Nicole Freediving Spearfishing in South Florida/ Hogfish, Lobster Grabbing, Huge Tarpon Schools! HD

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• published: 22 Dec 2015
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This is a mix of my Freediving/ Spearfishing footage for the past year. Hogfish, grouper, lobsters, schools of tarpon, and lots of hand-grabbing lobsters! All Pole Spear. It goes through a season of the cooler months of 2014, through 2015, with Summer diving where I could dive for 5 hours straight with no wetsuit and still feel toasty...which is awesome!. I've only been diving/spearing for about a year, so it shows some of my progression. I will make a shorter version, but here are my favorite moments: 11:20, and on, my little fish army follows me, then I shoot a mangrove snapper 21:57, Lessons learned that day, was in 40+/- feet with super strong current and no float line to my spear. Off a friends boat. Was such a struggle to go against current to get down to one spot...I shot a black margate in a hole, pulled him out, then had to let him got because I was struggling to get to surface and played it safe by letting my spear go. It was actually so exhausting fighting the current that day, just to stay in one place, so you couldn't get your breath holds up, that it took each of us 3 times to try to get the spear back (the fish had swam it back into the hole I pulled him out of). I finally got to it, but not after a nurse shark ate the fish off the spear inside that hole afterwards (you can see the shark going after it in slow-mo right after I shot him). 22:43 LOBSTER GRABBING section, a lot of it :) --- I found this sport on my own, and have spent hours researching info/watching others videos, and holding my breath on my couch, lol. I did some things the harder way initially, hence you will notice I'm wearing wetsuits with no weight belt (didn't even own one yet). I did that the whole first cold season lol, it was really hard to stay underwater being so buoyant and hunt/shoot fish, but I worked it out! I left a lot of full clips that may not seem so eventful, but for me it really represents a lot of what is the reality of (at least my experience in) freediving/spearfishing. For me, it's 90%+ about the beauty, the freedom, the moments, the nature, being in harmony, witnessing another world full of life, and then there is the hunting aspect that comes in after, and doesn't conflict with the other appreciations. When I spear and kill a fish, or a lobster, anything...I respect that life and that it is suffering so much, and I want that to show in every way I handle that creature. Then to be as humane as possible even in how they are killed (quickly). It is not lost on me that until I came along, that creature was living a life, and that it ended so I could be nourished, and I always give my thanks and respect. On a side note, it always "bugs" me a little (pun intended, lol) when people throw around lobsters like they are not alive and experiencing misery, I even kill them (knife through head) before I twist their tails off so they don't experience a slow death. I just like to share these ideas, because I think as the evolved species that is hunting, we can be conscious about how we end something's life, unlike the rest of the animal kingdom that can't. Just sharing my 2 cents here :) To each their own though. You might notice..I don't "only" hunt big, impressive, trophy fish (to say the least! lol). 99% of these dives were from walking to the beach carrying my gear, and swimming offshore a couple hundreds yards out to the 1st reef. There is a lot of spectacular life out here, but I can easily dive a few hours and only come across a few good fish. I'm out there to have fun, dinner is a bonus, and I don't have any ego about the size...my attitude is that I'm grateful to have it and it's going to be delicious fried up. Heck…small means will fit right in the pan- whole! Yummy! lol. Yes, I often dive solo. I made sure I was knowledgeable in enough ways to minimize the biggest risks, and the rest of the risk I accept. I NEVER push my breath holds while diving. I would ONLY do that with someone watching me directly, knowing I'm pushing it, in case I blacked out. I dive within my comfort zone, I won't risk trying to hold a little longer, a little longer, just for that fish...because I understand there is no forgiveness in that kind of error, if you end up blacking out. So I listen to my body and surface before I really need to, I pay attention to the time I'm down. Boats are the other thing I look out for constantly, and then the sharks...but it's not sharky around here at all (very rare to see other than a nurse). I tie off my float and keep my fish there, they're only on my hip for a short time. Thanks for watching! May everyone get to be able to get out and do something they love! - Nicole - tags, Bimini lobster spear fish fishing spearfishing, hog, stonefish, night, lobster, tarpon, hawaiian sling spear, pole spear, spearfish, ocean, girl, sexy, bikini, reef, freedive, snorkel, fish, snapper, underwater, freediving, Nicole d'Aiguillon, girl, women, sharks, shark, diving, free dive, woman