Dylan Efron is back for the third episode of our adventure series, Flow State. He decided to tap in his good friend and wide receiver of the Pittsburgh Steelers, JuJu Smith-Schuster, out of his comfort zone of the field and into the Pacific Ocean for a day of spearfishing.
The two friends braved the bad weather conditions to join an expert under the water to hunt for their lunch. Watch the full episode to go on the journey with them.
The early morning started off to a rocky start when due to unforeseen weather issues, Dylan and JuJu made a last-minute change and left out of the Portofino Marina in Redondo Beach to hunt off the coast of Palos Verdes, California.
As neither of them has ever spearfished before, they brought in local expert, Clark McNulty, to show them the ropes. But the first thing they had to do was tackle getting into a wetsuit on a rocky boat…
— JuJu Smith-SchusterThe most intense upper body, lower body, and core workout.
Once in the water, Clark taught Dylan and JuJu the basic elements of spearfishing, like breathwork. Holding your breath properly and for a long time allows you to get to the depths needed to find the fish. They used the kelp stalks to help guide them down to the bottom as they practiced their dives.
Clark also outlined the many dangers of spearfishing like shallow water black-outs, boat propellers, sharks, and, well, the obvious, guns with spears in them.
— JuJu Smith-SchusterIf I don’t catch a fish today I am not eating.
As a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, JuJu was truly taken out of his field element, communicating and working with a team towards a goal. Spearfishing is the total opposite. Not only are you in the water, but you are completely solitary, even if you go out with friends.
Unfortunately, once they left the training ground and headed out to hunt, they struggled to find any fish in the poor conditions. So they ended up fishing off the side of the boat.
After they managed to catch a couple of fish, they headed back to the marina to recover from their seasickness and make some fresh ceviche. Though they may not have come back with a cooler filled with fish, both guys ended the day with a new skill under their belts and a few stories too.
Watch the full episode here
