For all the St. Pete Open shooters. Notice how close you can get to a cuda by simply staying behind his periphreal vision. You can practically hide in it's blind spot to get close enough to poke em with a stick. This same technique is equally stealthy from above also. This would have been a very easy kill on about a 18-20 pounder. Good Luck :smthumbup:
http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z62/wadamwilson34/?action=view&current=PG01_M010.flv

Interesting, I never came up on a fish before. Were you freediving?

Interesting, I never came up on a fish before. Were you freediving?

I Wish! As much as I love the freedom of free diving, most of the depths we do are way beyond my level, and I enjoy hanging out with the fish longer than a breath gives me. This dive was on Scuba at around 100 fsw, the cuda was up off the bottom at about 85 fsw.
That approach is equally as effective from above. I basically just try to hide from their eyes. If you can't see their eyes, they usually don't move untill you are very close. Like when you see the stickers on big rigs that say "If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you". When there isn't much to shoot or look at I try to see how close I can get to different fish.

I wonder if you can stone them shooting up into their head.

I wonder if you can stone them shooting up into their head.

The only one I've ever stoned was a shot from above into friggen cranium.

I had a visit from a big cuda yesterday, are they worth shooting? I have heard they are good eating if they are small, but are they worth the trouble of dealing with them? Just never shot or ate one of those beasts so I thought I would ask.

The only one I've ever stoned was a shot from above into friggen cranium.But that doesn't answer the friggen question does it!I had a visit from a big cuda yesterday, are they worth shooting?What do your instincts tell you when you see it?

Instint, "That's a big fish. I like to shoot big fish."

Good point:D

1) They are very good eating.
2) I've stoned a few, but never shot one from underneath. I'm not sure I see how that would affect his ability to swim well. I take the same shot on them that I take on every fish. A forward angle from behind. Head shot = right behind the eyes on top of the gill plate. Spine shot = behind the gill plate on the lateral line. I like going on the lateral line behind the gill plate and coming out the gill plate on the other side. I've had the most success this way. The shaft goes right through the neck at an angle. If you don't stone him, he doesn't swim well at all and very easily subdued. Anything else, to me you're asking for a fight!
Good luck!

Forgive the stupid questions, but like I said, I've never shot one. Say you don't stone it, how hard are they to get your hands on and brain? Obviously the business end is good to avoid, but is a second shaft the best way, or just lay hands and manhandle that biatch?:chuck: Thanks for enduring the stupidity, Kody.

Ask this guy http://www.spearfishingplanet.com/showpost.php?p=7279&postcount=31

Chum Bucket, sorry to derail your thread.

I can speak for ones up to about 2.5 feet long (I'm not shooting bigger due to the chances of Cig, but my friends make steaks out of the 5-footers). After about two short fights, you can usually grab the shaft and do what you need to do.

The last two I've shot, I've stoned, by shooting directly down, dead center, hitting them just behind the head. My Riffe feels like a sniper rifle sometimes, lol.

The day before, when I wasn't there, a larger cuda broke my buddy's brand new Riffe shaft shortly after the shot. The shaft was on a reel line, and he said it was a really short fight before it broke.

Forgive the stupid questions, but like I said, I've never shot one. Say you don't stone it, how hard are they to get your hands on and brain? Obviously the business end is good to avoid, but is a second shaft the best way, or just lay hands and manhandle that biatch?:chuck: Thanks for enduring the stupidity, Kody.

Kody,
There are no stupid questions when it comes to diving. I'm reading my advance nitrox/deco books right now and come classroom Wednesday night I will have more than my share of "stupid" questions.
I have found that with a freeshaft, if you don't stone em they tend to skyrocket straight up, then they usually tend to float down after their initial burst somewhere very near where they took off from, hopefully!
Once on the Palm Island ferry my buddy and I were blastin cudas left and right in 60 foot visibillity, it was raining cuda's!
Hard to go wrong with a second shaft to the head. Jabbin the knife in there is tuff, their heads are like a steel plate.
Haven't line shafted too many. Don't really like the idea of being tethered to a set of swimming daggers.

Thanks for the info. Sorry for derailing the thread, but I learned a lot. Next cuda is gettin the steel.....maybe twice. Thanks again.

Cuda has a very tough head, I've bent knives on it, the gills are sort of inconvenient to rip out too. The thing is that they tire out and die fast, only the really big ones need to be dispatched. I cannot conceive of catching one without a line shaft, their initial run is very strong. Keep provoking the fish to make run after run and it will tire out and let you handle it within 5 minutes. Once all is calmed down and you can do things carefully and deliberately you can dispatch the fish by grabbing the gills with one hand and stabbing in the area of the red dot with the other, the Grey line approximately indicates where the armor stops. You'll still need a rigid knife.

Good info Pargo, thanks!

Cool stuff Adam.!

Dago.

Try an Iki spike to the head for those concrete craniums.

One more dumb question. The main reason I've never shot one is because I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with the fish after it's dead. After you've got the fish under control, do you string him up or what? I was just thinking about puttin triggers on the stringer and what they will do if they get the chance. Seems like a cuda would be a hell of a lot worse than a trigger on the stringer.

Run it through the gills and out through the mouth. Triggers taught me that... twice.:FIREdevil: I don't need to be taught again

String triggers through the gills and out the mouth, this way they cant bite you, they can survive for a long time. String cuda through the eyes, as I said already they die fast. If you're going to be pulling it around for a while or in any case you can break it's teeth by hitting them with the knife. These teeth can cut you even if the fish is dead and you brush against them.

One more thing - Have some industrial strength soap ready to get the stank slime off your wetsuit!

LOL, you know I caught a 22 pounder recently that had no stink at all. Also in Cuba I don't remember them stinking, here they sure do at times. Maybe it depends on how they die and how you keep them. The 36 pounder a couple of posts up did not stink.

Yeah, I always string triggers through the mouth since my buddy is missing a hunk of his hand. Thanks for the tips on the cudas, we're goin out his weekend so maybe I'll get to practice on one or two. Thanks again, Kody.

The only cuda I've ever taken with a lineshaft was the first one. I've been very succesful freeshafting them. It's not always easy, but I can say that I've never lost a shaft in a cuda. It's all about good shot placement and NOT taking a bad shot.
If you're going out specifically for hunting cuda, the best thing I've done is take a catch bag, not a stringer. When doing this, I behead them as soon as I shoot them and throw the body into the bag. No more bite threat. I've gotten pretty good at it. One cut across the neck, one cut across the top behind the head and break the head of to the side. It can be done in seconds once practiced. We shoot LOTS of cuda for fish frys. On a given "cuda hunting trip" we'll shoot 20 of them.
If I'm just hunting fish and happen to come across a cuda, I string him through the eyes. As SpearEasy said, they lost their fight pretty quickly. As far as dying, I'm not so sure. I've beheaded them on the first dive and by sunset, their tails are still twitching. could just be nerves. I never like taking the chance.
The other option is that if you're in federal waters, you can always just powerhead them. Kinda takes the fun out of it though...
As far as the stink goes, I've been told it is a nitrogenous base that is in their skin. Skin the fillets and the smell is gone. It's interesting that the cuda in cuba don't stink. I wonder if they're a different species. I know that California has a different species.
Good luck.

To use SpearEasy's picture from page 1, this is about the type of shot I like to take as far as angle. Again, if you miss the spine and don't stone it, the angle prevents him from swimming very well and you can subdue him.

We need a thread like this for every species we hunt. Very informative with the video, diagrams, and personal experiences and preferences. Reminds me of the SS seminars. Maybe copy the thread to General Dis. or the Newbie Section.

:BoomSmilie_anim::BoomSmilie_anim::BoomSmilie_anim :

Wow, I can use that picture, too.

If this were the top of the fish, the red dot is exactly where I hit them to stone them - straight down from above.

Wow, I can use that picture, too.

If this were the top of the fish, the red dot is exactly where I hit them to stone them - straight down from above.

If you can take that shot, go for it. I've never hit on top down, I'd like to hear more stories about it. If you can't hit the red spot, make sure you are at least centered on the fish. That way if you miss, you still have a good shot at hitting the spine. If you don't hit the brain or the spine, a top down shot isn't going to prevent the fish from swimming and either he's gone with your shaft, or you are in for a hell of a fight.
Good luck.

The "red spot" LOL was to indicate where to stab to dispatch the fish not shoot it. However the cuda in this pic was shot in that exact spot. The first shot was not secure, the cuda ripped off the flopper, the only reason it did not get away is because the spear toggled on the other side. It was still tricky maintaining the right amount of pressure on the line to keep it from coming out. Upon being shot again in that "red spot" the cuda was immobilized and sank slowly to the bottom, as it sank the first now flopperless spear gently slid out of the fish.

All I know is over here they are rare to see and even harder to get close to shoot. The one and only cuda I have seen and shot here was tricky to get a shot on. After I gave it away the jaws were returned back to me to hang with all my other primative collectables.
To kill my cuda I stuck the knife near the back of the head, insert and once he kicked I twisted the knife. Crunch followed by sleepy time. Got to have a thick knife for this and not some flimsy stamped out piece of steel.