Don’t Be an Idiot

Spearfishing is dangerous. The risks are numerous — cold water exposure, currents, weather, long pointy-sharp things, drowning, shallow water blackouts, and more. Never dive alone, know your limits - your gear isn’t worth your life.

There are many resources on the web that go into great detail about how to stay safe while spearfishing, please consult other resources besides this one. Better yet, take a class a level-one freediving class if you want to learn proper dive techniques.

Things to Know

Speargun Safety

A speargun will kill you, your friend, or seriously injure either. Handle them like guns and treat them like guns, which means:

  1. Always handle a speargun like it’s loaded.

  2. Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.

  3. Never aim your speargun at something you don’t want to kill.

  4. Know your target and beyond

Diver Down Flag

Diver down flag. Red flag with a white horizontal stripe.

This is a diver flag.

You need to stay within 100 feet of it. Boaters need to stay 200 feet away from it. Non-scientific fact - 95% of boat drivers don’t know this law in Michigan, so always be aware.

You are legally required as a freediver to display a diver down flag. You’ll need a flag, rope, weight, and bouy for the flag. This flag needs to be a certain size. You should really read the diver down flag law for specifics.

I personally like to run a float line from my gun to a spearing bouy that has a flag. The float line is 50 feet and the buoy follows me around. This way I’m never more than 50 feet from my dive flag and I never have to move an anchor to relocate. Line management is important, so use this technique cautiously.


More Rules to Keep You Safe

  1. Always load and unload your speargun in the water.

  2. Always unload your speargun during transportation.

  3. Never, ever, fire a speargun on dry land - unless you want to spear yourself.

  4. Always dive with a buddy.