Campbell River & Gabriola Island Spearfishing | British Columbia, Canada

[@brady-b7l]

I'm so glad to finally see someone who appreciates freshwater

[@PNWSamson]

Haha cheers. I love freshwater diving, unfortunately the footage rarely does justice. Nice to change it up from the ocean from time to time though!

[@Aaron_Syme]

Love your videos Chris. Especially these ones around Campbell River & Gabriola. Like being in a giant aquarium. All your videos help me de-stress. Hope to give freediving a go in the near future. Keep doing your thing!!

[@PNWSamson]

Wicked man, I'm happy to help. Freediving is 90% mediation so it'll help you out there too. Cheers!

[@sharethelove5034]

Stunning locations. 😮

[@PNWSamson]

Totally! We are pretty lucky to live where we do.

[@HalcyonGuitars]

Your channel is my new fave.

[@PNWSamson]

That's awesome I'm happy to hear that!

[@BBsheepy]

So cool thanks for sharing

[@PNWSamson]

No problem!

[@finthefishsep20toma]

Ive harvested crayfish on the island before. Bag limit is 25 per person per day, which is a ton if you ask me! Lol

[@PNWSamson]

Yeah, that would make an awesome feast. Apparently your not aloud to hand harvest them. I might set a trap next summer and see how they taste tho!

[@nightstreamsings5734]

Nice!

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks!

[@troutwithinternet6695]

the water looks amazing there i might head up to the island and check it out next month

[@PNWSamson]

Do it man, beautiful area! Check the currents though, it can rip around that entire coast.

[@coltonwhite5799]

Another great vid! Nice job!

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks man!

[@petrhermanadventures9509]

Nice video, I enjoyed the variety of footage. I have done some scuba in both places. Gabriola Pass and Seymour Narrows are both world class dive sites featuring more biodiversity than most tropical reefs, but due to extreme current only safe for about a half hour at slack tide.

[@PNWSamson]

Both amazing places. I've dove pretty close to the narrows, I'd imagine being in them would be next level! all those places are amazing. One of my favorite dives to date was in Porlier pass. Skookumchuck is on my radar too! Happy you enjoyed the video, thanks!

[@petrhermanadventures9509]

@@PNWSamson I never dove the skook, I have kayak surfed there a couple of times though and it's an awesome spot. I almost drowned at Gabriola pass due to a very fast down welling. Got caught in it right at the end of the dive and it took my buddy and I from the surface to about 80 feet in a few seconds. I ran out of air, fortunately he had enough air for both of us to surface. A good lesson to be careful about not staying too long after slack.

[@PNWSamson]

@@petrhermanadventures9509 Man, you got lucky. That's pretty scary. A lot of people think freediving is the more dangerous of the two sports but we don't have to worry to much about DCI. Worst case for us is we drop our weight belt and kick to the surface. We also don't breathe air at depth so no concern with our lungs bursting as well. I'd love to SCUBA one day but the thought of not being able to surface at a moments notice kind of freaks me out. Pros and cons. Think your scuba days are behind ya?

[@petrhermanadventures9509]

@@PNWSamson Once I learned to freedive and moved on from teaching PADI, I pretty much phased out scuba. I still have the gear, but now it all needs servicing, so not likely that I'll use it again.

[@PNWSamson]

@@petrhermanadventures9509 Yeah, and if you are freediving at least your getting out. defiantly the cheaper of the two hobbies!

[@canucklehead0]

Water looks fantastic! What is Hornby Island like to dive around for Lingcod, Rockfish and Greenling? I have a friend who may be looking at place to purchase. I'm an Alberta boy but took my open water out there many, many years ago. I have been practicing my freediving at some of our deeper lakes and in the winter at a couple different pools, I'd really love to try my hand at spearfishing off any of the Islands. Also, you have an absolutely gorgeous family!! Your daughter is all smiles and as pretty as can be!! Perhaps we'll bump into one another some day! Take care!

[@PNWSamson]

For sure! You never know. And thanks so much, she's growing up fast! Same with her little brother. Hornby Island has some amazing diving and biodiversity but unfortunately fishing while diving is prohibited in that area. You can fish from a boat but not while diving. Seems unfair, but I get scuba divers were going hard back in the day and they banned it in some areas as a result. Still some great freediving in the area though. Still many great shore dives that you can spearfish at!

[@superkittybtc]

Great vid as always!!

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks! That was a fun one. 🙂

[@GoldVP...]

Was that trail, at the beginning, in oyster river area? Seems ive walked there. Thank goodness for chest hairs....rock sensory lol 🍻

[@PNWSamson]

Haha no worries! That was actually North of Campbell River. Oyster river is a fun spot too tho!

[@GoldVP...]

@@PNWSamson lived in CR from 2012, to 2014, and enjoyed that nature up there. Gold panned the oyster, and walked out to the ocean one day, but I guess the whole area could look the same to a degree haha

[@nelloagostini4389]

Great video, and in my back yard makes it even better. So you know what you have to do next ? move to the island. I came to parksville to do a two week job, 32 years ago and never left.

[@PNWSamson]

Haha trust me, I've been working on it. Hopefully one day soon we can call the island home 😊

[@Hawaiian80882]

awesome post bro!

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks man!

[@FireBlockLtd]

Gorgeous! Any tips and criteria for finding good dive spots on the island?

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks dude. I would say Google maps and Navionics are your best friends. Look for areas with lots of current and try and hit them on a slack tide. Big fish love current. Also the fish we are primarily after also prefer rocky areas. Make sure you reference any spot you plan on diving to the DFO site to ensure you are avoiding Rockfish Conversation areas. With that being said, like Daniel Mann says, dive everywhere. You never know what you might see/find. The adventure and the unknown is half the fun!

[@JT-nc9uw]

this is the clearest footage I've seen! really great: new camera or just good conditions? in the first dive site.

[@PNWSamson]

No man same camera. GoPro 8. It's my second time diving Campbell River and the visibility has been amazing both times. Might be the strong current in the area but yeah, it was pretty amazing!

[@Kabir9861]

Lovely vid, what are the yellow fish called at the beginning?

[@PNWSamson]

Cheers! The first fish was a Copper Rockfish, and the others were Greenling and the one under the rock was a Lingcod.

[@Gigga9]

Nice video, what date in the summer are you out here?

[@PNWSamson]

Hmm I think that was June? It's been a while though but sometime in the summer.

[@pintorthepintor3964]

Yo PNW. Great vid as always! Do you ever free dive alone? If so what is your depth limit?

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks man! And to answer your question honestly, yes I have. But I'm incredibly conservative, dive shallow, won't push my dive time much over 30 seconds and only when I have someone on shore keeping an eye on me. Even at that, it's not a smart thing for me to do. I have a kid and wife so I have to make sure I'm alive and well haha.

[@pintorthepintor3964]

@@PNWSamson I dive alone when I am crabbing. Except people don't know where I am lol. I atleast dive infront of onlookers where i go. I only go down for like 30 seconds also. I do depths of 10-15 feet. Just go down, grab em and get out really. I once wasnt resting long enough between dives, and I swear I almost blacked out, as I was coming up from depth i saw some stars in the blackout zone like 5-10 feet from the surface. It was pretty scary. Be safe out there peeps!

[@coltonwhite5799]

@@pintorthepintor3964 Scary stuff, it's sobering to realize how shallow you can be to get blackout! Do you go crabbing on the island or on the mainland? (assuming you're diving the BC coast)

[@PNWSamson]

Crazy man. Yeah be safe indeed. You never know what could happen. If you run into a ghost net a dive buddy would be nice! That could happen at any depth.

[@thiagovieira8744]

Great job!!!

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks! :)

[@SingleBreath]

Love your kid dude.. ❤❤❤

[@PNWSamson]

Cheers man. I didn't see this message before. Funny, your daughter's name is Marie and my daughters middle name is Meri and your last name is Saleh and my daughters name is Sayla. Pretty similar.

[@SingleBreath]

@@PNWSamson Next thing you know, you'll discover common bloodlines to my tribe back in Sudan.. and in no time, Maria and Sayla will be spearfishing the crystal blue waters of the Red Sea together.. 😁

[@PNWSamson]

@@SingleBreath haha that would be rad. The red sea would be a dream!

[@SingleBreath]

@@PNWSamson The Red Sea is amazing. I dived it from Dahab, Sharm Al Shiekh and Gona in Egypt, from Port Sudan in Sudan, from ElHassy in Saudi Arabia and Musawa in Eritrea.. Viz can be +50-100m and it has All the Usual Suspects of pelagics you can think of.. ❤❤❤

[@sweater7630]

Love the content man, so beautiful

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks man!

[@SingleBreath]

Hi Chris.. What are the large pelagics in BC and where can you find them?

[@PNWSamson]

You would have to go to Vancouver islands west coast and go off shore. Your best bet would be to hire a charter to take you out. I would call some fishing charters out in Tofino/Ucluelet and ask around.

[@SingleBreath]

@@PNWSamson Thanks for the tip.. I'll look it up and keep you posted 👍

[@seanschannel6786]

sick video

[@PNWSamson]

Thanks dude!

[@coenleopkeyjohnson560]

any advice for starting out? vancouver island local :))

[@PNWSamson]

Lots haha. I made this one a few months back. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmOpiHiqrql8hac

[@coenleopkeyjohnson560]

@@PNWSamson bless

[@KBosch-xp2ut]

How do you measure the lingcod to make sure they meet the 65cm minimum size before you spear them?

[@PNWSamson]

Experience helps. I mark 65cm on my gun and reference that to the fish while underwater. I also won't shoot a fish unless it's around the 70-75cm range just to ensure no mistakes are made. If people follow best practices than no undersized fish will be shot.

[@garretdoi6218]

🙏🏻🇺🇸👍🤙🏼🍀🔱🤿😁!

[@CaptainJackSpearo]

Awesome vid! Love the content. Thats such beautiful landscape. I also do a spearfishing adventure channel, check it out!!

[@GLOBALhealthwellnessconsulting]

👍🇵🇱🇺🇸🇵🇭🇨🇦

[@PNWSamson]

🙂🤟