I was not born in a Spearo-oriented family; actually my family hate fish.
Despite this I started admiring the sea since my childhood (though I never tried any sea sport). In my teens I started experimenting with a goggle and at eighteen I starting this fantastic sport with a friend of mine who became my buddy for life!
My buddy and I started this sport one hot summer evening, sharing one harpoon with limited resources! However we manage to be truly captivated by this sport and we were determined to improve our skills and also our resources! : )
Evolvation
After getting acquainted with the spear gun we had, discovering its advantages (which were few) and its disadvantages (which were more than the advantages) we were seeking new methods to improve our performance. The Evolvation began. : )
After catching some amateur fish, mainly Brown Wrasses (shown on the right), we went for an upgrade of our harpoon. We changed the spear tip of the harpoon from a fork type tip to a bullet type tip. This modification gave our spear shaft more speed and a little bit more power since the drag force opposing a bullet type shape is much less then the drag force opposing a fork type shape.
The difference after this modification was pronounced and our hopes of improving our skills in this sport increased as well! : ) It was time for me to have a harpoon of my own since my buddy was sharing his harpoon which he borrowed from his wife�s father!!!
I bought a Lanara 70 which is perfect for a beginner since it�s not bulky and therefore easily manoeuvrable under water.
Apnea Gear
I had no apnea gear. I was using a goggle and a snorkel which I had borrowed from my fianc�e when I started this sport. It was time for the apnea gear to be upgraded. : ) I bought a new pair of flippers (not apnea ones) the snorkelling type of flippers, a goggle and snorkel used for apnea and a medium sized knife (very important to have, might be very useful in uncomfortable situations). My buddy helped me out in this upgrade by lending me his old (but in very good conditions) 5mm wetsuit (the diving type of suits) and a belt together with the required weights.
After some hunting experiences I got acquainted with my Lanara and therefore decided to improve my Lanara by changing the spear tip from a fork type to a bullet type (for the reasons mentioned before). I also filled the inner part of the barrel (which was hollow) with expanded polystyrene since it was very heavy underwater because it used to fill up with water. I improve my performance well after these modifications but I wanted more!
It was time for my speargun development now!! I went for a wood speargun mainly due to the backing I found from my buddy. A wood speargun gives you a lot of advantages over the steel barrelled speargun. Mainly much more power since the wooden barrel can withstand much more rubber bands and much more silent shots. For more information refer to the speargun development lifecycle in the next section.
With this major upgrade I included another upgrade, which was the purchasing of a second hand wetsuit. This 5 mm Omer wetsuit is designed for apnea and it gave me much more protection from my number 1 enemy i.e. the cold sea. : )
Lately I included other important upgrades which made the difference in my performance, these included; Esclapez apnea fins, Bare 2mm socks and Cressi 3mm gloves. The flippers gave me a much more silent, smoother, laminar and faster dive, which is fundamental in this sport. The socks are needed to be comfortable with the flippers! ; ) The gloves give me protection against unexpected sea urchins touching and other potential dangerous creatures. It is also safer to load the speargun with gloves and less painful to handle fish with gloves.
This is my current gear:
� Hybrid 100 wooden speargun (designed and build by myself)
� TopSub 5mm Apnea Camo wetsuit
� Waist belt with Lead weights
� Apnea mask and snorkel
� Bare 2mm socks
� Esclapez apnea fins
� Cressi 2mm gloves
� Norge Cressi diving knife
� Float
� Fish hook
Whether it is an aguatto, hide and seek or any other hunting mode that you�re performing
to catch your prey, the diving gear makes a lot of difference in the outcome of the hunt!
What it is all about?
The beauty of this sport is not the rewarding fish you get after minutes or even hours of hunting. The real reward is the moment you catch when you�re below, hopefully alone, you and nature under the blue. Impressive!
The magic moments become even more special when you�re sharing such moments with your buddy! Then the adrenaline of searching, evaluating, hunting and finally catching a fish is an extra bonus of this sport! : )
Well the picture below explains it all!
