Dumb RA questions

[IB Boyd]

Howdy all, had a couple questions for you RA owners out there. I am half considering getting an RA for hunting yellowtail/white seabass here in So Cal. Ist question is what size? I was thinking 110 or 120. This would be the "big" gun in my arsenal so I dont mind it being a little oversize.
Second question, Are the guns positivley bouyant after the shaft is out? I am used to a breakaway rig, and intend to set any guns I may purchase in the future up on breakaway......Im not opposed to reels, Im just used to floatlines. Would really hate to drop my new gun to the bottom in deep water during the fracas that insued after a shot.
Third question, what kind of slip tips are you guys using? I was thinking the polaris looked pretty good. Will a RA take a threaded 7mm picasso shaft? anybody shoot one whith a screw on type sliptip?
Thanks for the help, and good hunting,
Boyd

 

[miles]

Hiya

I have RA's and Rabitechs. Very similar guns. Anyways, there is two RA's, the alluminuim barrel and the carbon barrel. Both WILL float with the spear discharged. The carbon RA called the SARACEN is a great gun. Very light outside the water, even lighter in the water . Very strong carbon barrel. I think there is a movie clip of a 100kg+ guy jumping on that carbon barrel, yet it didn't break. RA does make a break-away system specifically for their guns, so you can simply order your gun with break-away.

Reels are a bit of a problem due to the rail on the barrel. Omer pelagic and rabitech pelagic reels work great. No modifications needed.

I use a 115cm Carbon Apex Rabitech as my allround gun. What i've found is that the extra length of a gun does help for those long range shots but, when there is current the longer gun is harder to track (well even with-out current the longer the gun, the more difficult it is to track, but this becomes really evedent when trying to shoot yellowtail that are spooky in strong currents)
The longer gun also tires you out much quicker if you're loading and shooting alot.

We rarely use slip tips here and almost everybody here goes back to the normal fixed barb. Simply less hassles, so unfortunately i can't advise on which slip tips to use or which ones fit.

Oh, just a friendly word of warning, those 20mm's on a RA are beasts. Most guys new to RA's normally battle loading their guns the first couple of time. After that is becomes easy, but you'll be sporting a sore chest, even with a loading pad!!!!

Hope this helps.

Regards
miles

 

[Pablo]

goday IB Boyd!

Like Miles I've got an RA carbon (130)... nice gun! he floats slightly when loaded!!!

You can save a few bucks by buying the pieces for the break away on a marine shop: you just need the stainless screw that ends on a eye (can post a pic if you want)

The back notch that hold the spear is modify on a RA, and wouldn't recommend the use of a picasso spear... The RA spears are really strong, and got 13 kingys between 20and 35kg on the original one before I feel the need to change to a new one. If you really tackle beast fish you can try the 7.5 shaft, but you may need an additional 16mm rubber to keep a good shaft speed.

As say by Miles, the first loads are hard to get in... if you get them in!!! A good way to start is to buy another rubber 6cm longer and shorten it a cm each time you feel confident. Keep the original one for when you get your chest blinded.

I'm playing with slip tips, but the big fish is gone, and until next season i can not test the ones I've made. But remember that in NZ a few marlins have been taken on this spears... including a 168kg waiting for the WR confirmation. RA spear are strong... really strong, and way more accurate than most of the slip tips.

Aim at the spine, but try to shoot from a back angle... this way if you miss the spine, the spear works on a better position.