Anybody have scuba experience?

by **josmoloco** » Tue May 05, 2009 4:04 pm

I made the decision to go take a scuba class and get in to the hobb this summer. What sparked my interest was when we went fishing for ling cod the other day(in the puget sound of washinton state, 45degree f water)My dad brought some divers along. We dropped them of and went fishing. Our catch consided of a couple pitiful rockfish and a an ok sized sculpin(couple of pounds) One of the divers got a spear gun off craigslist and brought it down with him for the fist tme. About an hour after we dumped them off the came up with a 20# cabazon and on ther second dive they got a 10#! They also saw half a dozen ling cod(all over 2 feet long), tuns of sculpen and a six foot wolf eel. The gear itself will cost around $2500 with half of it being used, but is seems to be a worthy investment. Any thoughts on the matter?

by **josmoloco** » Tue May 05, 2009 4:11 pm

Ling cod
http://www.komar.org/faq/seward-fishing ... -cod-1.jpg

Cabazon
http://www.oceanlight.com/thumbs/13692.jpg

Sculpin
http://www.chugach-eareckson.com/images/Irish_Lord.jpg

Quillback rockfish
http://www.robots4farms.com/scubadiving ... 200113.jpg

Wolf eel
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... n%26um%3D1

by **adehaan86** » Wed May 06, 2009 1:10 am

Im a certified scuba diving, I have been doing for about 4-5 years. Pretty good for only being 22

by **jweb** » Wed May 06, 2009 4:20 am

I was certified at age 11, I'm 20 now. My moms ex-husband and I ran a dive and fishing charter boat business. I was the first mate/deck hand. I pretty much did everything there was to do on the boat. We went spear fishing nearly every day for an entire summer one year. Here are my thoughts...

1.) You need a good boat with ample room for all of your dive gear.
2.) You need to know the good dive spots. You can sometimes look up the GPS coordinates for your area online.
3.) You need to have money.
4.) You need to become really good friends with your local dive shop owners. We used to get free tank refills and discounted gear. Probably because they gave us all of their business to take out on the boat, but nonetheless, you might get some kind of discount especially if you're a frequent diver.
5.) If you're spearfishing, know what your fishing for and how big and how hard the fishes skin is. Always keep extra spear tips with you (At least 3). We hit fish so many times and it did nothing but bend the steel spear tips and the fish swam away. I suggest using the regular tips that go through the fish and the prongs open up on the other side. Also, the bigger the spear gun, the better. You can never have more than enough power.

I live in Florida, and if you're wondering how much fish we came up with every time, trust me it was more than enough. No fishing comes close to spear fishing. You can select and shoot. It's like being at the freshest fish market ever. There were some times when I had so much fish on my stringer I had them down to my feet and kicked them when I swam.

by **josmoloco** » Wed May 06, 2009 6:31 pm

My dad have a nice 19 foot boat that worked perfect for 2 divers
We do know the spots in our area and there is a ton of fish becase hardly anybody fishes here due to the cold water(45degrees f).
I am 16 and living at home, so money shouldnt be that hard to do because the only other thing i will need to buy is gas.
On spear fishing, that is the main reason I want to dive. One of the guys we brought out just got a double band gun off craigslist to try spearfishing the first time. It only had a trident tip, which proved to be inadequite in means of penetration. Both fish he shot had to be knifed...... The fish here are so freaken hard.......

by **josmoloco** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:43 pm

Some of the terrain around here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rDZd3fd_G4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6Gh-RNfBHk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPl43-Jy ... re=related

and a non fishing preserve about a hour away from my house
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghrGiRpK ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToSLXb9- ... re=related

by **jweb** » Thu May 07, 2009 7:22 pm

okay, that's nice. it's a lot different from here and looks pretty spooky water conditions haha. most of the time our water is pristine and you can see for like 50-100ft. Our fish swim in enormous schools so you could basically shoot blind and hit one, lol. However, if you hit them right behind the head mid body it will usually kill or paralyze them and they won't swim all over the place with your spear.

by **josmoloco** » Thu May 07, 2009 7:54 pm

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/spo/1157158758.html

by **fihsboy** » Sat May 09, 2009 8:32 pm

If the question is.......is it worth it? HELL YES. I am in the process of being certified, but I have been diving before with my dad in the keys. Completly worth it. Right now I go snorkeling....and take a couple of cans of spare air. its about 6-8 minutes of air. Great to see if you like it but thats about it. If you have the time in life to do it.....its completly worth it.

by **damemagnifique9423** » Sun May 10, 2009 7:26 am

ive been stung a few times diving(not sure by what)
be prepared for sharks, jelly fish and those agressive giant squid!!! (jk,i have an irrational fear of water, dont mind me)

Anybody have scuba experience?

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