Whats your Secret (Technique TALK)

You can save your yesterday's catch guts as today's chum. You don't have to kill a fish to do so.

If sharks are not a serious concern gut and scale your fish as you catch them, it may attract other fish. Depending on what your route is it may be worth while to revisit the spot where you gutted the fish after 15 - 20 minutes.

Quote from Marco

You can save your yesterday's catch guts as today's chum. You don't have to kill a fish to do so.

Spot on, Marco! And as Dan mentioned, gutting fish in the water sometimes brings in other fish. The problem I've faced is that whilst gutting a speared fish, the other fishes tend to swim by too soon!:D

BTW Nick I know full well what it's like to dive fished out areas. I started spearfishing on Cuba's east coast approximately between Havana and Matanzas, swimming from shore where the water is accessible near small towns and through roads constructed for the oil wells, and everyone and their grandmother spearfishes. Sharks would be considered welcome table fare if they would ever show up. Even nurse sharks were game and sea turtles a valuable capture. You could dive all day with nothing to show for it, at other times can get lucky. Very deep divers working in pairs assisted by a rope had the best chance, obviously because they could reach fish others couldn't, and even so could return empty handed. In such conditions the only real trick is to swim out further and dive deeper and longer. Still the only real good captures were made because of certain fish movement patterns. There were distinct times of year for Amberjack and Mutton snapper that I became aware of. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to talk to local fishermen and find out which species run when. Another way to go about it is go to a local fish market and see what's available. But then you spend almost every day in the water anyways so I don't know how much that would help.

In the end you have to just enjoy the diving, though I know it can get frustrating without something to shoot. But that's why I live in south Florida. Anyone here that complains about fish being scarce hasn't seen a really desolate sea. I think the fishery here must be very well managed. I can see no other reason for me being able to take fish every time I go out, even with the hundreds of boats hook and line fishing, spearfishing becoming so popular, and even scuba spearfishing being legal.

Why don't you get a boat and expand your area, look for new spots?

let the locals build you a small outrigger canoe,cheap 'easy and seaworthy...to get you out further.:D

You might actually be able to convince the locals to make a small MPA. (Marine Protected Area)

Try to organize a group and spread the word. My buddy Boy Saldana did this for Nogas Island. They actually enforced it starting back in about 1995, when I was still living there and now, it's got a lot of fish. They realize it works and all strive to keep it that way. If someone came in and dynamited it, it could get ugly.
And in the south, the dynamite boats are usually run by some ex military or some big shot. Assholes. It's a lot of deeply ingrained politics and everyone knows who's doing it. But try and educate your friends up there.
Here's a shot of Nogas from Anani'y Antique. I'll be there in May.

What about building a fad(fish aggregating device)? Hide a couple of bouys and see if that attracks some fish. Set them up at varying depths and see if that helps at all. Just hope the dont get dynamited.

Quote from Hookinfish

What about building a fad(fish aggregating device)? Hide a couple of bouys and see if that attracks some fish. Set them up at varying depths and see if that helps at all. Just hope the dont get dynamited.

That's a bloody brilliant idea! Drop one like El Marco built (he has instructions somewhere around here) in 100ft at least of water and have the floats below the water for secrecy. But I suspect your hunting is like my hunting, more about the hunt than the fish [emoji6]

Quote from Nickmal

Forgive me but I am not familiar with that term. What is a fad and what is it's purpose?

Fish Aggregation Device.
Basically you create structure that fish aggregate around creating a artificial food chain with our target species being at the top of that chain. It is extremely effective.

Quote from Nickmal

Forgive me but I am not familiar with that term. What is a fad and what is it's purpose?

In Hawaii there are large bouys that locals use to fish from. They call them FADs an acronym for fish aggregation device. Usually its just a large bouy but they can get fancy . In the 90s a large cement mixer from a truck was converted into a bouy and a large catamaran was always tied to it. Some big marlin where caught that year along with lots of tuna too. I know some people will place them illegally and keep gps cordinates to fish off of. Ive run into fads out with friends. If your out early enough you can get mahimahi but there is a lot of fish that hang out around them.

FADs do work. We have PVC pipe sticking up from the bottom in just 15 feet of water and it's always got fish around it. However, If the dynamite people will find it, it will be targeted.

The key is to keep the floater below the surface and mark it with a GPS. Jake and I put two in deep water....250 to 300 feet. Within a week, both were gone. We put the one and came back about 8 hours later and found it. But within days....no more. I'm pretty sure someone saw us putting them in and stole them for the rope.

There are some in blue water off the southwest of Panay. We passed by them on the way to Tubbataha a couple years ago.

And Nick, if you put a FAD down with lots of anchor weight, be sure to have a good buddy with you. Dropping the weight overboard can be dangerous. Put all the line out before tossing the weights. Jake and I dropped about 250 lbs of weight with one. No joke if you get tangled and pulled over the side.

FADs can have a large swing zone because of tide and swell. I have seen charts where the buoys where found almost a mile away from the previous time it was located. But I am talking about some very deep spots too.

Some of our FADS are in 10000 ft with a two mile swing radius. But read Marcos guide on FADS its called the poor man FAD, it's shallow, cheap and doable for just about anyone.

Quote from Dude george

Some of our FADS are in 10000 ft with a two mile swing radius. But read Marcos guide on FADS its called the poor man FAD, it's shallow, cheap and doable for just about anyone.

How do you find those? A GPS is only going to get you so close. I guess you use 3 m3 buoys that are brightly colored? No wonder you get all those wahoo. :laughing:

Quote from hank

How do you find those? A GPS is only going to get you so close. I guess you use 3 m3 buoys that are brightly colored? No wonder you get all those wahoo. :laughing:

Here you go Hank. Here is the VV buoy in Hawaii
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/…LUVi9GNQ/s/700/004013.jpg

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/…/Hawaii-Buoy-FAD-0003.jpg

Quote from hank

How do you find those? A GPS is only going to get you so close. I guess you use 3 m3 buoys that are brightly colored? No wonder you get all those wahoo. :laughing:

We get out to a coordinate, throw over a bucket on a float and watch the drift, say it's pulling east we concentrate search to the east Hank. Every time we find it we mark it, this gives us a fair idea of its swing radius. Ours have a series of floats not one big float, in our Atlantic one would get pulled under. So it's usually made up of around 7 barrel or drum like floats spaced apart so as the current increases only so many floats go under. Our far FADS are 50-60 miles into the Atlantic. Sometimes we don't find one and move on to search for the next.