also agree about teasing fish to the back of the boat not real sporting, however Fly fishing for Marlin isn't always like that. Not everyone knows that they are a target flats species in some areas, casting at free swimming Blacks that are up on the flats for one thing is bloody exciting and believe me they can see you as the water on this flat is crystal, if you can't put a 8 inch fly on its nose at around 80 - 100 ft in any direction in crappy wind conditions you will be stuffed. Now me personally I would rather sight fish blacks in QLD than chase spotted slugs in NZ , but hey thats my opinion.

Also I reckon anyone who jumps in around bait balls in bluewater just lost their place in the food chain, that in itself makes it sporting ;)

This is a pic of a small Black sight fished on a flat in 6 feet of water, caught on a 10 weight rod. They go no where near as hard as a Longtail on the flat.

[nautical prince]

I spear fish and i have a lot to learn all i say is each to there own its still a form of hunting just like line fishing each takes skill. and a lot of it. Allso its leagal

[BARRAkid]

Who ever that guy was is a legend.... I have been spearfishing for a few years now but really getting into it over the last year when the water is clear enough.
It takes alot of skill anyone can spear a shellow reef where you dont need to freedive but alot of people put in the time and training so they can reach the debth.

good on him thats a good fish maybe some of use should try spearfishing your missing out on a great sport....

Owww and everyone talks about catch and release well you don't need to when spearfishing you shoot what you are going to eat not everyone shoots every fish they see alot of people including myself let alot of good fish swim past the gun ;D

[Frank OO]

I used to do a lot of spear fishing and found it to be very exciting. I was also extremely fit.

Today:

I can't hold my breath for much more than 1.5 minutes,

I can't dive down to thirty meters

My body fat keeps me afloat

My ears almost explode in any depth below 15 meters.

If the guy is fit enough to spear a Marlin and hang on for 200 meters let alone 3000 meters, let him have a great time while he can.

Just think about the number of Marlin that die each year because of the long fights, tail wraps and fishermen who just want a feed.

Congratulate the boy for having the guts to pull the trigger.

Frank OO

[larfin]

I have done a lot of spearing over the years and believe me if the marlin just sits there and waits to be speared after it is teased up it is the only fish in the world that does.I have also line fished for marlin and probably 10% of those released dont see the next sunset.At the end of the day its not spearos depleting the stocks or the sport fisherman-but the long liners etc are another story.
Happy spearing
greg

[finding_time]

.I have also line fished for marlin and probably 10% of those released dont see the next sunset.greg

Mate that is an old wives tale and is totally untrue! There is plenty of data out there now thanks to sat tagging and survival rates are very good. A tagged marlin after being tagged generally heads straight for the bottom where it sulks for a few hours but by the end of the day it's up feeding again. This was shown clearly by a skipper on gold coast to be true, he recaptured a marlin he had tagged only 5 hrs earlier! I have never understood where the 10% figure can from but i've heard it from many sorces , interesting though because before sat tagging started they had know idea and no way of telling what the survival rate was after capture! More than likely it was started by people who kept there marlin ( for what ever reason) to justify there decission to do so!;) But there is no way it was ever based on any real evidence as the data didn't exist!

Ian

[1lastcast]

Most marlin will revive and release if you are willing to put the effort in there are of course fish that get gill or gut hooked but with the non offsert circles and the education of anglers to treat the fish the right way i think the survival rate would be very good these days and IMO the kill rate would probably be very very low .

Unless of course it is spearfishing probably 100 % mortality i would not imagine they stand any chance of earning their freedom and surviving !:(

[larfin]

Ian 90% IS a very good survival rate.You have to take into account shark attack and internal damage heart failure etc.The studys I have read would suggest the mortality rate for J hooks is higher than 10% and lower for circle hooks-around 4 %.However my original post was made to support the spearos not argue the release statistics.
cheers
greg

[Thunderbird]

That's not sport at all!
You need another 5 or 6 boats working the same bait with a spread of five out the back. Then i'll call it sport.
Go jump in the bath tub and see how long you can hold your breath for if that's what it's all about.
if you think you're a sharp shooter then paint a target at the end of a pool the same principal applies at the rifle range for shooters.
if it's fitness go run a marathon.
It's all of these things combined though that bring out our basic instinct and go way back through history, we were after all hunters and gatherers.
just don't hunt more than you can gather or consume.

[Ihunttrophyhunters]

Fast growing fish and in big numbers is there an absence of necessity to spear an overwhelming quantity of food for the table. Yes legal..... Some spearfishermen must have commercial size freezers or just the thrill of the kill in ones social admiration. Elite spearfishermen travel abroad to hunt the prize and pay the big bucks to do so......Interesting to measure how many fillets they bring back through Aussie customs.

[gunna]

Why drag up a 10 year old post that nobody gives a rats about?

[shakey55]

I see Ihunttropgyhunters has been a member of Ausfish for one and a half weeks. In that time he has brought up two very old post regarding the spearing of large fish.

Is there an agenda here?


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[Noelm]

Fast growing fish and in big numbers is there an absence of necessity to spear an overwhelming quantity of food for the table. Yes legal..... Some spearfishermen must have commercial size freezers or just the thrill of the kill in ones social admiration. Elite spearfishermen travel abroad to hunt the prize and pay the big bucks to do so......Interesting to measure how many fillets they bring back through Aussie customs.
Can't imagine any fillets being legally taken through customs.

[shaungonemad]

I see Ihunttropgyhunters has been a member of Ausfish for one and a half weeks. In that time he has brought up two very old post regarding the spearing of large fish.

Is there an agenda here?


Sent from my iPad using Ausfish forums

Might be a Woman they like digging up the past.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ihunttrophyhunters]

People travel the world and pay the big bucks for a trophy fish just like a trophey hunter........Absence of necessity some say......self admiration for others. Discarding the carcass or to contribute to a community has no self ecomnomic value to feed ones self. I have not been able to have rational response as to how the processing of or the customs of food is managed by several pacific marlin enthusiasts offering spear fishing adventures abroad.

[Ihunttrophyhunters]

As a commercial fisherman.....I have many interests of topic and or discussion.....No wrong or right as how new a member can be? I am particularly interested in the absence of necessity of such recorded captures be it legal or illegal.

[PixieAU]

... ...
..

[EdBerg]

I see Ihunttropgyhunters has been a member of Ausfish for one and a half weeks. In that time he has brought up two very old post regarding the spearing of large fish.

Is there an agenda here?

Could also be that he has just joined, gone through the list of topics and just answered to a couple of posts that hold interest to him, regardless of how old the topics are, it is also good to keep these topics alive for future discussions. That is the reason for forums, to discuss subjects, issues and ideas, whether we personally agree to them all or not. Everybody has a different view and the right to express it. "Agenda"? who knows, and does it really matter!

[Ihunttrophyhunters]

What is your preferred sex to make comment? What is the minimum membership subscription date for new members to comment/view Ausfish content? I have interests in sociological and ecological thesis PHD BSc(Hons) James Cook University philosophy in Marine Biology...….A new member yes and identify as male......Owner operator commercial CLF NT.