Tuna hunting Pics

[rigdvr]

Check out the Alexander seriously before passing judgement on my post. It is the most heavy duty tip made. You can have it modified to use extreme spectra instead of ss cable which can saw its way through fish flesh and slow shaft speed.

I dont think there is anyway to reinvent the wheel as far as slip tips for these beasts goes...perhaps extending the cable or spectra due to the girth of the fish would help eliminate potential leverage? This is common practice hunting on oil rigs where the fish can wrap on a pipe. If your shaft cant pull back all the way while the tip is toggled it could be a major source of drag when the fish bolts at 50knts....

definatel go for a tri cut tip as penetration is much greater than with a pencil tip.

 

[Huan]

Rigdvr
I am not knocking Alexander tips, in fact I have great respect for the man however, the fact remains:These tips although perhaps the heaviest made are still designed for fish like yellowfin tuna sailfish and other big game fish that are usually in the 300 lb class. They just aren't made for giant bluefin in the 700lb plus class.Sure you could get lucky but the three big problems are :
Very big (and heavy) fish, very powerful fish, very soft flesh.
any one of these factors is a problem but combined you get the kind of gear testing that is not available to most gear manufacturers. hence the kind of problems facing fernando.
I wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel I was just putting things in perspective.

 

[Murat]

Just a reminder,

Paulo Gaspar who landed world record bluefin (650 pound) had used Riffe Slip Tip, which is probably not as heavy duty as Alexander one...


If i remmember correctly

The biggest fish speared (Black Marlin over 1000 pounds) taken with standart shaft with FLOPPER.


Probably the first setup is the is the more suited to the big game fish like bluefins...

 

[Murat]

and i am sure there are many guys who design equipment for bluefins...I recon Alexander is one of them.

 

[Huan]

Murat
If you read Paolo's account he stoned the fish, it didn't struggle.
If you are talking about the 760lb Blue marlin that Ian McGonagle shot remember, the difference between a marlin and a tuna in body shape is substantial, marlin are much skinnier and should be easier to toggle through, their body is also tougher.
If you see the picture of Terry Maas's 398lb Bluefin you can see that the slip tip is just holding in by one barb.
The skin is quite strong but the meat is very soft.
I reckon the only sure shot is a kill shot.

 

[w3ac]

It seems that some of us are getting down on Fernando and his crew for trying something completely new. Why? As far as I'm concerned these guys are pioneers doing something that I can only dream of. Yeah we got yellowfin in Hawaii but I will probably never get the chance to hunt a huge bluefin. Sure there will be some mishaps and equipment failure but doesn't everyone experience them? Nevermind the critics and keep on truckin buddy. Oh, try getting in touch with Alexander and let him know what you're up to. If anyone could figure something out, he would be your man.

Brad

 

[rigdvr]

Originally posted by Huan
Rigdvr
the fact remains:These tips although perhaps the heaviest made are still designed for fish like yellowfin tuna sailfish and other big game fish that are usually in the 300 lb class

Not sure a heavier tip is the answer...these are made for 3/8 shafts so they are pretty big. Materials wise Im not sure theres a better alternative...the tips arent bending they are pulling from the sheer power of the fish. If you make a bigger tip you slow shaft speed and decrease accuracy. I think looking at replacing the cable with heavy spectra might be worth it to prevent sawing and give a little more shaft speed for better penetration.

There will never be an easy way to land a fish of this size and power.

 

[icarus pacific]

Indeed, my hat is off to Fernando for even getting in the water with these things! :king

And much as Wally Potts and Jack Prodonovich did in the earlier years, Fernando is on the verge of needing to not so much re-invent the wheel as to devlop and modify what is out there. A pity that my lathe and he are several thousand miles apart, as the tinkering and trying are as enjoyable as finally rolling the thing over the rail; I hope the boat has a crane or a serious A frame! Going to 1/2" shafts, many large diameter bands, very heavy lines and multiple floats are but a few of the necessary tools to have dialed in before you even get on the boat. And then you have to know where they are... And then you have to actually man-up and pull the trigger!

That said, I think that it's a mere matter of time before someone sticks and holds a fish of 1000 pounds out of sheer luck, much like the guy that works at doing a 360 on a skateboard, surfing Mavericks on a 100 foot day or getting along with the relatives, practice and prep are keys.

 

[fer_abella]

VIDEO of the shoot next monday 27 in pescasub.com

Hi everybody,

Last year we stone shoot 2 tuna with standar shafts with floopers. This year we were better prepared.

I used a hydroneumatic speargun (just because i like these things instead big and beatiful wood spearguns). I respect a lot people that uses these and my buddy did it with a 135cm long 3x20mm bands and 166cmx8mm shaft wood speargun made by itself.

We both used 2 mm stainless steel cable to attach our shafts to a 14mm 100 meter long rope equipped with 16 meter bugie and progressive flotation bouys of 9 liter each (7 of them separed 4 meters one from the next).

I really thought that the tuna was ours and i almost call land to start prepare the weighting well in advance.

But with a 9mm 301 stainless steel shaft bended seriously the "c" pattern was used by the tuna to pull the thread of an araldit glued speartip thread.

You know, when you lift a body like that from 50 meters deep using bended shaft the force in the thread is big. We did not take into account that possibility, because with 2 big "shampoo" in the middle to mantain straight the cable and a giratory piece in the body of the shaft, the tuna was not capable of doing that.

But with a bended shaft it was capable.

The tuna floats in 2 days of water and a local fishermen found it floating and sold it. That is how i know it weighted 318 kg. The local fishing tackle store (and my fishing friends there) knows about every tuna captured in these waters.

Fernando









:waterwork :waterwork :waterwork :waterwork :waterwork

 

[fer_abella]

VIDEO of the shoot next monday 27 in pescasub.com

.

 

[Murat]

Fernando, you did not have a chance for secure shot(s)?

 

[fer_abella]

NO

Well, it depends.

The tuna gave no easy opportunities. It knowes something went wrong. It moved very fast and does not swim vertically but horizontally.

But if i where more experienced with them could have stone shoot it shooting before i did and directly to the brain.

It is really a difficult question to respond. You will see in the video the opportunities i had.

Next monday.

 

[rigdvr]

is there a such thing as a "secure" shot on a 600 lb tuna? Even a second shaft needs to be a lucky shot....

Sven, did you call the other day? I got a 7 something area code but dropped the phone overboard trying to answer....we were bringing boats back from the hurricane hole. Good times in the gulf:hmm

 

[Fondueset]

Looking forward to that video!

 

[icarus pacific]

what's that, 5-6 phones now?

yeah Mike, just checking in to how you and the fam did during the blow. I'll send you a mail.

 

[rigdvr]

6 this summer:head Storm left us on the good side, just a little clean up...the people 50 miles east were devestated and now Ivan is back in the friggin gulf as a TS???? Are you kidding me? It wentr up into the carolinas and now its reorganizing in the gulf WTF

 

[frogman]

Check out Jeanne off Florida this morning...

Angelos

 

[OceanSwimmer]

Whew....

Beautiful pic of a terrible storm, frogman.....what website is it from?

 

[fer_abella]

videos published

http://www.pescasub.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=11

 

[shaneshac]

nice ones Fernando.

thanks a lot

Shane