RA Spears

[Oska101]

I've just got a 1200 RA Sniper turbo and have just shot my first kingfish with it but the thing stuffed my spear. The Kingi was only about a 20 kilo one and i don't really want to buy a new spear every time I shoot one. Its a 7 mm one and I know you can get 7.5 mm spears. does anyone know if I can use one of those in the gun, or is there another way to stop these fish bending the spears?

I'd be stoked if someone could give me some advise?

 

[Murat]

or is there another way to stop these fish bending the spears?

I'd be stoked if someone could give me some advise?

Stone it!!! hit from the head just behind and little upper of the eye, thats brain shot. Or shot the middle part just behind the gill plate, thats spine shoot. In both case its maximmum cahnce to get the clean kill with less hassle.

Personally if i land 20kg fish, never complain about bent shaft rofl. I consider kingfish (yellotail) you have there is similar specie to the AJ we have here and i did not seen anyone who shoot 20kg one and did not end with up bent spear.

 

[Huan]

Murat is right.
You will have to expect a certain amount of gear damage shooting kingies.
RA do make heavier shafts I think I have a 8.5mm? on RA140.
have a look at their website and see what sizes they do.
heavier spears will help but as Murat says stone the fish! hit the spine/brain and you won't have any worries with bent spears.
I am sure after you replace a few spears that you will develop a better aim.

 

[Oska101]

Yea cheers guys, but I think I will go through a few spears before I get my aim right. I was reading a book yesterday that seemed to think a slip tip was the way to go. Will that save a few spears or are they not so good for what I'm after?

That 20kg one was one of the smallest I saw, the bigger ones must have been getting up to 30kg. Is my 120 a bit under powered for the 30kg and up range?

 

[Huan]

Slip tip on euro is not the way to go.IMHO
I would be happy to run a slip tip on a larger gun but the slip tip depends on you putting the tip right through the fish.
On a medium to large kingie thats probably 2 feet thick.
I don't believe that your RA has enough grunt to do that,except maybe at real close range with 2 14mm bands.
Why don't you try a float line connected to the gun?
shoot the fish and play it from the float line connected to a float with a bungie?
8mm spear will be good for those bigger fish , more punch especially with twin 14mm bands.

 

[Oska101]

My RA is rigged with twin 16s which does give it a bit of bang, and it easily got through the kingie, I have got a float lne attached to a RA float but i think that is quite a good idea putting a bungie on. I think i might have to be a little easier on the fish as well. I think I must have got a bit too excited and was to hard on it.

 

[Murat]

Is my 120 a bit under powered for the 30kg and up range?

My dive buddy shoot one more than 60kg with very very old 90cm pneumatic something like 20-30 years ago. So in that case your 120 is overkill rofl

 

[miles]

Hiya

Your 120cm RA will be just fine. If you're regularly shooting big kingies, as you lucky buggers from New Zealand are!!!!, then definitely look at a 8mm spear. Be warned though, that they also bend!!!!! Even if you do use a slip tip, its no guarantee that you shaft will stay straight. All depends on HOW the shot was placed.

The nice thing is that those shafts are quite easily straightend and are relatively in-expensive, so just keep a couple of spare ones on the boat!!!

Like Murat said, a spear bent on a 20kg fish is worth it!!!!

Regards
miles

 

[Oska101]

Yea, cheers for the responses. I think I'll put an 8 mm on and learn to shoot strait.

Lucky buggers? you guys in the Cape should talk, Tuna ect.
We seem to pay a lot for spears here. 80-90 bucks here, which works out to about just over R400. And I was just ovre in SA and went to the dive Factory and only paid about NZ$35. So I got a couple of guns and spears and stuff for half price over there and brought them back to NZ.

 

[Pablo]

Last season I shoot quite a few kingfish between 18 and 32 kg with only 2 7mm spears... I only bend them trying to get the spine on a fish swimming just on front of me, the spear entering on a 90 angle.

The best way to keep spears straight is to shoot the fish at about 45º from the side and 60º form the top... this way the fish can pull down and away from you with out bend the spear over the deformation point.

Since normally the small kingfish will show up first, my recommendation is that you wait as much as you can before shooting... this way, or the fish on front of you will make you forget the bend spear (over 30kg I'll say), or you'll have plenty of time to get a fish on the best position: slightly under you and starting to swimming away.

This year I'm playing with 7.5mm spears, slip tips and I've added a removable 16mm rubber to get more punch... 4 weekends ago, after missing a squid, 2 fish over 35 kg show up and I couldn't load the rubbers and tip fast enough... where a single rubber and flopper spear would have enable a fast shoot!

I found the 7.5 need the second rubber to have good punch and speed... But then the accuracy drops, the recoil is more than noticeable and is not as easy to reload, loosing many of the RA advantages... I may get a woody in case we go for marlin!

PM Mullins: he lives most of the time in Wellington and know is stuff pretty well...

 

[Mullins]

I don't think there's really any call for a spear that's thicker than 7.5mm here in NZ, I've had my shafts bent a few times by kingies etc and have always been able to bend them back into shape. Likewise a 120 is enough gun for any kingy alive, especially with 2X16s on it.
Where did you shoot the kingy, Oska? Not down here, presumably - although they are around in small numbers.
If you're keen on catching up with other spearos down here we've recently started up a club. Several members have boats so it's a good way of getting yourself on trips to places like kapiti and hunter bank:

http://www.riverleigh.co.nz/southernbluefins/intro.htm

 

[Oska101]

Yea Cheers Mullins, would be real keen to join up with you guys. I'm trying to learn as much as possible because I'm still relitively new to the sport. How can I get in contact with you/the club?
You're right it wasn't in wellington it was in tauronga in december. Had no idea where to go and just jumped in around one of the islands up there so was pretty lucky.

 

[Oska101]

Sorry, just saw the link.

 

[Narsil]

Good to see some folks from Wellington getting a few Kingi's. Water's warming up nicely atm here.

In my experience, hitting them right on the lateral line, just down from the head stuns them pretty quickly. Then hand through mouth, grabbing through the gills before doing an iki. I tend to use 6.5mm or 7mm shafts as bigger tends to destroy the (sadly more common) smaller fish that I spear.

I'm also keen to catch up with more Wellington based spearos. Had a great time at White Rock on the Wairarapa coast this weekend.

 

[Oska101]

What did you get out by White Rock mate?
Is it worth a trip?

 

[Narsil]

Mainly just diving for crayfish - I took 7 over a couple of dives. All bucks interestingly.

No spectacular fish, just reef stuff. Shot two large blue moki though, and saw a few decent red moki (which I don't tend to shoot, as I was told they mate for life, and are a bit scarce). Also took a nice blue cod, plus butterfish and a few paua.

I love the Wairarapa coast, it's a stark, harsh piece of coastline, that's often quite windswept. Weather conditions and the fact you need to drive over gravel road for a decent part of the journey means that it's not overfished, and if you can get into the water you're going to pick up a good feed of crayfish minimum.

I tend to walk around north past the main point; although that takes you right near a large seal colony that's currently resident if you have nightmares about white pointers... White rock itself, which has a very very basic campsite (basically some clear ground near the sea with a longdrop toilet) is also good diving if conditions allow.

Well worth a visit, but choose your time carefully in terms of weather conditions.