Greeting from Sweden.

    Hi all,


    Quick introduction. I'm a old swimmer, love the sea and feel very organic in the water, but I've have been away from it for some years. Not really a experienced spearo but aspiring to be. :)


    First. Spearfishing is sadly prohibited in my corner of the world which is the main reason as to why I have not come in contact with this part of freediving sooner. I have relatives in Greece and go there annually. This is where I came in contact with under water hunting for the first time. I love it and I can't wait to learn more and to go out on some fishing adventures. Naturally there are very few spearos in Sweden and furthermore, on the east coast, where I reside, we have murky brackish water = pretty bad vizability and not the ultimate setting.


    Problems are to be solved and rules are to be broken and I hope I can go spearfishing also here on my home turf some day. :p


    I'm about to update my setup with some proper gear (mask, fins and in time a wetsuit) and then we'll see about a spear.


    I'm here on the forum to get inspired and to learn and maybe some day I'll be one of the inspirers! :)


    All the best from forum newcomer SubSub.... :)



    Partially a cultural thing I'd say. The countries around the mediterranian sea has a closer relation... or not closer but different relation to the sea. Spending time in the water in the Med. is quite pleasant, whilst here it is so cold we'd rather not go in, exept for a few weeks in the summer.


    The laws regulating UW fishing here in Sweden are pretty old, and they probably has to do with some old lobbyism from the fishing industry and since there is very few people that want to engage in this activity the old relics to laws have remained untouched since the 60s. The speargun falls under weapons legislation instead of fishing / outdoor equipment and therefore you nedd a licence. But they don't give out a license for a speargun unless you are a member of a UW target shooting club, but ofcourse these does not exist since you can not engage in the main purpose -> UW fishing. Furthermore, since a speargun is concidered to be a weapon, it has to have a traceable serial number, which naturally spearguns don't have.


    One funny thing though is that you can go in to nearest outdoors shop and get yourself a license free hardcore compound bow, with which you easily put down a moose! A bit contradictory...


    But as I mentioned earlier, laws are to be broken.. especially the really stupid ones! :D

    Edited 2 times, last by Subsub ().

    Quote from virgili

    In my modest opinion, whatever the place on the blue planet fishing/ sportfishing lobbies should not feel threatened by spearos... heavy weight should'nt not fight a light flyweight;)!!



    I'm of the same opinion, and I hardly think the fishing industry look at the sportfishing / spearos as competition nowadays. Bet it was a bit different back in the days when a lot of people went out fishing to put food on the table and the professional fishermen had equipment far less efficient than the current. It's a thought anyways, dunno about the accuracy of the thought... :)

    It's so interesting to read about other country's spearfishing customs. Welcome and looking forward to reading about your underwater adventures.
    Sergio

    Thnx Sergio.


    Do any of you catch octopus? It's something I like to go after when visiting the Med.
    Ok, I don't use a spear for them, but they give a pretty good fight and it's a nice challenge to spot them.

    Quote

    Do any of you catch octopus


    I,m native from french Riviera...
    you may usually find octopus in shallow waters
    most of the time hidden in a small cave
    best clue to spot this capture is by observing the "octopus garden" in front of the entry made of debris, dead shells... no speargun used but a simple little hook (as well as for lobsters)
    sometimes hard to pull the octopus out of its country
    so you have to surprise because if you miss your first attempt, it could be hard or impossible


    if you'r patient you can bring to eat to this clever animal every day until it trust you
    they do the same things with lobsters... until they attack them at the time they do changing the shell


    my grand father (pro fishermen) had been using to kill giant octopus by strongly bitting it between the two eyes. as a little boy as was fascinated while observing all the tentacles attacking his head !:@
    if you have to eat the capture you must beat all the tentacles on a rock
    incredible tasty grilled or cooked with tomatoe sauce....;)

    Haha, yeah. I have caught quite a few octopus in my days and I love those little creatures, not only to eat them! :) ;)


    I use the same trick as your grandpa, to bite them between the eyes, but I turn the head inside out first. Easier to stun them this way and easier to bite the right place. The octopus don't really die from this, bit it stuns them so you don't have to fight them untill you swim to shore.
    I never used a hook or anything else than my hands to catch them though.


    The way I handle the octopus is to bang it hard on a rock (a 100times/kg) and afterwords rub it thoroughly against a rock and rinse it equally thoroughly to get all the soapy stuff away.


    For me the ultimate cookibg of octopus is to boil it slowly in a pot in just a couple of spoons of water to let the water pull out of the octopus so it can cook in it's own juices. After half an hour or so I pour olive oil and a little vinegar on it and stir it around. Super taste!

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