My Spearing Trip in the San Juan Islands

I went on a kayak trip with some friends in the San Juan Islands in late July and I was debating whether or not to try some spearing while I was there. I eventually decided "yes" and it turned out to be well worth it.

I rented a 7mm open cell and was probably more toasty than I needed to be and VERY bulky. I had a cheapo 3 piece travel sling spear from amazon. I dove mostly in 10-30ft and found I didn't really have enough weight for that monster 7mm in that shallow water. I could stay down at 30, but it was a struggle in the shallower water. The viz varied a lot depending on the spot.

The first day after kayaking a bunch and setting up camp, I went out for a couple hours and came in with a nice rock sole and a limit of crabs. South side of Sucia Islands.

The second day, kayak, camp, our for a couple hours and came in with 3 striped seaperch and a limit of crabs. South side of Patos.

Those were the good parts.

The bad part was hitting a really nice lingcod and not bringing it in. My little sling spear didn't have enough punch to get past the flopper and he slipped off and swam deep. I'm sure he died eventually. I hate killing such a beautiful fish and not being able to recover it. Breaks my heart a little bit.

All said and done, I would go back in a heartbeat. Filleting fish on a pebbly beach at sunset while crabs steam on the fire was a magical experience.