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Spearfishing buddy

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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dannyboy001

Member
Jul 1, 2022
16
8
8
37
Hi everyone

A bit about myself - I'm 35 and Live in Sussex (South East England).
I have been a keen sea swimmer, fisherman and shooter from a young age.
I was living on the south coast of Devon and started spearfishing about 10 years ago.
I have put this in the beginner section as my free time has been limited due to my dogs, deer cull, and other water activities and would not classify myself as experienced!
Also most of knowledge has come from my own experience of sea swimming, shore and boat fishing and trial and error.
I realise there is a lot to learn and a huge wealth of knowledge out there - so meeting like minded people would be nice whatever level or background (as long as safety is of importance!).
I now have more time on my hands at the moment and have upcoming trips to Azores and Canaries planned.
I am lucky to get staff travel with British airways and Virgin - so I am quite open to visiting other locations and that aren't too far from major airports.

I was initially given a small pneumatic speargun from my brother who had a diving shop (this was no bigger than 50cm and had a 3 pronged tip which was easy to use - no idea of the make - says US diver technology and must be about 30 years old!).
Coincidentally there was also a Spearfishing shop in the town I lived (very uncommon for the UK) I was able to buy some basic kit as well as be convinced to try a banded speargun - I got a cressi 75cm - which has been great). I have seen people in the UK saying this is small and seems most go for a 90cm, but I have been very happy with especially due to the water visibility on the south coast. I have not used a speargun in the last year - instead I have been using polespears.
These are travel pole spears which I have also been able to take on holidays. I just change the band to a stronger one - be careful with doing this with cheaper poles can lead to them breaking at the joints. I have therefore decided to get something a bit more heavy duty for travel.

Any way I have rambled on enough.
I look forward to hearing from others - please PM or reply on this thread.

Dan
 
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Welcome Dan. You sound like an interesting chap. Unfortunately I'm out of action for now and I tend to spearfish alone in the water.

Yes shorter spearguns often work better in the poor visibility of the SE snd Dorset. I started with a 90 in Dorset but eventually switched to a 75, which worked much better for me. A Sussex spearo told us he often uses a 68cm. I recently bought a 60 speargun with 2x14mm rubbers. Haven't used it much yet though. For most in UK 75/80/90 will cover most situations but occasionally you hear of longer or shorter spearguns being used, occasionally much longer.

Re. Power / range, I also recently bought an Apnea Amarok 95cm roller speargun recently. It's very nice but again has seen little use so far. My Omer XXV75 and 90 cover most situations I've encountered in the UK .
 
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For S. Devon I used to happily use my 75 for sometime but for the last few years I find myself increasingly opting for my 90.
 
Thanks for the info - interesting you got an apnea speargun.
I got a wetsuit and fins from them several years ago due to the fit and size for travelling - they still do the job! Just emailed them in Turkey and they were quick to reply.
 
I have some of Apnea'd shorter fins too (as i accidentally left my regular fins behind when I went on hol.).

Can fit longer blades though (which most would likely prefer for spearfishing in the sea(?)). They worked fine, though the footpockets were too big/voluminous for me, in theory they were the correct size but a smaller size might have fit me better. Ok for spares though; I prefer my regular Beuchat Competition fins though: better fit and longer.
 
I have some of Apnea'd shorter fins too (as i accidentally left my regular fins behind when I went on hol.).

Can fit longer blades though (which most would likely prefer for spearfishing in the sea(?)). They worked fine, though the footpockets were too big/voluminous for me, in theory they were the correct size but a smaller size might have fit me better. Ok for spares though; I prefer my regular Beuchat Competition fins though: better fit and longer.
You are completely right about the sizing - they are way oversized compared to other brands in terms of foot sizing. I did manage to snap a longer blade (partly my fault for swimming alongside a concrete wall in swell), it was only £6 for replacement blades so still use them!
Strangely the wetsuits are sized slightly small - I always felt fat having to get the XL
 
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It al depends the place you want to travel, the ocean, the type of fish you are thinking on encountering or you know it’s in the spot vecinity, in my Country Panama we have both Caribean and Pacific Ocean , so I carry a smaller gun for close encounters and a bigger gun for open water, I was taught to be very simple in whichever solution ! I carry a European Riffe and a C7 Riffe for bigger fish, Learned 2 different knots and depended on the visibility too, the caribean is average 10 to 30 ft visibility , the pacific depending if is bear the shore, 5 to 20 ft, in the open water 10 to 30 ft or more! In The pacific yo can find Snapper, Mackarel, African Pompanoe, Black Jack, Sea Bass, Róbalo!
The Caribean all is smaller unless you go to open water, but over there in that side is a bit more for pros!
 
Sounds like you are spoiled for choice with your waters.
Unless conditions are good where I live - water visibility is pain. Some days I would be happy with 6feet!
 
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