How to Start Spearfishing

The simplest way to start spearfishing “Noob Spearo style” is to keep your gear and goals basic, focus hard on safety and freediving fundamentals, and plug into a local club or mentor so you are never learning alone. A small, simple setup plus structured learning and community will shortcut years of frustration.​

Step 1: Get the right basic gear

For your first 6–12 months, a minimal beginner setup is enough: a simple railgun in the 80–100 cm range (or shorter in dirty/shallow water), a basic float/flag with a rigline, and a speed spike or stringer for your fish. Noob Spearo’s “101 Spearfishing Beginner Setup” breaks down this exact configuration and explains why avoiding complicated reels and accessories makes life much easier for new divers.​

Add a comfortable low-volume mask, snorkel, long-blade fins, a suitable-thickness wetsuit for your local water, a rubber weight belt with small increments of lead, and a simple knife for safety and dispatching fish. The goal is neutral buoyancy at 8–10 m so that you float on the surface – this means you will be safe and relaxed (especially while learning).​

*Don’t buy your first lot of spearfishing gear online, go into a dedicated spearfishing retailer (like Adreno) and meet people who spearfish themselves. They will make sure you get the right gear!

Step 2: Build freediving and safety first

Before worrying about big fish, learn to freedive properly: relaxation, efficient duck dives, streamlining, equalization and safe surface intervals. A reputable freediving course (preferably taught by a spearo or an Instructor who understands spearfishing) will teach safety skills such as rescue techniques, black-out awareness, and proper breathing habits.​ Another great way to learn these skills is to join a pool training group like the Brisbane Bullsharks as they drill safety and fitness activities that are highly relevant to spearfishing.

In general, get in the swimming pool with your fins, mask and snorkel and get used to moving through the water, duckdiving and finning. This is a HUGE skill to learn before jumping in the ocean.

Adopt a strict buddy system from day one: one up/one down, eyes on each other, pre-dive plans for max depth, time, and turn-around points. Episodes like “101 Freediving for Spearfishing” and the Noob Spearo safety-focused shows walk through real incidents and best practice so you can avoid common beginner mistakes.​

Step 3: Learn where and how to start diving

For your first hunts, pick sheltered, easy-access spots: the protected side of a headland, lee of an island, or calm beach reef with low swell and minimal current. Noob Spearo’s shore-dive guide recommends using tools like Google Earth to check reef structure, plan safe entries/exits, and then cross-check conditions (wind, swell, visibility, boat traffic) with local knowledge before committing.​

Stay shallow (under 5m at first) and focus on simple species that don’t spook too easily, like reef fish in your local area, rather than chasing pelagics or deeper dives. Treat each session as practice in good entries, quiet surface swimming, basic bomb dive hunting and safe ascents, rather than purely as a ‘I have to shoot a fish’ session.​

Step 4: Plug into Noob Spearo resources

Noob Spearo maintains an up-to-date “Get Started Spearfishing Guide” page that links all their beginner articles, podcasts and checklists in one place. From there, you can jump into key 101 episodes covering beginner setup, shore diving, freediving, buddy protocols, plus “first year” lessons other divers wish they had known.​

Their long-form posts like “6 Essential Spearfishing Beginner Tips” and “What I Learned in My First Year Spearfishing” reinforce the same themes: take a freediving course, find a mentor or club, understand your local rules, and keep your ego in check while you build a foundation. As you progress, training resources like “Training for Spearfishing” and retreat/course episodes offer ideas for structured practice and trips.​

Step 5: Join a club, mentor or course

Finding a spearfishing club or experienced diver to learn from is one of Noob Spearo’s top recommendations for new spearos, because it accelerates learning and keeps you safer. Spearfishing clubs, Facebook groups, and local dive shops are suggested as the best places to meet mentors, get spot-specific advice, and do your “apprenticeship” in a supportive environment.​

If you want more structured help, Noob Spearo-branded beginner and intermediate spearfishing courses (for example, Straddie trips in QLD) combine classroom, pool and ocean sessions to step people through gear, safety, hunting techniques and local conditions. These trips and courses are designed to turn absolute beginners into confident, competent spearos while avoiding the scary near-misses many self-taught divers experience.​

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-Shrek