Congers!!

[Huw]

Marginatus...
like you i am still wondering about tridents. I wont be able to answer your question, but would be very interested in the answer, so i guess we shall wait for spaghetti ! Hes out there somewhere... and like me seems to be a resident of this thread rofl .

Cheers,
Huw

 

[Groupermadness]

Hi Huw, just thoıght i would help a little on the trident subject, i use the pronged trident spearhead for Octupus(does less damage to them) and the Nylon 3 and 5 Prong(Cressi, Omer and Others) does curve rapidly off the target if more than 1 Meter away, the All metal ones have less flat area so are more stable for the slightly longer shot. Be careful on the power issue also, trident heads have a cool tendancy to cut fish in half if blasted with double bands at close range.
Happy hunting

Peter.

 

[Huw]

Groupermadness...

Thanks alot for the info, it shall come in very usefull. What length gun do you usually use for trident hunting, and what size shaft? will a 6.5mm bend too easily?

Cheers,
Huw

 

[UK Spearo]

I shot one in a hole about 3 years ago. Dave 'Spearo.co.uk' was my buddy that day and it took both of us over 1/2 an hour to get it out. One up one down - the one up had to keep the strain on the line so that every inch we pulled this thing out it didn't go back 5ft! It wrecked both our spears that day, shan't do that again!

 

[Groupermadness]

Hi Huw, i only use the trident on a old pneumatic i have (55 cressi star) the shafts are good and short for the holes and caves the occi get into and dont bend to easily, my nephew uses a wierd old spear with a trident on it , its 3 prong with the middle one longer with a small floppy and no barbs and he uses single band 16mm on a 82 omer the spear is 126cm in total i think(not too sure there). he likes it for the mid size spinefoot and usual plate shaped fish. hope this helps a bit

Peter.

 

[Spaniard]

In a French spearfishing video I watched, the guys were using the MATC titanium trident on 90cm rubber guns. They were hunting large bass in old WWII wrecks off Normandy coast and as far as my shite French could understand, the guys favoured using tridents in these conditions because the bass were 'transfixed' when shot and didn't get all tangled up inside the wreck. The Bass were all 10lb plus.

 

[spaghetti]

Groupermadness...

Thanks alot for the info, it shall come in very usefull. What length gun do you usually use for trident hunting, and what size shaft? will a 6.5mm bend too easily?

Cheers,
Huw

Size is a big debate. Short guns are more common for this kind of hunting (50/65cm rubberguns with 6,5, or 7mm shafts, 40 to 75cm Pneumatics with 7 or 8mm shafts), but in some areas, depending on kind of terrain, some guys do cave hunting also with longer guns (90 rubberguns or more), which are definitely less handy. So what?
---What makes the difference to me, is that very short ones are better for "pure" cave, but imagine this scenario: you're scanning a crack in the rock holding a 50cm pneumatic, then you raise your head and suddenly see a fantastic bass swimming 3 meters from you: How will get him with a 50cm? (it's possible, but difficult: you must be very clever and the bass very stupid). You may swim up to get the longer 90 clipped to your float, but in the meantime the bass will go away.
---What do I do? I use a 75cm Pneumatic or a Comanche 60 with power 18 bands and 6,5mm threaded shaft: very good for cave, but likeable to get decent reef fish also swimming open water. I also use the shorter 42cm and 50, but only when I'm there for hole and cave only (in some areas of Italy you get fish only from holes).
Don't take what I write as absloute truth: it's just my limited experience in a specific environment.
ciao

 

[Huw]

Thanks for this info guys.

I mainly use my 90cm band gun at the moment, and so i may just thread a shaft for that, since i never go purely caving. Another thought is that since i always dive from a boat, i could always just leave a threaded trident onboard and if i see any eels, i can just surface and switch spears quickly. On the other hand i am thinking of buying a shorter gun anyway (60-75cm) for flatties, and this would also be ideal for holeing. Would you say that gutting the spine of an eel is the best way to kill it?

Thanks,
Huw

 

[spaghetti]

Thanks for this info guys.

I mainly use my 90cm band gun at the moment, and so i may just thread a shaft for that, since i never go purely caving. Another thought is that since i always dive from a boat, i could always just leave a threaded trident onboard and if i see any eels, i can just surface and switch spears quickly. On the other hand i am thinking of buying a shorter gun anyway (60-75cm) for flatties, and this would also be ideal for holeing. Would you say that gutting the spine of an eel is the best way to kill it?

Thanks,
Huw

So you have a boat? Interesting...Now I know whom I will bother If I'll ever come to England: Foxfish, OMD and you are top in my "who's knocking on your door" list
Again about size, friends I have in Sardinia say they hunt in holes with a 90, but I've never speared in those waters and don't know what evidence they have for their strange habit.
Best way to shoot congers and murenas: shoot with a trident on the neck, 3cm behind the eyes, from above or from one side. Otherwise, with a tahitian shaft, shoot straight into the mouth, but it's more difficult. And in any case they won't die stoned: you'll have to finish them off with the knife, and if they're big it's hard to cut the spine: better stab the brain from down-up.
Then, as it has been said, congers have the capability to crawl back in the hole (while myurenas don't, if I'm not wrong): you could find it hard to pull them off the hole, especially if the hole is curved or has side "rooms", and mostly with bigger ones: I'm always surprised by how strong they are! In that case, leave some signal (a white stone, or whatever you have) to mark the position. Then start the elevator action: go down, pull, go up, breath and wait a couple of minutes, go down, pull, and so and so.
For shorter guns, ask the english for flatties (we don't have) and in particular ask Dave (english Dave on the forum) if he can give you a good feedback about the Seatec Grotto 60 (strong 20mm circular band, slim muzzle, ss threaded shaft). For me the best cave gun is still the immortal Mares Medisten pneumatic, but this is mainly a sentimental choice of mine.

ciao Huw, i'll be ringing your home bell next week
...joking

 

[dave]

With congers, it is good if you can get them moving straight after shooting them, before they have a chance to wedge themselves in the hole. If you leave it to its own devices while you go up and get a breath it will be much harder to pull out. The last conger i shot was about 20kg (in the back of a hole, I thought it was a bass in the gloom!) I shot it and pulled it out in the same dive. The British record conger of 43kg was shot by a friend of mine, he used a very pumped up medisten with a 5 pronger, shot it in the face, and pulled it out while it was still stunned, he had no idea how big it was until it came out of the hole!
One word of advise- if using a multiprong, DONT put your fingers through the holes to get a good grip while pulling the conger out. When it gets in the open it will start spinning, which hurts a lot if your fingers are trapped!
The Grotto is a great little gun, but I rarely use anything smaller than a 75, for exactly the reasons spaghetti mentioned (although if the weather holds, I have a competition on Sunday which will be almost all hole fishing for mullet, conger and bass- if the visibility is bad, out will come the 60:martial )
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[Huw]

Spaghetti...

Let me know if you are in England at anytime, i will be happy to take you out on a few spearing trips. I have visited Sardinia a few years ago, and thinking back on it i would have loved my speargun when i was there. If i can remember correcty i would have probably used a 90 gun since the water was very open and there were lots of large mullet crusing around. Also i liked your tip on signaling the location of the eels with a whit e stone or something! how simple yet effective!

Dave...
thnaks for your help too! If i was to use my seatec gabbiano with a trident, it has a 6.5mm shaft, would the trident on your website fit that once i have threaded the shaft?

Also i really could do with a shorter gun anyway for lower vis days. I have heard alot of positive publicity about the seatec grotto, and all of my experience with seatec has been outstanding, is it a new gun? If so do you intend to stock in on your site? If not, i cannot find any seatec dealers and was wondering where i can have a look at/ buy one.

Thanks,
Huw

 

[UK Spearo]

Dave - from what I have heard the comp on Sunday is in doubt check the BSA web site forum.... think it's dirty at the moment - if it does go ahead I think my 60 will be making an appearance as well!

 

[spaghetti]

The British record conger of 43kg was shot by a friend of mine, he used a very pumped up medisten with a 5 pronger

43 KILOGRAMS SNAKE!!! It's two times bigger than the biggest I've ever heard about. I just hope your friend had is piss-kit on when he saw it (italian humour...).
PS: mmmm, Medisten :inlove

 

[dave]

Huw,
you could put a 5 pronger on the Gabbiano (standard thread is M7x1) but personally I wouldn't, as they tend to veer off to one side and lose power very quickly on bigger guns. If you want a multipoint on a 90 get an MATC trident (but they are a bit pricey........) For diving round Fowey I never use anything shorter than a 75, as there are very few proper holes, but lots of gullies and overhangs (I have spent many hours cruising the gullies seaward of Cannis and had some very nice bass there under the kelp around low water)
I dont stock the Grotto as I very rarely sell 60cm guns, but I can get you one in if you want
Spaghetti,
Here is a link to a picture of the British Rod caught record conger http://www.britishcongerclub.org.uk/album/index.htm

cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[Huw]

Dave, you are certainly right for gun length around cannis. My 90 does the trick perfectly, since i only ever visit that location when the vis is perfect. I tend to head inshore to lantic bay or polridmouth otherwise, and i think it is here where a shorter gun would come in use. The main reason for a shorter gun is flatties, since a 90cm definatly is not ideal, would you say a 75 would do the trick, it just doesnt seem like much of a difference to me, this makes me lean towards the Grotto. I suppose i should ask you how much this gun will cost then? there is no rush for me to buy it just yet, but i have a lot of free time next month so i may contact you via your website in the coming weeks regarding it.

Out of curiosity what does 'MATC' stand for? i had a look at some of them on the net and they certainly are impressive, but like you said a bit pricy

Some of those eels on that link were amazing! You mentioned a few posts back about your buddy shoting the 43kg conger... you said that it came out of the hole quite easily, but was it easy to kill? i cant imagine he left it on a float rofl so am assuming he put it on a boat? Is there a site for uk spearfishing records with pictures etc?

Thanks,
Huw

 

[dave]

i would still go with a 75 (or maybe a Gabbiano77............ ) for Lantic Bay etc. It is surprising how much difference the length makes, although it doesn't sound like much. No matter how bad the viz, a 75 is still usable in open water
My suggestions for a "quiver" of rubber guns for Cornwall would be a 75, a 90 and a 100 or 120 The 120 would only be for boat diving in specific locations, it is always too long for shore diving, the 100 is more versatile
I have no idea what MATC stands for, apart from it is French. I went through a phase of using an MATC trident on a 75 or 90 for everything for about 2 years (its what I used when I won the British Championship) The big advantage is that, like Spaniard said, they stop fish in their tracks. The downside is limited range, and you have to be quite selective about which shots you take, but if you are diving well that is not a problem
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[Huw]

Thanks Dave,

I am starting to look into new guns now to buy in a few weeks. This help is brilliant. Spaghetti i know you love your pnumatic, maybe i should look into buying one of those for a truly diverse quiver (however i have heard that aiming can be an issue with a pnumatic if you are used to hunting with an open muzzle band gun like my current gun of choice).

Thanks,
Huw

 

[spaghetti]

Thanks Dave,
Spaghetti i know you love your pnumatic, maybe i should look into buying one of those for a truly diverse quiver (however i have heard that aiming can be an issue with a pnumatic if you are used to hunting with an open muzzle band gun like my current gun of choice).
Huw

Sure, but if you get it for hole hunting, aiming is not an issue: it's just about shooting a fixed target from 50cm or less...While against "swimming" fishes, it's just a matter of training.
However, it's a good things to use the same kind of gun in different sizes for different purposes. Don't follow my example. The best should be using guns of the same series in different length, so that your hands and eyes are always familiar to it.
This is why you could consider the Seatec Grotto: it has the same handle of your Gabbiano, so you will soon feel "familiar" with it. But of course, you'll get what you want, so to match your own desires and curiosity. Whatever you get, I just wish you to have lots of fun!

 

[Huw]

spaghetti...
Seems to me like wise words i have heard alot about the seatec grotto, anyone had any first hand experience with it? On the picture of it i saw, it looked like it had just the one band, is this the case or was it just a strang angle. I have used a beauchat gun with one band before and quite enjoyed it although im sure it wasnt very different.

Thanks,
Huw