Hi everyone and Ramadan Kareem to those observing the holy month.
About a year ago I bought a second hand 90cm Balcosub gun from a tiny little shop in Alexandria. Suffice it to say the gun was crap--the spear was very heavy, the band it came with broke the third or fourth time I tried to load it, and the last time i used it the trigger mechanism was failing, like as soon as the wishbone would settle in the notch the spear would fly out unless i had the safety on. So I basically used the safety button as a trigger for the rest of the dive and haven't used the gun since and I went back to the guy who sold it to me and complained and told him to find me a buyer.
This summer I got my hands on a Foldspear and have been finding it very useful, especially around the rocky coves that line Egypt's north coast. It's very easy to use and has surprisingly good range and power. Most of the fish in these waters hides in caves and under rocks which made the polespear not totally effective. I was lucky to find in another fishing shop a simple (but brand new) 50cm gun that came with several speartips. It's been great and has been perfect for a couple of the spots I like to fish at in Alexandria (Sporting and Montaza). Fish swim close to or between the rocks, so I either look into the holes or hide behind something and ambush them as they come around, they're usually very close.
Today, however, we dove off a jetty in Marina (a summer resort town further West along the coast) and there was a lot of mullet (boori), some good sargos (sharghoosh) and some bass (aroos) and you can also find groupers there but we didn't see any today. The visibility was very good and it's basically big rocks scattered around big cube-shaped wavebreakers. So I had my little gun and that was nice for a couple of small sargo, but the larger ones were more skittish and i only spotted a few staying put between/underneath rocks and i think that's mostly because of the structure of the rocks, they're more boulder-like here, fewer nooks and holes). The mullet were really exciting though, there were several schools of 4 to maybe 8 fish and there were some single fish just cruising, some good sizes. Had many close shots (that actually came back to haunt me in my dreams when I napped after iftar) but no luck. I'd been having a blast practicing aspettos and realized that had I a longer gun I could probably have landed a lot of those fish, as my gun's very short range meant I had to get really close to them, which I think you could probably do if you're experienced, but with some of these fish you'd have to be really frickin good, which I'm not, or lucky, which I wasn't today.
I was up for the challenge though and was totally focused on getting to the fish and then when I was loading my gun the wishbone broke and that sort of decided things for me. My buddy's cousin who was with us had been using my polespear but had retired and was just floating, taking in the sun, so I took the polespear and gave tried half-heartedly with it till we got out a few minutes later. The polespear's great but it's just really unmaneuverable (I should see about shorteneing it, maybe) and hurts your hand after a while. (I've been thinking of making a tough plastic cover for the fleshy part of the hand that engages the rubber loop... any ideas?). I also think I had a very defeatist mindset at that point. That always seems to happen towards the end of a dive/session, even if I've made a good catch.
I used to think long guns were for big fish and open seas but from what I've been reading on the forums and from what I've seen on some of the videos on YouTube and Google Video, that doesn't seem to be the case. I guess visibility's also an issue. So basically I've decided I want another gun, a longer one. I think a 90cm with a tahitian shaft would be perfect, nothing fancy, just a durable solid gun, like my friend's Omer Excalibur (I think it's a 2000).
Now I have an idea about which guns out there suit my needs and budget, but I don't know how to get one in Egypt. I'd appreciate if any DB members could either provide me with leads on people who have decent 90cm guns they'd like to sell here in Egypt, or if anyone has any advice or cautions on ordering a speargun online and having it shipped here. Customs here can be a bit of a hassle and I'm not keen to pay for the gun again just to bring it into the country. Otherwise I guess I could just wait for someone coming from abroad and have them bring me a gun with them. But I really don't want to wait
So I'd totally appreciate any feedback on this, and I wish everyone a pleasant weekend, bountiful spearing and safe dives.
motaz
About a year ago I bought a second hand 90cm Balcosub gun from a tiny little shop in Alexandria. Suffice it to say the gun was crap--the spear was very heavy, the band it came with broke the third or fourth time I tried to load it, and the last time i used it the trigger mechanism was failing, like as soon as the wishbone would settle in the notch the spear would fly out unless i had the safety on. So I basically used the safety button as a trigger for the rest of the dive and haven't used the gun since and I went back to the guy who sold it to me and complained and told him to find me a buyer.
This summer I got my hands on a Foldspear and have been finding it very useful, especially around the rocky coves that line Egypt's north coast. It's very easy to use and has surprisingly good range and power. Most of the fish in these waters hides in caves and under rocks which made the polespear not totally effective. I was lucky to find in another fishing shop a simple (but brand new) 50cm gun that came with several speartips. It's been great and has been perfect for a couple of the spots I like to fish at in Alexandria (Sporting and Montaza). Fish swim close to or between the rocks, so I either look into the holes or hide behind something and ambush them as they come around, they're usually very close.
Today, however, we dove off a jetty in Marina (a summer resort town further West along the coast) and there was a lot of mullet (boori), some good sargos (sharghoosh) and some bass (aroos) and you can also find groupers there but we didn't see any today. The visibility was very good and it's basically big rocks scattered around big cube-shaped wavebreakers. So I had my little gun and that was nice for a couple of small sargo, but the larger ones were more skittish and i only spotted a few staying put between/underneath rocks and i think that's mostly because of the structure of the rocks, they're more boulder-like here, fewer nooks and holes). The mullet were really exciting though, there were several schools of 4 to maybe 8 fish and there were some single fish just cruising, some good sizes. Had many close shots (that actually came back to haunt me in my dreams when I napped after iftar) but no luck. I'd been having a blast practicing aspettos and realized that had I a longer gun I could probably have landed a lot of those fish, as my gun's very short range meant I had to get really close to them, which I think you could probably do if you're experienced, but with some of these fish you'd have to be really frickin good, which I'm not, or lucky, which I wasn't today.
I was up for the challenge though and was totally focused on getting to the fish and then when I was loading my gun the wishbone broke and that sort of decided things for me. My buddy's cousin who was with us had been using my polespear but had retired and was just floating, taking in the sun, so I took the polespear and gave tried half-heartedly with it till we got out a few minutes later. The polespear's great but it's just really unmaneuverable (I should see about shorteneing it, maybe) and hurts your hand after a while. (I've been thinking of making a tough plastic cover for the fleshy part of the hand that engages the rubber loop... any ideas?). I also think I had a very defeatist mindset at that point. That always seems to happen towards the end of a dive/session, even if I've made a good catch.
I used to think long guns were for big fish and open seas but from what I've been reading on the forums and from what I've seen on some of the videos on YouTube and Google Video, that doesn't seem to be the case. I guess visibility's also an issue. So basically I've decided I want another gun, a longer one. I think a 90cm with a tahitian shaft would be perfect, nothing fancy, just a durable solid gun, like my friend's Omer Excalibur (I think it's a 2000).
Now I have an idea about which guns out there suit my needs and budget, but I don't know how to get one in Egypt. I'd appreciate if any DB members could either provide me with leads on people who have decent 90cm guns they'd like to sell here in Egypt, or if anyone has any advice or cautions on ordering a speargun online and having it shipped here. Customs here can be a bit of a hassle and I'm not keen to pay for the gun again just to bring it into the country. Otherwise I guess I could just wait for someone coming from abroad and have them bring me a gun with them. But I really don't want to wait
So I'd totally appreciate any feedback on this, and I wish everyone a pleasant weekend, bountiful spearing and safe dives.
motaz