Questions about spearing from a boat

Take turns driving has more advantages. That way the driver can see approaching boats, you can cover more area and mark new spots as you swim over them just to name some.

When someone shoots a fish it is their turn to drive.

i think that Davie is right on the money...there are many times to deviate from that plan, but it is the most commonly followed one i know...as you begin and will have non boaters with you, it is not a great idea to have them handling the boat alone...also, you may start at smaller patch reefs and want to work the area for a little while. these are fine times to anchor and drop everyone. I find that for drift diving I love to be the first on the boat so I can glean the info from the first divers... Ihave also missed a lot of easy fish to the first guys too

generally have a vigilant group of dive buddies and huge dive flag and take it safely..if there is high boat traffic, keep a driver on board at all times for safety.

What Davie said except for that whoever shoots a fish gets to drive. That way the worst hunter gets to spend the most time in the water while the best most productive hunters get punished :nono: It's better to go by spots, driver changes every time you move to a new spot. Or every 20 minutes if you spend a lot of time in one place. The best of course is to have a dedicated driver. You could share your fish with them as incentive, I think it's totally worth it.

Just anchor and jump in... If its rough, stay close to the boat. If you're being super safe, after tossing the hook, set it manually by diving down to it and burying it.

If you want to drift dive with no one in the boat, deploy two 50ft lines off the back of the boat and have the divers hanging on to them with one diver hanging on at all times (this is a must!!).

I never understood the point of someone circling you while you dive unless you're at a spot where you're only going to take 10 minutes... seems to me like a waste of gas and a waste of a diver. Just anchor and everyone get in the water

Why don't you ever listen to what more experienced divers have to say Ben :rolleye2:

Where we dive, we generally don't anchore because the boat driver often has to defend the diver from other boat traffic. Not just the stupid ones, but also from non-divers who see the dive flag and try to get as close as possible to mark the GPS numbers of the wreck. Days like that make me glad that our boat is built like an ice breaker.

its not that I dont listen to them. I just think that for my style of diving in which I have my spots already marked and explored, that style of diving works best for me. Maybe if you're trying to find new spots, then you will need to do that.

I like to keep it simple and easy.

We do a mix of both, sometimes we anchor and sometimes we take turns driving. Like Ben said if we hit a known spot that is usually shallow we anchor and all jump in. But when diving deeper, hitting weedlines or a strong current and covering a large area we take turns at the helm, there is no sense on having a diver swim a strong current to get to the boat. Also if we are changing spots whoever gets to the boat first pick everyone else. Dan's idea on having a full time driver is real good so sometimes we invite a non diving or hook and line fisherman to stay in the boat. One thing very important is that we make sure that everybody knows how to start the boat, use the radio and operate the bilge pumps and safety stuff, especially if is someone fishing with us for the first time.

Make sure to emphasize the boat won't start out of neutral.

Nothing like hearing the driver saying the boat wont start as it float further and further away.

Instruct people new to boating to throw anchor if they can't start the boat. Seems obvious but it didn't occur to me until I was told.

Anchoring is fine if the area you're going to dive is small and/or there is no current. Most of the time there will be current which reduces your ability to hunt the area effectively since you always have to make sure you have enough juice to swim back to the boat.

I find that swimming up current first to be assured an easy return to the boat doesn't make for good hunting. Breathing up properly is impossible when you're kicking against current, so you do a half assed job of hunting the area you managed to cover up current. Then on the easier return it seems like nothing is going to be there any more. If the boat is anchored I take my chances with swimming down current, but getting back can be a stressful affair.

A good driver eliminates all these problems. You can drift the same area more than once and be productive.

Have someone volunteer to drive first then fifteen minutes or fish in dictates the next diver in. On my boat I usually volunteer first, gives me chance to tidy up everyones mess:rolleyes1:. I prefer this method as not everyone make a good anchor bitch, and you cover ALOT more ground. Also keeping eyes on the horizon for other boats and hell you may even see something worth checking on the depth sounder.