Spearfishing write up and a few basic questions!

[scolopaxmunster]

Hi,

Not done much on this forum mainly as I hadn't done much spearfishing! However, that changed last week after a trip down to Cornwall! The waters were crystal clear and the fish were everywhere! Lots of school bass nice to see but not big enough. Lovely to see how close you can get when being in no rush to get anywhere! The slower I found myself going the more fish I would see and the less spooked they were. So the morning was good but nothing caught, the afternoon on an incoming tide brought in some nice fish! Mullet and school bass were everywhere, but then getting into them was more difficult! As I lay still just breathing on my snorkel a nice 3lb bass swam past and sort of stopped as he looked at me, or at least slowed, long enough for me to get a good shot at him and a nice bass bagged!

I swam on learning as I went about shot placement (aka missing) suddenly the mullet started to swarm in but at more of a distance than the bass! Eventually as one passed I got a shot off. Strangely the spear hit him, did not penetrate but it knocked him out! I swam over and caught it, a lovely 4lb mullet in the bag too!

The next day the bass were smaller and so nothing shot there, but as I went over the sand/rocky boundaries I saw a huge flounder sat there on top of the san up against a rock. A nice accurate shot got it just behund the head on the spine. I have never caught a flounder on rod and line as big as this one so I was very please.

Some good eating ensued over those few days and confirmed my love of mullet, especially in a curry!!!

So a few questions to you more experienced guys!

I have a Omer Cayman HF 75cm. I noticed despite very little use the rubber band has perished in a few places, or has started to. Firstly what is the best way to clean it and keep it so it doesn't do this. I guess its not the actual amount of use it has has just that I used it in April last year and now in September this year and the time between it has been wearing from the salt etc from last time?

Also I know my speargun came with an 18mm band, 16mm thread french wishbone, but what length would it have been/do I need? Can I measure it? If so where too? The end of the threaded section or begining? What difference would a different length band make? Any suggestions appreciated.

I did have a question about resharpening the tip as it was a little kinked from a rock, but a diamond file has sorted this very easily!

All in all a very enjoyable trip and glad I put the speargun in the car. I am well and truly hooked on spearfishing. It was far more enjoyable than sitting on a rock with a rod and like, just felt far more involved and proactive. When I passed areas of reef that were void of fish it made me realise I could have been thrashing that water with a rod and line for hours before I gave up and there weren't even any fish there in the first place!

 

[Scoobaru]

Hi well done on the fish, sounds very enjoyable. Regarding your rubbers you should wash all your spearo gear in fresh water after every trip to avoid salt corrosion, I also spray a tiny bit of wd40 at the spear tip, the barb, the part of the gun that locks the spear in place and up inside the handle by the trigger just to keep everything lubricated. Rubbers will need replacing every couple of years or a lot more often depending on the use and condition. I can't tell you the length the rubbers should be as different guns are different and it depends on personal preference (more power less accuracy etc) as well as your setup. But shorter bands offer more power but you will lose accuracy. So the standard manufacturers setup is most recommended as they have spent many hours researching the best compromise between power and accuracy. If you search the gun on the Internet you may find the specs such as band length spear etc. And you did the right thing in using a file to resharpen the tip, always make sure the point is in the centre of the shaft as this affects the accuracy a lot.

Hope this helped.

Ps have a look at the other threads in the forum eg Cornwall 2012 etc and maybe add your dive report to them as more people will enjoy reading them and they may be able to offer you advice/tips.

 

[hyeparis]

Hi, and welcome to the board. Re: bands – don't put your gun anywhere when it's loaded (such as bottom) – any tiny sharp object can make a tiny cut, which will expand with time; keep them away from sunlight as much as you can, rinse them after each dive (along with rest of equipment) and store them in freezer off season.
Re: length and diameter – e-mail Omer Customer Service or these guys – they are a dealer Spearfishing World and advised me on length of bands for my Omer gun – tell them the measurements, specifying whether that includes threads or not. If bands are too long, the power of the shot weakens.
I hope it helps.