Interview with Lisa Ferrier Rafkin
Today’s interview is with Lisa Ferrier Rafkin, a badass and frothing speara that holds 15 women’s world records! Join us as we chat about her journey in spearfishing, her struggles, memorable fish and some great tips for hunting pelagic fish species and staying safe! She is part of the Sea of Love Foundation where she teaches children to spearfish! She is clearly exceptionally talented at spearfishing and although she hasn’t been doing it for very long, she has a lot that you can learn from when it comes to technique, overcoming challenges and caring for your catch. The species on her list are things like Bluefin Tuna, Roosterfish and big yellow tail to name a few, if you are interested in hunting bigger game fish this is a great episode to listen to!
Important times:
- 00:13 Intro
- 05:12 Hello and welcome! Tell us about the Sea Of Love Foundation
- 06:19 You are softhearted in the day and a badass spearfisher at night! You have 15x women’s world records!
- 08:12 What draws you to the ocean?
- 08:57 Your work takes a toll on you, is spearfishing a type of therapy for you?
- 10:28 What’s your earliest spearfishing memory?
- 12:24 You started a new sport at a late age, how did you find the process of starting new?
- 14:21 Starting with very competent people can be intimidating
- 15:56 I got my first blue water gun in 2016 after a lot of diving
- 17:41 What is a “paddy”? If there’s a bird on it, it’s a good sign!
- 18:46 What size are we talking?
- 20:10 How do you approach a paddy?
- 21:23 Explain the hunting around a paddy
- 22:23 Undersized yellowtail “rats”
- 23:17 What does ethical spearfishing mean to you?
- 24:30 Your awareness of the ethics become nuanced as you develop in your spearfishing
- 28:05 What was it like learning to freedive at 52?
- 29:32 Duck dive technique is a huge thing
- 30:23 What’s the first hunt that stands out in your memory?
- 32:17 Have you had a problem with shot placement with bigger yellowtail?
- 33:45 Loading a speargun
- 35:31 Sometimes you need to struggle
- 37:44 Dealing with excitement when you find a great fish
- 39:42 The missed opportunities keep you coming back
- 40:27 Pulling fish in on your shooting line, it takes practice
- 42:14 Dorado/mahi mahi really test you and your team
- 43:14 As a novice hunting Bluefin Tuna, what advice do you have?
- 46:31 Watch where your line is!
- 47:08 Are you using a clutch setup? Yes!
- 48:53 Do Bluefin dive deep when they get scared?
- 52:42 What tough/scary situations have you had? Getting wrapped in line
- 54:56 Sharks!
- 59:05 Black Sea Bass
- 59:57 People wonder how we can love animals so much and still hunt and eat them
- 01:03:06 Equipment: Riffe speargun and wetsuit
- 01:04:23 I don’t use a low volume mask, my scuba mask just fits perfectly and I have problems with all the low volume makes I’ve used
- 01:07:00 Do you do any pool training?
- 01:08:10 Getting a little extra depth opens up bigger fish and the problem with comparison in spearfishing
- 01:10:06 Dive within your limits and shallow water blackouts
- 0:11:24 When I take people to hunt bigger fish I make sure they keep there surface to diving ratio good
- 01:14:37 Funny stuff!
- 01:16:53 Lessons learned for drift diving
- 01:17:41 Shooting a 56lb Roosterfish and almost losing all my gear
- 01:19:08 What do they taste like?
- 01:19:53 Bluefin tuna: caring and processing is different than for other fish
- 01:22:02 Dry aging fish
- 01:24:49 Treating fish well is an important thing
- 01:26:37 Spearo Q&A
- Single best tip: using pink bands, seriously! It attracts fish!
- Who’s been the most influential person in your spearfishing?
- If you had to start spearfishing all over again, what would you do differently?
- Describe what the spearfishing experience means to you.
- 01:30:30 Where can people find you on social media?
- 01:31:58 Outro
Listen in and subscribe on iOS or Android https://link.chtbl.com/Download_This_Episode
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