what's your poison?

[andrsn]

was curious to what guns people were using out there?


our arsenault(aquiles and mine):

bluewater- 2 daryl wong 60" mahi enclosed tracks

deep reef- 2 riffe C3x's ; 1 mares sten pneumatic

shallow reef- 1 riffe C1(that's mine, aquiles tends to bring his heavy artillary everywhere )

we're both using floats and float lines for everything. who's using reels? who uses nothing? who's the bad ass that hunts below 30m?! anyone using slip-tips?(what kind?) anyone shooting hybrids? if you've got a euro gun, what are your loading methods?(chest pad/ tennis ball/ what?) anyone graced with a yokooji? if i've missed anything, feel free to add at your leisure.

later,
anderson

 

[shorty]

Here's the gun that I use.
http://www.freedivehawaii.com/spear/wko_gun.asp

I do reef hunting only, ~30 feet, untill I get my kayak.
I load from the hip then chest and use two 9/16" bands at 22".



Anderson,
What are the differences between a Daryl Wong and a Riffe? I'm looking to pick up one soon. Not sure which one yet though.

Thanks,
shorty

 

[Crispin]

Nice thread, my choice of firepower is as follows....


Bad vis days in shallow water -

Cressi SL Star 55 Pneumatic (pumped right up!!!!) with double length line.

Good vis days in shallow water -

Picasso Twin shot 60 with MEGA bands on it.

Deep days with good vis -

Cressi Carbon 90 with reel and MEGA bands.

 

[SASpearo]

.44 Magnum and a .303 Winchester ...



I use a 65cm (26 Inch) Balco sub gun for kelp forests and recce dives - this thing has been modified over and over and over again .... I used to shoot with a 6.5mm plated spear, which was too heavy for the original rubber, so I replaced the spear with a lighter one (shorter, a lot less accurate) - those were in my stupid days. Lately I've been using the same old spear which I found in a closet somewhere, but now I run 6 bands of latex on it ..... on two notches. It's pretty accurate for close quarter work, beautifull in kelp and on the reefs .....

Also use a 120cm Rob Allen Railgun - wicked like a black cat with two tails. This gun is increddibly powerfull, it has only one rubber but it's BAD .... I used to have a loop to clip the rubber halfway down the barrel so that I could rest between pulls .... nowadays I can manage it with one heave. Still a bitch to load. But it's a mother. Check it out - their site is www.roballen.co.za - you can also order from there. Should work out pretty cheap for you guys, as they go for about R900 or so (about 70 US$ or so I think ...)

I don't dive too deep when spearing - I always opt towards safety. No spearing below 25metres, otherwise not enough air to fight if need be. My lines float and stretch, so I've got some time to get to the surface to fight the fish - unless it's HUGE. Total float line length varies from 10m (reef dives, single float) to 30m + 40m (middle line doesn't stretch, length varies) + 10m (Deep water, big fish, two 5 litre floats and a 11 litre float with spare gun and spears at the back)

There's some guys here in Cape Town that hunt at 40m + .... I saw two guys two weekends ago doing this consistantly ..... It was mind blowing ..... could only DREAM of doing this. They took some really nice Tuna though ... in the 60 - 80kg's range.

 

[icarus pacific]

Here in No Cal, the viz goes from zero to 20-35 feet and most if not all of the desirable fish live in the rocks and holes, so the guns are by necessity short but very capable of putting a 3/8 inch shaft through a tree... my ususal and favorite of 28 years is a Voit, then mares, now JBL 4G32, 28" with two 5/8" bands shortened. It kicks like a mutha but since most of the shots are in holes, it's OK. Most of the shots, the shaft doesn't even leave the muzzle! I use a single wrap of tuna cord with a bungie for the line- preety short, but it pretty much gaurantees that I get close enough to nuke the fish rather than wing it... The rockfish here, lingcod and cabezone have real hard heads so the extra oomph from the big bands help out, as does shooting the eyes.

South of here in Monterey the water clears up enough to use a little bit longer gun, especially if the halibut are out. There it's a Riffe#1 Metal Tech w/ reel, and a breakaway tip with cable to keep the shaft from turning into a pretzel. JBL Sawed off Magnums and 38 Specials-Northwests are popular too. Further South in the Channel Islands offshore it's time to bring out the Riffe Island w/ breakaway tip, and line breakaway to a 100 foot floatline and a bouy- the sweet package for white seabass here. My JBL Magnum has slayed em before I scored this rig. The rocks around the isalnds and the coast dictate the use of the smaller 4G32.

Happy rigging.

sven

 

[freediver48]

classic weapons

Hi,

I only use one gun right now, but a buddy may be bringing me a Rob Allen, when returns from RSA. It is a bit on the "classic" side,
being slightly over 25 years old, not the origional rubber. It is a Rene Cavalero, Champion, the shaft is high carbon and only slightly smaller than my fingers. I use a reel on it, but will switch to the float line this summer when we head to the North end of the island for some halibut. The halibut on a good day can be found in only 50', rather than the 200' where I live. In the other world I usually use a 30-06, or my Darton Maverick.

Old, and punchy,

FD48

 

[Abriapnea]

As a South African spearo I have obviously been using Rob Allen guns since their arrival. However I am no great fan of the picasso pistolgrips they supply and rather use Omer grips ,which i find more responsive.
I have a 110 with 20 mm rubber and reel for backline work,a135 with 20 mm for everyday use and a 145 with 2 16 mm elastics with a breakaway system for bluewater hunting.This darling has given me two marlin and six sailies so far!
All guns have6.5 or 7 mm spears.