Spearfishing report

Went out friday from 7am to 6 pm spearfishing and freediving in Barnegat Inlet and the bay. Tried to dive off the dike but the vis was horrible. took two shots on 2 15lb bass in the inlet and missed both or misjudged the distance.

Lots of BIG tog and bergalls everywhere, small fluke as well in the sand. We ended up bagging up on blueclaws, ended with a total of probably 3 dozen give or take a few, 4 1/2 to 7 inches in size in 3 hours of diving.

Saw one tagged blueclaw, tried to grab it but it took off. Cant wait for tog season to roll around, togzillas everywhere in the inlet. Found 4 or 5 sinkers and rigs as well that went in the catch bag. Now I know every frickin snag in Barnegat inlet too :p



Smitty, can I get a spearfishing reports sticky?

and here I thot you were gonna say you had a used rod and vs reel. glad you are having fun!
i didn't know there was a blue claw tagging program,,hmm.

Rick..stillcasting wrote:and here I thot you were gonna say you had a used rod and vs reel. glad you are having fun!
i didn't know there was a blue claw tagging program,,hmm.

If I can find another one Im gonna bring it up and get a picture and more info. I didnt realize the tag was attached to a crab, when I went to pick it up off the sand the damn thing swam away.


To keep myself busy its gonna be spearfishing for most of the summer along with scuba diving and fishing the surf and back bays for kingies, tog, croaker, etc.

Are you free diving or tank diving? Either way I am very interested in both. I have been thinking about picking up a new mask and getting in shape to free dive a bit, just have a lack of motivation. Same thing with getting dive certified. Gone diving with a mini tank once with a dive shop and full tank once with a local in the Bahamas and had a blast.

yea the crab tags theres 2 diffrent colors one is pink and worth 5bucks the other is yellow i think and is worth 20bucks you send them back and get money.

Never been spearfishing want to someday though. Same with diving.

first2wins wrote:Are you free diving or tank diving? Either way I am very interested in both. I have been thinking about picking up a new mask and getting in shape to free dive a bit, just have a lack of motivation. Same thing with getting dive certified. Gone diving with a mini tank once with a dive shop and full tank once with a local in the Bahamas and had a blast.

I strictly freedive when I spearfish inshore. the hiss of an open circuit regulator underwater spooks stripers and if I need to get out quick I dont want to be hampered by tanks.




7/8 report -


Had to work in Barnegat yesterday so after I got done work I hit the inlet with SIC wit it spotting for me. Walked up to find about 15 other people spearing as well. Hit the inlet first and drifted with the outgoing tide, water was a bit weedy, made most of my dives in 15-20 feet of water. Dropped in on a huge school of stripers, all too small to shoot. Saw a good 15 lb bass and took a shot and missed him. Also saw a keeper fluke out and about over the rocks and mussel beds, lined up a shot and he took off on me before I could even pull the trigger.
Still monster tog everywhere in the inlet, 8 days AAAGH.



Hit my crab spot and ended up with 1 shy of 6 dozen blueclaws. Crab feast last night was excellent, and SIC wit it is now ready to hit the water with me after watching me for 3 hours yesterday.

yea the crab tags theres 2 diffrent colors one is pink and worth 5bucks the other is yellow i think and is worth 20bucks you send them back and get money

Dammit..... :p

What are you doing with 60 crabs??? Stocking your freezer?? Is there no limit to the amount you can take?

Minivin5 wrote:What are you doing with 60 crabs??? Stocking your freezer?? Is there no limit to the amount you can take?

Limit is one bushel up here. I know 60 is nowhere near a bushel though.

Wow, so how were they, tasty I bet

Minivin5 wrote:Wow, so how were they, tasty I bet

Old bay and beer.... we deepfried some with garlic too.


Ill tell ya what though Im surprised I had as many as I did, I have to really pick through the females with eggs. When I dive for them they're either tucked under rocks or buried in the sand next to rocks so I have to scare them up before I stick em with the spear to make sure they dont have eggs.