Wong Mahi

[rigdvr]

Does anyone out there have experience with the Daryl Wong Mahi bluewater gun? Considering this gun for tuna and wahoo at the midnight lumps this winter. I feel this gun would best suit my needs as the majority of the tuna are big but not huge while the wahoo on the other hand are record breakers.

 

[andrsn]

both aquiles and i have em. whatchya need to know?

andrsn

 

[rigdvr]

wong

First of all are you happy with the gun? Have you had any probs? Just looking for an overall impression of the gun since it is in hawaii and i can not handle it in person...I dont like ordering things I have never seen but I do feel this is a good choice for my needs. Thanks for your input.

 

[Iyadiver]

Hi Chief,

Since Rig is asking, may I tag some questions along ?

01. What band & shaft set up r u using on it ?

02. What is the recoil like with the that set up ? Supposedly Wong Ono is that that heavy.

03. What kind of accucy r u getting c-t-c , from your experimented shooting distance ?

04. How's the quality & craftmanship ?

05. For a 63" size, is it consider a fast tracking gun ?

06. Is the supposedly all plastic trigger sweet & reliable ?

07. Do you personally reccomend it to anyone, regardless of its price.

OK , enough question for the time being.:duh


Thanks
IYA

 

[rigdvr]

Atta-boy IYA....thats everything I wanted to know as well! I might need to hire you to represent me the next time I have an argument with my fiance!

 

[andrsn]

hey guys,

it's an incredible gun. although i love sterling at hanapa'a dearly, i'd order one direct from daryl. he was great and gave me tons of advice on using it and setting it up.

first of all, i'm using(recommended) the riffe 5/16x65" hawaiian shaft. the line is wrapped pretty much just like a riffe, although it's setup as a complete breakaway system. there's no termination to the gun. i'm using a small 1/8" marine bungee pulled back to the release mech to keep the line on. my floatline is clipped to mono loop at the end of the spearshaft line. i'm using 4x 9/16" hi-mod bands from hanapa'a. made em myself w/ bloodline as wishbones. you can just as easily use riffe bands. lengths of your choosing.

the gun tracks incredibly w/ 2 hands. the only problem is learning how to aim it. it's seriously a 25' gun, you just need to get in quite a bit of shooting practice. all enclosed track guns are like this, by the way.

the quality's pretty good. it's not a factory gun, but go w/ the non-camo(just lacquer over the wood). mine's camo, and aquiles' is clear lacquer. i've got to warn you, these things are cannons! :naughty there's no messing around w/ em. the recoil is much less than one would imagine, but when you pull that trigger, you kinda wonder what the %$# just happened.

the trigger mech is fine. i don't care what others are saying. unless you're using it 300 days out of the year, i'd say you won't have any problems.

also, the handle is 20x more comfy than the riffe handles.

the mahi's 60", by the way. if you go w/ the 63" ono, you'll have to shop for shafts. i don't think riffe makes a 5/16 shaft longer than 65".

anyways.... (conclusion ) .... it's not a gun i use often. it's strictly a bluewater gun used for getting that shaft all the way through those big boys. i have a few trips towards the end of this year where i'll be using it as a primary gun, though. all in all, i'd recommend it for someone who's constantly running into large AJ's, tuna, wahoo, and bull mahi's. otherwise, it's a pretty expensive piece just to have in your bag. :hmm

hope this helps,
anderson

 

[rigdvr]

thanks for the info....now where did i leave that loan application?

 

[icarus pacific]

Originally posted by rigdvr
I might need to hire you to represent me the next time I have an argument with my fiance!


If she's cute, call me.

sven

 

[icarus pacific]

I'll second Anderson's evaluation of the gun, it's a cannon that if you're lucky enough to be in waters where you can get to use it, it'll put a serious hurtin on the protein.

Trouble is where you're diving, you throw a shaft from this thing into something, you better be able to get after it before it heads off to the murk and wire... Like all guns, just hitting the fish isn't even the start.

sven

 

[rigdvr]

the mahi would be used primarily in the open waters of the midnight lump and along the weedlines...not sure if I could bring myself to take it in on the rigs. Not using it though would be like dating a supermodel and only being allowed to hold her hand:waterwork

 

[rigdvr]

Andrsn...whats wrong with the camo? Looks slick in the pic!

 

[Iyadiver]

If she's cute, call me.

No way !! Call me first , then call Sultan Sven


Riffe shaft is available at 5/16 x 72" with 24 thread. The 6mm threaded end stops at 65".


Sounds like a unique and desireable piece. If it does what Wong said without any extra wings and so on. I think price wise it is still reasonable.

Bother you a bit more chief. May you explain why enclosed track gun need special aiming technique. I mean there are flatter shooting or what ? Enlighten me poor soul = enclosed-track-less spearo.

I like far shooting units not because only of the power but since I like precision air rifle shooting it amazes & entertain me if any guns can shoot far but accurately, no matter land or sea ones. This is why I somehow shows the image of power hungry guy, instead of improving stalking technique. Fire arm licence here is ridiculously expensive and you can't keep a hunting rifle at home, so I was a small game hunter with no-licence-required air rifle well before I started fish hunting ( back then I love fishing too ). I really get pleasure shooting at paper targets with these super precision air guns because they are extremely accurate, puching within the radius of the 4.5mm pellets hole from 15-20 meters. Now I am trying to direct my attention & spending for spearguns because precision air rifles can cost more than these high end Wong-s anyway. Shooting accurate spearguns on plywood target also give me a thrill if the grouping is tight. Boring ?.....not for me.

Since spearguns are not all that common here, I realy need to bother you owners with tons of questions. OK with you ?:friday


Rig & Sven,
I bet you must use cable shooting line on the rigs ? What happened if one install a reel say with a Kevlar 500# or Spectra. I tried 1000# Kevlar and overall abrassion resistance is still poorer than even a 250# cable. How do you stop a big 50-70# amberjack if it ain't stoned and start dragging you around the sharp metals ?




Thanks
IYA

 

[andrsn]

the aiming of the enclosed track guns gets tricky because the shaft sits lower and all the bands pile up towards the rear of the gun.

the blue's great, but if you're a teak freak, the clear's a sight to see.

later

 

[Murat]

Dear Rigdvr;

Why you just didn`t buy Riffe Blue water with full wing kits and solve the problem forever

I didn`t use it but it looks best bluwater gun that i see. Except some costum mades like Jack Prandanovich tuna gun.

BTW is anyone what happened that gun after his death?

 

[icarus pacific]

Yeah, sure... just go out and write a $15-$1800 check and get one of Jay's Blue Waters... ok. :hmm

This might be your custom made opportunity to build your own gun, Rig, not that a Wong isn't worth it. And we all know my affinity for a Riffe.

sven

 

[Murat]

OK If Riffe blu water is too expensive tahna buy MT#5 it is on sale on the bluwaterhunter.com it is only 382 dollars if you wish to add wing kits add 250 dollars and it is highly recomended.If you desire much power buy Alluminium muzzle.

you get it for 382+250+52: 684 $

Or take a look at http://www.squidnm.com/wildblue/home.htm

 

[Iyadiver]

As the name implies : "Mahi". There must be a specific speciality of this gun, besides is shoot a 9/16 shaft, I think Dr Wong was putting priority of the shaft speed instead of impact, since Mahi/Dorado/DolhpinFish is a very thin but fast fish. I like Riffe too but the Blue Water fully loaded with the wings, cost a fortune and it might not swing as fast as the Wong Mahi...I think.

Unless someone owned both or at least have tested them extensively......me just wondering about them.

In my opinion, IF those thin 9/16 shaft benefits from the enclosed track, I suppose Wong Mahi is a more intelligent choice if the target is Wahoo and Mahi or occasional decent size Tuna. As they say, one gun can't fit all purpose.


IYA

 

[Jay Styron]

NOT TO GET TECHNICAL

I'm guessing Iya that you mean a "5/16" or perhaps a "9/32" but not a "9/16" shaft-- that ain't no little piece of stainless, and you might want to add a couple of bands.
Jay

 

[andrsn]

jay.. didn't you know people are shooting rebar these days? rofl

the wong mahi is nice and compact. it's very dense, yet it's barely neg w/ a shaft and bouyant w/o one. it's relatively easy to load (if you know the euro method) and it tracks like a champ.

a great gun at a good price for an enclosed track unit. i'll be emailing daryl sometime this week to see what he recommends on learning how to aim.

later,
andrsn

 

[Iyadiver]

Ha ha ha ha

I always make the mistake between 5/16 and 9/16, sorry my mind is metric programmed and these 2 imperial figures are so similiar in writing, once in a while I missed it.

Let us know what Dr Wong has to say about aming the enclosed track, I suppose it should apply to all EC guns.

I recalled I actually once placed pencil eraser which I cut to make it look like a set of aiming sights on my JBL, similiar to my rifle....it doesn't work as I expected though:duh.

Tell me something, why doesn't speargun manufacturers, for their high end models, offers a documented piece of target slip for every guns they sell to show how accurate their definition of "accurate" is ? In the mean time their terms of being accurate is just like a marketting illusion. They tell you that you hold the gun wrong or you super impose the speartip on the target a bit too low and so on. If a manufacturing facility has a pool or a special testing tank, I guess having three shots group is only an extra 10 minutes work....... or another US$20 added to the price tag. Who else can shoot a given gun better than a good-shot designer ? If one pay top dollars for a custom gun, at the least their website should post honest shots result for a pricey gun. I think this is the only way we buyers can see that his gun actually capable of making multiple shots within an acceptable accuracy limit for the intended design of the gun's shooting range. It will give us the moral boost knowing the gun is THAT accurate, even though "I" might be one with the lousy shot.

It sure alot easier than trying to consult the builder on how to shoot their guns and forever blaming ourself if we do the lousy grouping. What if the gun itself can never achieve the intended accuracy at their furthest shooting range ?

I know we are supposed to learn better apnea and stalking skill to get closer to the pray but if the gun advertised say 25 feet shooting range, I guess a buyer has the right to see that it has to be able to do it decently accurate...maybe 3 inch grouping.

High end spearguns cost anything between US$800 almost US$2000..perhaps more for some very fancy one-of-a-kind stuff. We can get high end Styer sniper series from Austria ( in the US ) for this money with documented & proven accuracy.

Does may question make sense ?:head