• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

Reel lines - para cord vs. dyneema?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Yes Bill some guys in certain areas make good use of a reel, especially the deeper divers who hunt in holes and kelp.

I was really referring to the type of fishing that Mr X and myself tend to prefer rather than a generalisation.

I have had to leave my gun a few times when a fish has tangled the line in weed or kelp but as I rarely fish in more than 8-9 meters, the gun remained visible from the surface.
I mainly hunt the shallow weed beds, mostly in around 1- 5 meters although this may be some distance from the shore.
I swim amongst the weed and kelp that grows on submerged reefs and find a reel catches on the weed and becomes a nuisance.
I also dive over sand and gravel and in strong tides while hunting for flatfish, here the water is much deeper but open and clear and as the fish are rarely over 5-6 lb I have no use for a reel.
We used to get much larger flatfish up-to 30lb but overfishing has taken its toll.

I also spend a lot of time searching in holes for lobster and crab but in all my years, I have never, ever, seen a bass in a hole, I think this must be a regional thing as in certain areas in the U.K. hunting bass in overhangs and holes is quite standard.
So I leave my gun on the surface when searching holes!
At one time we had a huge stock of conger eels that lived in the holes, they were big powerful creatures that were very popular for competition divers but alas they are now like hens teeth!
So basically for my preferred style of hunting in the shallow weed a reel becomes a real pain rather than a asset .
 
Reactions: Mr. X
Yes Bill. Our fish are not so big. I always have my speargun attached to my float line. I have been doing that for so long, I hardly notice it now. That way speargun loss is almost impossible and fish loss, other than pull out, highly unlikely.

There are a few circumstances when the float has been inconvenient but not impossible to use. Specifically: exploring gullies in reefs, crossing reefs in strong currents and exploring shallow weed beds. I suppose that's why I fitted the reel to my shortest speargun first. A short speargun would be appropriate for those situations.
 
4mm, wow! I thought my choice of 3mm might be bit on the big size, reducing spool capacity, but I figured with my modest depths and the UK's modest fish sizes these days, it wouldn't be a problem. Will it fit through the line guide on your reel, if it has one? The hole in my line-guide is 4mm, so might be a bit snug for my reel but might work.
 
Shooting line needs to be thin because it flies trailing the spear, but reel line can be thicker and is then easier to grab with your hands, plus I don't need a lot of it for the depth encountered. I have also used polpropylene rope, but it has a loose weave and can snag on the bottom projections.
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…