First Time Gunner-Living on a small Tropical Island 3 Years -Rob Allen Tuna 90-110cm

[thesaltyassassin]

Hello Good People,

I am living and working on a small tropical Island called Ofu in American Samoa. I will be here at least 3 years. The whole island is reef, with the occasional channel out to the outer reef. I have been pole spearing for the last two months on the inner reef and have mostly figured out that night spearing is where it is at, if I want to kill a nice parrotfish rather than bouncing my spear off them during the day. I am looking to buy my first spear gun, a line and a Kui Stringer. The water is about 70 yards/meters from our house. I will be using this gun at least once a week during the day, while continuing to use the JBL 3 prong pole spear at night. Most of the time I will be in the inner reef due to the easy access and being solo. Less often I will be with some locals that have guns in the outer reef. The visibility is usually very good here. I am 5'11'', 175 lbs.

The gun I am considering is the Rob Allen Tuna 100cm open muzzle, I could be talked into something plus or minus 10cm, but am mainly curious if people feel this will be a good beginner/intermediate gun for free diving both in shallow 2-10 feet inner reef where I mostly will be aiming at parrot fish, mullet and Bluefin Trevali, and deeper outer reef where anything is possible, including some big mammas? I posted this question on another spearfishing forum and a gentleman recommended the Spearfisher Phantom speargun at least 110cm. There isn't anything online for reviews on that gun and they are only sold at the shop he owns, so that makes me a little leery. The concept of the gun he suggested does look and sound nice though, i.e, ergonomic grips, a loading butt, etc.

I already have an old weight belt, normal (not super long) fins, a nice Mares spearfishing mask (though I have a medium sized head the thing is already on the last adjustment which is dumb), a basic snorkel, a lifeguard type, hard torpedo float and a hoop stringer. I plan to buy a cheaper 50' poly float line and a Rob Allen Kui type stringer. Is there anything else you all think I will need, other than the good lord on my side for safety? I think the gun on Amazon comes with a spear and line. I plan to old off on the reel until and if I determine it is needed.

Thanks, Boat

 

[foxfish]

A 100cm gun is pretty versatile & well capable of killing a big fish if you can get close enough.
You will need a decent reel fitted if you go after the bigger fish.
You will also need a few sets of bands over 3 years though & quite possibly a spare spear.
For short range shooting a single band will be ideal & perhaps twin bands for longer range open water shots.
We are of course talking about a compromise here as two guns would provide a more reliable, all over situation.

 

[Okis]

As someone who started spearing just over 1 year ago and also live on a tropical island i will give my experience and view on it.

The first gun i bought was RA Tuna 120cm, i only speared the reefs inshore and didnt dive deeper than 5-8 meters. After a few months i felt that the gun was a bit clumsy for what i was doing, especially when trying to sneak around and peaking up for taking shots over the formations.

Some months later i bought a RA Sparid 90cm. At that moment it felt like a blessing, since i was mostly hunting reefspecies like grouper e.tc and at most i would shot a trevally that came up close now and then. Agile and easy to track fish in the water.

However...

A few more months passed.. I expanded my diving skills, i started diving deeper, longer, i started to feel the urge to shot new and bigger species.
I started doing some boat trips to the outher islands and reefs and brought the 120 gun simply because the visibility and fish would be greater.

And for everyday that i went back to doing the usual shorediving i felt kind of outgunned. Not only did i now dive deeper and longer, i also learned where to search and encounter bigger fishes close the shores of my island. I started to have these frustrating moments, where i would encounter spanish mackerels, dogtooth tunas, cobias e.tc but they kept their distance and when i took the longer shots with my small 90 gun i would either miss because of spear dropping or i would simply hit them but the spear wouldnt penetrate fully and only wound them and let them swim away.

In the end i went back to my 120cm gun, the moment i did that i got a honest chance on getting the fish i couldnt get before by the shores and yes instantly i started to actually get those fishies as well. And now the 120 is my standard gun and i'm looking to buy a third gun around 130-140cm for bluewater and those areas with super clear water. And the 90 gun, well right now it's just sitting in a corner until i find the time and money to change the barrel to a 110 and convert it into a rollergun.


So i guess it depends on how serious you are.

If you think you just will do some casual spearing sometimes during these 3 years and you feel that you wont get more serious and expand your spearing to deeper water and bigger fishes - then go for the cheapest alternative with the length best for shallow inshore reefs.


However if you think that this is something that you will expqnd - Then start with a 110 or even get two guns, maybe a 100 and a 120-130.

A 110 will be a bit clumsier to learn to handle in the beginning, but it will be worth it when in 4-5 months later you feel that your 100 gun is keeping you outranged

 

[thesaltyassassin]

Okis,
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post. I still haven't bought a gun, but am planning to do so this weekend. Your advice was the best I have heard yet, and it greatly relates to my situation. When I first started thinking about buying a speargun I thought I 90cm would be good, but after yours and others advice, I am planning to buy a Rob Allen Tuna 110cm gun with an added loading butt plate and some back up gear this weekend. Hopefully I will be able to pull the bands back with not much of a problem. Buying the RA Snapper with narrower bands is also an option.

Good on you,

-Boat

 

[Okis]

I think that you are making the right choice by doing that! Just go for a Tuna and you dont have to worry about power until the bands are worn out.

The loading can be difficult at first. But you will learn it quickly. Just make sure you have a loadingpad of some kind on the chest, not only does it lower the pain but it also helps with keeping the gun from sliding of the chest when loading.