SpearFactor Spearfishing Podcast

On this episode, I speak with Australian diver and adventurer Sam Clothier. Originally from the UK, Sam moved to Australia in order to live a more adventurous lifestyle and he certainly has done that! During this episode we talk about diving solo, catching and cooking all types of fish, his youtube channel @wetmammal and some of his more exciting fish stories. For more on Sam, checkout his IG page...

I can't say enough about this man. He's like a character in a movie, more specifically a character that we want to be like. Phonebooth and I met through some mutual friends from Guam. I didn't know much about him including his real name, but I soon realized that none of that really mattered. He's the guy that yells "WHAT'S UP!!!!" at the top of the boat ramp at 5:00 in the morning. You know, the a...

Today I speak with veteran diver Bill Wagner from San Diego California. Bill started diving in the 60s and was the president of the San Diego freedivers. Bill and I discuss how things have progressed/changed over the years from equipment to the state of the marine environment. Throughout the interview Bill shares stories of a white shark encounter in La Jolla, spearfishing trips to Baja and more....

Noob Spearo's Isaac Daly, Cast & Spear's Jon Stenstrom, and myself, Bret Whitman, share our thoughts on the Netflix documentary Seaspiracy. These are opinions based on our own experiences. While I disagree with many aspects of the documentary, I have a underlying respect for Ali Tabrizi for creating this film and his desire to help save our oceans' marine life. Check out Cast & Spear Podcast at @...

Today I spoke with Tim Andrews from www.highperformancediving.com and we discuss some deep diving techniques and tips as well as the famous Great White Shark encounter off of the coast of Hawaii. This encounter was so popular because the world's largest Great White Shark, Deep Blue, was seen eating a dead whale while other divers swam with it. This shark named Deep Blue was estimated to be between...

In this episode, I speak with Tim Hatler and his friends Brock and Jakob about their spearfishing resort located in La Ventana, Baja. The Resort is home of the Bluewater World Cup of Spearfishing. Tim lives down in Baja with his family full time, diving, fishing, and exploring the area. He and Brock are a wealth of knowledge for the area both above and below the sea surface. Tim shares with me how...

Ted Harty, Freediving Champion and World Class Instructor and I discuss using the buddy system in poor visibility for White Sea Bass here in California.  This is part 2 of a 2 part series of the Spearfactor podcast with Mr. Ted Harty, USA Freediving Champion. Diving and poor visibility is the sad reality for quite a few of us divers. However, there are ways to mitigate the risk of spearfishing in...

Dr. Albert is a veteran diver and current multiple women’s world record holder. On the show today, we talk about her experiences as a woman coming up in a sport dominated by men and some of the struggles she had early on because of it. As we progress through the conversation, we talk about her experiences living in Denmark and traveling through Northern Europe, and how some the cultural difference...

Spearfactor #25 with Focus Freediving’s Brandon Zeek. In this episode, Brandon and I discuss how he got started in spearfishing and freediving in Southern California. In freediving, Brandon has worked his way up to an instructor level and runs focus www.freediving.com. We discuss one of the recent challenges he has encountered in freediving. He had a squeeze on a 60m dive a few months ago. We disc...

This is part 1 of a 2 part series of the Spearfactor podcast with Mr. Ted Harty, USA Freediving Champion. If you don’t know who Ted Harty is, you should. Seriously! Ted started out as a scuba Instructor in 2005 before discovering the sport of freediving a few years later. Early on in his instructing career Ted was fortunate to meet and be mentored by Kirk and Mandy Krack of Performance Freediving....

In this episode of Spearfactor, I speak with San Diego diver and fellow San Diego Freedivers member, Kristina Chang. We discuss how she went from surfing up in the bay area to diving down here in San Diego. We also discuss her ridiculously delicious looking dishes that she makes with her catches. She is quite the culinary connoisseur. We specifically talk about dry aging fish and where her inspira...

In this episode of Spearfactor, I speak with Eric Anderson from Central California. Eric shares how his experiences in the Marine Corp has contributed to being a better dive buddy and spearfisherman. We continue on to discuss the diving conditions in Central California as well as the targeted species in his area. Additionally, Eric shares insights to the differences in diving in Northern Californi...

Recently, I teamed up with Brad Thompson from OC Spearos, and Jon from Cast and Spear for a good cause. We spoke with Ryan Huff's widow, Diana Huff. Ryan drowned open day of lobster season last year. Now, Brad Thompson, Jon Stenstrom and I joined forces to support this wonderful fund that can help save lives. The OC Spearos’ Ryan Huff Memorial Scholarship Fund is taking donations! Applications to...

In this episode of Spearfactor, I chat with Dave Gleeson. Dave got his start spearfishing in the Islands around Rhode Island. He shares with us some of the things he has learned by hunting this waters such as insights to find better visibility, the change in seasons, conditions and what gear to use. We also discuss why the sport of spearfishing has grown so much in the past few years in the Northe...

In this episode of Spearfactor, I chat with my good friend Cody Drawdy. Cody shares his story with us about how he got started in spearfishing on the East Coast of American where he had to deal with sharks and 2’ of visibility. We also talk about some of your spearfishing trips to Guam and Baja, and the things we learned in those places. Enjoy!   NOTES: Introduction and Background 02:53:-23:22 How...

In this episode of Spearfactor, I chat with Nick Watkins from Spearchannel. Nick shares with us how his brand, Spearchannel, began, where he wants to take it, and how he plans to achieve success with it. He also shares with us some of his struggles as the brand develops and attempts to reach future goals. Additionally, we discuss his own beginnings into spearfishing while growing up in south Flori...

In this episode, I speak with Brian Fern and Allen Yangco from Longfins Spearfishing. These two gentlemen truly define what the term giving back to the community means. Longfins originally started out as a online diving store that Allen started, but it failed. This failure didn’t discourage Allen from continuing on with the Longfins brand. He felt that the failure was a blessing in disguised. Afte...

In this episode, I speak with veteran diver and dive boat Skipper Dan Walsh. Since the 1970s, Captain Dan has operated dive boats such as the Bottom Scratcher, and Spirit of Adventure for spearfishing’s elite pioneers. He was there filming when Terry Maas shot his record bluefin tuna at Guadalupe Island, which is one of the most popular moments in California’s spearfishing history. He’s explored t...

In this episode, I speak with Paul Rodriguez from Hot Rod Spearguns. While Paul is a sponsor for the show, he truly is one hell of a spearfisherman and speargun builder. During the show, we spend a lot of time talking about the right speargun for the right conditions, and his new hybrid travel speargun. I am really excited to share Paul’s travel speargun with you all because I believe it will chan...

In this episode I speak with Carlos Suarez. He is the creator of the Freedive Hunter Spearfishing game. He is also originally from Cuba where he learned to spearfish. We discuss his early days of diving in Cuba as well as the equipment and techniques they used there. Some of these techniques he share I have never heard of before such as tying a rope to a diver then pulling them up once they reache...

Mark Healey Welcome to episode #12 of the SpearFactor podcast with special guest Mr. Mark Healey. Mark is a world class spearfisherman, and one of the top big wave surfers in the world. He is a true waterman. If you don’t believe me just google it! During the podcast, we discuss the surf and dive industries, conservation, why we spearfish, diving at Guadalupe Island with white sharks, and much mor...

 On this episode of Spearfactor today’s guest is spearfishing guide and adventurer, Mr. Chris Coates. Chris shares with us his experiences spearfishing in South Africa and beyond. We talk extensively about spearguns, dogtooth tuna, flashers, gear, slip-tips vs. floppers, accuracy issues and how to fix them, as well as trophy hunting and conservation. This episode was tough due to connection issues...

Chris Okamoto  On this episode of Spearfactor today’s guest is Chris Okamoto. He is a marine biologist who works at Cabrillo Marine aquarium in San Pedro and he’s also one of the founders of www.spearingforum.com . The idea behind his form is to have a ethical and professional learning environment where veterans and beginners alike can share information. There’s a ton of information on Seabass, bo...

In the episode of SpearFactor, I speak with ear, nose, and throat Doctor Cyrus Torchinsky. Dr. Torchinsky currently practices medicine and lives in San Diego, California. He is original from Santa Cruz, California and attended UC San Diego Medical School, then traveled to Boston, Mass. for his speciality training as an ENT doctor. Dr Torchinsky shares his knowledge about various topics including c...

In this episode I speak with Robert John Koss and Dr. Michael Orr from Guam’s OneDrop Spearfishing team. I have had the pleasure of meeting and diving with these two amazing guys over the past couple of years while I was in Guam. I have learned a lot from these guys. We talk about keys things to consider when looking for new dive spots as well as how to approach those new spots when diving on them...