Getting better...now some 'intermediate' level advice...

[Etienne Spiteri]

I am constantly working on getting better and am now really enjoying my time in the water. I have been constantly catching (even if a few) nicely sized bream, mullet & seabass ...I also shoot the occasional amberjack when spearing at greater depths.

Now I have been also talking to a few much more experienced spearfishers and would like to take your advice on some of the questions I have from the top of my head...

1) I have a Pathos Laser open pro 110 gun. This has three sharkfins on the shaft & twin rubbers, now how would you deem best to load the rubbers? I normally load the 'front' (farthest from butt) rubber on the 'front' fin and 'back' rubber on 'second' fin. Someone more experienced told me that the front rubber should be loaded on the 'back' (closest to butt of gun) fin, so as to produce maximum stretch & accuracy. But then wouldn't the rubber cross?? He said that is a non issue...what you say?

2) Will a 100m Omer ET Roller give more range & accuracy than my pathos? Some large sea bream stay JUST out of the 3-4m I consider max shot for my pathos! Any more than that and the shaft is too slow (takes too long) to reach the agile fish missing by a few cms!

3) My gun has 16mm standard rubbers. Could I increase the performance changing rubber quality but keeping same diameter? If so which rubber would be best?

4) Do you close one eye when aiming & shooting? I consider myself a good shooter, but again, a more experienced spearo told me that I should close one eye to ensure best accuracy.

5) A fellow spearo told me to work on my 'Aspetto mezza aqua' & try deeper waters for nice sized amberjacks. He said he does it all the time. How do you 'stop' at 5m from the surface for an aspetto in 20-30m deep sea? I find this too hard without a wall to hold onto.

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[mariusshobo]

1) there is the manufacturer's recommendation:
http://www.pathossub.com/Catalogo-Pathos-2016.pdf
but you can try crossing the bands, even if I don't think that you'll get any outcome from that.

2) don't know. I'm in the same dilemma. Check also the new rollers from Pathos, they look good. And there is an 105cm Sniper Roller, enclosed track that caught my eye.

3) try Sigalsub; and test it underwater on still target. You''ll figure it out which setup is the best.

4) I don't completely. I close the left one a little, to give the right one more dominance over the image.

5) Try to "aspetto" on the depth where you have neutral buoyancy. I do this not because of fishing interest, but because it's great fun!

 

[mariusshobo]

check out also this vid about testing different bands setups:

 

[Etienne Spiteri]

1) there is the manufacturer's recommendation:
http://www.pathossub.com/Catalogo-Pathos-2016.pdf
but you can try crossing the bands, even if I don't think that you'll get any outcome from that.

2) don't know. I'm in the same dilemma. Check also the new rollers from Pathos, they look good. And there is an 105cm Sniper Roller, enclosed track that caught my eye.

3) try Sigalsub; and test it underwater on still target. You''ll figure it out which setup is the best.

4) I don't completely. I close the left one a little, to give the right one more dominance over the image.

5) Try to "aspetto" on the depth where you have neutral buoyancy. I do this not because of fishing interest, but because it's great fun!

Super helpful reply...let me have a good look and read re the rubbers you mentioned. Shall also try the aspetto at mid water !

 

[Frenzyfinder]

Super helpful reply...let me have a good look and read re the rubbers you mentioned. Shall also try the aspetto at mid water !

What does aspetto means when free diving besides ambush.


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[growingupninja]

For aspetto hunting you are usually laying on the bottom, not moving much, and frequently tucked into some kind of cover, waiting for something good to forget you're there and swim into range. Since you are expending very little energy for the majority of the dive it makes for long bottom times and is well suited for deep hunting.

 

[mariusshobo]

I have a Pathos Laser open pro 110 gun.

You have a good gun. I've seen an Open pro 90 last day and found it very good for shore hunting in Greece.

Anyhow, I bought a Pathos Sniper 115 and it came with 6.75mm shaft, like you have on your Open Pro.
The shaft looks really nice but it felt very non-rigid in my hand. I've dry tested it and it is less rigid that another 6.5mm shaft that I have. To improve accuracy maybe you consider to change the shaft to another more rigid one and use 2 x 14.5mil bands from Sigal (or other small ID bands, I'm saying Sigal because I use them).
With 2x16mil bands there may be to much recoil; combined with a non-rigid 6.75mil shaft = loss of accuracy. At least in theory.

 

[Etienne Spiteri]

You have a good gun. I've seen an Open pro 90 last day and found it very good for shore hunting in Greece.

Anyhow, I bought a Pathos Sniper 115 and it came with 6.75mm shaft, like you have on your Open Pro.
The shaft looks really nice but it felt very non-rigid in my hand. I've dry tested it and it is less rigid that another 6.5mm shaft that I have. To improve accuracy maybe you consider to change the shaft to another more rigid one and use 2 x 14.5mil bands from Sigal (or other small ID bands, I'm saying Sigal because I use them).
With 2x16mil bands there may be to much recoil; combined with a non-rigid 6.75mil shaft = loss of accuracy. At least in theory.

Thanks for reply mate! Appreciated. My local shop has 6.5mm Salvimar shafts at good prices. I have heard only praise for them. Will a slightly smaller 6.5mm be good for the Pathos track?

 

[mariusshobo]

For your Pathos 110 Open Pro you will need a 140cm shaft. If this would be my gun, i would rigg it with 7mil Sporasub One shaft and 2 x14,5 mil Sigal bands.
Salvimar shaft in 7 mil dia (mediteraneo model) will be also a good choice; I use this shaft on a 100cm gun which has far less band strech than Laser open 110 and I like it alot as an allroud gun for Med.
What I do not like at Salvi meditteraneo is that it has embended flopper (which is nice ...) but when hitting hard the rock, it may bend exactly there, where the shaft is thinner, in the flopper aria. Otherwise good shaft.

6.5mm be good for the Pathos track

6.5mil for a 140cm shaft is a little thin and with correct strech of 2 x 14.5 bands you may expirience some shaft wipp. Just maybe, you have to try it.

I've seen that you live in Malta; do some tests with shafts borrowed from friends if possible and see.
Good luck!

 

[Claud]

My arbalete is a 90 with 6.5mm shaft and twin rubber 14mm at 350% and have a 5-6 m range.
By the way:
Don't focus only in the gun.
Spearfishing is made of many other things.
Search equilibrium.
Improve in every aspects.

 

[Naisan Geula]

The idea of closing one eye is to make sure you use the same eye every time.

People have a dominant eye. Try this - make a loop with your thumb and pointer finger, look at some faraway object through this "circle" while you hold your hand at arm's length. Slowly bring your hand to your face, and note which eye you brought your hand to: this is your dominant eye. If the side of the eye matches your shooting hand ( for instance if you have a dominant right eye and you are right handed), don't bother closing any eyes. But if you have a difference in eye and hand dominance, then good to close your dominant eye to ensure consistency in your shots as you may accidentally switch which eye is aligning the spear, and you also will end up holding the gun awkwardly with the angle of the shaft pointing across your body.

 

[Etienne Spiteri]

The idea of closing one eye is to make sure you use the same eye every time.

People have a dominant eye. Try this - make a loop with your thumb and pointer finger, look at some faraway object through this "circle" while you hold your hand at arm's length. Slowly bring your hand to your face, and note which eye you brought your hand to: this is your dominant eye. If the side of the eye matches your shooting hand ( for instance if you have a dominant right eye and you are right handed), don't bother closing any eyes. But if you have a difference in eye and hand dominance, then good to close your dominant eye to ensure consistency in your shots as you may accidentally switch which eye is aligning the spear, and you also will end up holding the gun awkwardly with the angle of the shaft pointing across your body.

This is really interesting. Must admit have never heard of this. I have tried your test and it seems that I 'prefer' bringing my hand to my right eye. I am not sure whether it is because it is my dominant eye or it could be because I am right handed so it would feel 'awkward' against my left eye.

As you say, I'm good leaving both eyes open

 

[Frenzyfinder]

To back up the thumb loop trick... you can try focusing through the loop at arms length away then shutting each eye one at a time. You'll notice that one eye will not be focusing through the loop and the other will. This is your dominate focusing eye.

I am dominate right hand in everything but am dominant left eye. I do photography and shoot with my left eye.

I'll also note that with photography I also sometimes keep both eyes open and still focus through the left while gaining peripheral with my right since it's usually able to see over the camera body. I'd like to think I can apply this to spearing so I can keep a better view of what's going on



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