Speargun for shallow/shore hunting

[Okis]

I got my first speargun a while ago, a 120 Rob Allen Tuna. It seems like a great gun but it feels a bit big for hunting the shores and it bought to be used more offshore and for the outer islands so im already looking att getting a 2nd gun later this month.

The area i will be hunting is Thailand/Phuket so the viz is decent(but not right now because of the change of winds and the soon coming monsoon).

I'm set on another Rob allen, would be fun to test out another brand but the guns(beauchat,salvimar,mako,pathos) in the local shops are overpriced and are either the same or even higher in price than the RA's and RA feels like a safe card in terms of quality.

I've already given the guy dealing RA's a heads up about getting me another gun but i'm not yet 100% sure about what length i should go for. I'm thinking about a 90 or a 100cm and the RA model will be a Sparid/1*16mm rubber/6.6/ spear/low profile closed muzzle.

Will the 90 lack power/range for this? What attracts me the most with the 90 is the less drag when aiming and if i go for the 90 i will probaly upgrade it with a Mantis roller in the future so i can get more range when needed and the Mantis rollerhead also allows for a extra regular rubber that can be used when shooting fish infront of rockformations.

The 100 will cover all the range needed inshore and i can add/remove one band for more/less power, but will have more drag and it will be more clumsy moving around in the shallow and smaller reefs.

What should i go for? Would be awesome if there is someone on this forum that have spearfished alot in Thailand, or even better in Phuket that can give me their opinion on what would be best suited for the shores here.

I should add that the gun wont be used for shooting holes/caves, i have a hawaii polespear that a familymember will bring for me next month so that's what im going to use for very bad viz days and holes/caves.

/ Sebastian

 

[Danny.c]

Get a 90cm,put two 14.5 small ID bands on it,and it will kill out to 5m +. Great size for what you are talking about and plenty of range.I got one ).
If you don't think it will shoot that far,there are test that prove it.

 

[Okis]

Get a 90cm,put two 14.5 small ID bands on it,and it will kill out to 5m +. Great size for what you are talking about and plenty of range.I got one ).
If you don't think it will shoot that far,there are test that prove it.

Would a 6.6 spear work good with two of those or would i need to get myself a 7mm ?

 

[Danny.c]

Would a 6.6 spear work good with two of those or would i need to get myself a 7mm ?

From what I have heard,6.5 will flex and fish will be missed.7mm should be fine,even 7.5 will work but I would go 7mm first.
Edit=The small ID bands can be set at %400.

 

[Danny.c]

This might interest you.This bloke is a champion for all his efforts.

 

[Okis]

Thanks, great test video! So getting 14mm ID band and getting a 7mm spear might be a good option in the future instead of a rollerconversion. Not sure if anybody sell those bands in Thailand but i can always order some when i go back for visit in Europe i guess. Leaning more and more towards a 90cm now, the range was the only thing i was concerned about!

 

[Danny.c]

No worries,glad I could help.You should be able to get those bands sent out to you from Aus or the stats,I got mine from OBD Aus.
There are two reasons to get rollers ,
1.they look cool
2.very low recoil
Like if you wanted to really over power a short gun and could not handle the recoil pain,or you felt it was putting your shots off.
To be honest I never tried them.

 

[Okis]

So i ordered the 90 and hopefully i will have in a week or two. Will see when i can get my hands on those small is rubbers.
I'm really excited right now, i've been out a couple of times the past weeks and i after every time i just think about those shots i lost that day because of the slow tracking and the clumsyness when coming over a rock into a feedingfrenzy and the fishes scattering before managing to put out the 120cm and start aiming lol. Another fun example was the other day when being out on a small island 500m from the shore and i cut up a smaller fish i caught for bait and put in a nice spot close to one of the entryspots to the bay to attract the bigger fishes. After leas than a minute two trevally's comes in to take a look since the smaller fishes was having a frenzy on my bait, i slowly put forward the gun realizing the distance between the spear and the baitspot only was about 1.5 meters and start to try to aim for the biggest one, they just freezed and started staring at me for 1 second and then turn around a swam away fast hell haha...

 

[Danny.c]

Hahah nice.I just love 90cm.Such a comfortable size to load and track.Hope it work out great for you.Fish are so spooky were I dive,I try to be very stealthy but some times nothing works,the bigger fish run for the hills.Maybe I will steal your idea and plant some baits.

 

[Okis]

The baiting is the only thing that helps me get the bigger ones into shootingrange here in thailand hehe.. If there is no bait and im not trying to ambush them they will run off very fast the second they see me at 8+ meters distance.
Where in the world do you spear?

 

[Danny.c]

I spear in Australia Queensland around island and in shore reefs,The place is very over fished and conditions are usually a bit dirty being a bay and all but it does get clearer around winter.Plenty of good pelagic's around but I rather hunt reef fish.If you look at a fish side ways here,it will boltI am trying to learn how to dive deeper so I can get better fish out wider,but my limit at the moment seems to be around 35 to 40 feet. So I am limited to were I dive.I guess Thai Land would be way better spearing.

 

[Okis]

Then i think we have about the same conditions since i only hunt the shores right now. I just got started some weeks ago and all boattransfers/diving in the outer islands/the sweet spots are off limits since we have the monsoon and the currents are too strong. Even here most spots are unfishable because of the currents make the viz so bad at most places, right now it seems the spot im currently hunting is the only one where viz extends 2 metera but it also the one spot with least fish especially the bigger once.

Yeah im not very skilled at deep depths either, i think the deepest i've done is 10-12 meters and my breathholds are like a minute maximum. But as soon as the monsoon is fading off im planning to start taking my Aida courses so i will be ready for future bluewater! Hehe i dont know if Thailand is much better, both the andaman Sea and the Gulf is extremely overfished. Just some day ago a 3 months ban on fishing was lifted, that ban was suppose to allow the fishes to respawn but that day the fishermen came back early and said they got very little fish.

 

[Okis]

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket...abi-fishermen/64169?desktopversion#ad-image-0

 

[Danny.c]

Same thing today .Seen two fat parrot fish, I hit the bottom pulled up a heap of sand,flashed a spoon at them and acted like I didn't know they were there!
They didn't want a bar of me and spooked.
I think fish can hear me breathing through the snorkel before the descent,and I always seem to get drops of water down the pipe which makes a loud crackle sound.early warning alarm for them.Its tough work some days.

 

[Okis]

Try with a bait, place it somewhere close to where the plegiacs usually hangs around and make sure you have lots of smaller fishes in the spot so they will mass and frenzy on the bait making dustclouds and noise to attract bigger ones! Doesnt work on the bigger parrotfishes since they seem to have zero interest in meat but will be a solution for other kinds of bigger fishes. just hang around some meters from the bait on a rock or something or also you can observe it from the surface and make a stealthy dive when you see the bigger ones coming in.

Btw is your 90 a RA? If that is the case, what length on the 14mm small id do you use? I'm about to order 10 feet primeline from ebay today

 

[Danny.c]

Try with a bait, place it somewhere close to where the plegiacs usually hangs around and make sure you have lots of smaller fishes in the spot so they will mass and frenzy on the bait making dustclouds and noise to attract bigger ones! Doesnt work on the bigger parrotfishes since they seem to have zero interest in meat but will be a solution for other kinds of bigger fishes. just hang around some meters from the bait on a rock or something or also you can observe it from the surface and make a stealthy dive when you see the bigger ones coming in.

Btw is your 90 a RA? If that is the case, what length on the 14mm small id do you use? I'm about to order 10 feet primeline from ebay today

Thanks for the tip I will have to give the baiting ago,sounds like fun.I know were some monster spanish mackerel have been hanging out.
My 90cm is an AR(aimrite) so it will be a slightly different measurement to the RA.I cut bands to %380 but I will also try %400 when I get the time But it has plenty of power and distance as is.

 

[Okis]

I guess you dubbel wrap the shootingline too?

 

[Danny.c]

I guess you dubbel wrap the shootingline too?

I had no choice.I nearly lost a fish because of the single wrap not letting the spear go all the way through and ,now at 4.5m the spear will go all the way through mostly.It's worth it for those longer shots that do present them self's now and than.I know there are a lot of good spearo's that swear by a single but for me a double is the way to go,mind you I have only used the double for a short time and loving it.
Try shooting your 90cm with a single and it should give you a fair tug on the bungy at the end of its reach.

 

[Okis]

Yeah will probaly go for double wrap, otherwise the upped power will feel like a waste.

So the the rubber is on its way, should have it in 1 week or so. Sadly there was some timing issues with the arrival with the gun, it arrived to Thailand yesterday but the local RA guy went to indonesia for a speartrip until the 22th and i also had to go to Malaysia yesterday for a week so i can get myself a new thaivisa so i wont be able to try it out until 12 days.

However it gives me more time to figure out some things concerning the setup and the new spearshaft i have to order soon to match the 2×14 bands better.
How would it work if i went for a shorter 7.5 spear 110 or 120 cm? It would be around the same weight as a 130cm(standard RA length for 90) 7mm but reducing the chance of shaftwipping when overpowered. Or maybe a 120cm 7mm?

 

[Danny.c]

That is going to be the fun part,testing different shaft size and length.I have too little experience to give you exact advice but I am going to try the same thing at some stage,as I am interested in using the 7.5mm my self.