Attaching Floatline to Gun

[sharksandwich]

Hi everyone. New to spearfishing and new to this board. Looking for a little help on the best way to attach my floatline to my speargun. I have a new 48" mahogany AB Biller as well as a floatline with shark clips. There is no hole in the butt of the gun for me to attach the shark clip. Should I drill one? Is there some other way of attaching the floatline? Any help is greatly appreciated. Here is my gun...

 

[foxfish]

Hey shark sandwich! Great name, welcome to db.
Have a look here http://forums.deeperblue.com/beginner-hunting/64504-dummies-guide-rigging-speargun.html

 

[sharksandwich]

Thanks Foxfish. I've been through that thread pretty thouroughly and still can't seem to find anything specifically on how to attach a floatline. I guess my main dilemma is whether or not to drill a hole in the butt of my new gun.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I don't know why there would be a problem drilling a hole in the butt of a wood gun. But if you don't want to do it, you could always rig it as breakaway. I think I have a description in the "how to rig a gun" thread, or else you could search for "Hawaiian breakaway. If not, let me know and I'll do it again here

 

[foxfish]

Bill has posted some info here http://forums.deeperblue.com/beginner-hunting/64294-what-good-kelp-rig.html

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Bill has posted some info here http://forums.deeperblue.com/beginner-hunting/64294-what-good-kelp-rig.html

Thanks for the help. They don't have much kelp in Ft. Lauderdale, but at least the thread describes Hawaiian breakaway.

BTW, at the time of that writing, I was using a reel, but last summer I went back to a breakaway float line.

 

[sharksandwich]

Great stuff guys, thanks!

 

[LunkerBuster]

make a dyneema or cable loop through the small hole at the bottom of your handle and attach your shark clip there, that is what I did with my biller and it is going strong

 

[sharksandwich]

Lunkerbuster, I was wondering about that small hole at the bottom of the handle. It just seemed that having the floatline attached there would be cumbersome when taking a shot. If you say it's working well for you maybe I'll try that first. I would prefer that to drilling a hole in the gun itself. Thanks!

 

[Mr. X]

If you don't want to drill a hole in the wood, how about attaching to that big ol' hand guard thingy? It looks like there is a small hole on there. Failing that, perhaps you could lark's head knot a piece of climbing accessory cord around the handguard itself. Add an Orca clip to the cord for ease of attachment/detachment.

(My guns all have Orca clips handing from the bottom of the handles as I always attach my float line to the gun -- SA-style).

 

[jtkwest]

it depends on what you are using your gun/ floatline for. if you are planning to shoot huge fish in blue water, using your float and line to fight the fish. in this case you want the breakaway set up, so you can keep your gun with you and still have it while fighting the fish. if you tie the line to the gun and a big one swims away or down, your gun is part of the chain, you dont want that, if a shark swims up at you there wont be anything to bump him off. probably, you are planning to use the floatline for safety. and so you wont lose your gun. i guess this is a good idea. it is safer for sure, but to be honest, i have only met one person in my life who uses a float line in water shallower than 40 feet. your gun is mostly a shallow water gun,or for scuba, either way, you may just want to skip the float line all together. they tend to get wrapped up in stuff,(mosly you) if you do get one , get a good riffe one, or equal. a cheap rope style one gets tangled really easy. on my reef gun, i use a reel. this allows me to swim tangle free, and if i hit a fish that holes up, i can play out line and take the gun up with me, while i breathe up on the surface, and prepare to dive down to retrieve the fish. for blue water, i use a breakaway set up. neptonicsystems.com. i use his floatline adapter, makes it really easy and keeps the tuna clip away from my hand,(annoying clip!!!)good luck with your ab biller,(good solid gun for the reef) it is what i started with, and most other divers i know, also.

 

[Tony Babowicz]

I still use an ab biller sometimes. A 48" teak. I have had it for almost 20years. To rig a float line to it, I drilled a hole in the plastic butt plate and put a stainless steel repair link on it. (looks like a chain link with a threaded opening) I can then clip my float line to it. When I need to free up my hands for something like catching a lobster or removing a fish off the shaft, I clip the gun by the link to a clip on my float. It keeps me from losing it.