Dummies Guide to Rigging a Speargun

[AlexF]

Here are my two cents, well, they are not my two cents, but what I was told by one of the two only US rubber manufacturers:

Speargun rubbers should only be streched up to 3.5 times their unstreched size. Anything over 4 times produces the molecules of the rubber to crash against each other producing undesirable effects.

This also happens with rubber for manufacturing bungie cords can stretch up to 7 times (has thiner walls and is therefore easier to strech), but after 4 times it also gets damaged internaly. The bungie cords I just made can strech up to 2.5 times and work like a charm. I have not tested my new lines, but will do so in a couple of weeks if conditions are right and I can find really large tuna or other large fish willing to volunteer for the testing.

[Bill McIntyre]

Lately I seem to be running into people with Omer reels who are not taking advantage of one of the best features of the reel. With most other brands that I have used, you have to tie the line around the spool with some sort of knot, and its hard to keep it from slipping as you try to get the line started winding on. It also makes it hard to wind the line on perfectly evenly because of the lumps caused by the knots.

Omer reels have a little hole in the side plate. You can put the line though the hole from the inside out and then just tie a simple overhand knot. Then you can wind the line on as evenly as you wish. Its not as if the other way doesn't work, but this is so much easier. In the photo, you can see the knot at 7 o'clock next to the drag knob.

[miles]

Hiya

Completely forgot to mention that!!!

When using 3mm line, its a tight squeeze, but you can get the line through!! When i first used 3mm line, i battled to get it through that hole, so i simply tied it around the spool. The first nice yellowtail i shot, simply pulled all the line off the reel, even though i had it locked up solid and had my hand on the reel!! The knot on the spool simply rotates around the spool, allowing the fish to pull line off even with the reel locked down. Needless to say, i took a little more time and got the 3mm line threaded........eventually!!

I've done the same with my RA reel as well.

Thanx Bill McTyre!!

Regards
miles

[Bill McIntyre]

When I have had trouble getting the line though the hole, I've even resorted to a drill to enlarge the hole just a bit.

I also did this with my RA reel. The knot can be seen at 1:30.

The only other reel that I am aware of that has this feature is the ancient "Riffe" that is not longer made by Riffe. You can barely see the knot at about 11:30.

[miles]

Reel Gun vs Float line

Now that i've posted how to rig up a reel gun, i've been asked WHY do i use a reelguns and what advantages there are. To the experienced spearo, its very easy to decide what to use where, but to a newbie, its a bewildering experience.......do i use a floatline, a reelgun, break-away rig, why not a floatline AND a reelgun, etc,etc

The biggest reason we use reelguns is for the mobility. No floatline to tangle around you. No floatline to tangle with your buddy's floatline. No more floatline in the boats propellor. ANyone that dives with a floatline will agree that its a royal pain!!! Tangling around anything and everything!!

How-ever, reelguns do have thier downsides as well. Its very easy to lose your gun, should you drop it. Reels DO jam or reel lines tangle, making the loss of your gun a very real threat!! Not suitable for taking large pelagics. We use them for yellowtail up to 20kg's, but even thats pushing it a bit!! The BIGGEST negative of a reel gun is that boats can't see you!! Even your own boat can run you over.

In some countries a float is COMPULSORY. It is much safer to user a floatline with a float. Much more difficult to lose your gun. Makes other water users aware that there is a diver close by. Gives you a place to put your fish if you're diving from the shore. Allows you to shoot a fish and drop your gun, and use the floatline to pull up your catch. Much safer, especially if you're hunting deeper water and you've overstayed your welcome stalking a fish!!

Some spearo's use a slight variation, by cliping a floatline to their reel gun. They can then swim to fishy looking spots, unclip their guns and then dive the area around the float, totally unencumbered. I use this technique when hunting thick kelp beds.

Our type of hunting here is very specific. We chase after birds working or do drift dives in strong currents with a boat. Normally 3-4 spearo's in the water at the same time. With yellowtail, which is our prime quarry, speed is of the essence. First diver in the water generally gets the fish. Here reelguns excel!! As you don't have to unroll your floatline. Also having 4 divers very close to each other is a disaster should they all use floatlines. Since all fish gets put into the boat immediately and the boat is always close by, we can use reelguns safely. I've seen it happen where a spearo's float line tangles with the boats prop, and the divers in the water are drifting very fast towards a commercial fishing boat moving up current!! The boat is effectively out of action and the situation could have become VERY dangerous had i not picked their divers up!!

Hope that helps!!

Regards
miles

[StretchArmStron]

another thing spearos do is tuck the floatline into their weight belt when diving while using a reel (or just a line to gun setup). if they get tangled they can pull free.

just a suggestion.

[Ted Budion]

Also, when you do a lot of cave hunting, a reel gun is a plus. You can't sneak in cracks, holes and caves, trailing a float line. And the reel line isn't for fighting fish just a receptacle to store it if you need to surface without leaving your gun on the bottom.

There are cases like, here, where boat traffic is a hazard, so we carry a float tethered to 1/2 kg dropable weight and the reel gun. Yes, it's major pain to drag that crap around but it can be pratical to mark spots on the bottom when you can't see them from the surface. It also becomes handy for diving on current without boat. You anchor it to the bottom and ventilate without swimming to stay in place.

[SEDATE]

Reallllllly... Great and very clear work Miles !!!

[deep thinker]

Thanx guys this is really informative stuff and I think some info all could use and thanx for the band guide miles. I must say I also found the float line a bit of a hassle especially when diving in kelp . Im thinking of getting some sort of reel for my float line then you can roll off a lenth of line and secure it again and you dont have to worry about 20m of line dragging in the water behind you.

[dave]

Originally Posted by deep thinker

Im thinking of getting some sort of reel for my float line then you can roll off a lenth of line and secure it again and you dont have to worry about 20m of line dragging in the water behind you.

I find that the line winder is more of a pain than the extra line, as it tends to hang up, whereas a streamlined, small float and line with no attachments can be pulled through a lot of obstructions
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
www.c-ski.co.uk

[1shot]

Great stuff you guys.

Another variation with the float line/reel issue is the use of a float line that's not attached to any float. Reel lines tend to tangle and get knotty compared to float lines, which are more slippery and easier to handle.

In kelp or for fish that tend to hole quickly after being shot, a float line without a float attached is a nice thing to have with a break-away setup.

[Shadowkiller]

I wouldn't melt the end of the mono...

Its too hard to control the tempering of the plastic, just like in metals, so why risk weakening your rig?

Worst case is that you heat the entire crimp and make the mono on either end brittle.

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by 1shot

In kelp or for fish that tend to hole quickly after being shot, a float line without a float attached is a nice thing to have with a break-away setup.

Like these. The float is just something to grab after all the line is pulled through your hand.

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by Shadowkiller

Worst case is that you heat the entire crimp and make the mono on either end brittle.

Everyone who I have seen melting the end of the mono does it with the end held out in the clear away from the crimp. Then after its cooled, you pull the mono back through and crimp it.

[Huan]

When I melt the end of the Mono, I use the hot knife attachment on the soldering gun.
I also put a small piece of thin metal sheet between the tag-end and the standing part of the line