Interview with Sam Clothier – The Wet Mammal

Today’s episode is with Sam Clothier of the Wet Mammal channel on Youtube! From the UK and now based in Sydney, he’s a very interesting dude, quite well traveled and absolutely froths on spearing! He makes great underwater content, has done a Hike and Spear video series and his latest series is called “Spearfishing The Undesirables” where he tries and tastes the so called “undesirable” fish species to see if they’re terrible or if everyone is missing out on some hidden gems, examples include Bonito, Longfin Pike, the Old Wife and the Southern Fusilier to name a few. How to hunt them, prepare them and make them taste great! We also chat about Sam’s own spearfishing journey and how he spent many years consistently hyperventilating before a dive, training advice and some actionable tips for Noob Spearos! An awesome guy and a great chat, we hope you enjoy this episode! Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

• 00:14 Introduction
• 02:48 Hello and welcome Sam!
• 3:19 Wind ruining viz in South East Queensland – diving the tweed river
• 04:16 Diving in structure and out of the way of dropping rocks
• 05:45 Who are you and where do you come from?

• 06:50 Starting to spearfish
• 07:50 Using scuba gear for spearfishing: Knife and fin advice
• 08:45 Starting scuba and doing a PADI course
• 10:44 Scuba vs Freediving physical demands
• 11:30 What obstacles did you encounter?
• 12:07 Not equalizing
• 13:34 Hyperventilating
• 14:33 Why is it bad?
• 15:18 How did you stop?
• 16:54 CO2 training
• 18:03 What other training do you do?
• 18:41 Spearfishing bit you hard
• 21:00 What makes you choose not to shoot a particular fish?
• 21:35 What are “forgivable sins” for new spearos? Shooting illegal fish, bag limits and size limits?

• 24:09 What’s it like in the UK and Sydney? Closed seasons and closed areas
• 25:58 What about looking for fish identification on social media?
• 28:00 Hierarchy of spearfishing species
• 28:50 Spearfishing South Africa – Piet Van Rooyen and books for spearfishing
• 29:49 What’s your favourite fish to hunt?
• 30:57 How have you learnt to target that fish?
• 31:58 Hiding your eyes?
• 32:50 Fish are getting smarter
• 33:40 Tough situations?
• 34:00 Entering in big surf?
• 36:25 Being underwater vs on top
• 37:07 Risk vs spending more time
• 38:33 Currents around islands and bays
• 39:30 “Can anyone show me the ropes?”
• 40:40 Bribe your local club with a 6 pack
• 42:20 Freediving/Spearfishing courses – should I take one? What should I be able to do before taking one?
• 44:50 Freediving vs Spearfishing courses, basic knowledge
• 46:28 The entry barrier to spearfishing – how best to start? Reduce the complications in the water
• 48:00 What should a new diver buy first?
• 50:00 Spending the least money on a mask
• 51:50 Fins
• 53:00 Weight belt?
• 54:30 Ok, now you’re ready to shoot fish, now what? Buying a speargun
• 56:40 Biggest takeaways and that excitement of shooting your first fish species
• 58:25 What if you have a bit of cash?
• 59:55 How did you get your advice and gear?
• 61:01 Find a SHOP, don’t buy online. The local networking is worth it
• 61:55 Where else can you go for info? And joining a club

• 65:00 Funny stories
• 66:00 Controversial hunting technique
• 69:00 Spearo Q&A
  • Best piece of advice
  • Dream location and fish
  • Best resources
  • The spearfishing experience to you
• 71:02 Thank you Sam and outro

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Important Links

• Wet Mammal on Instagram
• Wet Mammal on Productions on Facebook
• Wet Mammal on Youtube
• Spearfishing South Africa – Piet Van Rooyen 
• Noob Spearo Facebook Community
• Noob Spearo Instagram