Home Forums Fishing Saltwater Spearfishing Hawaii

Has anyone done this? I will be on Kawai (sp?) for two weeks over Christmas and I'm very intrigued. No air, just freediving.

I'd love to hear anything from hotspots to try, to what species eat best, to equipment advice. Trying to keep it cheeeep though, so I'll probably go used on a speargun, or rent.

Thanks!!

If you don't find what you are looking for here, I'd ask at the forums at deeperblue.com. Those guys are the real deal.

Just don't bring lead

Hey 65BR! You've been a busy poster lately!

I've been working on getting the lead out of my azz in prep for this trip. No man-boobs in Hawaii, *I* always say <grin>.

Looks like there's not much spearfishing going on here. I've never done it- though last time I was in Hawaii I was thinking the whole time how cool it'd be to spear one of the fish I was snorkeling with!!

keep an eye out for tigers

Kauai isn't a small place, though it is pretty cool. I'd post on the Hawaiian Islands section of Spearboard with questions:

http://www.spearboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=100

Scott

Was that...tiger sharks? LOL, don't scare the man.

Jeff, Barnes and Noble has some spear fishing magazines from time to time here under my gun mag section, and they are loaded w/pics and info, looks like loads of fun, something that would be neat to try.

Thought of a Hawaiian sling? Or pole spear as some call it?

My post btw, meant no 'belt' so you don't sink while skin diving

Thanks for the tips as to where to research, guys! I will check it out.

I'm not skeered of sharks. Other than being someone terrified of being eaten by them <grin>. Last time I was in Hawaii, it was a bit creepy how many shark lookouts there were at the snorkling areas etc but whatever, it's not gonna keep me out of the water.

I don't know what kind of "gun" I want, 65BR! I don't know squat about it. Just something that works.

I was kidding about sharks as well. When I was on a trip I won to Maui in early 90s, there were very few attacks in the recent years. I loved every minute and wanted to never leave the water.

You can stay perhaps an hour w/o a wetsuit. "Guns" well, I think there is a Triple Banded Model 358 Magnum speargun you may check out

I'm thinking... I just want a speargun that covers that 90% of the shots you'll take; don't need no long-range speargun jive. I want it to SPEAR that fish- but I don't want too much fish meat damage. I'm thinking lower velocity, but a nice fat heavy spear. Overpenetration would be... cool looking, so let's go with that in this case.

(My fantasy is buy a serviceable name brand speargun for a decent deal used, then sell it afterwards for what I paid...)

There's cool stuff to kill and eat on this island, too. No end to the feral goats and pigs and chickens, prawns in the streams near the ocean... fish... The only problem is it's spear or archery on the mammals... gun tags are much harder to get.

I'm thinking that my wife and I are going to try and go feral ourselves and hit the backcountry for some days. Ditch the kids with my mom, live in a pair of shorts. Her shorts, as much as possible. That's the fantasy.

read this http://www.freedive.net/feature/pickering_record.htm

Wow. Wow. WOW!!


Now see, I just want to spear me some little fishies for dinner... I'm thinking like 14", 20"... not 300 lbs!

Wow. Cool story. Thanks!!

Hunting Maui style...

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek037.html

Jeff, Love to eat Tuna, but Those Tigers might like something different to nibble on! LOL.

Looks like that pro can make a living getting fish like that for 8 weeks? Hmm, Tuna ain't cheap.

Post pics when you get back

Will do! We brought a slick little Kodak camera/videocamera that's good to 10 feet underwater... my youngest has already taken some cool pics...

Missed my first fish today!

Bought a 5-ft "Hawai Sling Spear" or something like that at Wal-Mart for $20... ingenious design...

Crazy stuff, no license required, just go out and spear chit....

Perfect, - camera, went to Maui long ago and used those 3ft or 3m camera's down to 20 feet or so in Grand Cayman. Take decent pics but did not know they now have video's - cool.

Keep trying, the 'Sling' method is not a bad way, up close and personal!

Enjoy.

Hey Jeff,

I'm heading over to Kona this Sunday the 9th for 12 days.


Pass on any sling spear fishing info you have here!

I have a house on the beach rented and hope to do some BBQ!



Bob

Hey Bob!

Can I stow away in your luggage? I was just getting good and comfortable there.. sigh...

I do have a few hopefully useful tips. I didn't have a ton of luck; could have speared any number of small reef fish but the big boys I was after stayed out of range when I had a spear. They are VERY aware of whether you have a spear or not! When I was in Hawaii last time, I remembered swimming very close to fish and thought spearing one would be easy. But when you have a spear they stay farther away.

SO, first off, I'd advise getting a longer sling spear than I got. You can get them at Wal-Mart or diving shops. At walmart they run from $20 up to maybe $80. Get one at least 8-10 feet long. Or spring for a spear gun.

In terms of fish, there's the obvious ones like snapper or tuna but that's a whole other game. I was hunting the reefs. As far as THOSE fish I'm told the best are the Uhu and unicorn fish, both of which I saw plenty of in the 5-10 pound range... but they'd stay 10 feet away... there's going to be plenty of smaller fish that are probably good to eat too, but I didn't really go after those.

One nice things is- no license required!! Just go out and have at it. Crazy, since here on Oregon they ding you every chance they get.

One thing that came up just before I left was lobster diving, which is done at night when there no moon and the surf isn't too high. I got invited but it was the last night we were there and I had too much to do. DAMN it, that really sounds like fun! If I was there again, I'd prioritize finding someone experienced to take me out lobster diving early on.

Oh, and I also found out that the locals do most of their spearfishing at night. I guess the fish are much more docile. The local I talked to said a good waterproof light was $100 locally, so if this sounds good to you, you might try and find one here on the mainland before you go over, I'd guess they are half that here.

One other thing that springs to mind is to have flippers that really fit, or, get some sort of bootie or liner for inside the flipper. I wore my diving flippers boogieboarding the first day there and was having so my fun that I didn't notice I was wearing holes in my feet, which I then had to suffer with the whole rest of the vacation. Don't do that.

If you are buying snorkle gear, I'd sent you to Walmart. I got the "Pro" series mask for $20 and it was great, better than what I bought in Florida 10 years ago at a dive shop for a lot more money (the rubber was worn out on that one). And, I had pretty spendy snorkle that hurt my mouth, but I got washed into some rocks by a big wave while stalking fish and in the process of trying not to DIE, lost that snorkle... so I bought the cheapest, $7 snorkle at Walmart to replace it and lo and behold, it totally kicked ass! Much more comfortable. So... I'm not advocating cheap gear here unless that was already your plan, but if it IS your plan, Walmart is your friend.

Have fun, man! I'm really envious. I had a great time... most days I'd watch hotties on the beach while I decided whether I wanted to go spearfishing or hit the surf boogieboarding with my brother... we caught some BIG waves, and avoided major injury, though we both got our asses handed to us by a few waves...

Hope that helps!

Yah! that helps!!! A lot!

Man, can't wait to get over there!

Great advise!!!!!!!!!

Did you ever get some fish with the spear?

no way I'd swim at night where tigers prowl.