The basics of spearfishing

We told you about our friend Tom in a previous Loogbook entry. He lives with his family on a small farm in Cornwall, with a few chickens and the Atlantic close by. He is a proper waterman who knows this stretch of coast well, above and below the surface.

Spearfishing is one of the ways he spends his time out there, and preferably comes home with dinner. So on our last visit, we went along to learn a little more about it.

Keep it simple

At its most basic, spearfishing is freediving with the intention of catching your dinner. You need a mask, snorkel, fins, wetsuit, weight belt and a speargun. No tanks. No boat required. Not a huge amount of equipment.

The difficult bit is learning how to use it all properly. Before thinking about fish, you need to be comfortable in the sea. That means understanding the swell, currents, tides and weather. You also need to be comfortable holding your breath and diving without wasting too much energy. Tom makes it look annoyingly easy.

Don't chase the fish

One of the first things you learn is that swimming after a fish usually doesn't work. Fish are quite good at swimming.

Instead, a lot of spearfishing is about slowing down. Dive quietly, get yourself into position and wait. Look around rocks, gullies and kelp. Learn where different species like to hide and how they behave.

The better you know a piece of coastline, the better your chances become. This is why Tom has his spots. Places he has returned to again and again, in different tides and different conditions. You slowly start to understand what happens underneath the surface. Sometimes there is dinner down there. Sometimes there isn't.

Holding your breath

Spearfishing is done on a single breath. There is no prize for staying down the longest and this is probably the worst place to test your ego.

Good freediving is about staying relaxed and knowing your limits. Breathe properly on the surface, take your time between dives and never push a dive because you've spotted something interesting just as you should be heading back up.

Most importantly, don't dive alone. Having someone on the surface watching your dive isn't just good company. It is basic safety.

Take what you need

Being underwater also changes the way you look at fishing. You see the fish before you decide to take it. That gives you a choice.

Is it the right species? Is it big enough? Are you actually going to eat it? If not, leave it swimming.

There are minimum sizes, protected species, seasonal restrictions and local rules that need to be understood before getting in the water. They exist for a reason, and they are part of knowing what you're doing rather than an inconvenience. On our last trip with Tom, the grand result of the hunt was one spider crab. After a quick inspection, Tom put it back. No heroic dinner that evening.

Know your coast

Probably the biggest lesson from spending time with Tom is that spearfishing isn't really about the spear. It's about knowing the sea.

Reading a forecast. Understanding a tide. Knowing when visibility will be good. Finding the little gullies and rocky areas where life gathers. Knowing when conditions aren't right and going home.

Living in Cornwall, Tom gets plenty of practice. Some days he comes back with something for dinner. Other days he just comes back cold. Both seem to be part of it. And if all else fails, there are always the chickens.