Slow Summer Spearing

Every Summer the weather gets hot and there are sometimes weeks on end where the fish seem to all but disappear while the number of boats and people on the water triples.
Your normal fishing spots become over run by families on vacation and weekend warriors who’ve finally gotten their week off a year to go fishin’ with 1000 of their new best friends on the not so secret spots that are printed on the chart.
Its time to get a little bit more creative and find some diving that keeps you sane.
The main problems for diving and fishing in the summer are the heat, and the crowds. With the warmer water moving in most species that we hunt tend to move farther offshore to cooler waters and deeper at the same time. Also with the warmer and calmer weather everyone who owns a boat seems to find their way out on the water and it makes for more dangerous (so many more propellors and idiots in boats) and challenging diving with the added pressure of so much traffic.

To avoid these problems your best solution is to go somewhere else, go farther out, go deeper, or don’t go at all.
If you’re like most everyone though who doesn’t own a boat that looks like this and have $1000 to spend on fuel a week you need to find another idea to make diving in the summer work for you.

Summertime means long hot summer days so you need to use this to your advantage. Whereas in Winter you might only have 8 hours of daylight you now have upwards of 12-14 depending on where you live. Take advantage of it!
Let the hoards of people go out early in the morning and chase each other all over the ramp and up and down the beach. Sleep in, have breakfast with the family, grab a lite lunch for the boat and get going towards the middle of the day when they are already exhausted and starting to head in. If the sun sets at 8 at night most people will be done fishing by 3 or 4 and heading back to the dock, hot, tired and ready to have a beer. This leaves your dive spots wide open and quiet on the surface while down below the fish are just starting to come back out again for the nightly feed. As it gets cooler and darker the fishing will get better and you’ll have the place to yourself. You can still get a full 6 hours of diving in and won’t have to fight the crowds at the docks and on the wrecks or reefs.
If you are planning on coming back in the dark, remember to mark the center of the channel every few hundred yards or at every turn on your way out on the GPS so that you can comfortably follow your track back in the dark if you decide to stay out until the sun sets.

Go deeper… Go Dolphin
Summertime means Dorado, MahiMahi, Dolphin for most places around the world so get after them!
Put the boat on a plane and start running offshore and looking for birds, floating debris, kelp paddies, color changes and anything different.
Get your gear set up for hopping in and be ready as the boat is slowing down to jump in and check each spot out. You’ll be able to get by wearing a Rashguard usually since you’ll be in and out of the water all day and not diving deep. Have a mid-sized bluewater gun in the 120-130 range with a single float, short bungey and float line set up around 50 feet in length. Most Dolphin, Wahoo, and Yellowtail that you’ll find will be within the top 25 feet of the surface so you don’t need to dive deep and it is less hassle when you are pulling your gear in the boat. Remember, bungey is your most important ally when hunting in the bluewater so make the investment and if you can use all bungey when possible and no float line. The added stretch of bungey allows these soft and speedy bluewater fish to run hard and not tear off while applying drag to slow them down and tire them out.

If you are a tank diver then you already know it is frustrating diving deeper in the summer but the rewards are there. The bottom is clearer and colder and you get some crazy currents that can bring in monster grouper and snappers you wouldn’t normally encounter even in the winter. Don’t be fooled by the surface temperature as down deep a 10-30 degree temperature swing is always possible so bring a cold water suit just in case.

Enjoy the summer doldrums and change your dive plan accordingly to make it work. There is always somewhere to Spearfish in the summer you just need to time it right and find your spot away from the crowds.