Spear Fishing

Kevin and I went spear fishing a few times recently. Unfortunately we didn't manage to actually catch anything. I winged a few fish, but not enough to slow them down (scales flew, and the fish swam away).

Despite our lack of success we did get to have some good snorkeling time. One of the places we went was the south side of Cas Cay (where we take tours for work). Although the entry into the water at area was a bit, ahem, exciting, once we got in the water there were lots of cool fish to see, including a few species of fish that I had never seen before.

This morning we went to Coki Beach, which we thought would be a sure bet as the yellowtail snapper are fed there by tourists. Once we got there it rapidly became apparent that the fish knew what a spear gun was. The only large fish we saw were from a distance as they took off way faster than we could swim.

The photo is of Kevin holding the pole spear in the “ready to fire” position. There is an elastic band at the base of the pole spear which is held between the thumb and index finger of one hand. (In this case, Kevin is holding the elastic in his right hand). To “cock” the pole spear, grasp the pole spear about half way up the shaft while holding the elastic band, which creates much tension on the elastic band. To fire, you simply let go of the pole while holding the elastic band, causing the whole pole spear (in water) to rapidly fire about 5 feet. “Real” spear guns (ie, the ones with triggers and such) start around $250 down here, as opposed to the $50 for the pole spear, so while our pole spear may be less effective, it is definitely less expensive.