Nick Bailey
Hometown?
I was born and raised in Jupiter, Florida. This small town has incredible spearfishing within a 15-minute boat ride of my house!
What initially drew you to spearfishing/freediving?
What really kickstarted my spearfishing was my dad. He had me swimming in the pool before I was two. By age 3 I was collecting quarters off the bottom and holding onto my dad's back while he did laps under water. I’ve been traveling to the Bahamas since I was in diapers!
Some of my earliest memories were watching my dad come home from spearfishing trips. I was so excited to see the fish he came home with, to hear his stories about hunting them, and to eat fresh fish. My dad made fried grouper nuggets often, and I thought they were the best thing ever (I still do haha). He would let me watch him fillet them and I was eager to do it myself one day. I was so mesmerized when he showed me the Hawaiian sling, he would shoot these massive groupers with. He started taking me with him once I was a bit older. When I was 10, I speared my first fish (Nassau grouper) and ever since that day, I knew I found my true passion.
The most rewarding part of spearfishing to me is being connected to your food source. I also love it because you can always learn something, and it can be extremely challenging.
Can you share a memorable experience or defining moment in your journey?
Saving friends after a spearfishing blackout.
So far have saved 4 blackouts and multiple LMCs. The scary thing is that for two of those blackouts, I should never have seen them happen. The first gave me the "OK" Signal on his ascent, so I started swimming after a big grouper. After a couple seconds, I got a bad gut feeling and decided to swim back to my buddy to properly safety him. He surfaced, blacked out, then started sinking. I was right there to grab him, so I took his mask off, and he became conscious within a couple of seconds. This made me 10 times more cautious. The other time, I had a friend far less experienced than I was, who would not stick close to me. I reminded him a few times and was keeping my head on a swivel trying to watch him. About a minute after I surfaced from an 80-foot dive and asked my second dive buddy where the other guy was. He said he didn't know. With that, I swam as fast as I possibly could up current. From afar, I saw him struggling to kick up from afar. I couldn't quite get to him in time. I watch him surface 30 feet up current of me and immediately black out. By the time I got to him, he was a few feet underwater. It took me almost a minute to resuscitate him. After that day, I surfaced from many dives earlier, swam just a bit closer to my buddies, and often had those important conversations on the boat before diving. Unfortunately, one of my good friends never came home on one of his spearfishing trips this year. It is truly heartbreaking. Blackouts can and will happen, even to the most experienced divers out there.
Are there any specific spearfishing/freediving techniques or skills you're currently working on improving?
For me, I've aways been so much better at spearfishing compared to freediving. It has taken me 9 years to start getting comfortable spearfishing past 80 feet. What I need to do is start freediving more, without a speargun. Getting your body adjusted to the pressure far deeper than where you typically hunt, will increase your depth while spearfishing drastically. A lot of the reason you feel an urge to breathe at depth is just your diaphragm not being flexible down there. This year i am working to hit 130 feet while freediving.
What future goals or aspirations do you have related to spearfishing/freediving? What do you hope to achieve within the community?
One of my biggest goals is to experience the culture around spearfishing across the globe. I love to experience someone's everyday life around spearfishing and see the differences compared to mine. I aspire to learn as much as possible every time I dive with new partners. I hope to become a national champion one day and I truly believe I will!
What is your process like after catching fish while spearfishing? Can you walk us through what happens from the moment you catch a fish to when it's prepared for consumption?
After I harvest a fish, I bleed and ice them immediately. Once I'm back, I rinse the fish, fillet it, and trim every bit of bloodline. From there, it never touches water again. After, the fish gets paper towel wrapped and zip-locked to preserve its quality. Respecting your catch means doing everything you can to make it worth the harvest!
Do you have a favorite fish recipe?
One of my favorite recipes is whole-frying small fish. I scale, gut, gill them in the water, score them after drying them in the kitchen and douse them in flour and seasoning. I then fry them at a high temperature for about 2 min, put on sriracha mayo, and enjoy. Works best with fish under 10 inches.
Any safety tips you would like to share?
First off, you are your own main safety. The best way to ensure you get back safe is to avoid unnecessary risk. You need to adapt in every spearfishing situation. When the water is murky and your dive buddy can't see you, it’s not the time to push it at all! Another tip is to be the dive buddy you would want to have yourself. Stick a bit closer, watch intently, defend fish from the sharks, take your time , and get good backup shots, etc. Because you are willing to go the extra mile, your dive buddies are going to be happy to return the favor. No fish is worth your life, so don’t risk it for one!
Do you have advice for someone who wants to begin spearfishing/freediving?
My advice to someone who wants to begin spearfishing is to find some cool spearfishermen and bring something of value to the table. Just being new and eager to go won’t get you in with good divers. Offer to go with them and drive the boat all day (assuming you know what you’re doing), offer to buy ice/drinks, gas, etc. Importantly, be willing to learn and take the advice you are given! Make some friends and be that good dive buddy who is there to help every time, and you'll be invited back.
What is your go-to RIFFE setup and why?
My go-to RIFFE setup is a 110 cm Euro with a double flopper and a single wrap of mono. I love how quickly I can reload, how streamlined the gun is, and the versatility. I can shoot a 1-pound lionfish and a 50-pound Cubera snapper in the same day. I've shot a handful of fish over 45 pounds with it, and my only tuna so far (24 lb. Blackfin). The double flopper is awesome and doesn't slow me down to take fish off of the shaft.
