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There's an old Greek saying among spearos that says "You can tell a spearo by his catch". That's a bit harsh, no? What about the adventure, the fun? Nope, the fish are all that matters for the hardcore spearfishing enthusiasts. How can one find them though? Alchemy partner, YouTube & Tik Tok sensation Aquatic Apes, looks into one of the most sought-after things in spearfishing; how to find new spots. Check out his 5 tips on how to nail those new locations and go home with a full cooler.
The best way to find new spearfishing spots is to have somebody show you. The easiest but most expensive way is to hire a spearfishing charter. Kind of self-explanatory, you pay somebody and they take you to good spots. A cheaper but a little bit more time-consuming way is to network. You can meet people at your local spearfishing spot or on Facebook groups or at a local spearfishing club. Get to know the people and if you're lucky, if they like you, maybe they'll take you out with them.
Another thing that I do when I'm out on the water is, if I see locals fishing somewhere I'll make a mental note in my mind as to where they're fishing, and then later when they're not there I'll go back and check it out. You can't just see somebody fishing and then go to exactly where they are and hop in the water, right in front of their fishing rod with your speargun, because they'll probably be upset by that. When you do find a spot, whether somebody shows it to you, or you pay a charter to show you, you can try to remember where it is in your mind or you can save it on a GPS. You don't have to buy a GPS, some dive computers like the Garmin have a GPS function where you push one button and it's saved but you don't even need that, all you need is your cell phone. You can go to Navionics on your cell phone or, I think there are a few other apps, Navionics to use on your phone, I think it costs like ten dollars a lifetime for a map, and basically, you push a button and it saves the location. You also don't need cell service, I don't know how it works but even if there's no service, the GPS will always work.
And another way, which is probably the least efficient, is to go to an underwater map, like Navionics, and you can do it on your phone, or you can do it for free on your computer, and just look on the map, look for changes in depths like maybe an underwater boulder or some sort of a drop-off or a pinnacle, and find it, pin it and go look there and probably check a couple of times, because on any given day, it could be an amazing fishing spot but there could be no fish there.