My first attempt at a trip report/gun review, sorry it is a bit long, and also some of the terms might not be correct!
I recently got my hands on the Omer Cayman HF 100. My friend was traveling to Europe on business so I had the shop send the gun to her hotel in France from there they traveled to Germany and then Turkey.
When I eventually received the package and opened it up I was over the moon, as it looked better in the flesh. On closer inspection I noticed that there was something funny about the reel. On closer inspection I noticed that there are two screws and nuts that hold the reel on to the part that slides on to the holder on the gun. This must have been due to the vibrations due to the amount of traveling that the gun had been through, but I will also keep an eye on these screws just to make sure they do not work themselves free again. I was lucky to find fairly similar screws at the local DIY shop, so no problem now.
After reading the DB forum on rigging the gun and changing reels etc. I managed to get the gun set up with the reel. I also changed the handle for the larger handle that Omer supplied. I opted not to have the closed-nose gun, but rather the open muzzle. I thought that this would make it quick to reload.
With the gun set up I was ready to get into the water. I had no plans to go for a spear, but having the gun there I could not resist. I called my friend Kei up and we planned on heading out for a dive early last Saturday morning. Was hoping for good weather as the weather in Kato region of Japan has been pretty bad recently. Got up Saturday morning and it was really nice!!! No wind, sunny and after our 2-hour drive to the sea no waves!
We were diving close to Katsuura on the Pacific side of the Chiba peninsula.
From the harbour wall the water looked crystal clear and flat, so we were both pretty excited about getting into the sea. However, after getting the gear on and into the water found that the viz was not really that good. We had at worst 2-3m and at best 10m, 10 being rare. I kicked out 80m through some seaweed and decided to load the gun, and after about another 20m I saw two large kurodai (sea bream) bolt from a crevice that was covered with seaweed. I also noticed that there was a black fish-shaped shadow from the area that they had bolted from about 3m I aimed and shot. The HF shoots very smoothly compared to other guns I have fired. Very smooth and quiet! AND also very accurate! I had popped a 40cm kurodai with a shot through the head with my first shot!! I was well chuffed!
I got the fish on the stringer and reloaded the HF. This caused some trouble. I am not used to the reel set up, and have never used an open-muzzled gun. I found it difficult loading the gun due to the line tangling up, also had problems with the spear engaging when pushing into the gun. I think that the later is due to the fact that I have the mono going though the hole at the end of the spear shaft. I have the crimp place just under the first shark-fin notch, but I think that it is having an effect when loading, so I plan to move the mono to another hole on the spear, which is about 15cm from the first hole. I also think that I will change from the open-muzzle to the closed-muzzle. When loading with the spear engaged in the gun the spear tip would pop out of the runner until I managed to lock it down with a loop of the mono. I think that it will be easier to do with the closed system.
Next shot I took was from the surface at a kurodai about 2m down. Shot went through the top of the fish’s head and out the gill. This gun is really accurate. Final fish I went down and was holding onto some weed and tracked a kurodai swimming from left to right, the shot was not so good as it went through the belly but it held. So after an hour and a half managed to come out with 3 fish. My friend Kei did not get any. Kurodai are a fast and easily spooked fish and I put down getting 3 to the HF. Although, reloading was a bit of a pain that is something that I can work on. The handle is very comfortable, tracking is good, accuracy is great, what can I say I am very happy with this gun!!
Only thing I will be looking out for is the screws working themselves free on the reel and also the barrel seems to scratch easily so might change the metal wishbone to dynema.
Kurodai sashimi mmmmm thanks HF!
The thing at the tail of the fish is my mobile. It now stinks of fish!
I recently got my hands on the Omer Cayman HF 100. My friend was traveling to Europe on business so I had the shop send the gun to her hotel in France from there they traveled to Germany and then Turkey.
When I eventually received the package and opened it up I was over the moon, as it looked better in the flesh. On closer inspection I noticed that there was something funny about the reel. On closer inspection I noticed that there are two screws and nuts that hold the reel on to the part that slides on to the holder on the gun. This must have been due to the vibrations due to the amount of traveling that the gun had been through, but I will also keep an eye on these screws just to make sure they do not work themselves free again. I was lucky to find fairly similar screws at the local DIY shop, so no problem now.
After reading the DB forum on rigging the gun and changing reels etc. I managed to get the gun set up with the reel. I also changed the handle for the larger handle that Omer supplied. I opted not to have the closed-nose gun, but rather the open muzzle. I thought that this would make it quick to reload.
With the gun set up I was ready to get into the water. I had no plans to go for a spear, but having the gun there I could not resist. I called my friend Kei up and we planned on heading out for a dive early last Saturday morning. Was hoping for good weather as the weather in Kato region of Japan has been pretty bad recently. Got up Saturday morning and it was really nice!!! No wind, sunny and after our 2-hour drive to the sea no waves!
We were diving close to Katsuura on the Pacific side of the Chiba peninsula.
From the harbour wall the water looked crystal clear and flat, so we were both pretty excited about getting into the sea. However, after getting the gear on and into the water found that the viz was not really that good. We had at worst 2-3m and at best 10m, 10 being rare. I kicked out 80m through some seaweed and decided to load the gun, and after about another 20m I saw two large kurodai (sea bream) bolt from a crevice that was covered with seaweed. I also noticed that there was a black fish-shaped shadow from the area that they had bolted from about 3m I aimed and shot. The HF shoots very smoothly compared to other guns I have fired. Very smooth and quiet! AND also very accurate! I had popped a 40cm kurodai with a shot through the head with my first shot!! I was well chuffed!
I got the fish on the stringer and reloaded the HF. This caused some trouble. I am not used to the reel set up, and have never used an open-muzzled gun. I found it difficult loading the gun due to the line tangling up, also had problems with the spear engaging when pushing into the gun. I think that the later is due to the fact that I have the mono going though the hole at the end of the spear shaft. I have the crimp place just under the first shark-fin notch, but I think that it is having an effect when loading, so I plan to move the mono to another hole on the spear, which is about 15cm from the first hole. I also think that I will change from the open-muzzle to the closed-muzzle. When loading with the spear engaged in the gun the spear tip would pop out of the runner until I managed to lock it down with a loop of the mono. I think that it will be easier to do with the closed system.
Next shot I took was from the surface at a kurodai about 2m down. Shot went through the top of the fish’s head and out the gill. This gun is really accurate. Final fish I went down and was holding onto some weed and tracked a kurodai swimming from left to right, the shot was not so good as it went through the belly but it held. So after an hour and a half managed to come out with 3 fish. My friend Kei did not get any. Kurodai are a fast and easily spooked fish and I put down getting 3 to the HF. Although, reloading was a bit of a pain that is something that I can work on. The handle is very comfortable, tracking is good, accuracy is great, what can I say I am very happy with this gun!!
Only thing I will be looking out for is the screws working themselves free on the reel and also the barrel seems to scratch easily so might change the metal wishbone to dynema.
Kurodai sashimi mmmmm thanks HF!
The thing at the tail of the fish is my mobile. It now stinks of fish!