Should fish string spike be sharp?

[Fishstab]

Just taken delivery of a new fish stringer.

my old one was made by MAC and had a point but wasn’t razor sharp. took a bit of effort to string a fish through its eyes but not too bad.

My new one is made by picasso and it’s way more blunt, definitely has a a more rounded tip which is making me consider sharpening it up a bit with a grinder.

obviously I don’t want it sharp to the point it could damage my float but are most fish stringers relatively pointy?

 

[Diving Gecko]

To me it makes no sense to have it sharp unless you can use it as an Iki-Jime spike but in that case it would need to be thinner, too.

Tapered but with a rounded off tip is my preference as you say, you don’t want it to puncture your hand or float.
Also, too pointy it gets stuck more easily as you thread it through a fish.

Why not keep it as it is for now and then see how you like it. And please report back if you decide to sharpen it a bit and why.


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[Fishstab]

To me it makes no sense to have it sharp unless you can use it as an Iki-Jime spike but in that case it would need to be thinner, too.

Tapered but with a rounded off tip is my preference as you say, you don’t want it to puncture your hand or float.
Also, too pointy it gets stuck more easily as you thread it through a fish.

Why not keep it as it is for now and then see how you like it. And please report back if you decide to sharpen it a bit and why.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

will do, maybe I’ll try stringing fish through the gills and out the mouth for a while too

 

[Leander]

The only hole in my suit is from when I accidentally brushed my arm along the spike. I made it nice and blunt immediately after. Most fish I string through the gills anyway, but even the eyes doesn't take much effort (with small reef fish that is).

 

[Mr. X]

I've 2 Rob Allen stringers: one plastic covered twisted steel wire for my float, the other has twisted, double, thick mono & could potentially be used as a waist stringer or float stringer. They both came with very sharp, long, tri-cut points which make excellent Ike Jimi (/iki jime?) Spikes. The tips need to be protected with old rubbers or corks. I really like them, they are big, strong and sharp.

I also have an Omer nylon waist stringer. The pin is much shorter and less sharp. Although just about long enough and sharp enough to dispatch fish. Sharp enough to pierce your wetsuit too. Probably best to sharpen it and protect the tip with rubber or dull the point.

Stringing through the Gill plates or gills an mouth is not reliable for all fish, for example grey mullet. So I normally string through the top of the skull - but between the eyes sounds like a good alternative.

 

[Leander]

Stringing through the Gill plates or gills an mouth is not reliable for all fish, for example grey mullet. So I normally string through the top of the skull - but between the eyes sounds like a good alternative.

I mean really through the eyeballs. The eye sockets are a sturdy bone structure which already have an opening in the bone all the way to the other side. But stringing through the gills is so much faster, especially when unstringing.

 

[popgun pete]

The spike does not need to be sharp, I have one cut at an angle to create a rounded chisel shape on one side. Fish also have natural holes, their mouth and gill openings. By the time I thread them on the spike they are well and truly dead from the attentions of my kill knife, or a stone shot. You do not want to shove a spike accidentally through your hand, but fish come in all shapes and sizes, so some are easier to string than others. Loss of gills also slows them up, it is the butchery side of spearfishing that you never see in videos (via judicial editing, otherwise we might be viewed as monsters).

 

[Leander]

it is the butchery side of spearfishing that you never see in videos (via judicial editing, otherwise we might be viewed as monsters).

It's a shame they never show. Videos are an important source of educational material for new spearos, and the butchering was actually the part where I had most of the questions. But we live in a big padded room and those videos would probably get censored...

I have to admit, I kinda like the violent parts. To me that's the part of the hunt where I feel not like a 'human', who places itself above all other life, but as someone who's part of all the other life. Now that I said that I do feel the push to preventively defend myself against people who would assume that I would also like sensless violence, torture and abuse, or that I don't have respect for animals and life.

 

[Mr. X]

I mean really through the eyeballs. The eye sockets are a sturdy bone structure which already have an opening in the bone all the way to the other side. But stringing through the gills is so much faster, especially when unstringing.

Thanks for clarifying that Leander, that is what I meant to say but it came out wrong. Ambiguous at best, misleading at worst.

 

[Fishstab]

Well got 2 mullet, 2 pollock and 2 bass on it today, all strung through the eyes with no problem so I guess that answers that

 

[Retto]

I’ve genuinely never heard of putting the stringer through the eye. I’ve always put it through the mouth and out the gills. You can use the bluntest of blunt stringers with zero effort if you do it that way

 

[Leander]

True, but something like the skaros (greek parrotfish) will rip free if you string it through the gills and mouth. And something like the spinefoot has a mouth too small for a stringer, unless you use a bamboo skewer or something.

I prefer the mouth/gills too. Stringing through the eyes sometimes makes the eyeballs pop out. And although the fish is dead and it looks kind of funny, I always feel like the eyes contain the soul, so I prefer not to mess with them. But sometimes there's no other way.

 

[Mr. X]

I had a good time spearing yesterday morning. Looks like I sharpened my Omer waist stringer's pin but then made a line holster to protect my wetsuit from the point. It's just a piece of metal tube from a car antenna tied to my belt with cord but also secured by the loop of belt rubber passing through the D-ring I use with it.

Looks like I need a longer tube!

I was going to try stringing through the eyes but found myself squeamish! I strung bass and Pollock through the gills but had 2 big mullet and strung them through the skull, it makes unstringing more difficult but holds them secure. Best not to string grey mullet through the gills, I know of at least 3 cases of mullet tearing off happening to 3 different spearos, one at a competition.

 

[Fishstab]

I had a good time spearing yesterday morning. Looks like I sharpened my Omer waist stringer's pin but then made a line holster to protect my wetsuit from the point. It's just a piece of metal tube from a car antenna tied to my belt with cord but also secured by the loop of belt rubber passing through the D-ring I use with it.
View attachment 56551
I was going to try stringing through the eyes but found myself squeamish! I strung bass and Pollock through the gills but had 2 big mullet and strung them through the skull, it makes unstringing more difficult but holds them secure. Best not to string grey mullet through the gills, I know of at least 3 cases of mullet tearing off happening to 3 different spearos, one at a competition.

yeah the eyes tend to pop out on mullet especially I find. I often poke it back in which sometimes results in the one the other side popping out!

 

[CCspearo]

will do, maybe I’ll try stringing fish through the gills and out the mouth for a while too

If you are coming a shore through the surf dont string through the gills and mouth they will tear out. I have lost a few fish this way. I now only string through the eyes. My stringer has a sharp point which is handy if I spear a giant cuttlefish as it will pierce the bone in its back.

 

[CCspearo]

If you are coming a shore through the surf dont string through the gills and mouth they will tear out. I have lost a few fish this way. I now only string through the eyes. My stringer has a sharp point which is handy if I spear a giant cuttlefish as it will pierce the bone in its back.

8kg of cuttlfish (like the one pictured)will tear of your stringer unless it is strung through the "cuttle bone" in its back and you need a sharp stringer to penitrate it. Some flat fish have heads unsuitable for eye stringing I usually string them by piercing the flesh immediately behind the head.