Speargun for carp and panfish?

[srmccall]

Hello,

I am going to be purchasing my first speargun that will be used in the midwest for mostly carp and panfish. I am on a limited budget so a Riffe is kind of outta my price range at the moment. I have done some research and have come up with two models that look good. I am looking for comments and suggestions on models and rigging configuration. I have read about the breakaway system where the spear line is teathered to the float...

Here are the two models I am looking at....

Omer Excalibur aluminum 2000 with 18cm band upgrade
and
Sporasub black widow

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Seth

 

[Jon]

Either one would be good in a short enough length- as in less than 75cm.

I've used a R.A. gun on a lot of panfish and carp with only a 16mm band on it- you don't need that much power to go through a bone plate of a carp at cloe range. A smaller shaft means that you won't waste was much meat on the panfish that you shoot.

I now use a custom gun with Riffe parts, but that was to get the mid-handle style for shooting in crappy vis.

Jon

 

[srmccall]

Thanks for your reply Jon!

So the shorter is more suited for stuff around us in the midwest? I was thinking of getting the 90cm at first... Is that overkill?

What about the rigging on it? Breakaway?

Thanks for the prompt reply!


Seth

 

[Erik]

I spear in fresh water for the same kind of fish, plus others. I use a 75cm T-20 OMER and it is excellent. The 2000 is nice, and a 90cm wont hurt.
I would avoid the break away system as it's too much clutter for fish and conditions that don't warrant it. Fish up to 10 lbs or so are not hard to control and don't generally get off the shaft if you hit them right.
I use a tire-tube float with a canvas cover to keep stuff in, hang my stringer, fly a float, and run the float line that goes to my gun. Plus I put the fish in it when I'm leaving the water, to avoid the stupid questions. My buddy has the nice OMER float.
Have fun and keep us posted on your success,
Peace,
Erik Y.

 

[Amphibious]

most of the freshwater fish I have taken have been with a simple polespear. the JBL style of pole spear with a para tip works quite well. as was said above a thin shaft and a short gun makes sense. as you're shooting around rocks and the fish are thin skinned do'nt get to crazy about powering up the gun, it;s not needed. a little OMER or even a little pnumatic is prolly your best bet. take a look at an OMER Dragon. inexpensive and will do the job nicely.

 

[GALADION]

I think a smallish (70-75cm) pneumatic gun will be more than adequate for your needs. Easy and fast loading with very good penetration, easy to swing around with a power moderator by which you can easily change the firing power depending on the conditions of the moment (fish under a rock or in the open). The shafts are also cheap and thick so bending is not your problem. You don't have to bust your head in order to figure out which rubber bands to use. Also due to the fact that you hunt in fresh water the pneumatic will serve you much longer than if you were hunting in the sea (less corrosion).
You just need to keep sand or small pebbles away from it and service it from time to time in your local spearfishing store.

Safe diving

 

[Groupermadness]

My Cousin fishes in the rivers and lakes in U.K for carp: He swears by the cressi sl star 55, and the better sl(Power Regulator)55 because of such low vis (by the time you see them you can bite their heads of anyway). But if you have reasonably good vis then go for a reliable 75 band gun( im'e Biased towards band guns) and you have the choice of changing length ,width(of the bands) to suit your Power needs or if you dont like them get a pneumatic as Galadion recomends. in the end its Trial and error untill the puzzle piece fits.

 

[Amphibious]

the Mares Mini Sten (55cm) will be my freshwater gun from now on I think. seems to work so well for the little fish in the shallow beach I hunt, may replace my pole spear back home (Canada) for the carp

a JBL Custom (pictured below) is also a good (cheap) choice. although I have not yet played with an OMER Tempest pnumo yet....

 

[Groupermadness]

amphibious, i see you use the cressi big eyes Mask, any probs with fogging, i was looking to maybe buy some.

 

[Amphibious]

nope. I give it the ol'spit,rub,dunk before I get in the water and never have a fogging issue. make sure you scrub the glass with some tooth paste (not gel) and with your thumb before it;s first use - will take care of the factory coating. great mask, my favorite for spearfishing. will be trying out some of the tiny Omer masks soon though, as I'm starting hunt deeper (>100ft). although, for <90ft it seems to work fine

 

[Groupermadness]

Thanks, and thanks for the toothpaste tip, someone also told me its good for teeth aswell. will look harder at the mask next time im in the shop. and happy hunting on the Ocean floor.(100 ft) thats a lot of water above .

 

[Fondueset]

If you are looking at the Cressis - look at the Matrix - it is more or less a revised big-eyes - with slighty smaller volume. According to the folks who put in my prescription lenses - the matrix is also a more durable mask. For me it also fits better than the bigeyes - which I could not get to seal.

Both masks have fab peripheral vision - which is something i really appreciate since it minimizes head movement for u/w photos - and lowers the paranoia threshold in general Cressi has a new one out called the penta - which looks like a low volume version of their horizon mask - could be worth a look.

 

[Hypersquid1]

hey amphibous, how did you change the color of the barrel on your JBL??

 

[Amphibious]

Omer Mimetic Speargun tape awsome stuff

 

[Groupermadness]

Thanks Fondueset. I'm going to the cressi store today and will give them all a try on , although i do like the Big eyes. thanks for the advice everyone. oh and ps:Amphibious. my wife wants to know if the tape is good for bikini line also. :waterwork :waterwork :waterwork

 

[Amphibious]

if she tries it make sure Mark L. gets a pic for the Omer webbsite.