Is a 100+ gun overkill in cornwall?

[glowworm]

I have a 90cm Dessault carbon gun and a 75cm Dessault Ali gun.

Although i love my 90cm carbon ALL my big fish have been shot with the 75cm Ali gun.

 

[Mr. X]

Hi Mr. X

Interesting to hear that a 6.6mm spear bounced off a fish. I use 6.7mm Rabitech stainless spears (basically the same thing) just that I change the tri-cut tip to a bullet shape - I find that the tip remains sharp longer and I have driven that spear through a 14kg black musselcracker (they have scales as hard as a person's nails and the size of a 1 euro coin) using single 18mm Omer Energy rubbers. Those who have shot these fish before will know that they do not swim right up to you!

I personally have never had a spear bounce off a fish! Sometimes I had shot fish too far and all one sees is a pin prick (the spear would have passed through but you feel the jolt of the line running out).
...

My spear was RA spring steel (not s/steel). Perhaps range was a factor, hard to recall details now. Hard to be certain what happened. The first fish was a broad size shot aimed at the side of the head from slightly above. I was stunned that the fish was not speared, then wracked my brain to figure what might have gone wrong. One possibility that occurred to me was that my spearline might not have been routed normally, shortening the range. Was using 16mm rubber with 6.6mm spear.

The second fish was a monster mullet in a clear shallow opening and I fired from cover, what seemed like 8-10 feet away, broadside aiming towards gillcover. After firing the fish and I both stayed still, stunned for a few moments. I saw a few scales float off near the gill cover. Then it took off. Was using 20mm rubber with 6.6mm spear.

Some of the more experienced spearos said it happens from time to time. It is also possible I misinterpreted what happened in either or both cases.

 

[KWM]

I can remember crawling along under a jetty in a harbour, loads and loads of mullet and there towards the end was a big Bass 8-10lbs. The fish was looking straight at me, head on. I waited and waited to get a side on shot but it just would not turn. In the end I shot it straight between the eyes with my titanium trident, the spear just bounced of. The fish swam slowly away. I think it knew I was defeated.

Kev

 

[spaghetti]

These things may happen for mainly two reasons: the fish was too far or the speartip was blunt.
I don't know how close or far were Mr.X's and KWM's fishes, and indeed sometimes you end up wondering how could the fish make it alive. Mistery...but generally speaking, left aside the unpredictable, in my opinion a bass or a mullet, even if you hit them on the toughest spot of their skull or if their muscles are contracted, can't resist the shot of a sharp speartip from close enough.
Question is: how close is close enough? Well this of course, the "effective range", changes from gun to gun.