Spearfishing reef markers-DIY

Fish markers or structure markers have been around for quite some time and they have proven their value amongst H&L'ers. I've been tinkering around with this idea of a spearfishing "reef marker" and how it can be applied to our sport of spearfishing. The idea came about from a necessity to be more efficient when spear fishing patch reefs that are in close proximity to one another, but far enough that you can't see them neither under the water nor when you are on top, doing the "porpoise jump". Of course, its value comes into play when everyone's in the water spearing and the boat is anchored- in other words no driver pointing the spearo in the direction of the next patch reef or in tow.

Not much goes into a regular marker it’s just a hi-viz float that dispenses line and marks an area- they are simple, relatively small, low to the water, and you can spot them easily from your vantage point on your boat. Things get a little tricky if you’re in the water as everything is at eye level with the surface, so a low lying float is not ideal. After searching around a bit and coming up empty handed I decided to build my own.

What You'll need:

A few pool noodle floats ( I got mine at the Dollar Store-for a buck)

3/4"PVC pipe (Home Depo)

5200 Marine Adhesive (Home Depot)

Nylon braid Line or Spectra (Home Depot or old used line from your spearfishing reel)

3-5oz Lead (Tackle store)

Snap swivels

1-Measure off your noodles to whatever height you want, I went with 2 feet, and cut them a miter saw will work just fine

2- Using the same Miter saw cut about 10 inches of PVC pipe, about 6” will go into the noodle and 4” will hang out the bottom of the noodle

3- You're going to put about half (5-6”) the tube onto the noodle and half will hang out so drill a thru hole right where the the tube exits the noodle, run a line in, bring it out the other hole, make a long little wire hook, stick it up the PVC tube and snatch the line and bring it out bottom of the tube,

Just flush with it, snap your swivel combo which should be practically flush with the PVC tube’s interior

Then tie it off with a couple of wraps around the PVC and any flush type knot

4- Dry fit the PVC tube into the noodle jam it up the noodle’s hole up to the tie off, pull it out and repeat again, your basically trying to bore out the hole a bit for utmost adhesion with the 5200

5- Get your 5200 Marine Adhesive, put a generous amount into the noodle hole (that you previously bored out), stick the PVC tube in, pull it out, dab some more 5200 into the noodle as well as on the PVC tube, and stick it in up to your tie off...

let it set

6- Next get your lead weight and hammer it flat

7- Measure off your nylon line- be it 20’, 30’, 40’, 50’, whichever amount you need for the general depths you will be spearfishing your patch reefs. Tie your flattened lead weight to the nylon line, and on the other end make a loop knot and clip to your snap.

8-Now wrap your nylon line around the PVC tube-IMPORTANT- when you wrap your line around the PVC start from the top that is the part close’s to the noodle and end on the bottom, that is the part closes to the snap. In this way the line will dispense quickly and fluidly from the PVC tube

9- Finally get your Flattened lead weight and curve it around the PVC line wrapped tube and shape it tight with a hammer

You can make a few of these and have them ready next time you go spearfishing, and hit some patch reefs. Simply unclip the weight, cruise along the border of the patch reef and and chuck it overboard, if you wrapped it right , it'll dispense the line quick and easy, and wrap itself up on the reef, proceed to the next patch and repeat....now you have all your patch reefs marked with a red 2' marker standing up above the waterline and easily spotted from within the water
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone

http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com

Shoulder Problems and Rehab for Spearfishing

As some of you know I suffered a big shoulder injury in 2011, and as a result my ticket to the National Spearfishing tournament held here in Florida was dropped, needless to say most of my spearfishing training and hunting was also put on hold for most of 2011. My first line of action was to visit my doctor who after a little pushing & pulling, coupled with X-rays and MRI’s diagnosed some shoulder tendonitis, and luckily no rotator cuff damage other than the tendonitis in and within the area-prognosis R&R and a rx to get some physical therapy. Soon after my visit to her I proceeded to my physical therapist….wrong move, as my PT turned out to be not a a physical therapist, but rather a physical terrorist . This was the first time I’d ever received physical therapy for any injury at all…and my shoulder was neither cooperating with him or my brain…after a few visits I threw in the towel…and decided to take matters in my own hands- my first line of action was everyone’s good old reliable friend-GOOGLE!

Its pretty amazing the anatomy of the shoulder and how interrelated every shoulder muscle is to each other and especially the back and arm muscles-2 very important muscles related to spear fishing, as these are incorporated into pulling tight spearfishing gun bands or loading pneumatic spearguns

Lets start with an acute injury (one that’s happened recently) first thing is to apply the RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) principles:
Apply ice to decrease swelling do this ASAP it really makes a BIG difference , in the rehab. Get a Zip lock bag filled with ice double it in another zip lock then wrap it in a cloth to avoid discomfort to the skin. Apply the wrapped ice 8-10 minutes at a time or more if you can bear it. This is most helpful in the first 1-2 days. Support the arm in a sling to rest the rotator cuff muscles as well as the trapezoid muscles. The sling may be taken off at night, ideally you want to sleep in a position that creates zero pressure on the injured shoulder- face up with arms crossed over my chest (yeah like Dracula) worked well for me. Also you may want to take anti-inflammatory medications as these may help reduce pain and swelling, but take it on a full stomach trust me on that…
Your next step is to make an appointment with your doctor for an assessment. The physician may ask you to be seen for follow-up, either by a primary care doctor or an orthopedic surgeon (specialist), which may want further assessing via imaging to determine the degree and involvement of the muscle tear. This is often done via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Perhaps surgery within an allotted time might be needed to repair the tendon, especially for younger, more active people with larger tears. But don’t be to hasty to make that call ( I’d wait about 6-8 weeks while following a shoulder rehab program, unless you have a full out rotator cuff tear beyond repair)- depending on your Dr. sometimes they’re quick to cut in, when the body itself might repair the tear, just at a slower rate- sometimes the time to recover from the surgery can be longer than the actual recovery from the tear . Also age is an important component in the decision, generally the older you are (40 >) the less the surgery’s benefits will outweigh plain rehab…so if you opt not to go the surgery route read on!

I’ve put together this report to list some of the exercises that I found useful when I injured my shoulder spearfishing (and then some) and also exercises that the physical therapists, doctors, and shoulder rehab specialists instruct patients to do, but highlighted it with exercises geared towards rehab for the spearo and as it relates to our sport of spearfishing

The major objectives of rehabilitation from a rotator cuff injury or shoulder injury are to increase flexibility (this is perhaps the most important as it relates to spearfishing), obtain pain-free range of motion, and strengthen the muscles of the shoulders, upper back, front chest, and upper arms. In severe cases, you should avoid activity that causes shoulder pain altogether. In these cases, you can still maintain cardiovascular fitness by cycling (swimming if tolerable is good, but in most cases you’d have to wait some time before you are able to hit the pool), unless otherwise prescribed by your doctor.Stretching and strengthening of the 4 shoulder rotator cuff muscles (subscapularis, infraspinatus, supraspinatusand teres minor -Initially, soon after injuryand after the pain has let down a little, it’s best to start performing shoulder exercises to maintain the range of motion in the shoulder and promote healing in as close as possible to its natural range as allowable. Ultimately you want to prevent the scar healing process during inflammation. The logic behind stretching and strengthening the inflamed rotator cuff in order to speed healing and functional is pretty simple. The inflamed tissue is characterized by increased fluid between the cells, increased numbers of new blood vessels and inflammatory type cells. As a result of this inflammatory reaction, new collagen tissue is laid down in an effort by the body to heal the injured tissue. If the shoulder is immobilized during this time, the new collagen is laid down in a disorganized fashion, creating scar. The goal of gentle stretching, strengthening and anti-inflammatory medication, is to stimulate the cells to lay down collagen along the original strands of fiber, forming normal strong tendons. The combination of a good warm up, gentle stretching, strengthening below the limits of pain, icing after working out and anti-inflammatory medication has been consistently shown to speed recovery time. This is best performed initially by isolating each muscle group and selectively training that muscle (known as Isometrics) – with no weights.Phase 1 – Isometric exercises.Bend forward 90 degrees at the waist, using a table for support. Rock body in a circular pattern to move arm clockwise 10 times, then counterclockwise 10 times

Do 3 sessions a day

Clasp hands together and lift arms above head. Can be done lying down (drawing A) or sitting (drawing B). Keep elbows as straight as possible. Repeat 10 to 20 times.

Do 3 sessions a day.

Keep elbow in place and shoulder blades down and together. Slide forearm back and forth. Repeat 10 times.

Do 3 sessions a day.

With elbow straight, use fingers to ” crawl ” up wall or door frame as far as possible. Hold 10 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

Do 3 sessions a day.

Raise arm to point to ceiling, keeping elbows straight. Hold 10 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

a day.

Raise arm out to side, elbow straight and palm downward. Do not shrug shoulder or tilt trunk. Hold 10 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

Do 3 sessions a day.

After you are comfortable with these stretches and have minimal pain and good/fair range of motion in your shoulder, you can move onto resistance exercises. These usual start with what is known as tubing exercises. The ‘tubing’ is also known as a theraband, which is just a big rubber elastic band that you tie, at one end, to something and you hold the other end and pull the band thereby stretching it and providing resistance for your shoulder.

Phase 2 – Tubing exercises

External rotation: Stand resting the hand of your injured side against your stomach. With that hand grasp tubing that is connected to a doorknob or other object at waist level. Keeping your elbow in at your side, rotate your arm outward and away from your waist. Make sure you keep your elbow bent 90 degrees and your forearm parallel to the floor. Repeat 10 times. Build up to 3 sets of 10.

Internal rotation: Using tubing connected to a door knob or other object at waist level, keep your elbow in at your side and rotate your arm inward across your body. Make sure you keep your forearm parallel to the floor. Do 3 sets of 10.

Extension: Same principles as the other two. Keep the arm parallel. 3 sets of 10.

As you feel more confident and you find your strength increasing, you can add more resistance – either in terms of shortening the length of the theraband so you need more resistance to stretch it or by increasing hand held weights in small increments.

Of course, these aren’t the only exercises for shoulder rehabilitation. There are many more. Ive listed a few more below that I’ve found from a good website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDd6fwUgJIE

http://www.strengthspeedagility.com/the-best-shoulder-rehab-exercises/

A few more:
Overhead stretch
Lie on your back with your arms at your sides. Lift one arm straight up and over your head. Grab your elbow with your other arm and exert gentle pressure to stretch the arm as far as you can.Cross-body reach
Stand and lift one arm straight out to the side. Keeping the arm at the same height, bring it to the front and across your body. As it passes the front of your body, grab the elbow with your other arm and exert gentle pressure to stretch the shoulder.Towel stretch
Drape a towel over the opposite shoulder, and grab it with your hand behind your back. Gently pull the towel upward with your other hand. You should feel the stretch in your shoulder and upper arm.Shrugs
Stand with hands at sides with no weight in either hand. Raise shoulders to the point of pain and hold for five seconds. Relax for five seconds. Perform this sequence 10 times, 3 times daily. As pain permits, hold dumbbells of equal weight in each hand while performing this exercise. Add weight by using hand-held dumbbells as pain permits.Bicep curls
Stand with arms fully extended at sides while grasping 2- to 5-pound weights in each hand, held palm forward. Flex the arms at the elbow to approximately 100 degrees, or to the point of pain, whichever comes first. Hold this position for 5 to 10 seconds. Return to the start position. Rest for 5 seconds. Repeat this exercise 10 times. You can increase the weight as pain allows and strength develops.Triceps curls
Stand with elbows directed upward over the shoulders and with arms relaxed. Extend arms at the elbow so that the hands proceed upward to the point of pain. Hold this position for five seconds. Return to the starting position and relax for five seconds. Perform this sequence 10 times, 3 times daily. As pain permits, add weight by using hand-held dumbbells.

Chest raises
Lie on belly with hands extended along sides of the body. Raise the upper chest from the floor to the point of pain and hold this position for 5 seconds. Return to the start position and relax for 10 seconds. Repeat this sequence 10 times, 3 times daily.

Saws
Reach out and place the unaffected side hand on a corner of a table. Bend at the waist. Flex the injured side arm at the elbow and pull the injured side arm backward and upward as if sawing wood. Slowly bring the shoulder blades as close together as pain will permit. Slowly bring the injured side arm down to its beginning position. Repeat this sequence 10 times, at least three times daily.Pendulum swings
Stand with the hand of the unaffected arm resting on the corner of a table and supporting some of the body weight. Slightly bend the knee on the unaffected side and extend the other leg sideways. Allow the injured arm to hang loosely over the unaffected side foot. By shifting the body weight, cause the relaxed injured arm to swing in circles to the fullest extent possible as limited by pain. Perform 25 swings in a clockwise direction. Allow the injured arm to cease swinging. Perform 25 swings of the injured arm in a counterclockwise direction. Repeat this sequence at least three times daily.

Flexed elbow pull
Bend and raise the injured side elbow to shoulder height. Grasp the injured side elbow with the uninjured side hand. Gently pull the injured side elbow toward the opposite shoulder until limited by first significant pain. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Relax for 10 seconds. Repeat this sequence 10 times at least three times daily.

And make sure to check these out too

http://www.dieselcrew.com/how-to-shoulder-rehab

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY0TMsw7W74&feature=relmfu

Now the $100 question-When can I start spearfishing again? There is no definite answer for that. It depend on the degree of your injury, how dedicated you are to your rehab and the rate at which your body heals and your age. Some people with minor tears can return to spearfishing in as short as 4 weeks. Other with larger tears have to have surgery and can be out for a year(s). For me it took 8 weeks to get back into the groove with stretches , at about 16 weeks I was hitting the gym doing light exercises and about 20 weeks I was doing a couple of hours of spearing fish, at about 30 weeks I was benefiting from the results of my weight training and spearfishing stretches to the point I could dive a full day-not over exerting myself-and feel little discomfort, by about the 40 week I was doing well, but one-two days a week was my max spearfishing, and often the following day I was sore, today I can’t say my shoulder is at 100%, but I do dive the entire day and flow pretty well throughout the week with little discomfort.

My advise to you is, don’t rush it. Let your body take its time to heal. Be strict in doing your shoulder rehab exercises and the results will come with time. Impatience is one of the biggest causes of re-injury.

And most importantly, always consult your physician for advice. While this report/tips may help point you in a right direction, nothing can replace a one-on-one physical examination and a good consult with your Doc.

Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone

http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com

Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone

http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com