Finally back in the water after the incident with the shark (did I write that up?).
Before Easter I had received my 90cm Carbon fibre Venom, provided as a prize for the DB Community awards by Spearo (www.spearo.co.uk). At first glance it looked pretty nice, but alas the shaft was a teeny 6.35mm thick. I shot 7mm as a minimum around here, otherwise they get trashed by fish over 2-3kg.
First things first, some mods. Off came the loading pad, as I load on my chest, and on went the monofilament rigging. Sweeeeet. I also added a shark clip onto the butt of the handle for my floatline to connect to.
I met up with some mates and swam out to an island/rocky outcropping off Sydney, where there are USUALLY plenty of fish. Today it was very quiet, and even though I saw schools of several hundred Luderick and some big Tailor, nothing was dumb enough to sit around for me.
Time for some product testing. Loading this 90cm gun nearly gave me a hernia, that rubber is tight! The first notch provides plenty of power anyway, so no need to load it back to the second. After shooting a few weedfish (weed that looks like fish) I very carefully lined up a rock. *ping*
Despite being fired into a rock (basalt) the tip had done ok, with it still being reasonably sharp and the shaft was still straight! Seems I underestimated the strength of the shaft.
After 2 hours of cruising around I finally spotted a decent Black Drummer (Girella elevata for you sci-geeks), moving in and out of its cave in about 11m. The bigger specimens are often in the deeper caves, so I knew it was a good size. Dropping down I spiralled away and landed facing the cave exit. After 4 or 5 minutes... ok, 20 seconds, the fish emerged and I let fly at a spot just above the pectoral fin.
Back at the surface I looked at mono shooting leading into the cave and knew the fish had holed up good and proper. Time for some more product testing... A few solid heaves on my floatline and the fish was dragged backwards out of the cave. If anything is gonna bend a shaft, this will do it everytime...
End result: One 3.2kg Black Drummer for my dinner, and a new gun with shaft still intact. Guess I need a bigger fish to try and bend it with. :t
Before Easter I had received my 90cm Carbon fibre Venom, provided as a prize for the DB Community awards by Spearo (www.spearo.co.uk). At first glance it looked pretty nice, but alas the shaft was a teeny 6.35mm thick. I shot 7mm as a minimum around here, otherwise they get trashed by fish over 2-3kg.
First things first, some mods. Off came the loading pad, as I load on my chest, and on went the monofilament rigging. Sweeeeet. I also added a shark clip onto the butt of the handle for my floatline to connect to.
I met up with some mates and swam out to an island/rocky outcropping off Sydney, where there are USUALLY plenty of fish. Today it was very quiet, and even though I saw schools of several hundred Luderick and some big Tailor, nothing was dumb enough to sit around for me.
Time for some product testing. Loading this 90cm gun nearly gave me a hernia, that rubber is tight! The first notch provides plenty of power anyway, so no need to load it back to the second. After shooting a few weedfish (weed that looks like fish) I very carefully lined up a rock. *ping*
Despite being fired into a rock (basalt) the tip had done ok, with it still being reasonably sharp and the shaft was still straight! Seems I underestimated the strength of the shaft.
After 2 hours of cruising around I finally spotted a decent Black Drummer (Girella elevata for you sci-geeks), moving in and out of its cave in about 11m. The bigger specimens are often in the deeper caves, so I knew it was a good size. Dropping down I spiralled away and landed facing the cave exit. After 4 or 5 minutes... ok, 20 seconds, the fish emerged and I let fly at a spot just above the pectoral fin.
Back at the surface I looked at mono shooting leading into the cave and knew the fish had holed up good and proper. Time for some more product testing... A few solid heaves on my floatline and the fish was dragged backwards out of the cave. If anything is gonna bend a shaft, this will do it everytime...
End result: One 3.2kg Black Drummer for my dinner, and a new gun with shaft still intact. Guess I need a bigger fish to try and bend it with. :t
