San Diego waters have a lot of competition to contend with ” surfing, kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, and the list continues. Then, there’s fishing ” big game fishing. For local fisherman, the harvesting of big game fish is the ultimate rush, battling species 50 pounds and up.
For these blue water hunters, the speargun is the tool of the trade, and Joel Mojica of Clairemont has spent the last three years designing and creating custom wood spearguns for a growing circle of friends.
He has about 30 guns under his belt now and says his favorite part of making the guns is working with the wood.
“Wood is a material that has a mind of its own,” he said.
Many of San Diego’s finest career lifeguards are Mojica’s clients, though in most cases he says he’s “paid in fish and boat rides,” which he says he doesn’t mind at all.
“He puts a great deal of thought into them [the guns] and he’s an expert craftsman,” said Bill Bender, a San Diego lifeguard sergeant. “He takes pride in the appearance and every detail of the gun.”
Bender, who has been spearfishing for 23 years, now owns two of Mojica’s custom guns.
“I like that they are custom, beautiful and accurate.” he said.
One of the reasons Mojica’s guns are so functional and easy to use is due in part to the extensive research he has conducted, learning every aspect of the sport.
Each speargun is one of a kind, featuring various combinations of wood, including stripped bloodwood, a dense red wood which is one of Mojica’s favorites to work with due to its unique, rich color. Other woods incorporated in Mojica’s designs include ebony, teak and Filipino or African mahogany. Each gun takes about 30 to 40 hours to make and on average is about 60 inches long.
“My spearguns are handcrafted to each individual’s needs, and no two are alike,” Mojica said.
Mojica said he’s been a hunter, fisherman and outdoorsman all his life. Combined with 15 years of woodworking experience consisting of formal schooling, an apprenticeship in a high-end cabinet shop and numerous private commissions, he says making spearguns was a natural progression.
“I like woodworking, but I also like that I’m making a real practical tool, a weapon,” Mojica said.
The basic speargun costs between $700 and $800. Depending on the level of customization, the price can rise from there. Adding wings, certain handle placements and graphic tracks can raise the price upward to $1,800 to $2,000.
Serious spearfisherman are Mojica’s target demographic, many hunting amberjack, grouper and cabrilla, all indigenous fish to Loretta, Mexico. Off the coast of San Diego, they hunt yellowtail, dorado ” which is also known as mahi-mahi ” as well as white seabass, the elusive, prize fish for the area. Mojica’s guns have been used at depths of 100 feet for both freedivers and scuba divers alike.
He is also beginning to work with one of his friends, Juan Gonzalez, who also happens to be the owner of Mojica’s very first custom gun. Gonzalez has come on as Mojica’s apprentice and design partner.
“The cool thing about Joel’s custom-made guns is the different kinds of woods,” Gonzalez said.
“I like building my own gun that I’ve made for myself with my own ideas of what works, improving on what stores try to sell you,” he added.
Mojica is the former owner of Killer Bees Wax, a surf wax manufacturer in Pacific Beach, and calls the San Diego beach boardwalk (Ocean Front Walk) his park. By day, he patrols the beach and provides ground maintenance work and landscaping from Pacific Beach Drive south to Ventura. His nights are spent in his workshop building his custom spearguns.
He is offering his crafted custom spearguns for sale to the public. Mojica can be contacted by email at [email protected].
In the meantime, Mojica is happy doing what he loves ” a combination of woodwork, hunting and spending time at the ocean ” and being paid in fish and boat rides. Bender recently dropped off 40 pounds of yellowtail shot by one of Mojica’s guns for the gunmaker’s 40th birthday party last Saturday.
Not a bad trade-off.