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Beginner from australia
- Thread starterYoho
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
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G'day Yoho, I was fishing that area south of Port Hacking today. Not the best day only about 5m vis & 16C but a few small kingfish are starting to make an appearance & in a month or so, hopefully their bigger kin will move south also.
I really wouldnt change much about the gear I've used in regards to my own journey. I had been snorkelling & spearfishing for several years already when in my mid teens I was helped by a previous Australian Champ to make a speargun & have been making most of my own since. Even mistakes I have made along the way have all taught me something & I am happy to learn from these.
I'd suggest you get a gun about a 100cm first up, its on the small end of the scale for kingfish & the like but will be more than fine for reef species like morwong, bream, ludrick, drummer, etc. As for brands, there really isnt many bad guns on the market from the big name brands, dont go overboard at first, find something that you think you will like & go out & use it. If you find faults, great, you must really be using it, & then you can customise it a bit or choose another gun with a better understanding this time of what you need. I can promise you that if you really get into spearfishing you will have a quiver of specialist spearguns eventually.
May I suggest you check out the USFA web site. This is our peak spearfishing body & we have four clubs just in the Sydney region & a monthly competition between them, even if you dont want to fish comps, you would be welcome to attend club meetings, social events etc. Joining a club is also the fastest way to get good at shooting fish.
I really wouldnt change much about the gear I've used in regards to my own journey. I had been snorkelling & spearfishing for several years already when in my mid teens I was helped by a previous Australian Champ to make a speargun & have been making most of my own since. Even mistakes I have made along the way have all taught me something & I am happy to learn from these.
I'd suggest you get a gun about a 100cm first up, its on the small end of the scale for kingfish & the like but will be more than fine for reef species like morwong, bream, ludrick, drummer, etc. As for brands, there really isnt many bad guns on the market from the big name brands, dont go overboard at first, find something that you think you will like & go out & use it. If you find faults, great, you must really be using it, & then you can customise it a bit or choose another gun with a better understanding this time of what you need. I can promise you that if you really get into spearfishing you will have a quiver of specialist spearguns eventually.
May I suggest you check out the USFA web site. This is our peak spearfishing body & we have four clubs just in the Sydney region & a monthly competition between them, even if you dont want to fish comps, you would be welcome to attend club meetings, social events etc. Joining a club is also the fastest way to get good at shooting fish.
I should add how important it is to also get yourself a rig line & a float with a flag, not a reel. We have had too many accidents with boats hitting spearos in recent years. A float with about 30m of rope attatched to the back of your gun is your greatest safety device. It also handy for dragging your fish around, particularly with the increasing numbers of sharks.
That's a bit to read but I will read through it again after I post, everything I have seemed to google says 110 is a good all round size. I jumped on spearfishing.net man there are way to many options, any guns you would steer clear of, or features that are a must have? I know everyone is different. If you had no gear and wanted to go out tomorrow what would you buy?
Also what size wetsuit are you using?
Also what size wetsuit are you using?
Today I used a 5mm top & 3mm bottoms & was still warm after 5 hours. I'll continue to wear this in Sydney for another month & then will go to 3mm top & bottoms in mid November. If I had to buy a gun for myself tomorrow I'd get one from a well known custom maker, but that isnt going to help you ATM, just buy yourself one from one of the major brands & for starting out you cant go too far wrong. A 110 is a good size, just get a 7mm spear & use one rubber on it. If you need more power later, get a longer gun with a heavier diameter shaft & more rubbers, instead of trying to overpower a little one.
What I am using in Stdney ATM is a 1.6m X 7mm diameter straight shaft with only one 16mm rubber. This is my winter setup & I use this for all comps throughout the year. All my guns are mid handle & if I was using a rear handle I would need to shoot a shorter spear for the same utility. In summer or a bit further north I use a 1.9m X 7.5mm for pelagics up to about 30 kg, this is not competition. Further north again or for some bluewater fish I go to a 8mm spear & three rubbers. For larger tuna & I particularly like to chase dogtooth, I will go to 9-10mm spears & maybe four rubbers. As you can see guns can start to get set up for specialist, interests, locations & species. Get a 100-110 & a float & rig rope your skills & investment of time will make much more difference than the brand of gun you have until you get to the point that you are looking for fractions of improved performance.
What I am using in Stdney ATM is a 1.6m X 7mm diameter straight shaft with only one 16mm rubber. This is my winter setup & I use this for all comps throughout the year. All my guns are mid handle & if I was using a rear handle I would need to shoot a shorter spear for the same utility. In summer or a bit further north I use a 1.9m X 7.5mm for pelagics up to about 30 kg, this is not competition. Further north again or for some bluewater fish I go to a 8mm spear & three rubbers. For larger tuna & I particularly like to chase dogtooth, I will go to 9-10mm spears & maybe four rubbers. As you can see guns can start to get set up for specialist, interests, locations & species. Get a 100-110 & a float & rig rope your skills & investment of time will make much more difference than the brand of gun you have until you get to the point that you are looking for fractions of improved performance.
As a beginner, you may want to use a shorter float-line or leave much of your line on a winder* (easily made from a piece of wood), attached to your float to reduce the chance of tangles. Currently, I most often use a float line that is only about ~12m/40ft long and have used an 8m/25ft float line in shallower waters. 15m or 20m are quite good lengths for float-lines too.
BTW Just as you can shorten a long float-line, you can lengthen a short float-line. For example you could add a clear thick-monofilament "Ghost Leader". Ghost leader is a Rob Allen product but you could make your own from, say, 2mm clear strimmer (BrE)/weedwhacker(AmE.) line. Some optional accessories goes in-line with the float-line and so tend to lengthen it to (e.g. reef-hook, speed-stringer & needle).
*Instead of a wooden or plastic line winder, you can simply coil any excess line, as demonstrated here by Rob Allen himself @2:30:
I like the way Rob Allen (& his business partner Jeremy Spencer) have taken and developed various systems, equipment and techniques for spearfishing, and the way they seem to be constantly looking to improve them. Caveat: Other companies/products/techniques are available.
BTW Just as you can shorten a long float-line, you can lengthen a short float-line. For example you could add a clear thick-monofilament "Ghost Leader". Ghost leader is a Rob Allen product but you could make your own from, say, 2mm clear strimmer (BrE)/weedwhacker(AmE.) line. Some optional accessories goes in-line with the float-line and so tend to lengthen it to (e.g. reef-hook, speed-stringer & needle).
*Instead of a wooden or plastic line winder, you can simply coil any excess line, as demonstrated here by Rob Allen himself @2:30:
I like the way Rob Allen (& his business partner Jeremy Spencer) have taken and developed various systems, equipment and techniques for spearfishing, and the way they seem to be constantly looking to improve them. Caveat: Other companies/products/techniques are available.