Spear Gun

[GC]

I'm new to the diving sport, but I'm already addicted!
I'm looking for adivce on what type/brand of spear gun to get. What length of shaft, shooting distance,...etc....etc... I'm a rookie, but have shot fresh water fish with my bow!
Also advise on hunting techniques for different species (grouper, snapper, AJ) will be appreciated.
If I can't get them to bite.....I want to have alternate methods for putting fish on the table!

Thanks.

[Wil]

I'm new to the diving sport, but I'm already addicted!
I'm looking for adivce on what type/brand of spear gun to get. What length of shaft, shooting distance,...etc....etc... I'm a rookie, but have shot fresh water fish with my bow!
Also advise on hunting techniques for different species (grouper, snapper, AJ) will be appreciated.
If I can't get them to bite.....I want to have alternate methods for putting fish on the table!

Thanks.

I'm fairly new to it as well, but here's what I've learned so far:

Buy the longest gun you can possibly cock. A lot of people start out with a smaller gun, planning to step up to a larger one, and waste a lot of money in the process. I'm shooting a 48" gun right now, and am kinda wishing I'd bought a 52". 48" is the most popular size in our area, though. My 48" Sea Hornet shoots a 54" shaft by default, but I stepped up to a 60" shaft that I'm going to try out this afternoon. You can get the 48" Sea Hornet for less than $250 right here in town, or even cheaper online. I paid $220 for mine at Coral Reef. Regardless of what you buy, make sure it floats. All of the wood guns float (the sea hornet is wood). That way, when you're futzing around trying to get a fish onto your stringer and off of your spear, the gun floats up behind you and out of the way.

It doesn't hurt to invest in a cheap polespear in addition to a gun. They're lots of fun for the smaller fish. You can get a 6.5' polespear with tip for about $35 over at Coral Reef Scuba. I'm using the single barb tips on mine, and have been told to steer clear of the paralyzer tips. I know some of the pros use polespears on the bigger fish (AJs, etc), but I'm going to give it a few more weeks before I try it.


As to shot distance, I've found that a distance equal to the length of the spear is pretty much optimum.

For some quick fun, without having to do too much hunting, just swing by the Yamaha reef or any other place that holds a lot of AJs, drop down about 20-30 feet, and pick your dinner. I always wondered why the limit was 1 per person until I speared one. They're too easy. (Unless you don't get a kill shot, in which case you get to go for a ride, which is fun.)

No matter how tempting it might be, if you see a cobia in the water, don't shoot it unless you've already gotten the hang of killing fish. Their heads are armor plated just about, and if you don't get a kill shot you're going to a) go for a ride and b) possibly ruin a shaft.


Snapper are all over out in our part of the gulf, especially the mangroves. Mangroves make easy picking because they only have to be 10", and most of the ones I've seen so far are 14" or better. I've killed some over 24". Snapper are also fairly easy to shoot, since they don't spook as easily as most fish. They're tough to reach with a polespear, but with a 48" gun you can hit them easily.

Grouper are fairly skittish. They see you, and then turn tail and run for cover. I haven't killed one yet, but that's mainly because I'm not a big grouper fan. I like my AJ and most of my family loves snapper and AJ.

Another good "intro to spearfishing" would be the One More Time out of Carrabelle. It's got a lot of good sized sheepshead on it. Sheepshead aren't the easiest fish to shoot, but they aren't very hard either. Plus the One More Time is a really cool dive site, and it's in less than 40 fsw, so you can stay down just about all day.


Approximate price tag for your basic gear at Coral Reef (not necessarily plugging them, but that's where I've bought most of my gear [since my boss teaches through them], and they've done me right):

48" Sea Hornet (mahogany): $220-$230ish
Stringer: $12-20 (depending on what you want)
Clip to attach stringer to BC (a must-have): $5
Polespear + tip: $35

If you can comfortably cock a 52" gun, though, I'd go for it. The only downside to a larger gun is that you can't bring it to bear on a target quite as quickly, but unless you're mostly freediving, it doesn't matter much.


Wil

[GC]

THANKS!!! Lot's of good info!

I'm going to look at guns after work. And, may try
the "One More Time" this weekend! It'll probably be
crowded though.

I know as a fisherman, it wouldn't make me too happy if I was fishing a reef and someone anchored up and divers started bailing over the side!
Anyone have experience with this? Is it better to just dive the public numbers when no one is around? And, hunt some hard bottom if they're crowed and try your luck there?

[Wil]

I know as a fisherman, it wouldn't make me too happy if I was fishing a reef and someone anchored up and divers started bailing over the side!
Anyone have experience with this? Is it better to just dive the public numbers when no one is around? And, hunt some hard bottom if they're crowed and try your luck there?

We've tried to just get out there early or late in the day, or go on a weekday afternoon like we did yesterday. To be honest, though, these are public numbers. People shouldn't get too upset about it, and if they do, then too bad. It's no different from when the Yamaha reef gets so crowded that it looks like a parking lot. Now, if someone was on a "private" (read "non-published") number, then I would steer clear of them.

In fact, I've had the exact opposite problem on public numbers. When we're in the water (freediving, no scuba gear), we've had people park their boats *right over us*, and within 10 feet of our boat.

Just an FYI on the One More Time: visibility sucks right now, and it'll probably suck this weekend. Not just there, but everywhere. It isn't horrible until after you get under the thermocline, but after that it's pretty lousy. Stupid "whale snot" algae.

I'm going to be out of town this weekend, but maybe we should put together a two boat trip sometime.

[GC]

Did you have any luck yesterday?
If the visibility is bad at "one more", I may head out toward K-tower, or around some of the OAR numbers and just stay off the bottom. Do you know if the algae is bad out there?

I'm up for a two boat trip. I usually get down that way several times throughout the year. We have a place in Spring Creek. The next trip I have planned is the weekend after the 4th (july).

Thanks again for the help!

[Wil]

Visibility is bad pretty much everywhere out there right now. Not bad enough to keep you from killing fish. We brought home a couple of AJs and a mangrove, I'm getting ready to post the report on here that I just posted over on spearboard.

[Charles]

When I first got into spearfishing on scuba we did it thinking it would be an easier way to catch more fish. This was back before anybody dove with computers, there was no such thing as a dive computer. That misconception was rapidly proven false, it's easier and more efficient to catch them on a rod and reel, but we kept at it just because spearfishing is a lot of fun in it's own right. I always used a polespear, but one regular buddy used a pneumatic gun and another used a band gun. Polespears work great over in your area. Band guns are good, too. And pneumatic guns? Well, let's just say some people like them and leave it at that, same for the European style band guns. As for what brand of band gun to get, how much do you want to spend? A lot of folks in your area like Sea Hornets. I like Riffe guns. For a better gun for a little more money you could look at the Aimrites, also known as Wong guns. And then there's the Internet Custom Spearguns which can run as much as some house payments.

One thing to consider in the size of the gun you want is the average visibility of where you'll be going. In limited visibility too big a gun can be just as much, if not more, of a handicap as one that's too small. In other words you don't need a cannon with a 30' range to pop a shaft through a 20 lb. grouper at 12'. It's even possible in low vis conditions to have a gun so long that the muzzle is out of sight when your arms are out stretched in shooting position.

Another consideration is that one gun won't do everything. For instance my favorite general purpose reef hunting gun is my Riffe Competitor #3X, but for hunting mullet along the shoreline and around the rocks my Riffe Metal Tech #1 gets the nod. #1 (12 yr. old son) loves his Competitor #2.

Sea Hornet
http://www.slinginsteel.com/

Riffe
http://www.riffespearguns.com/

Daryl Wong (Aimrite)
http://www.wongspearguns.com/

Internet Custom Spearguns
http://ic_spearguns.tripod.com/

There's plenty of others out there. Also ask around your local dive shops. Some might even rent guns, a few do, so you can try different things before you decide.

[Wil]

One thing to consider in the size of the gun you want is the average visibility of where you'll be going. In limited visibility too big a gun can be just as much, if not more, of a handicap as one that's too small. In other words you don't need a cannon with a 30' range to pop a shaft through a 20 lb. grouper at 12'. It's even possible in low vis conditions to have a gun so long that the muzzle is out of sight when your arms are out stretched in shooting position.

Yeah, one of those 66"+ freedive guns might be excessive in our area of the gulf, but even in terrible vis a 48" gun shouldn't be too bad. Some of the shorter guns are stout enough that you can put really heavy bands on them to compensate for the lack of size. One guy I know shoots a 42" Sea Hornet with 3 heavy bands, and there isn't much that it can't take down. I like my 48" with two heavy bands.

There's plenty of others out there. Also ask around your local dive shops. Some might even rent guns, a few do, so you can try different things before you decide.

I don't know if any of the shops around here rent them. If not, another option would be to go spearing with some other divers and try out their guns. I had the chance to shoot a 60" and a 42" before I settled on my 48". Granted, that's not a lot of exploration, but it was enough that I was able to make a choice I that I'm happy with.

[Undertow]

One guy I know shoots a 42" Sea Hornet with 3 heavy bands, and there isn't much that it can't take down.

I have seen Spear One post that he does not like to see 3 bands on his guns.

I personally shoot a 52" SS Sea hornet. The only thing I wish I had done differently was get the Commercial version right off the bat. I think I will most likely end up using my Classic as a back up now. Or maybe as a dedicated line gun.

GC, did you ever decide what gun to get?