Spearfishing in a Norwegian Tidal Current

"A current known to capsize rowing boats". Just the thing you want to read on Google 10 minutes before jumping in a new dive spot.
Winter is coming closer, with colder water and shorter days. Making the best of it, we had 4 hours of challenging spearfishing in this amazing place!
Vlog style video
0:00 Intro
0:39 Spearfishing
6:45 Time for rafting

[@DudeRandom]

Norway is such a beautiful country. I wish I could dive in that spot one day!

[@elkayakfish]

Brilliant work. Love the name of this place! 🎉

[@AkselOrstavik]

Haha yeah it’s well chosen!

[@baylonaj]

Very cool

[@yannarmada]

Norway looks crazy for spearfishing!! Great video Aksel thanks for the beautiful images!

[@AkselOrstavik]

It's fantastic. Seldom any 20kg+ fish (except for the halibut), but still absolutely amazing:)

[@Robchefpoznan]

Very cool ...👍 I would be a bit afraid of such a strong current ... 😉..Greetings and waiting for the next 😎

[@AkselOrstavik]

Thanks! Relatively sheltered place so wasn’t to worried about getting swept away, that helped;)

[@Paultschoppmota]

Your videos are very good Aksel! Keep it up. Thank you!!

[@samjeon52]

looks super fun to dive in the currents!

[@mattsbell5019]

Greetings from California. What a beautiful spot and great video!

[@gileswitcomb8273]

Brilliant Film ! The water looks amazing ! Thank you for Making this.

[@AkselOrstavik]

A pleasure, glad you enjoyed it!

[@charlesward8196]

That must feel almost like flying when you sail along with he current!

[@AkselOrstavik]

Pretty much, simply an unreal experience!

[@deprofundis4284]

Wow! Respect! With a current like this and such a low water temperature you must really love spearfishing! Thank you for your video.

[@AkselOrstavik]

Hehe we normally don't dive in current quite as strong, this was purely just for fun:) But the cold is a totally different story, last January it was about 3 degrees in the water here! Then the passion for the sport and fantastic visibility is the only thing keeping us warm

[@deprofundis4284]

Respect! We - greece down south- complain about the freezing cold water that usually is at its lowest on February: 14-15 degrees!!! Now its 21 degrees and its really annoying the fact that l have to switch from a 5mm diving suit to 7mm one... Safe Dives!!

[@brianhockenstein7011]

looks like diving here in BC Canada!

[@AkselOrstavik]

Thats cool. You got the same fish species? Cod, pollock etc

[@Andygeofri]

very cool!

[@bobbymilesfred]

Another absolutely great video Aksel- always a joy to watch when you upload! Keep up the good work brother! Would love a "fail compilation" one time- I saw Daniel Mann post that once and it was a fun watch!

[@AkselOrstavik]

Thanks! Yeah that was a nice video, maybe down the road;)

[@christoffer8076]

WOW! The rafting at the end looked super fun!

[@AkselOrstavik]

It was, we did it several times:)

[@skyespearfishing]

Mate that current is insane 😳 fair play diving and hunting in that!!!

[@AkselOrstavik]

Important to have some fun, but would say spearfishing when the current picked up was even harder than in lake Puruvesi! Speaking of which, are you gonna make a video from the championship?

[@skyespearfishing]

@@AkselOrstavik I need to start editing it soon! Just not got round to it yet!

[@AkselOrstavik]

Looking forward to it! Fun to see others perspective of the event:)

[@stefpix]

Amazing! Do you attach the floatline to the belt? I prefer to attach it to the speargun. Where I dove there are strong tidal currents. The floatline can tangle around a rock while the current is pushing you. That would be risky while underwater. Easier to drop the gun than ditch the belt, in a tangle.

[@AkselOrstavik]

A very normal setup in Norway is to connect the floatline to the belt, and then connect the speargun on through a second line. That way you can drop the belt without hesitation, as its secured to the float. And you pull the float with your hip rather than your arms, which is nice:)

[@stefpix]

@@AkselOrstavik thanks. That is interesting. Personally I would worry about tangles with 2 lines. I carry already a GoPro around my neck and one on the speargun tip and things can tangle in high current. I spearfish mostly where the New York bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. The tides tacan be strong, and there are other currents. When I lived in ita,y I drove to Norway and went by train several times. I did not spearfish at the time, nor fish. But food so expensive compared to the rest of Europe I followed the suggestion of a local to buy a hook and fishing line, and I caught large cod and pollock from a pier in the Lofoten. Spearfishing in Norway seems amazing. Maybe someday. Currently in NY the water temp is 14 C and air temperature 5 C, but the wind is what kills your fingers and toes. When the water goes below 10C all the fish migrates to the south or to much deeper off shore waters.

[@zero2spearo]

Beautiful life dude!

[@AkselOrstavik]

Freediving and spearfishing definitely helps makes it better;)

[@nfragala]

Was a balmy 11° over here in Rockport, MA USA yesterday (11/15). Nailed a couple nice pollock with a pole and had an excellent dive! Stay safe.

[@AkselOrstavik]

Good job with the pollocks on the pole! Find them tricky to get that way. Very limited training with polespears, but something I wanna get better at!

[@nfragala]

@@AkselOrstavik gotta keep your eyes down and dust with a long breath hold. If you're lucky, the big ones will come investigate and give you a shot. They are quick, so it's gotta be real close. Anyway, dive safe and much love from New England!

[@JacquesDeM0lay]

I can't wait to put my hands on a speargun. I hope southern Norway is good enough for spearfishing, because that's where I'm moving soon 😅

[@AkselOrstavik]

Exciting, which area/town?😁

[@JacquesDeM0lay]

@@AkselOrstavik Risør. But I might very well move up north to Mo I Rana. I haven't decided yet.

[@AkselOrstavik]

Probably not that much cods or huge pollocks in Risør, but should be some fish around, especially flatfish! In Mo i Rana you’re closer to areas where I’d guess there’s more big pelagic fish as well;)

[@JacquesDeM0lay]

@@AkselOrstavik the job offer seems to be better in Mo I Rana so I might eventually move there. I just wonder how safe it is to go spearfishing on my own, and what precautions I have to take care of to be safer

[@AkselOrstavik]

Take a course when you’re here, and use common sense. Should be plenty;) plan for shorter dives and a good way to get warm afterwards if you’re not used to colder water spearfishing, and don’t start off with 5km swims:)

[@KelpWolf]

Cool video! Oh, I miss the child water that hurts your face... :⁠-⁠)

[@AkselOrstavik]

Well, it's refreshing at least

[@DuartedeZ]

Ive been wanting to dive more in Norway. Whereabouts is this spot? looks like fun!

[@AkselOrstavik]

It’s on an island called Hitra, outside the city of Trondheim. Quite in the middle of the country:)

[@linoliebmann]

Cool video. Which part of Norway is this?

[@AkselOrstavik]

Island of Hitra, outside city of Trondheim!

[@pt4036]

hope you dont have any white pointers sharks or is it too cold for them ,i leave the gutting till i get to shore

[@AkselOrstavik]

Don't have those here. We have the spiny dogfish, but that's rare to see while freediving, and they're not bigger than a meter and a half. The rest of our sharks are either really small, or really deep.

[@Beyondthebreakers]

folks, you don’t need float line while fishing that small fish in strong current, why dont you put a reel on the speargun? I

[@AkselOrstavik]

Uses the line primarily for safety, not that much for the fish. If I drop the belt its very easy to just drag up, as it is always connected to the buoy. Same if something were to happen to a diver. And diving with a float is essential in terms of boat traffic as well:)

[@usamedicine]

Why do you

[@AkselOrstavik]

Lots of fun:)