Biller 42 for Lings/rockfish?

[monkeywrencher]

Hello-
First post after lurking around, and I'm hoping someone can assist me.

Just purchased a Biller Mahogany 42 for local inshore rockfishing (Freediving) here on the Mendocino coast. Average depth 10-35 feet, Vis-5-10 feet on average. Lingcod,cabezon, rockfish, maybe the occasional halibut.

I purchased the gun before I started reading the forum posts on gun size and it seems pretty universal that just about everyone reccomends going with a 48" gun as the minimum length. Before I send the gun back I would like to ask for opinions on this size gun. I realize that if I go down South and start hunting bigger stuff I will need a bigger gun, but I believe in purchasing the best tool for the job the first time, and don't want to regret purchasing this gun and having it sit on the shelf. It would seem to me that a much longer gun would be overkill and would be difficult to manage.

I have been hunting primarily with a pole spear up until now and want to explore spear gun fishing. I have been reading quite a bit about Rob Allen guns as a reasonably priced alternative, until I commit to a Riffe or a Wong.
I paid $175 for the Biller and would go up to maybe $300..
Any input or suggestions would be appreciated..

Thanks in advance

[Ron S]

You didn't mention whether you freedive or scuba, but in terms of your question, I guess it doesn't make much difference. There are a million guns, (well, almost), that will work very well for what you want to do, and fortunately, a 42" biller is one of them. You'll find it a bit too long for lings in thick kelp on bad vis days, and (rarely) you'll find it too short for rockfish on those occasional very good vis days. You'll quickly learn to make the "short shot" with a long gun, and your pole spear experience has given you the skills to close the gap on clear days. Overall, it'll do the job very nicely. My advice is that you avoid the trap I fell into of looking at all the other gun options and driving yourself nuts over what else you coulda bought. Keep that gun for now, and start researching a longer gun for SoCal, and then maybe later a shorter gun just for holes and the 3-4' vis days. The biller is a good rugged gun that'l kill anything you encounter and still survive the rocky coastline.
Ron.

[Ron S]

Oops, sorry. I just re-read your post and saw that you did mention that you freedive. Well, my response is the same anyway.
Ron

[monkeywrencher]

Ron-

Thanks for reply.. I am killing myself.. Been reading alot of stuff on Rob Allen/Rabitech guns which sound very nice, but I'm unfortunately not sleeping well with thoughts of spear guns in my brain.....

[sickbugs]

a 42 is a decent length gun for hunting around rocks, ive never seen or used a biller, apart from seeing them online, but id think that it would be a good gun for banging around the bottom, probably too long for hunting in holes with tho.

how is it rigged? (shaft/bands/shooting cord, ect)

[metelin]

keep the gun, i use a 36'' for local dive (monterey) and get yourself another gun for diving socal.

my first gun was a 50'' riffe hawaiian knock off that i built and it only took one dive to realize that it was way too big.

since then i build over a dozen guns for myself and i use most of them in various locations, although you don't need that many most people would have more than one to use under different conditions.

i think 42'' is ideal for norcal.

steve

[monkeywrencher]

Thanks for the input Steve.. I decided to keep it. I checked out your guns last week , and they are awesome! I'll just beat this guy up until I can afford one of your customs...