Aquatic Rehab TV’s How To Spearfish Video Series
This brand new How To Spearfish Video Series is live and available now on Vimeo On Demand.
If you would like the discount code then scroll down to the bottom of the article.
The five videos available so far from Aquatic Rehab TV cover spearfishing equipment, spearfishing with sharks, two spearfishing hunting technique videos for both reef and pelagic species and also a guide to increasing your breath-hold. Here is an overview of the series plus a discount for the Noob Spearo community.
A Bit About Luke
A while ago we interviewed Luke Potts from Aquatic Rehab TV. I learned that he is a well traveled and prolific spearo who fully loves spearing. Along the way he’s been making spearfishing videos and has built a significant community of budding spearos who watch his videos. After being prodded and asked many questions about hunting fish, breath-hold, spearfishing with sharks and all the myriad of issues that confront spearos, Luke decided to have a serious crack at answering all of these questions in a systematic fashion. This is when the idea for the How To Spearfish video series was born.
Taking the many queries and sorting them into groups helped him to separate the biggest issues into 5 topics.
- Spearfishing Equipment
- Breath-hold
- Spearfishing Around Sharks
- Spearfishing Smart Reef Species
- Spearfishing Pelagic Species
While there is some information available about these subjects online, Luke deals with each in depth and packs a hell of a lot of experience, research, and proven tips & techniques into each video.
Spearfishing Equipment
This video surprised me. It was the first video of the series I watched and in one hour I learned several things and had a few of my ideas about equipment challenged. Luke is not sponsored by any of the major brands and so the information is biased only by his personal experience. While he does talk about his preferences for every piece of equipment from head to toe, he also explains why he prefers these items over others. Its a video I wish I had watched starting out – it would have saved me lots of time, pain and wasted money in the long term. I think the cost of this video is next to nothing compared with what you will save in terms of both lost opportunities/discomfort and wasted time and money.
Breath-hold
Like Noob Spearo, Luke receives lots of questions about extending breath hold from his community. Many of the YouTube videos and information that is available online is too brief and fails to give developing spearos enough information to make good decisions. Books likes Pelizzaris ‘Manual of Freediving’ are also not immediately useful due to their sheer size and scope. Also, spearfishing is not freediving, its underwater hunting using freediving techniques and so a spearos approach to freediving must be different.
I really like this video because its punchy and has a good thorough coverage of the basics. Safety is covered in a practical manner and Luke pulls spearos back to look at spearfishing from a broader perspective. I really liked the approach he takes to introducing divers to being effective within their current diving limits. He encourages slow progression rather than the misleading techniques encouraged by some videos available online.
This might sound like a downer but his advice can help you to be a very good hunter within your current breath-hold capability while giving you some ideas and techniques to slowly improve your breath-hold at the same time. Highly recommend.
Key Takeaways for me;
- Grade yourself relaxation technique – highly practical for every level of spearo
- Developing hunting techniques within your capabilities + why this is an advantage
- Thinking about reducing oxygen consumption through good technique (duck-dive, finning etc)
Spearfishing Around Sharks
The number one fear for many is sharks. People want to know;
- What do I do when I see one?
- If a shark charges me, what should I do?
- When is a shark dangerous and how do I avoid this?
- Will I see sharks? How dangerous are they?
In our interview with Luke all the way back in episode 9 of the Noob Spearo Podcast I labeled him as a Bronze Whaler Magnet and if you see some of his videos you will see why. In many of the Aquatic Rehab TV videos you will see Bronze Whalers, Mako Sharks and occasionally other species. He’s also traveled and spearfished widely so he has a good understanding of other shark species that can be encountered such as Bull Sharks, Tiger Sharks, Hammerheads and reef sharks.
In this sharks video guide there is a solid grounding of techniques and tips for dealing with shark fear. Healthy doses of personal stories as well as advice about burley, body language (both yours and the sharks) and some good common sense rules to use in sharky circumstances. If you want to learn more about sharks and how spearos deal with them, this is the best resource available that I know of.
Bronze Whaler Shark visiting his old mate Luke
Spearfishing Hunting Technique – Reef Species
In each Noob Spearo Podcast we ask spearfishing experts and authorities from all over the world what their hunting techniques are as its a crucial skill set for spearos to develop. Luke takes the challenge to present the information seriously, so this section is loaded with tips, facts and research presented with slides, video and narrative to give viewers a fully engaging experience.
Despite talking about targeting the Australasian Snapper this info can be used to target canny and cagey reef species in many parts of the world. The diagrams showing current, reef and structure and how these variables affect fish behavior are phenomenal. Some of the stuff is basic bananas but I can guarantee that 98% of spearos will learn more than a few things watching this video.
Spearfishing Hunting Technique – Yellowtail Kingfish
Like the Snapper video this pelagic guide focusing on New Zealand’s Yellowtail Kingfish is highly informative. Returning to a multi-media presentation style, Luke delivers an in-depth guide featuring fish biology, behavior and habitat. Along with this, he identifies common pelagic fish vulnerabilities to spearfishing, including effective hunting techniques and the mistakes that many make while pursuing them. His approach is grounded in experience followed by research and employs best practice according to what he has observed and experienced for himself.
Look out for;
- Lateral line system
- Shot placement – fish biology breakdown
- School behavior vs lone fish behavior
- Mindset and body language
If I was starting spearfishing all over again I would invest in these videos. I would focus on starting with the video that could help me with my biggest obstacle.
The Discount:)
Luke has offered a discount to the Noob Spearo community!
Use the code noobspearo to save 10% on any videos you purchase:)
[maxbutton id=”3″ url=”https://vimeo.com/ondemand/howtospearfish/249056455″ text=”Check out the Trailer here” ]
If you would like to hear some more free spearfishing tips and advice + more information about the video series. Listen to our recent chat called ‘5 Tips To Shorten your Spearfishing Learning Curve’
Connect with Luke at Aquatic Rehab Spearfishing on;
[maxbutton id=”3″ url=”https://www.noobspearo.com/noob-spearo-podcast/5-spearfishing-tips/” ]
noobspearo Promo no longer valid
Thanks Kieran! I had no idea and haven’t checked to see if it was still active