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Nick Garcia From Nitro Gun Co. Spearguns
In this episode of Spearfactor, I meet with Nick Garcia, the owner Nitro Gun Co, at his workshop in Carlsbad, California. We began just like we always do, discussing Nick’s background going from his beginning days as a young surfer, to professional MMA fighter, all the way to becoming an avid diver and speargun manufacture. Like most of us, Nick’s journey has many different turns and along by taking those different turns Nick has learned a great deal about his mind and body.
Nick’s first experience in the ocean was from his parents who both loved surfing. He and his brother, Gabe Garcia, spent most their time surfing, but when the waves were flat, and the water was warm they would turn to spearfishing to past the time. This routine last through high school until Nick decided to try his hand at MMA. Yes, Mix Martial Arts. Mr. “Nitro” himself had quite the career fighting and earning money in major organizations such as Bellitor. We discuss how learning about breathing for spearfishing actually helped him while he was fighting. Nick said that the book Breathology really changed his whole approach to looking at breathing while training both in and out of the gym.
As his career came to an end due to injuries, he quickly redirected his passion to woodworking. With woodworking and spearfishing as two of his hobbies, making spearguns for himself and friends was inevitable. The more spearguns he made, the more passionate he began to feel about building them. He eventually teamed up with friend and Guardian Charters owner, Evan Wagley, to carry Nitro Gun Co spearguns on his boat in order to consistently test them out on all types of fish including large bluefin tuna. This relationship allowed Nick to fine tune his spearguns for a variety of fish. Over the years, some on the biggest bluefin, 300 plus pounds, in California have been landed using Nitro spearguns while on a Guardian Charter trip. Nick and Evan are some of the most experienced spearos targeting bluefin tuna. The Bomber series spearguns were developed from chasing down bluefin tuna, and Nick and I talk about techniques and tactics for getting close, shooting and landing them.
In order to consistently do this, you need to have your gear that’s up to the challenge. We go over recommended gear setups for landing these larger fish. First, get a tuna cannon from Nitro Gun Co. Seriously, if you are targeting large bluefin get either a bomber series or a 65” double roller from Nick. Second, get the best dyneema line and bungee on the market, Dark Waters Dive Co bungee. No bullshit! Then get a big float 3 atmosphere float or two because you never know what could swim in front of you. Nick prefers the JBL floats to others. Heavy proven equipment is a must when shooting a triple digit fish. Do not bring a knife to a gun fight!
The last topic on the show is talking about spearfishing trips. We discuss diving in Belize, Baja, Mainland Mexico and Hawaii. We talk about lessoned learned from diving in these different places and some of the people we have met. In Kauai, we meet our good friend Allen Yangco from Longfins Freediving Shop. Allen is one of the most welcoming guys out there. Be sure to check out his online dive shop.
Sponsors for this podcast included:
Kimera spearfishing Promo: Spearfactor for 5% off.