Thedeepblue

Spear clips brings the underwater world of spearfishing right to you. Each clip will draw you deeper into the breathtaking world of spearfishing. Spear clips includes underwater video and photographs of commonly targeted species and their habitats as well as spearfishing strategy's and technique's captured on film to better inform and interest spearo's at every level. 

Jewfish or mulloway are a prized inshore species which may be located in caves, sandy gutters or free swimming. They occur individually, in pairs or small schools and sometimes aggregate in large schools. Around Sydney I have seen them in schools numbering 20-30 with individulals ranging in size from 6 to 20 kilograms. Jewfish are primarily nocturnal (active by night) although I have seen individuals hunting during low pressure thunderstorms. Because most jewfish are resting when located during the day they give the impression of being a docile fish and often present for a shot. Try and hit the fish in the shoulder from above, angling the shaft toward the brain. A poor shot may cause the shaft to pull free from the soft white flesh which is excellent for eating. Jewfish are known to produce a 'croaking' sound underwater as in the video clip. This is characteristic of jewfish and hearing it can alert vigilent divers to nearby fish, caves and structure should be searched thoroughly.

The Giant Boarfish in the clip below is one of four I have taken this winter. Although giants often occur in large schools in deep water (250 metres) with individuals of around 8 kg, single fish of up to 4kg are more regularly found inshore and usually on sandy or weedy bottoms. Stomach contents usually contain sea urchin spines, worms, shell fragments and crustacea. These are ingested and ground down by small peg like teeth supported by flat bony plates. Large amounts of sand is also ingested during this process.

Hunting Giant Boarfish involves searching sandy bays around the weedline or boulder drop offs usually in water greater than 15 metres deep. I have had best success during turbulent conditions where visibility is reduced. As I have only seen giant boarfish on the bottom (benthic) it is necessary to dive until the bottom is in clear view, level out the dive and 'scrounge' until breathing is necessary. In this way the maximum amount of dive time can be apportioned to searching which is the most important aspect of hunting these beautiful fish.

Once you have located a 'giant' don't panic as they respond better to a quiet approach. Allow yourself plenty of breath as shot trajectory is important. By this I mean breath up and descend to negative buoyancy with one or two gentle kick strokes then glide to the bottom. Do not bomb onto the fish, it may spook and power off, simply 'fall' to the fish until you are in range or even better fall to the bottom near the target and make up the distance down there. This species has a very narrow, high profile and is best shot from the side position where a centre or head shot is preferred.