Posts by sdeisen

  • Sarasota man dies after spearfishing accident

    Quote from Sames

    Not casting judgment on anyone by any means since I wasn't there, but I always stress muzzle awareness with whoever I am diving with, just like it is a firearm. I have witnessed a handful of people accidentally shoot themselves or others with firearms by not using simple proper muzzle awareness and handling, and to me the principle is no different with a speargun.


    A couple years ago I took a dive buddy out, and he was a little bit below and behind me, as we were both on the way up. I heard a click and saw a spear shoot right between my thighs, fortunately it didn't get me but it was only inches away from a possibly lethal femoral artery hit. He said he didn't know what happened, but if he had only had his muzzle pointed down nothing would have been a problem. I ripped him up one side and down the other, and I am extra cautious of muzzle awareness now and who I am diving with. Sounds kinda like the same thing here, sure hope he pulls through.


    Damn, never had anything like that happen. That's wild, I bet your blood was pumping.
    Things like that are why on the one hand it's nice to dive with new people and to help newer divers learn the ropes but on the other hand it can be frustrating. Makes me feel lucky there were people out there with more patience than me when I was getting started.

  • sdeisen little fish reports

    Quote from hatterasfreedvr

    Steven, you should try duck hunting if you are still out that way during the season. Supposed to be some of the best in the US:toast:


    Woooooo don't get me started. I duck hunted literally the entire season. The people I know here have a house boat in the middle of the Atchafalaya and we went every weekend. So many wet, 30 degree mornings. Where the camp is located there are sloughs accessible from the main waterways and basically 0 chance of anyone else hunting there. We would sometimes hunt from the boat, sometimes we would cover the boat and walk in waist deep flooded timber till we found good cypress trees to lean on and wait for the sun to come up. I probably shot off over 200 shotgun shells over the course of the season and I hit one duck :,)


    Well worth every minute and the non resident license and stamp, though.

  • sdeisen little fish reports

    Quote from Sames

    You will love diving Bull Shoals, it has good water clarity and lots of fish. I have always found diving by the dam to be the best visibility on both Beaver and Bull Shoals, and the striper are always by the dam. If you see some foot-long shad darting around you near the surface, be ready. Areas with large rocks and boulders are always go-to spots for big catfish hiding underneath, and bluffs are also hot spots. I'm looking forward to hearing how that trip goes.


    I've recently started dropping a weighted mesh bag full of cut up perch at areas where I am going to be diving, and start diving there after about 15-30 minutes of waiting. I was a little skeptical at first, but I've been surprised at how many shootable fish it brings in. Since lake fishing is hit or miss usually, this has really increased my fish per day ratio. Maybe that will help, good luck.


    That is awesome advice and I really appreciate it. There's not a lot of info out there about diving the lakes and especially little when it comes to doing so while free diving. If you're doing any diving this summer it would be cool to join you, let me know by PM if you ever want to.

  • sdeisen little fish reports


    I knew I remembered there being a member from Arkansas on here.
    I've heard you guys generally have much clearer water up north. I think the same guy and I are going to bull shoals in a couple months.
    Those are big stripers, I might have to make that trip :). I can imagine one of those blasting past you in the haze would give you quite a jolt.

  • sdeisen little fish reports

    Quote from Dan

    Very cool report. Unfortunate you weren't able find spearfishing satisfaction, but nevertheless sounds like a nice experience.


    What gun were you using in this terrible vis?


    Thanks Dan it really was, just for the scenery alone and the diving was actually pretty surreal


    I put together a 90cm with a dangelo 2 handle I've had for a couple years.

  • sdeisen little fish reports

    I dove a tournament in Arkansas last week. It was at lake Ouachita near Hot Springs Arkansas. Besides a very murky trip to Toledo Bend about a month ago it was my first exposure to spearing in freshwater. Hot Springs Arkansas is about a 7 hour drive North of where I am living. Being born and raised in south Florida I get really excited like a little kid seeing the farms, woods and picturesque countryside that surrounds this place. I got roped into doing this tournament by a guy I met through work who is an avid scuba spearfisherman but recently took a freedive class and he's really enthusiastic about freedive spearing. I figured it would be a neat way to see another state and do some much needed diving in the process. Driving through the hills and passing all the summer camps and lodges in the hills leading to the lake you never get the feeling like you are about to be hunting fish underwater. We got to the marina on Friday morning, signed up for the tournament, launched the boat and spent the day scouting and an hour before dark set up our hammocks for the night on one of the lakes islands. Unfortunately the Texas-Louisiana -Arkansas area has been getting a ton of rain this year and just like Toledo a few weeks ago this lake was experiencing (from what I've been told) unusually horrible viz. The lake is pretty large and we found varying degrees of water visibility in diff areas. I don't what youd say in terms of how many feet of vis we had but basically you could not see the end of your gun until you hit the thermocline and then things got remarkably cLear but also dark. Between 35-50 feet things basically got pitch black. My dive buddy and I shared a flashlight taking turns on dives but hunting with a flashlight if your not using it to look in holes is really difficult. Now I wonder if anyone does that with any success. Before going I was dreaming about how I would shoot a giant striper out in the deeper middle of the lake but those hopes got crushed when I realized the visibility situation. My dive buddy mostly wanted to look in the shallows for catfish for the tournament and I hoped to win by finding a walleye . Most of the lake is sheer rock cliffs so he could look along the bank and 20 feet further out I was in 50 feet of water. I managed to shoot a few bass (legal in Arkansas within season but not included in the tournament) and I shot one walleye. It was a long day of many many long dives but much of the time was spent staring into darkness hoping to make out a fish swimming by.
    We finished the day and went to the tournament weigh in. I was pretty confident that I would be the only person who found a walleye. There were 44 participants and I think all of the were on SCUBA. I brought up my little walleye and it was put on the scoreboard. Most of the people got skunked but a few brought up monster catfish that they had trouble holding up. I was feeling good about my chances at the walleye category then some guy brought up one about 3 times the size of mine so we just got in the truck and headed south lol.

  • How much weight should i dive with?

    I wore my new 5mm suit for the first time a few weeks back and in fresh water I needed 8-10 lbs depending on depth (never deeper than 50'). I am about same weight as you but a couple inches taller. I guess you should expect to need at least 10+ lbs in saltwater