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Hawaiian sling - range

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Rubberguy

New Member
Jun 9, 2012
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Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and I'm interested in Hawaiian sling. I browsed the Internet in hope that I will eventually find out what is the range of the Hawaiian sling, but the information i found differ greatly. Some say that the range is very limited (up to five feet) while somebody other wrote that once he hit the fish at 20 feet (yes, but he also said only once) .
I'm new to these fishing discipline and a little bit confused. I suspect that the range of the Hawaiian sling depends on the depth of the water and the thickness and strenght of the rubberband.

So please, if you can tell me what is the maximum range that can be achieved by a powerfull Hawaiian sling on the depth of about 10 feet (very shallow water) I would be very thankful.
 
Hi & welcome to the forum.
I think you are the only person to answer your own question!
It really depends on the experience & confidence of the person firing the sling - the range can vary from point blank range to maybe 8'?
 
I dont think depth affects velocity. Also hitting a target and penetrating one are two different things. And that all depends on what fish your trying to penetrate and with what tip aswell.
 
Depth has no effect on sling power. Range is hugely affected by experience and active practice. With a sling, you don't aim, you point and let your subconscious do the rest. When I shot a lot, I could shot the eyes out of a moving grouper at 15 ft. Today, I shot little and 6 ft or(lots) less is a good range. With a 5 ft shaft and a sling customized for a diver of reasonable strength, within 10 ft you should be able to drive a shaft through a 20 lb grouper. You want a sling as powerful as possible, consistant with being able to hold it steady for 20 seconds or so.

Slings can be extremely deadly. I've killed, stone dead, lots of 50 lb grouper and one 80 lber. The legendary Pinders would shoot jewfish(Goliath Grouper) upwards of 600 lbs with slings. Given the right conditions, nothing beats a sling for putting pounds of fish in the boat.

Slings take a great deal more practice to get reasonably good with them relative to reasonably good with a gun. Getting really good with either takes about the same time.

Connor
 
One other item to consider is the diameter of the shaft. I had a 5/16 shaft that had lots of penetration out to 6-8 ft, but was so slow that some fish simply moved around it. I switched to a 6 mm shaft and got faster, but with less terminal penetration.
 
Reactions: foxfish
Ditto on shaft diameter. I mostly use a 1/4 inch shaft today, for small fish. Easier to carry around, flys better, faster, but much less penetration. Not suitable for big fish. 10 lbs and up, you want a 5/16 shaft.

Connor
 
Do you guys use floatlines for big fish when hunting deep? Here in California slings are mostly used by kids taking little fish but some guys like them for halibut although I think they are hunting the very shallow spawners. I think bringing a 30 pound barndoor up from a real bottom could get very heavy and risky.
 
No line, the drag kills your range. The sling, as I use it, is at its best in clear water, relatively shallow, down to about 50 ft in my area. The technique is shot the fish, run him down, get control and return to the surface, preferably on one dive. Hence, relatively shallow water is necessary. If it takes two or more dives, you need the clear water to see your fish(or the hole he went in) and shaft.

Connor
 
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This guys running a float line and seems to have decent range but hes also using some sort of a grip slider that the pole runs through.

 
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Thanks I will have to play with one sometime but sounds like not the thing for California except shallows or small fish.
 
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