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Shooting Mahi and Ono (wahoo) ... Do you really need a Slip tip?

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blaiz

Well-Known Member
Apr 8, 2008
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Im just getting into blue water hunting and I have heard many different opinions on the right gear to use, My question is for thoughs with some experience with Mahi, Ono, or even other palagics, Is a slip tip crucial? or can you get away with a fixed tip and flopper?:wave
 
Hiya

Alot depends on what type of gun you currently have or what type of gun you are intending to use. Many fish, even large marlin have been taken with a normal fixed barb spear. If you're planing on using a euro/railgun, then stick with a fixed barb. If you're going for the multiple band mid-handle gun, then opt for the slip-tip.

The slip-tip has its pro's and con's. The advantage is that it offers better holding power on a fish, especially fish with soft or easy tearing flesh. Downsides, they're expensive, add weight to your spear, loses some accuaracy and is a nightmare to remove from a large fish!! You also have to been much more concious of your shot placement, as its very easy for the slip-tip not to engage when you're shooting the fish from the front. Best is to shoot the fish as its actually swimming away from you.

Hope that helps!! Post some more info on your gear and we can further assist you!!

Regards
miles
 
Reactions: Mr. X and blaiz
Thank you

As far as my gun I shoot a 110 Riffe euro style gun w/ two 5/8" bands. This is the rear handle model with the magnet track.
 
another question I had was, well right now I have a reel on my gun which has come in very handy with stalking larg reef fish as I dont spook the fish with a float line. Is this adviseable for blue water or is a release system w/ bungee and a float better? Keep mind Im not searching for 100 lb ahi, or big marlin, just medium to large mahi and ono.
 
Probably a good idea to think of what would happen if you did see something really big and worth shooting. Having a float would insure that you could take the shot, but even with a lot of mono on your reel you may lose the gun if the fish runs hard, or even may just worry about losing the gun so you don't take the shot. I don't do bluewater but this is just my take on the situation.
 
hey, i am in the same situation as blaiz as i am just starting out in blue water hunting. i have puchased a 1.6 rob allen signiature carbon railgun and am thinkin of upgrading to three 16mm rubbers. Would also appreciate some advice on floatlines/ bungees...

Braden
 
I find for mullet up to a kilo (2lb) I use a flopper. Over 1kg I have to use a slip tip. Bigger than 2kg I use a 12 gauge powerhead.

Oh! my God! I'm losing it. AAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

I wanta come and live where you guys live. Infact I wanto go anywhere where the vis is better than the currently 6 inches it is here.

Dave
 
Reactions: Mr. X
alexrom1207 said:
Probably a good idea to think of what would happen if you did see something really big and worth shooting.
Click to expand...

Very true. Thanks for advice.

I was at a local drug store the other day and they had these sporosub floats on clearence for 4 bucks. They are inflatables so I think im just going to fill them w/ expanda-foam and use thoughs for blue water.
 
Hiya

Blaiz, a 110cm gun is a bit on the small side!! Consider this: the water you'll be diving in is generally very clean and fish don't always come that close to you. You need the range of a slightly longer gun. A good all-round size gun is a 130-140cm euro/rail gun or a 55-60" mid-handle wooden gun or hybrid. Needless to say, the longer the gun, the more the range of the gun. All depends on the financial constraints....

A reelgun would work, but is not ideal. The easiest and safest way is undoubtedly a float-line. Simple 100-120' (30-40m) float line with a 10' (1meter) bungee attached to a single 11ltr foam filled RA type float should be sufficient. If your quarry is slightly larger, a second 11ltr float can be added. Ono grow fairly large and so does mahi-mahi, so rather be more cautious and use 2 floats. The biggest reason is that you never know what might swim by!! You could be targetting mahi-mahi and a large marlin could very well swim right past you!!

For meduim sized pelagics, it's difficult to decide on whether to use a break-away or not. The downside to break-away systems is that they take longer to reload. The plus side: if a fish swims away with all your floats, you still have your gun!! It boils down to personal preference. I'd opt for a break-away, because, as mentioned above, you never know when a 150lb ahi might swim up to you!!

have puchased a 1.6 rob allen signiature carbon railgun and am thinkin of upgrading to three 16mm rubbers
Click to expand...

2x16mm bands is more than enough power on a RA. Railguns are designed to be used with a MAXIMUM of 2x16mm bands. Pelaj have launched their railgun which uses 3x14mm bands. Other than Pelaj, all other railguns only offer 2x16mm's. Remember, railguns mechanism's aren't designed to carry much more load than 2x16mm's, so it'll be dangerous to put too much power onto it. Because of the length, you'd also have severe barrel flex and your accuracy will suffer. If you feel that 2x16mm's is too weak, its time to start looking at a multiple band wooden gun!!

I took this fish with a 150cm RA with 2x16mm's
 

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Nice Ahi!

Thanks for all the advice, I think you are right about the longer gun. I did speak to a friend of mine who owns Maui Sporting Goods (who is another very experienced blue water diver), he seems to think that the 110 is ok for jumping in at the fad bouys, and other small palagics. I think I will look into maybe upgrading to a biger gun too. So if I do upgrade will a single band euro style 130 or 140 be sufficient, or am I going to have to modify it to a double band and open muzzle?
 
Hiya

We don't get mahi-mahi here often, but on the odd occations that we have found them, they were pretty easy to shoot. If i recall correctly, i've even shot them with a 75cm gun!! So, your 110cm would work for mahi-mahi, but you can rest assured that somewhere down the line, a 40lb'er will swim just outside your range and you'll be kicking yourself for not having a longer gun!!roflrofl

On a 130-140cm railgun, i'd opt for 2x16mm's. Not only does it give your more power than a single 20mm, but it is also easier to load. If you're looking at:
Rob Allan, get a 7.5mm spear,
Rabitech, get a 8.0mm spear
Try using heavier spears as they have more momentum and thus more hitting power.

In the same price range is the Pelaj Kanji railgun. Shoots a 8mm spear with 3x14mm bands. I've tested that gun for a while now, but haven't had the opportunity to shoot anything big with it yet!! I can highly recommend them, so its worth having a look at!!

Regards
miles
Sponsored Pelaj Spearo!!
 
hey

thanks for the advice. will stick with the twin 16mm because i dont want to break a brand new gun or hurt myself...... mum would kill me and there goes my spearfishing career lol.....

braden
 
Im going to check out thoughs guns. Thank you much for the info!
 
Like OMD, love to read about this stuff. Curious - why a different diameter spear for Rabitech & RA? (I thought RA made Rabitech spears).

BTW Miles, I notice that RA is now producing a slip tip. Any thoughts or experiences with that yet? The new "Ghost Leader" was their new product that struck me as something I could use. The speed stringer (for use with speed needle) caught my eye too.
 
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From the look of Miles spear perhaps a slip tip may be worth the added hastle and cost...that is if that's the type of fish you're going to out around. Beautiful fish by the way Miles.
 
I dont know, I think I would take a 50 to 60 lb Ahi over a straight shaft any dayroflroflrofl
 
Hiya

BTW Miles, I notice that RA is now producing a slip tip. Any thoughts or experiences with that yet?
Click to expand...

From the look of Miles spear perhaps a slip tip may be worth the added hastle and cost
Click to expand...

Alot of the euro gun manufacturers have somewhere down the line tinkered with slip-tips. I've tried a couple and have not been happy with their results. I've got some Pelaj slip-tips which look good, but haven't yet tested them, so can't comment on them yet. On a railgun/euro gun, i prefer to keep it simple. Thats the beauty of these type of guns. They're fairly in-expensive and are very capable of taking very large fish!!

My reasoning for not liking a slip-tip on a railgun/euro gun, is quite simple. It adds weight to the FRONT end of your spear, needs alot more power to be able to punch through a large fish, affects your accuracy, costs almost as much as your gun for a quality slip-tip!!!!:head:head

Just looking on the net, a RA 7.5mm spear will cost about US$38.00. Slip tips:
Kitto slip-tip US$80.00
Alexander 3/8" slip-tip US$157.00
Riffe Ice-pick US$87.00
And thats ONLY for the slip-tip!! You still need to buy the spear!!:head

When i started Blue Water hunting, we also experimented with various shafts and slip-tips. We started off with 8mm spears with slip tips and ended up with 10mm (3/8") shafts and slip-tips. If possible, try getting a 10mm shaft and try shaking it!! Its like a broomstick!! So, off we go on our first trip with 10mm spears and guess what......i bent it on my first trip!!rofl So, slip-tips will not guarantee a straight shaft!!rofl

Spears are quite cheap here, as Greekdiver pointed out. A single RA/Rabitech shaft costs about US$20.00 whilst a 8mm slip-tip and shaft cost about us$100.00. So, i consider my railguns spears as disposable. Shoot a fish or two, straighten spear, shoot one or two more, then throw away the spear.

Curious - why a different diameter spear for Rabitech & RA? (I thought RA made Rabitech spears).
Click to expand...
RA makes 6.0mm, 6.6mm, 7.0mm and 7.5mm spring steel spears
Rabitech makes 6.3mm (called 6.5mm), 7.0mm and 8.0mm STAINLESS steel spears. Since RA doesn't offer stainless steel spears, i'd think Rabitech is getting his spears from else-where.....

Here a photo of Australian Spearo, David Hotz whom i took out. His first fish with his new 130cm Rabitech
 

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Reactions: Mr. X
I think the RA spears are quite reasonably priced - and no doubt even more so in SA
 
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