Spearfishing the Jersey Coast - Beginnings

My first experience in freediving and spear fishing the murky waters of the New Jersey Coast was at a young age. I was privileged enough to grow up on one of the state's barrier islands. Most days were spent riding bikes around, fishing, surfing and trying not to get into trouble. I can't remember what spurred it but a good friend of mine and I constructed a pole spear from an old broom handle, a bicycle innertube screwed into the end of the broom handle and an aluminum archery arrow glued into the front of the broomstick. We were armed, now where to go. From the north end of our island there was a coast guard base that was restricted access by land. Off in front of the base were old Word War II bunkers and pilings from the old docks that were not in use anymore. There was no issues with water access so we decided to grab our bodyboarding fins and snorkle masks, the pole spear and two longboards and take the half mile paddle down to our hunting grounds.

We successfully navigated our boards down to the sets of poles sticking out of the water and secured our leashes to them. Slipped on our gear and with hearts pounding in our chests dove under the Atlantic's surface. Ten seconds went by and we were up, perplexed and confused. The water was murky, dark and impossible to see. We tried a few more dives faceplanting into the rocks below. The decision was made for us, nature wasn’t ready to reveal her underwater secrets just yet. Paddling back against the current with our tail between or legs took forever. We decided with some mentoring form dads and local old heads that slack high tide would be the best chance at clear water. A week went by and the tides aligned so we struck out again. This time with hopes not as high and visions of taug stacked on the surfboards out of our mind we slipped under the ocean's surface again. This time with a foot or two of visibility we could see and follow the poles down. Once on the bottom we could see the rocks that were layerd to keep the poles and place, slight glimpses of fish started to emerge as they whisked themselves into the murk. That evening we spent an hr just going up and down the lines of poles exploring. The visibility was only 2 feet at best but we were hooked. Something absorbed into our bodies that day cementing a life long obsession with the ocean beyond what could be had with just a rod and reel. Nothing ever fell victim to that amazing garage built weapon but the vast knowledge of our local underwater world began to unfold.