I heard that the range would be about half the spear's length, personally I think it's more than that. I use a short 1m polespear for lionfish but a few days ago I caught a young amberjack with it. Not the most sustainable catch

, but catching something like that with a small handspear was unexpected and extremely rewarding. It gave me a sense of accomplishment I never had when using the speargun.
I now want to build a >2m polespear! But the materials are hard to come by where I live, so it's a long term project.
What would be the best length? I really cannot tell you. I am curious about this as well, so I hope some experienced pole spear fisherman comes along and gives us some good info.
Other than just the ideal length (and ideal length for what kind of environment?), would there also be an ideal diameter? My lionfish spear is solid 10mm aluminium, which is fast, but too thin to comfortably hold for a longer time. But at what diameter does the water resistance become a problem? What's the best material and weight? Paralizer vs tahitian vs slip-tip? Sooo many questions!
