Help choosing a speargun (UK)

[portinfer]

Hi everyone.

I was after some advice on spearguns.

For shooting bass in the UK/Europe (ps anyone been spearing in Galicia ?) and for the occasional trip somewhere exciting to shoot larger fish (but not massive ones / no blue water hunting).

I was thinking a 90cm gun or 100cm one ? Any advice ?

From reading around the following seem to get good reviews:

+++ Totem Tahiti (can't find their site or a site that sells them - can you let me know if you know) - nice wood, not sure about length.

+++ Rob Allen - not sure on the most suitable model / length

+++ Rabitech - again not sure on model / length

+++ Picasso Century 100 - is there alot of differnce between the carbon and the normal one ? ie is it worth it for the extra cash.

Scubastore only seems to sell the Picasso - where could I buy the other ones from ?

Which one would you recommend ? Getting spare parts is important too - ie I don't want to buy one that will cost me an arm and a leg to get a replacement part...

Any advice ? Cheers if you can help.
Ed

 

[daviesd]

Hi there,

A 90cm gun seems to be a good all round gun for use in Channel Island waters - although for trips to Alderney , you could probably use a longer one

A few of us are heading up to Guernsey next weekend I think and you'd be more than welcome to try a few guns out...

Between a few of us I think we have

Rabitech Stealth Carbon 70, 90 , 120cm
Rob Allen 70 , 90
Rob Allen Carbon 110
Omer Masterline 106

let me know

cheers

 

[boqueirao]

Hi Ed

i think 1,00M guns are the right choice for big bass hunting: you have more band power and the 0,10 more are not important, even in low visibility conditions.

Rob Allen and Rabitech are also a very good choice but, in my opinion, a carbon barel is not necessary for a gun with 0,90 or even 1,00 lenght and one single band.

i use Marc Valentin, with aluminium barel, Picasso 19mm bands and a reel with 30m of Spectra Dynema 2mm and it always work well, even with the biggest bass

if your choise will be Rabitech, you can by it in Europe in Spearpoint, Finland and i'm sure Mikko can makes you a very good price

greetings from the west, west, coast

 

[Murat]

Totemsub link

http://www.totemsub.it/english (english version)

http://www.totemsub.it (italian version with more updates)

 

[Mlungu]

Hi Ed,

I ve just bought a Beuchat 100 cm gun for 60 quid. (from www.sportextreme.com ) This is quite a solid bullet proof gun at a good price. I plan to use it for Bass and also for general spearfishing when I go back to SA. If you want something even more solid and accurate go for a Rob Allen, but you'll pay for it.

Happy hunting

Justin

 

[Alison]

spearo UK sell Rob Allen as well as some others also try Apnea in Jersey as well they have a good selection too

 

[GALADION]

Hey Ed!!
IMO you have to take into consideration the visibility of your speafishing field in order to choose the right gun. For low visibility a 90cm gun would be more handy than a longer one. If the water is clear I would recommend you to go for the 100cm. The brand doesn't matter as long as it's one with a good reputation. Try to keep it nice, simple and solid (for the beginning).

Happy hunting!!

 

[Pekka]

I would suggest the 90cm gun... my most succesful hunting in the UK waters was done with 75cm Omer.. 110 is too long for most places in the channel... if you have good visibility then might be worth going for longer one, but still you can manage with 90cm gun. it is not the reach or power but the skill... I have been shooting Bass all over Cornwall with 75cm and has been good enough.. longer just makes your reef hunting more difficult and in the low viz days you are totally screwed... so go for 90cm...
my 2c..

Happy diving..

Pekka

 

[portinfer]

Thanks for all the info everyone ! Still haven't made up my mind but hopefully should do soon...

David - let me know if you are coming over I will be in Guernsey this weekend and would be keen to meet up and have a look at your speargun collection.

Pekka - Is there much difference between the 90cm and the 100cm ? I was out last night/evening and I think power is a bit of a problem with the smaller guns. Maybe the rubbers are not the correct ones - my mate shot a nice bass but it struggled off the spear as it didn't go right through. Not a long shot either. I was thinking that a longer spear might improve range and power ? (It was a Beauchat gun - not sure on length). And the correct bands too.

Justin - not too keen on the Beauchat guns - two of my mates have them and they are not great (in their opinion) ... (broken plastic parts etc)

Boqueirao - You use a reel - I have never used one - what is the advantage ? How do you use one ? ie do you shoot then surface and play the fish on the reel ?! Not too sure about the use of reels. What is the size /weight of the fish that you shoot with your reel set up ? The bass here are not always massive. By the way, have you been spearing in Galicia, Northern Spain ?

Murat - many thanks for the links - very nice videos - but none of the tuna model....


Well thanks everyone again - if you have any advice on the advantages of one type over another I would be grateful.
ie a wooden gun over an aluminium one // length // reels / rail or not rail // shaft size to band ratio et etc

Ed

 

[boqueirao]

bass

Hi Ed

the reason why i use a reel is because sometimes you may need to less your gun stuck inside a cave, with a big bass or other kind of fish on the shaft, at 12m deep or more... in a situation like that, the reel really makes the diference. but there are other reasons: with a reel in your gun you can "work" a big bass on your shaft, sometimes even from the surface.

about the size of the bass here, i can say the weight goes up to 9,00kgs, and i'm talking about the "Labrax", not other one.

about Galicia, yes, i have been several times in Galicia: very cool waters, very impressive landscape, a lots of seafood (that you can't catch) and a very rigorous legislation about spearfishing. in this times, also a lots of crude on the shore :-((

have fun

cheers

d.

 

[portinfer]

Boqueirao
Ahhh ! I see. Many thanks for the info, 9kg is a pretty big bass - that's about 20 lbs - huge.

Is it possible to fit reels to euro-style guns like the Picasso Century ? Or would you consider this overkill for the smaller ones we get here (largest I have heard caught is a 12lb one / about 5kg - most I've seen are alot smaller than that).

Ed

 

[daviesd]

Ed,

Two of us last year we lucky enough to catch two 6 & 7 kg bass. Neither of us used a reel !!

I normally have my gun attached directly to my floatline ( something some SA guys showed me ) . That way if I need to let go of the gun, I can just hang on to the float line and play it that way. If the weather is not so good and there is a fair amount of surface chop, you might find the float line starts 'jerking' your gun around ( not good when trying to take a shot ). The easiest solution we found over here is about 1 metre down the line away from the gun, place a small clip. This can then be clipped off onto your weight belt. If you need to let the fish take off, just unclip and reach for the floatline.

hope this helps

David
PS I think we are looking at coming over early Saturday morning to catch the tide. I'll let you know when we have a time etc.

 

[boqueirao]

hi Ed
in my opinion, the better solution is the safer solution. and sometimes the safer solution is the one that makes you feel more secure...

sorry for the sinuous ratiocination...

catch a big one and show us the pic

have fun

cheers from the west west coast

David

 

[Pekka]

Well the difference between 100 and 90 is the speed in which you can swing your gun to point at the tasty fish...
100-90 is not much of a difference, but anything shorter than 100 is my recomendation for reef hunting, where your viz is only about 10feet at best..

 

[portinfer]

Boqueirao - I saw about 12 bass last night - about 4 or 5 of them were large (not sure on weight but I dream that they were heavy !).
But I missed them all... so you'll have to wait for a photo.

First evening out with my mates gun (Beauchat 110cm) and still getting used to it - at least that is my excuse.

Kind of narrowed my shortlist down to :

+++ Totemsub Pelagos 105cm (says 100cm in Italian)

+++ Picasso Century 100cm

+++ Rob Allen 100cm

Not sure on rubber diameter / length but I was planning on buying a few spares. Also line : not sure whether to go the reel route or stick to basics. Is it better to buy in bulk ? Does line last along time (I was planning on splitting a bulk pack with a mate, but even then I doubt we will be running through it rapidly).

I think in the future a reel would be useful - might make an exotic trip at the end of the summer to somewhere where the water is warmer.

Shafts : is it fine to stick with the standard as supplied with the gun ? I have read on the scubastore site that a few are recommending changing the Picasso spear shaft to a 7mm one.

Hopefully I can decide at the weekend if the Jersey folk make it over. (David are you coming over by boat ?)

 

[boqueirao]

Hi ED - sure you can catch them next time. or next... or next and about loosing fishes, well, "loose the fish" is my second name.
of course that "catch the fish" is my first...:hmm
about the other questions, here it is my sugestion:
line: from the shaft to the reel line: 1,7mm mono( put the cramps with the apropriate tool)
line on the reel: 2mm Marlow 8 plat stand. polyester rope
bands: 19,0mm Picasso or 18,0mm Dessault
shaft: 6,5mm Picasso or 7,0mm RA but in this case you have to put the wing to the top

 

[Murat]

you can not put the wood-Allu-Carbon guns to the same comparision category

 

[harpune1]

why does any body use a wrap of mono when using a reel?

what is the advantage?

 

[Alison]

Originally posted by harpune1
why does any body use a wrap of mono when using a reel?

what is the advantage?

So the spear can leave the gun and get to maximum speed without having to pull the line offa the reel, less drag means more hitting power

 

[harpune1]

yes but could attach the real line the same as the mono