First speargun

[Juniorspearo]

Hi guys,
New to spearfishing and just after some friendly adivice. Just wondering if anyone could recommend a gun for me been looking at the Rob Allen Sparid but if there's a more reliable gun that's worth my money pls tell me. Also after medium sized fish but also a gun that could shoot a kingi. Reply with a setup that would be good for reef fish but also strong enough to shoot the bigger sized fish. Cheers.

 

[Mr. X]

I'm not familiar with New Zealand conditions but the RA Sparid sounds like a good choice for your requirements. What is visibility like where you dive? What barrel length are you planning to get/what lengths do the local spearos typically use? Matching barrel length to visibility/conditions is more important than picking the brand/model of speargun IMHO.

For balance, I should also point out some possible counter points against SA-style railguns:

1. They tend to be quite heavy - a natural consequence of their tough, heavy duty construction - & can be tip-heavy (you might consider a carbon barrel).

2. They tend to be difficult to track - probably because of (a) the oversize barrel diameter & rail (which adds strength & rigidity as well as support for the entire spear length) and (b) the mass.

In my experience they can be tiring/straining to use in strong currents & cumbersome to carry on long walk-ins. But if, for example, you spear from a boat in gentle currents neither would be a problem. With my own choice of spearguns I have gone one extreme to the other, big heavy RA railgun to superlight, super slim Omer XXV, which really highlights the differences - but it also exaggerates the difference that you would notice vs. a comparison against "an average European-style speargun".

 

[Mr. X]

RE. "for the price" - can't really comment on that. Prices vary considerably due to: currency differences & fluctuations, dealer mark-up, etc. My RA was great value but prices doubled over the following 10 years - at which point other options offered better value; the carbon fibre barreled Omer XXV became cheaper than an aluminium barreled RA.

On the positive side, as a consequence of the price rises, my RA had a good resale value when I came to sell it. I expect the Omer XXVs would now sell for a good price now. Carbon barrels should have become cheaper & more common by now (like carbon fibre fishing rods) but manufacturers are dragging their feet. If value is important to you, shop around and keep an open mind

 

[Juniorspearo]

I'm not familiar with New Zealand conditions but the RA Sparid sounds like a good choice for your requirements. What is visibility like where you dive? What barrel length are you planning to get/what lengths do the local spearos typically use? Matching barrel length to visibility/conditions is more important than picking the brand/model of speargun IMHO.

For balance, I should also point out some possible counter points against SA-style railguns:

1. They tend to be quite heavy - a natural consequence of their tough, heavy duty construction - & can be tip-heavy (you might consider a carbon barrel).

2. They tend to be difficult to track - probably because of (a) the oversize barrel diameter & rail (which adds strength & rigidity as well as support for the entire spear length) and (b) the mass.

In my experience they can be tiring/straining to use in strong currents & cumbersome to carry on long walk-ins. But if, for example, you spear from a boat in gentle currents neither would be a problem. With my own choice of spearguns I have gone one extreme to the other, big heavy RA railgun to superlight, super slim Omer XXV, which really highlights the differences - but it also exaggerates the difference that you would notice vs. a comparison against "an average European-style speargun".

 

[Juniorspearo]

Yeah vis around here isn't that bad in nz on a good day probably 8-10m vis and weather isn't that bad too so most good days it's pretty flat, only going to be going around the rocks so yeah would like something strong but I'm going to be walking out to the spots like 30min - 1hr walks with all my gear so I might want a lighter gun. But also I still want a gun that would be good for reef fish and also a gun that could shoot a kingfish.

 

[Joao Pedro]

I don't know much about it like Mr. X and a lot of guys here. But seems to me that you should be looking for a 90cm gun. Its an all-around size and you didn't mention anything extreme like crazy murky waters or crazy clean waters. It should be fine for you to shoot in the open or under rocks too (a 70cm backup is a good buy as well). Can't speak about the accuracy of this rob allen gun, but seems to be a bit expensive. Pathos Laser Open Carbon is less pricey and imo features a better design and of course next level material (I could talk hours about this gun). You should look to Mako spearguns too, the good thing is that there are a lot of acessories that fit togheter, like flashlights mounts, etc. Of course it is up to you how much you can spend, but you should always compare designs, materials and opinions. Feel free to ask about anything and hopefully you can make a good purchase, good luck!

 

[sharkey]

For Kiwi somewhere in the length of 1100-1300 would cover most things, 1200 is right in the middle of those & other than talking to the good local spearos who might suggest one slightly longer or shorter this would be my choice. Its more than you need for the reef fish & you can still snoop snapper & bang a kingy with it. Kiwi spearos are renound for their skill, have you a local club or diveshop you could approach for advice more specific to your area? Kia Ora!

 

[Juniorspearo]

For Kiwi somewhere in the length of 1100-1300 would cover most things, 1200 is right in the middle of those & other than talking to the good local spearos who might suggest one slightly longer or shorter this would be my choice. Its more than you need for the reef fish & you can still snoop snapper & bang a kingy with it. Kiwi spearos are renound for their skill, have you a local club or diveshop you could approach for advice more specific to your area? Kia Ora!

Just after butters / moki / blue cod , wouldn't a 120 be too big ? N could a 90cm be able to go through a kingi if I target them in the future? N if yes would you recommend a band setup like 14mm 16mm or even 18mm?

 

[sharkey]

You get some pretty decent kingies in Kiwi, a 90cm gun will do it sometimes on smaller ones, but you will need to learn restraint, wait till the fish is close & pick your shots. Moki are called mowong in this part of Aust & they make up a large part of our catch here too. The smallest guns I use now are 115 cm & these are my cave & competition guns. In heavily fished & clear waters I will quickly up size to a 1400 even for species like moki, but especially for kingies. Its pretty common to find moki with healed spearwounds in some of my regular dive spots around Sydney & these fish are certainly smarter, so extra range is handy. For the 1150 gun I only use one short 16mm rubber with a 7mm spear. With the 1400 if I am using a 7mm spear I still only use one 16mm rubber, if I am using a 7.5 or 8mm spear then I will use two rubbers in this. A lot of people dont realise that as the spear gets longer it flexes more when fired, a 1.8m X 7mm spear is a lot more whippy than a 1.5m X 7mm spear, loading the long thin spears with too much power will cause them to loose a lot of accuracy & also power. These are my small comp guns which are used on everything we find in NSW. They are not specialist guns for specific species they are for everything from 500g to 30 kg that we might run across in a competition. The timber guns were made 25 years ago & the carbon ones recently to replace the timber ones, I'm also trying to give up prangers & just use a point exclusively. I think a 900 will be too small for what you want to do, you dont need a cannon but maybe something just a wee bit bigger.

 

[Mr. X]

Yeah vis around here isn't that bad in nz on a good day probably 8-10m vis and weather isn't that bad too so most good days it's pretty flat, only going to be going around the rocks so yeah would like something strong but I'm going to be walking out to the spots like 30min - 1hr walks with all my gear so I might want a lighter gun. But also I still want a gun that would be good for reef fish and also a gun that could shoot a kingfish.

For 8-10m vis. - that's 24-30 feet-ish - 90cm is probably too short. We rarely get such good visibility in the UK. As sharkey already suggested above, perhaps 110cm (RA's & Rabitech's standard size in SA I believe*), 115cm or 120cm. Starting with a 130cm seems excessive to me though. (Although the mid-handle guns above would make longer lengths more practical perhaps.)

*Tuna spearo Miles used to recommend 11ocm for reef fishing in SA. In the UK we'd probably suggest something in the 45cm-80cm range Like you, in SA, they have clearer water (so harder to get close to fish) and much bigger fish than we have (left ).

 

[Sandeel]

I know absolutely nothing about spearing in New Zealand.

So I'll not comment

 

[Sandeel]

Those kingfish look awesome though. You guys are lucky.

 

[sharkey]

Mid handled guns really do offer an advantage over rear handles for me personally, but many others feel the opposite, no one is wrong, its just a choice. There is a very big difference to "feel & comfort" when adding an extra 250mm in gun & spear length. Its not just the length which increases, as the spear gets longer it also needs to get thicker & heavier to stop it flexing too much, this then requires more rubbers, which then requires the barrel/stock to be stiffer. Recoil & the ability to control this (handle & ballast) until the spear leaves the gun is also a factor when the spear is heavier & faster. Generally speaking a 1500mm X 7mm spear pushed from a 1200mm gun with one 16mm rubber isnt going to need any fancy tuning if the spear & barrel is straight. This is one of those sweet spots people talk about. If we start to go longer & add more power to 7mm spears things can go wrong much more easily. Thats why we use the thicker spears. This is my 1400 gun with 1800mm X 5/16 spear standing beside the 1150 guns. the larger gun is only 250mm longer but it is a lot thicker & heavier to maintain the accuracy, this comes at the expence of manoeuvrability. The difference in effective range is about two meters, a bit less than 4m range for the little gun & a bit less than 6m for the 1400 gun. At 4m they are still not equal, the heavier shaft will punch through a much larger fish if needed. Just some more things to consider & undoubtably the reason 1100- 1200mm guns are so popular, they are easy to get to shoot straight & wont leave you dissapointed for fish in Kiwi. Kia Ora.