How to see fish at the periphery of your vision

Much of my free time out of the water is spent flyfishing. I had followed the ‘CHUCK AND CHANCE’ brigade until the mindless flailing of the local ponds, dams and rivers, had become too monotonous. It was then that I read some articles on stalking fish and my enthusiasm was rekindled. Now I was out actively hunting individual fish.

To start, you innocently assume that you will be seeing the whole fish, be it trout or trevally. Then the realization that really you are looking for fish sign, pretty much like normal game hunting, following spoor, stalking your quarry and so on. You are starting to expand your sensory surveillance for disturbed water, shadows, scale flash, movement and colour.

So what does this mean to the Spearo. You need to mentally prepare yourself not to expect to see a clear whole fish, side-on. I believe that subconsciously we expect fish to appear as they do in identification guides. I remember during my basic military training having the words SHAPE, SHADOW, SHINE, SILHOUETTE, SOUND and MOVEMENT, drummed into my sleep deprived head when I was being taught the niceties of camouflage.

So does this give the Spearo something to work with? When looking for fish, train yourself to look for any shape that may give the fish away. The fish could be broadside to you (if you are very lucky), swimming away or toward you at any one of many different angles. Train yourself to be aware of fish shapes approaching and moving away from you. Take some time to observe fish, watch while diving but don’t neglect visits to the aquarium or even fish in a pond/dam/lake/river.

Shadow and silhouette are closely allied to shape. Our sport is rarely practiced in a bright enough environment to allow the opportunity for the exploitation of shadow. Don’t neglect shadow in shallow water on a bright day. Your attention is directed down at a sandy patch and a fish gives its presence away by casting a shadow on the sand, the fish appearing virtually invisible. The other scenario involves being submerged. Lying still on the bottom, attention glued to the sand, when a fish above you, casts a shadow, alerting you.

Silhouette plays a very small role but occasionly you may only get an indication of a fish’s presence by its silhouette. Sometimes while staring at the periphery of your vision, you will suddenly become aware of the presence of something. It is often just a slight difference in the background. That difference could just be the fish of a lifetime or at worst an early warning of an approaching shark. I can recall several occasions lying on a reef keeping an eye open for potential quarry only to miss a fish as I noticed its silhouette moving away. On one notable occasion the only hint that I had of a great fish was its silhouette in poor viz. Unfortunately the poor viz meant I misinterpreted the fish’s distance from me. I took the shot but the fish was bigger than I initially thought and the spear fell short. Probably worth remembering, when you don’t have a point of reference (e.g. open clear blue water), try to get closer to the fish than you normally would, before making the shot.

The colour a fish appears can vary quite dramatically. Many fish appear silver and shiny out of the water but in the water, that is their built in stealth. That self-same shine acts like a mirror. When you look in the direction of the fish it reflects the surroundings making it almost invisible. I have often been entertained by schools of fusiliers for the same reason. When looking into the distance you see nothing, then the school moves and you see a huge school of fish, lots of flash and colour. You should keep watching the school and you will notice that when they disappear again, small spots of colour, which you had previously ignored, do give their presence away. My first Couta experience was very much like this. Lying off Jesser Point I was scanning the surrounding water. A small group of big Couta passed right in front of me and I did not notice them. Their presence was betrayed by the dark spots, marking their keels near their tails. By the time I was aware of them, they were safely away.

Fish will light up close to prey or when pursued. Couta make another fine example. I will diligently watch my flashers hanging in the water and scan the surrounding area. Couta give themselves away, when they get to the flashers, because they change their colour close to the potential prey. This often means missing the fish’s approach and only picking up on it, once it is right underneath you. I sometimes find that on diving toward the fish, you encounter 3/4 fish with the one that has its ‘lights on’.

The water column usually contains lots of scattered plankton/debris. We train ourselves to ignore this when hunting (like white noise) but that may be a disadvantage. Small marks on a fish may be ignored as debris, that would otherwise have alerted to you to its presence. The yellow finlets on a Yellowfin Tuna, black mark on a Couta’s keel or the purple-pink spots along the side of a Kob.

Finally movement. Fish sometimes give themselves away when they move. It is pertinent to remember that in many cases, when you see the movement it is already too late, especially when it comes to bottom dwelling reef fish. Gamefish always seem to have a relaxed sinuous movement of their bodies. This slow movement matches the nuances of the Ocean making this movement difficult to see.

In closing I would recommend spending time watching fish. My Spearfishing has definitely benefited from stalking fish while Flyfishing. Your subconscious has had its hunting mode improved by the continual honing of your fish spotting skills.