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Floatlines

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

New Member
Sep 25, 2003
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I'm new to this sport and was thinking of hooking up my riffe gun with a floatline. I presently have a reel on my gun but am wondering if I need to and if yes how would I go about it??
Any suggestions would be helpful. I'll be hunting primarily stripebass, blackfish and per chance some amberjack that strays up here on the east coast of long Island, NY during the summer months. I also drag a float/flag with me when I go ahunting between old bridge pilings and jetties.
 
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Ill pass on what ive learned...
The easiest / least expensive floatlines are just simple pieces of yellow nylon or polypropylene that can be bought at most marine supply stores. Tie one end through the end of your gun with a Bowline, and your golden. I would not go shorter than 75'. This is definitley easier than making a fancy one with vinyl tubing / core/ end plugs etc. , although if your like most, you'll make one some day. And its much less expensive than buying a pre-made floatline from a shop.

Adam
 
using a floatline with a reel has some benifits. Many euro gun users I know use this setup. If you attach the floatline where the hole is near the butt of the Riffe and a fish spools your reel or you are deep and need to bailout and head for air, you can let go of the gun and not lose it. This would really work out for you if you are dragging a float anyway.
 
Attaching the floatline to the gun

I switch between two guns, one with a breakaway and the other with attaching it straight to the gun. Like Rig just said, I like to let go of the gun sometimes, and with a good floatline (parachute cord in vinyl tubing for protection) I feel pretty confident I’m not going to lose the gun. Now my biggest fear is that I am going to drop my breakaway gun, because I forgot its not connected. I might convert my breakaway, back to standard so I don’t have that problem.

The best way of attaching a floatline to a Riffe that I have found is to use some cord without a vinyl cover so it is thin (600 spectra is what I use, because I have some) and tie a loop at the end about 4” long. Then simply flatted it and thread it through the hole and spread it out and loop it over the butt. It’s way quicker than the 500lbs fishing snaps and very secure too.
don
 
Floatlines and reels

A floatline is an absolute necessity if you are diving deep and/or murky water. You do not know what kind of fish you will spear and you definetely do not want to try to fight a fish at the end of your breath. A reel is a good alternative but it requires a bit more experience. There is a possibility the spool may "lock up" on you and you loose your gun, fish, everything.
Easiest set up: Gun with mono attached to boingie via snapswivel, then gun grip attached to polyprop line (I use 120 feet but I imagine up North you can get away with less) and float. Make sure your connections, crimps are secure.
The nice thing with a floatline is that at any point you can drop your gun without worrying if you can find it again...

Angelos
 
Thanks for the info. I've setting up with a long floatlline/float attached to my gun and go from there. I wasn't sure about the length of line but now I have a good idea from the more experienced.
 
I use a floatline even though most of my fishing is in shallow water, a float is a handy place to carry some bits and bobs (even my phone, I have a story about that too) I made the line out of some thin vinyl tubing some thin parachute cord and a couple of swivels from a fishing shop. I got the cord through the tubing by sucking a bead tied to some kite string with a vacuum cleaner and then pulled the cord through with that. Then I tied a swivel on one end and put some silicone sealer in the tube and forced the swivel half into the tube then used a crimp thing to hold it tight. Then I pulled the cord tight andpushed the tubbing down the cord abit and did the same at the other end, finished it off with some shrink tubing. Its brilliant floats out of the way of my legs, never tangles and is still water tight after 5 years. Its tied to my gun but I have another loop from my weight belt to the cord to keep me atatched to that should I drop the gun (if I ever spear a hugie!! ) the loop is made from some parachute cord aswell and I can cut it with my knife if need be. I find this type of line much better than the ski rope stuff I used to use and only cost me about £10 How cool is that? :girlie Not bad for a girl eh!
 
this girl has her shit together for sure!

same dealy as Miss Alison above. my 100ft 600lb floatlines cost me about $50cdn and are the cats ass. love'em
 
Hiya

A tip regarding floatlines with reel guns: a trick i use often whilst spearing reef fish. Simply swim to your selected reef and attach a drop weight to the end of your float line. Drop the dropweight onto the reef. Wait about a minute, and then descend. You'll be amazed at just how curious the fish are. They seem to be attracted to this foreign object which has just fallen to the sea bottom!!!:D :D

Works as well with the boats anchor. Try and be the first in the water after the boat has anchored. Then volunteer to check whether the anchor is holding properly. Then simply shoot the reef fish that come and check the coomotion the anchor made!!!!

Works for me.:D :D

regards
miles
 
Interesting comment Miles, I mentioned somewhere I had a story about a mobile phone, I carry my phone with me when I fish just in case. Its in a waterproof bag yes! Well someone called me, Ha! It has a vibrate on it as well as a ring but what happend was the fish came out of nowhere and flocked around it , now I didnt hear it but I had a missed call at about that time and guessed a connection. So now I need someone to call me at regular intervals hehe. Do you reckon this is legal in UK compeitions?
 
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