Help - I need some "Riffe" advice.

[unirdna]

Iya,

You're the man! Thanks for tackling my questions. You have saved me the (all too common) headache of trying to find credible information on the web. I'm 99% convinced that this is the gun I need. I can't believe you stuck that cuda with the little gun. I know you have it all beefed up, but still....holy crap man . I'll probably stick to two 9/16 bands and a hawaiian for the small fishes near the cribs, and four 9/16 bands and a 32 inch 5/16 for the larger pelagic white bass and crappies. I might even order the thread adapter so I can use the one-barb JBL ss spearhead. I've been very happy with this spearhead for years. I can file them down so they are slim and razor sharp . I'm still debating on whether or not to order the floater wing kit. On the one hand it would be nice if the gun is positively buoyant. And on the other hand, many of my shots need to be made from positions other than the horizontal. Down, up, sideways....I need to be able to do this too. I can't wait to try this gun, and now that I have the big itch, winter is upon us here in Wisconsin and lake temps are dropping faster than dresses on prom night. Jon and I ordered Cressi Supercompetition suits, but those only work until the lakes freeze (see photo) . Cozy eh :hmm? Sooooo......I might as well wait until next spring to order that little stinger. Did you buy directly from Riffe? Online? You mentioned the importation fiasco you had to go through. How long did it take for your gun to be made, and shipped to you? Maybe I should order now, and plan for the worst .

 

[andrsn]

hey uni, i had family in milwaukee that had a place on peewaukee(sp?) lake. i remember some huge fish (muskee?) that used to tear off the sunfish that i was catching on the dock. i think i was about 10 years old at the time. anyways, do you ever see the boys w/ teeth? :blackeye

anderson

 

[Jon]

Anderson,

I have done some salvage jobs in Pewaukee lake. In the summer time the vis is nil. In the winter time it is a haven for ice boats. It sounds pretty wild when your under the ice in there and the ice boats go screaming by up above. They noise form their skates echos across the lake.

I have seen a few muskey in some of the lakes. They usually stay away. We see the bigger northern pike quite a bit.
I was teaching a night diver class a few years ago when we all dropped down on one and surrounded it. It just layed there and didn't move. After about two minutes one of my "rocket scientist" students decided it would be fun to grab it and see what happens. The thing shot straight ahead and hit this other poor sap head-on in the crotch!:waterwork All we saw after that was a flailing dive light and this guy slowly float to the surafce to regain his composure.

Jon

 

[unirdna]

Esox masquinongy

Yeah Anderson,

I see em all the time. They usually stick to their own business, and don't let divers get too close. They are Wisconsin's "state fish", and obviously illegal to spear. If a fisherman ever saw you stick one of those, you'd have the wardens breaking down your door within minutes . I have had intimate encounters with their smaller relative (the Northern Pike) though. These fish are more agressive hunters and have attacked crappie that were twitching on the end of my spear. They are easy enough to knock off with the butt of your gun:martial, but it is still pretty startling. My job allows me the chance to get to know the waters in my area very well, and during the summer months I lead a team of college students on a fish survey. We electoshock and net (and release ) many species of fish, and we get a musky from time to time. Their is a tiny, 13-foot deep lake in my survey area called Lake Wingra that is one of the best musky fisheries in the area. Many over 50 inches have been caught there. The only caveat is that if you wanted to see them, you would have to endure .2 meter visibility .

Photo 1 was taken by me last field season (this fish looks skinny, but that is just because it's weight is pressing the net down and the belly has sunk out of sight)
Photo 2 is an illustration off the Wisconsin DNR website.
Photo 3 was taken by John Lyons.

 

[andrsn]

ugly buggers. but yeah, i'm not too sure if it was a pike or a musky that was chowing on my sunfish at the lake way back when.

are you allowed to spear pike? are you allowed to keep either when line fishing?

cheers cheeseheads,
anderson

 

[unirdna]

Nope you can't spear pike either. Too bad really. They are very common, and if you know how to fillet and cook them, they can be quite tasty. The rule probably exists because spearfishing from land and from water are controlled by the same laws. Since pike breed in very shallow water, surface spearos that wade or are in boats could do a real number on these fish. And in Wisconsin, this type of spearing is very popular. I was the only one who spears underwater until I got Jon hooked too. Both pike and musky are legal to keep if you catch them angling. They both have size restrictions, seasons, bag limits, and bait (live or lure) restrictions. It can vary from lake to lake, but for the most part musky need to be 34 inches, and you can keep one per day. Pike usually have no size restriction and you can keep up to 5 per day. If you ever make it up here again, let me and (especially) jon know. We could spend all day having Jon show us how to make muskies smack your buddy in the crotch rofl .

 

[Iyadiver]

Hi Uni / Ted

I think it will be good if you buy from Riffe dealer like Pirate Scuba or something, one of the forum guy ( Mr.Donmoore ) says it is cheaper than Riffe direct...must be ...he he he.

As for me since I want funy funy set up on my Riffe, only Riffe direct can handle it cause my local dealers ( both are my good friends ) they don't stock my desire. It is my country law which is the problem not the importation from Riffe.

MT0 might not be a common model on store shelf, but check the nearest dealer and they should be able to help you I'm sure.

The only time I do freshwater diving is when I salvage something for a friend. I was hovering at 140 feet and still could not see the bottom. The water was scary, green like viz and smell of rotten algae. It was in one of the hydro power station. My friend cultivate some sort of fresh water snappers there and some of his net sank mid water.

Ur location looks better for ice skating....he he he. Me will freeze to death...no way....thanks.

 

[unirdna]

Iya,

I've seen the guns on pirate scuba (and other sites). I'll most likely order from one of them as long as they carry the accessories too. It's hard to find one site with all the stuff I want. Obviously the advantage to this would be the savings on shipping. I'd go to a dealer, except that the closest one (according to Riffe's website) is over 1000 km away :head Anyway, that just about rounds off this thread. Thanks Iya, and thanks to everyone else who helped out .

Ted

 

[donmoore]

Ok,
I will chime in, since Iya mentioned my name. Pirate Scuba carries more Riffe and other manufacture accessories than they have on their web page. I recommend you call and talk to Mathew. He is very knowledgeable and will give you his opinion on all items whether he carries them or not, but chances are he has it or can get it quickly.

I didn’t read all the posts, so maybe it was already answered, but does the butt of the shaft actually attach further back from the handle on the Riffe Mid-series B then the Metal Tech? Seems to me that the shaft attachment is mechanical part of the handle/trigger assemble and why would Riffe make two different ones? Their web page lists the same part# G-1015 for both guns. I know it looks like it in the pictures, but pictures can be deceiving, has anybody here put the two guns side by side?
Don

 

[icarus pacific]

Good question Don and here's the answer-

Mid Handle gun trigger]å ¸]å #˜]å T]å ü]å ]å ™Ú [å ¨cÓhanisms" and are actuated by a linkage and so can be put pretty much anyplace to enhance the balance. On a Mid Handle and a Metal Tech, the trigger is pinned and hinges in the handle much as any other gun. That's where the similarity ends. You pull the trigger and it pushes a push rod that in turn pushs the sear of the trigger out of the notch on the shaft. If you think about the linkage to a standard transmission, you got the idea. You can take a mid handle mechanism and use it in a rear handle gun by just omitting the pushrod thing and sliding the trigger arm right into the handle.

The distance the mechanism is place on my wooden Island :inlove is farther back from the handle than on my shorter MT 4, so it's a balance thing.


sven

 

[Iyadiver]

Hi Don,

I just compared a No Ka Oi with my MT0 and the trigger of the No Kai Oi ( Mid handle teak ) sits closer to the butt by 1" (2.5cm). Technicaly, there should be less shaft overhang of teak model than MT series at the muzzle but that photo Ted/Uni posted sure looks like a great deal of differece. Must be Riffe screw up somewhere.

 

[donmoore]

linkage length?

So the placement of handle depends on the length of the linkage! In that case, you may eventually see a post from me where I moved the handle forward and extended the linkage! J

I wonder why Riffe doesn’t do this on their larger MT guns? From the pictures all the MT guns have the same distance from the butt to the handle, which makes the shorter guns more of a mid-handle gun and the longer ones, more of a rear-handle gun.
Don

 

[Iyadiver]

I guess Jay Riffe figured out that in this world there is a guy called Iya who has short hand and can not live with the teak mid handle long butt .

If you see the Riffe video "Searching", it shows Julie Riffe shooting a Blue Water from the middle of her chest. The butt of the gun is like under her chin, I don't know how she aimed but it hit the wahoo on the lateral line mid body at I think +- 16 feet distance. The viz was so good so maybe more than that. Judging from the shaft entering entirely till the line, I think no more than 20 feet. Just my guess.

I shoot pistol style and more or less has the butt at my cheek height so mid-handle teak,Moi very scared.....:naughty .

If someone can make a left hand pistol grip for righ hand shooter,
where the pistol grip is perpendicular, like old fashion machine gun bullet magazine on the left side, then it can be as mid handle as anyone wants it to be. But you need to practice to shoot 3" to the left of any target........:duh and must have it heavy to minimize recoil.........here we go again ...just crazy idea...ha ha ha

 

[unirdna]

Iya,

Next you'll want to hunt "south-central" style. Grip it sideways and pop a cap in the ass of them fish . I'm willing to bet that your parents didn't let you play with firecrackers or sharp objects when you were a young lad :blackeye . Mad scientist or the avant garde of spearfishing?.......time will tell .

 

[fuzz]

IYA, If only there were scientific journals for spearfishing........

but then again, they'd need an abridged version for your articles

Always a pleasure to read your ramblings, tests, etc.

 

[fuzz]

speaking of IYA, where is he?

was waiting for his lengthy accounts of his weekend expedition

 

[sdbr911]

I have a situation that is similar to yours. I hunt off the Southern California coast, freediving from shore. I'm fairly new, but getting much better quickly. I started with JBL Mini Magnum but quickly wanted a shorter gun (vis is usually 20ft or less here) and a higher quality quiet gun. I bought a Riffe MT0S. After my JBL I think it's the best thing ever. The Metal Tech is not silent, but much much quieter than the Jbl I used. There is no slide ring and no metal to metal contact. It has plenty of punch in the factory configuration at the stated range. The mid handle is definitely a plus, it is extremely easy to maneuver. I haven't used too many guns, but I love my metal tech. In the future when I go for bigger fish and need a longer gun, I'll buy another one. Just my thoughts, good luck.

 

[sdbr911]

just realized this post is 3 years old!! doh!!