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Big guns and pelagics

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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RA

Ivan,

I basically got the standard set-up. Two 16mm bands, but the gentleman that sold me the gun gave me a Picasso butt to place on the end. Any suggestions on any additional accesories I may add?

Jay,

Does your suit have a loading pad? If not, one of the local guys in Miami suggested I add a mouse pad to the rash guard. It seems to help. My $0.02.
 
Rolando,
I have a loading pad on my suit but no loading butt for the gun. It would be nice to have a loading notch a little futher up on the shaft. The 20mm band is just a bear to pull back. Besides the gun slips down off the loading pad to the top of my ab's anyway. thanks for the advice though.
jay
 
hi

Awww yeah sweet Jay what a fish to test it on almost as good as that Cobia . How big was that Spanish mac ??.

Mako for me and our conditions on the coast the 110 is number one size, but remember all Rob allens are sweet. Whats with using a 50ft float line with no float :duh not sure I get that.

Rolando when I got my 110 back in the day I remember having it set up with twin 16mm's and a 7.5mm shaft which served me well but is not as quick to relaod as the single 20mm these days. In terms of using Mouse pads and that I tend to grab anything that is padded when loading it on the boat stuff like Life Jackets, Towels etc. My wetsuit has a loading pad as well but I still have a big bruise at the end of the day even when using the loading pad so thats why I try to use padding whenever I can.

cheers
 
Ivan, the float line with no float is to work the thick kelp-forests without getting snagged up. Any float bigger than a small sandwich would get hung up way too often. :head
 
RA

One thing about the RA is that they are much harder to load out of water. Getting the gun loaded is all tecnique. The more pain you chest feels the more pain the fish feels. If done right anyone can get one of these loaded but done wrong and its near imposible. One thing I found that I really like about the Euro guns is the narrowness of the butt wich I use to aim. I feel that the butt kind of negates this advantedge. RA makes a load assist device that works like a cheat tab that I bet would be good for that 20mm. It is basicaly just a loop with a small hook on one side. Its works by making the band a few inches longer when hooked to the wish bone. the badn is hip loaded with the loop on then it is chest loaded the rest of the way and tho loop is removed. Thats the main reasons I stick with 2 bands because individualy they are easier to load and i can handel them unaided. Another thing that works as a good pad is a flipflop inside the wet suit. Belive me when a mutton is swimming below the chest won't feel a thing
hope this helps a bit.
 
hi

Fuzz what about when the fish takes off do you have to grab it in a certain amount of time and wrap it around your wrist to fight the fish or something. What about if your diving over 50ft and you shoot a fish and it sounds deeper ???

cheers
 
Re: RA


Spearooo is absolutely right here. I got my RA 110 on my 15 birthday and i couldnt wait to use it! Well it was a different story when i tried to load it for the first time in the water. Ill tell you i had enough trouble even grabbing the band. :head Even my brother who was considerably stronger than me had a hard time loading the thing. He loaded it for me once that day though and when i shot it on one 16mm I knew i had something serious here:duh. Well I took off one band and have been using a single 16mm for over a year now and i have shot more fish than ever. But as Spearoo said its all technique and trying to load it wrong is near impossible. Also a mousepad folded over and tie wrapped helps as when as a piece of foam insulation. And when you see that mutton or grouper or whatever, it doesnt matter how hard it is to load, it gets loaded!:blackeye Just get the technique down and the RA will serve you weel!
 
Hey Ivan,
The spanish macks we have here are no wheres near the giants yuo have. Ours are a different species altogether. A 15# would be a monster. Ours were only about 5#. Our king macks get to be about 60# though. Still small compared to yours.
Jay
 
Since i am not using wetsuit i don't have loading butt. My X gun has 20mm hard to load bands on it. When i tried to load it without anyt protection even no T-shirt. I only had few bruises scratch and pain. After i stitched towel which give me more pain. Finally i used mouse pad wihch worked best for me. I dunno if i need it on my next gun since it will have loading butt.
 
Thanks Ivan. Mike Damms seems to like that 110 a lot too. I might have to look into getting one of those as my 'small' gun to replace my JBL. I think it would work great for calico and sandbass around here. Fuzz's explanation of the floatline was spot-on.
 
hi

Jay Thanks for sharing this info, I like to learn about other peoples hunting grounds and species and you learn something new every day right. Cos I always thought that when you guys were talking about your king mackeral they were the same as our Spanish but you guys just called them a different name.

Im not sure what type of mackeral we have here that would be the same as your King mackeral. We have Sharky macks, Spotted macks, Doggie Macks, Grey Macks and Of course the beautiful Spanish macks.

Your Spanish only grow to 15lbs that is weird what is restricting their size. What about Dog tooth Tuna do you get them over there.

I was actually reading an old issue of our spearing mag IFSN and found a letter from you. Do you still read the mag ?

cheers
 
Ivan,
I guess it's a genetic thing that keeps our Spanish from getting big. I'll look up our King mack and see if it's one of yours. we don't have any doggies over here unfortunately:waterwork . One of these days I' get over in your neck of the woods from what I've read and seen on the spearing videos it's paradise. Yea I still get IFSN. It's a great mag. What letter was it? About Anna/Dix Roper? Take care and save a few for me.
Jay
 
hi

Yeah that be sweet if you ever get over here

Yeah the letter was about DICKHEA*D opps Dix Roper I totally agree with you and Ive seen other letters of the same sort. I dont know the guy and what his reason in but WHO THE HELL would put photos of their wife naked in a spearfishing mag what a toss. Rob and Barry dont seem to mind :hmm

I like hearing about Greg Pickerings storys in the mag best. In one Issue there was the section called Pickerings tales from Wa, man that guy makes thing sound way too easy it seems he takes 60-80lb mackeral fairly commonly what a top spearo ive seen him on Video and you can see his form is perfect shots are good, Breathold is awsome. Okay I will stop rambling

cheers
 
ivan, isnt your spanish mack the same as our king mackerel Scomberomorus commerson?
we've also got a queen mackerel (Scomberomorus plurilineatus)here, also called a natal snoek. they dont get very big though, the sa record is around 12 kilos. king and queen mackerel are two of my top 3 tasting fish. (dorado is the other)

the only reason i could think of why dix posted pics of his wife nude is to say "hey look, i'm old, but my wife's a hottie", but who knows, maybe its her doing it:hmm
 
Hey guys I reckon there should be more pics of naked women in the spearo mag -then i would only have to buy one mag I could use the money I spend on Penthouse to buy more diving gear:t
But seriously I dont really care she looks nice to me and if they are happy with it good on them I even let my kids look at it nudity is just a part of life and its no big deal- but I dont want to see a spearo mag full of ads for phone sex or that sort of crap either , I just dont think those pics are a big deal - but I wouldnt put pics like that of my wife in the mag either.
Peter
 
I just figured there were better venues for pics like that, but I understand everyone has their own ideas. Just saying....
Jay
PS-Peter-thanks for the support w/ the other thread.
 
hi

Griff I wouldnt have a clue what the scientific names are for our macks, but from all the pics I see of your Macs they seem the same as ours.

And about Dix well yeah I guess hes just trying to make himself feel cooler and bigger. How old is he anyway 60 ? she looks about 35. Still theres a time and a place for everything right :hmm

cheers
 
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