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What is a paralyzer tip used for?

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rickey05

Atlantic Beach, FL
Mar 22, 2008
15
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Just curious. What is a 3 prong paralyzer tip used for? I used one once and almost every fish I shot got right off and swam away. Didnt do much paralyzing at all. was i doing somethin wrong??
 
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It is used as an exercise in futility.:head But seriously, I've seen it is used for smaller fish where the impact of the tips is enough to stun the fish. I've also seen people use it to shoot lobsters/crabs etc... where that is allowed. Personally I hate them along with all multiple prong tips --> too much damage to the fish and insufficient hold. Hawaiian flopper style is clearly must better.
 
i am pretty sure they are only used on hawain slings and pole spears where the mass and therefore impact is high. they are not used on spearguns. they are only meant to be used on smaller fish too, say up to 1Kg. The tips are normally barbed so very hard to imagine fish would get away.

used with the above constraints, as far as I can see, they will work great!
 
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Can't say I have a lot of direct experience of these myself but have seen a great video which shows them as very effective. Bass to double figures and cod to 20lb are shot and "paralysed".

The paralyser bit comes from the idea that 3 tips will only penetrate the fish a short distance. Therefore all of the dynamic energy in the moving spear will be transfered to the fish as the spear almost stops dead. This extreme shock can paralyse the fish. A small diameter spear by contrast can pass straight through a fish and if not stopped by a large mass of muscle and bone then fish sometimes are totally unaffected, abeit they have a small hole in them with a spear or often just a line running through it.

The bigger trident heads also can hold the fish firmly and stop them spinning and twisting. These big tridents are widely used by top spearo's for small and medium and especially reef fish. The Mac/Mak/Mact something like that is the one they use. Cost £70+ ($100) so must have something going for them.

Biggest drawback is the additional drag. You need a powerful gun and you need to be close. Not really an open water or big freeswimming fish weapon.

I own a few models of trident head and must get around to a better test of them.

Dave
 
3 prongs are for people who just hate fish, and like to abuse and injure them. you hit the fish, he is f....d up. he swims away. you swim away , "paralyzed" with laughter,at the stupid fish's bad luck.3 prongs do not work. it is a joke.they look kinda cool though. and sadly THAT is why they make em.(unsuspecting new spearos who figure they look cool.like me .and you ,and we buy them) viscious cycle! stop the madness!
 
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I now use the paralyzer with barbs. I have never ruined meat with a paralyzer like I have with a double flopper. I also use a polespear with slip-tip for larger fish like lingcod. I can get a lingcod if I jam it up against a rock with the paralyzer, but this is not advisable due to the possibility of losing the fish. With a proper weighted polespear slamming into the fish, it shocks the hell out of them. There are different quality, angle, and diameter of tines.
 
I mainly use a pole spear, and use a paralyzer effectivly. but it depends on the fish you want to target. naturally it has a purpose and if used correctly no problems.

My paralyzer has no barbs. and they are about 35cm long. when they penetrate the fish they spread apart paralyzing the fish. some types of fish that you know thrash about violently probably should not be targeted nor fish that are simply too big.
I use mine on reef fish and basically have no problems.

I've also used those cheap $30 polespears with the short barbed tips. also used successfully on whiting, flathead leather jackets etc. But I don't really like them,
barbs too short.

It all depends on what you want to catch.
But a certain amount of skill certainly helps, so I suggest practicing on fish that are easy to catch and dont thrash that much.

so until you have tried to use one, with restraint on fish you can take, build up your skill level, then don't knock them.
 
you guys must be shooting some small fish. less than 12".we leave those alone here.most fish are illegal at that size anyway. i guarantee you are not bringing home a very good percentage of what you are shooting. not as good as someone with a gun. this might seem more "sporting" to you . but what about all the ones who get away? i dont like when injured fish swim off to die under a rock somewhere. what kind of fish dont thrash around at all after you shoot them ??EVER? i dont mean to piss anyone off. if i did i am sorry. i did own one of those and so did alot of people i know. no one ever said they were effective. ever. except now .you,(i guess i stand corrected)
" i believe in peace through superior firepower, sir"
 
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lets see some pics of these little placid fish you guys are shooting with those frog catchers.,(THAT is what they ARE good for: frogs!)
 
Calm gentlemen. It's good to have a lively debate but lets respect others views even if we disagree.

CM I think JTK is talking somewhat tounge in cheek and anyway it's not personal.

DB is such a great and successful forum because of lively debate with respect. Well that and the fact that the staff carry big sticks.

Dave (big stick staff member).
 
I agree with Dave with respect to the big stick idea. Everyone who uses a paralyzer tip should carry a big stick (to knock the fish unconscious with after the paralyzer tip fails miserably at doing what it is supposed to)rofl. But in all seriousness I've seen people use them effectively on small fish (I personally hate them). And what Jupiter said is correct. Lots of people use them to hold the fish against the bottom. They're great to have on a pole spear when you're shooting near reefs or rocks and don't want to bang up your speargun shaft or damage the reef with a wild shot. I have found them to less effective against Wahoo though. Go figure!
 
This guy is a top class spearo and uses a trident head as seen on the gun behind him to capture fish such as this double figure bass and bigger.
 

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you guys must be shooting some small fish. less than 12".we leave those alone here.most fish are illegal at that size anyway. i guarantee you are not bringing home a very good percentage of what you are shooting. not as good as someone with a gun. this might seem more "sporting" to you . but what about all the ones who get away? i dont like when injured fish swim off to die under a rock somewhere. what kind of fish dont thrash around at all after you shoot them ??EVER?
" i believe in peace through superior firepower, sir"

tell that to manny puig
 
This guy is a top class spearo and uses a trident head as seen on the gun behind him to capture fish such as this double figure bass and bigger.

with all due respect,(and i,m not trying to diss anyone,)how many got away before he brought one in? i could probably find some guy who killed a bear with a pointed broomstick,(once) but if i were to go hunting bears i wouldnt go with a pointed stick.thats my point.
 
tell that to manny puig

ok, i will concede that if you are a freediver and adventure man on a world class level,"like manny" then a pole spear is all you need. if you are not capable of holding your breath 4 minutes at 100 ft. (like me) maybe a spear gun is in order. you could probably kill a deer with a .22 caliber rifle. but if you regularly hunted deer with one, you would wound more than you killed.,(as i supect is the case with all the pole spearos, they just wont admit it)that is my point

manny puig is a bad muthaf****cka isnt he though? ever see when he got his arm swallowed by a 150lb jewfish and held under for like 1minute 30 seconds? cool stuff.
 
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it is all about selction...the polespear is the place for para tips , not a gun, but they are tremendously effective for the fish that you should be pursuing. I can FILL a cooler with my pole, it is faster than a gun and I do not lose fish, I only shoot the ones I can land and they are plenty. the use is just different, smaller fish near structure...I don't think it is possible to take many fish with a para tip, but the ones that it is appropriate for, you can do very well on (snappers under 20", hogfish, triggers, spadefish)
go talk to aaron crist about how ineffective a pole spear is....
 
I am getting into using pole spears now, just ordered one from Ray Odor. I can shoot fish easily with a gun at the depths I have available. I see this new angle as improving the fishes odds. Oh, i am also not going to use a torch anymore. Of course, all the previous must not result in me wounding more fish than I accidentally do now (s**t happens). Wounding fish is something that haunts me to the core every time.

Can't wait for the pole spear to arrive!
 
Just on the wounding fish comments. I hate doing it as well. I know guys who spear fish for sport (not kidding) and will shoot fish they don't intend to eat. I never do this EVER. But as for wounding a fish really haunting someone. In the end, they are fish. They live in nature, live and die, eat and get eaten, etc... Obviously doing it intentionally is wrong, but in the end they go back into the food chain. Wounding one fish may provide food for a number of others. So I don't understand why it is considered to be so bad. In the end you were going to kill the fish anyway. All that actually happened was you provided a meal to someone else rather than yourself.

And Linkbuster you shoot triggers with a polespear, that's ballsy my friend. Those little bastards can be mean. I always appreciate the 12' of line or so that separates them from me when I shoot them. If I had my way I'd shoot them with 45 caliber powerheads, thereby taking care of trying to ike spike them and cooking simultaneously. Sounds like a win win to me ;)
 
Just on the wounding fish comments. I hate doing it as well. I know guys who spear fish for sport (not kidding) and will shoot fish they don't intend to eat. I never do this EVER. But as for wounding a fish really haunting someone. In the end, they are fish. They live in nature, live and die, eat and get eaten, etc... Obviously doing it intentionally is wrong, but in the end they go back into the food chain. Wounding one fish may provide food for a number of others. So I don't understand why it is considered to be so bad. In the end you were going to kill the fish anyway. All that actually happened was you provided a meal to someone else rather than yourself.

i personally have playbacks of all fish I have wounded and that have fled. maybe some live, others don't. in the end it's my fault and my way of dealing with it is to feel like crap. i'm sure others are different.

cheers
 
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