Interview with Eckart Benkenstein
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Episode 81 is all things Crayfish aka Lobster. We learn about finding them, approaching them, grabbing them and even killing and cooking them. If you haven’t started catching crayfish yet then this is a great place to start. This interview is also our longest one and its for good reason as Eckart takes us all over the place. We discuss good boating practices, hunting tactics, equipment pro’s and con’s and find out about his early days spearfishing in South Africa. This is a cool chat with a great bloke who lives, dives and works in the Melbourne area alongside previous guest, Sven Franklin. If you are interested in helping Eckart out with his drive to collect wetsuits for his South African waves for change project, please look further below for details.
00:00 Shout outs and spearfishing news
04:30 Getting started in Namibia. Early beginnings chasing crayfish and starting to see fish.
11:00 First fish with borrowed gear
16:00 Obstacles. Learning weather and conditions. Poor habits with surface intervals and lessons learned.
24:00 Spearfishing boats – keeping divers safe and being a good boatie
37:50 Memorable fish story – White Mussel Cracker
46:00 Spearfishing hunting techniques
Catching Crayfish with Eckart
51:45 Veterans Vault – how to find and hunt crayfish or lobster
- Where can people find out more about their crayfishery?
- What equipment do you need for catching crayfish?
- How do you find them? How do you find a good hole?
- How do you position yourself for grabbing a crayfish?
- How do you grab them?
- How big do they get there in Melbourne?
- How do you cook them?
- Discussion about storing them, killing them, and parboiling
- Hole diving and looking after each other
85:00 What has been your funniest experience out spearfishing?
88:00 What is in your dive bag from head to toe?
- Huge discussion on spearfishing equipment
105:00 Spearo Q&A
- Can you describe what the spearfishing experience means to you in one sentence?
- What is the single best piece of advice you’ve been given for spearfishing?
- Who has been the most influential person or people in your spearfishing?
- During your 15 years of spearfishing, what is the single biggest lesson?
- If you could go spearfishing anywhere and had an unlimited budget, where would you go?
Find Eckhart on Social Media at Salt Session Freediving
Waves for change – wetsuit donations wanted for South Africa. Drop them at Adreno stores in Melbourne
Noob Spearo Partners + some spearfishing discounts
- Adreno Spearfishing – Buy your spearfishing equipment here. Use the code NOOBSPEARO save $20 on every purchase over $200 at checkout.
- HECS – Top of the line spearfishing suits incorporating uniquely patented technology to help you get closer to marine life. Listen to our full Q&A with Warren Bird to learn more about the latest in spearfishing innovation.
- Audible.com Get a free audiobook along with a 30 day trial. Listen to 99 Tips to Get Better at Spearfishing or James Nestors ‘Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and what the ocean tells us about ourselves’ free here
- Spearing Magazine Subscribe to the best spearfishing magazine in the world
- Penetrator Fins Use the code noobspearo to save $20 on the full Penetrator Spearfishing Fin Range here. Check out the latest in spearfishing fin technology
- HowToFreedive.com Use the code noobspearo to save 20%
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