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Floatlines, Reels, Shockcord, or freeshaft?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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LaJollaFreedvr

New Member
Aug 10, 2002
101
8
0
what does everyone use? currently i have just a shock cord, but i am stuck deciding whether or not to upgrade to a float system or a reel...i do some varied diving - some reef, some pier and jetty, some kelp, and some over sand...any suggestions or input would be nice
 
Around Kelp a reel would probly be easier to keep tangle free, around a pier or jetty you would have to be careful anyway you go due to the probability of the fish having done a course on knitting with pylons ovewr sand you could get away with a nice float system you could use a float to good advantage on most reefs also... depending on size and type... but you have failed to tell us what you are shooting... If you are shooting mackeral or kingies it is a different setup to if you are shooting small one or 2kg fish.

All the best
 
generally i shoot fish in the 1- 5 kg range but occasionally ill get lucky and nail a 25 or 30 kg shark...does anyone here swap their systems around a lot? like use one system at one spot and then change for another?
 
Are your sharks considered good eating ? Is it some kind of delicacy over there ?:confused:
 
As i read from the net some sharks has very delicious meat.

BTW i am using both reel and float.I am doing cave hunting. I use reel for extra shooting line.If i shoot a big fish; i locked my rell and fight it by using float from the surface (never tried yet).
 
SHARK SHARK.........

At one time shark ( which species I don't know ) was popular but they were sold under a different trade name. This is either in Australia, America or Europe....me forgot. Definitely not here in me country. They stopped being popular cause I heard the sharks contain lots of mercury.........maybe that particular species is called THERMOMETER SHARK:D :D .

Anyway, I was speaking of shark meat to a fishing guy. I told him I don't eat shark cause everytime u put them in the cooler, it smells like a public toilet....heavy urine like smell. He told me to use boiling water to peel off the skin...and shark taste good, very good....which species, I suppose reef white tip, the most common one. Anyway tell me please is this info true ??????

IYA
 
thresher shark is okay to eat, you will see it for sale at a fish market from time to time. a sharks'physiology uses urea in the blood to counter act the osmotic effects of salt water. there are much better eating fish than shark. if you really want to eat shark i would suggest the following. cut off the head and tail, and gut it immediately. put the shark on ice or in ice water. these steps prevent the urea which is in the blood stream from soaking into the flesh, the cold water helps leach out some of the urea as well. now when you later filet it or cut steaks you will have nice white meat. The best meat is from the anus to the tail section of the fish. if the meat has an odor because you couldn't do the above steps quickly then soak it in milk, this will draw out the urea (which is a form of ammonia, hence the urine smell). i've eaten leapard shark, taking care to save and cure the skin which is beautiful. i don't bother with shark anymore...they are hell on your knives and there are much better things to eat. if you want to try them try a smaller one as they are better eating and don't bother with the blues as they are inedible
 
sharks are great!

some of the sharks/rays around here have fantastic meat...most people wont shoot shovelnose guitarfish (AKA sand sharks) because they think they are inedible. the meat that you get off the tail is EXCELLENT eating when cooked right. leopard shark and grey smoothound is also very good to eat, but they put up a good fight when speared, so im wondering if i should go to a reel or a float? cause ive been towed a few times:D
 
FLOAT...FLOAT.........FLOAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reel doesn't allow you braking effect like a float. You can still brake a float by holding the thick line, less pain and less tangle than those mini line on reel. If the fish is realy big and the water too deep, u will loose a gun + reel, compared to a shaft and a float only....( unless you do not rig it for gun-breakaway )..DAMN that must be a big and deep fighter fish if ur float is a Riffe size float.

A shaftless gun is still a decent shark-go-away tool, a gunless spearo is riskier.

Depending on ur reel, a reel more or less will spoil ur fast aim/swing and ur gun balance will be rather off.

In rocky area a mini line on the reel will not do better than those thick float line lke the Riffe .....in terms of abrassion resistance.

A float will allow u to graduate into open/blue water usage...where reel have no place.

At least a float will tell boaters that there is somebody underwater...safer in high traffic area.

If you use a Riffe reel with 500 lbs, 200 something feet Kevlar, it is not any cheaper than a float + 100' float line..maybe US$30 difference only.


Have Fun
IYA
 
making floats?

has anyone made their own float? for smaller fish would something like a brightly colored (orange) laundry detergent container work alright?
 
Yea Ihave own hard float for cave and rock hunting. It was an 3-4 liters torpedo shaped white detergent container.They are very popular here.It will be enough for you if you hunting around sharp surfaces and don`t hunt pelagics.
 
excuse my ignorance, but...

what kind of line should i be using? it seems to me that since i want this to be a breakaway system that attaches to my shaft i could use the same type of kevlar coated line that comes attached to my biller? and since im diving to max 45 - 50 feet usually is 50 feet sufficient or could i get some type of winder device to shorten the cable in shallower water?:confused:
 
In So Cal, and anywhere there's kelp, go for a short bungie and a floatline. You go with a reel and all you'll do is get 100+ feet of whatever wrapped up from Hell to breakfast. :rcard

A bungie floater will run you $35 or so and unless you wrap it up around a piling, it'll last.

Kevlar shooting line is fine. Throw a 50-75 foot floater on it and a bouy, you're stylin'.

sven
 
LJF , I think Sven's advice is about the best you will get . With a reel you will either end up as prizewinner in a knitting contest or apply too much tension and rip 'er out .
 
HERE IS WHAT I USE IN SOUTH FLORIDA

In South Florida, as you know our friend the CUDA is very popuplar and notorious for FISH ROBBERY, and so is our TOOTHLY friend the SHARK so we use the following:

We get a "BOOGIE BOARD" and flip the LEASH LOOP to the bottom where the PLASTIC is, then thats where the rope that goes attached to the GUN is tied to. Then We attach a MESH BAG (Large Lobster MESH BAG) to the top of the boggie board with TIE RAPS (This is store the fish). What we do is when we SPEAR our fish we pull the boogie board to us put the FISH in the net, which is on top of the boogie board, out of the water and out of the REACH of CUDAS and/or SHARKS. We put the fish in close the NET and continue hunting, so WE have no fish attached to us nor in the WATER (Causing less drag and Less chance of loosing our catch to our other GILLED HUNTING PARTNERS..........

Would like to keep hearing IDEAS and specially any for SPEAROS hunting in my neck of the woods SUNNY FLORIDA!!!!!!
 
LaJolla,

I don't realy know AB Miller well, but I like Miller Draft A Lot:D :D . Anyway, I think they do not come with any gun breakaway system. I have now a "48 Special" , looks like Mahagony wood, a friend of mine wanted me to help him service the trigger and line release mech.

You first need a gun-breakaway system which if you see on a Riffe, it is a small hole on the gun teak stock near butt area. The idea is to insert the breakaway bungie into it so that when a fish is big enough it will be able to pull it out and the float will take charge. The shooting line termination connection where u are now attaching to the muzzle will go to this gun-breakaway assy.
If u want to save money and do not want a dedicated shaft for float use, you can make an extension line from Kevlar, so that u may use ur current set up also with float line. In order to do this, there must be a shivel at the muzzle so that changing shooting line set up is only by unclicking the shivel.

First u must get or make some sort of a reliable gun breakaway for ur AB Miller, it can be a hole like a Riffe or and additional L shaped piece of stainless with a hole or whatever genius design people been trying these days. The main idea is that you must be able to swim into current and make fast movement and the breakaway should not release itself by these drag. It should only release itself if the pull of the fish is strong enough...perhaps 6-8 pounds of pull. If you use bungie or any resistance design, u must try it wet not dry.

Do some research on the net and it will give you some idea, if u grasp the basic idea, a few in here can teach you how to make one.


Have Fun,
IYA
 
Last edited:
HERE IS WHAT I USE IN SOUTH FLORIDA

In South Florida, as you know our friend the CUDA is very popuplar and notorious for FISH ROBBERY, and so is our TOOTHLY friend the SHARK so we use the following:

We get a "BOOGIE BOARD" and flip the LEASH LOOP to the bottom where the PLASTIC is, then thats where the rope that goes attached to the GUN is tied to. Then We attach a MESH BAG (Large Lobster MESH BAG) to the top of the boggie board with TIE RAPS (This is store the fish). What we do is when we SPEAR our fish we pull the boogie board to us put the FISH in the net, which is on top of the boogie board, out of the water and out of the REACH of CUDAS and/or SHARKS. We put the fish in close the NET and continue hunting, so WE have no fish attached to us nor in the WATER (Causing less drag and Less chance of loosing our catch to our other GILLED HUNTING PARTNERS..........

Would like to keep hearing IDEAS and specially any for SPEAROS hunting in my neck of the woods SUNNY FLORIDA!!!!!!
 
I am very wondering about this boogie board. As i read from net many advanced diver using it but no information about it`s shape functions and so on.Is it something like ripped wave surf board????:eek: :eek: :confused:
 
As far as making your own float for small to medium fish, go to your local boating supply store and check out thier boat fenders. They come in various size, shapes and colors and you should definately find one to suit your needs...
 
BOOGIE BOARD

Murat,

A boogiie board is actually used to BODY SURF, it's actually made of a composite faom and most of them come with a type of finished PVC plastin linning at the bottom. I tell you the IDEA is great, we have also rigged a dive FLAG on it.

Rgds,
 
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