new diver with spear gun questions

[Capt.Gene]

I don't know why hunting or fishing for food hits the hot button on some people. If you are a vegan or a peta whacko why abuse the electrons to make a valueless post here?

---------- Post Merged at 09:40 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:21 AM ----------

The JBL XHD series of spearguns have a better and stronger trigger than their standard guns.
When you find a shaft on the bottom, as eveybody does, it will probably be a Biller/SeaHornet compatable shaft that you won't be able to make use of with your JBL. The JBL shafts and parts are less commonly available in Florida dive shops.
There is no single perfect length gun for Gulf spearfishing. Your JBL may be a good first choice because it is not so long that you can still use it as a "hole"gun while shooting it in limited visability and you can still take a big AJ or Cobia while using it as a line gun. It's an OK wreck gun.
But you "next" gun might well be a longer model suitable for shooting without a line, or freeshafting.
Free shafting is quicker and also less dangerous as you can't get wrapped up by a big fish in a line that isn't there.
I don't much like plastic bits as important components of a gun, so I demand stainless steel in the line drop, safety, trigger, spear shaft and spear point. Your JBL's components all pass the test.

 

[John from the burg]

This is for the next guy more than the op.

Safety is important to me just like anyone else however saying 50 dives before you can spear is a bit much IMO. I had the fortune of hundreds of dives before i picked up a spear gun, I was supremely confidant in my mindset and skill set. Even with reasonable experience in the water my first big fish kicked my ass, blasted my mask off, wrapped me up, and yanked me around like i was nothing. Did i drag his slippery ass up the transom? Hell yes i did because i didn't loose my cool and did what i knew i needed to do. Before that o so memorable fish i spent a few dives with just the gun, no bands and no lines getting used to carrying something proficiently after years of crossed hands. I rocked the empty gun for around 3 dives then on my first dive with a loaded gun a hog swam a little to slowly away from me and i nailed his ass to the sand, i was hooked... or speared or rodded or whatever you wanna call it.

The key is to shoot smaller fish first, telling him hes gonna die if he shoots a 12'' hog before 50 dives is crazy, some people (poor souls) only get 20 something dives a year so waiting 50 dives is unrealistic.

 

[Hank49]

JBL magnum competition, is only a 48 or a 49 but i guess as a started gun it will do, specially since i traded an old rifle that i had no use for to get it.

r

I hear a lot of good things about JBL wood guns. But I recently picked up a Magnum of this type. It was a pos. very stiff trigger and the barrel filled up with water. Brand new. I took it out twice and took it back to the guy I bought it from. He's a friend and I didn't want my money back. He didn't know better. I then enquired about it on some of the spearfishing boards and heard 80% bad reviews on it. This all happened since I posted here. Sorry about that. Good luck. I hope it works for you.
JBL Spearguns

 

[AfterDark]

My suggestion is that you wait on a spear gun and get used to looking at the fish first. spear gun + new diver (-24 dives) = really risky life threatening behavior that you will not even know you are doing.

This could be your buddy or some poor random swimmer!

 

[tracydr]

I remember being surprisingly task loaded the first time I did a night dive with my camera. Now, mind, I didn't have strobe lights, so I had hands busy with a light in one hand and a camera in another, no hands to clear ears or work the inflator button. But still, I was on around my 200th dive and the dive was easy,easy.
This impressed upon me how little it takes to go from comfortable to uncomfortable with the addition of one small extra piece of new gear. I'd been using the camera a lot but not on my night dives.
Since then, similar things have happened while doing my DM training, adding a slate/reel for mapping and other minor equipment changes.
My point is, I have hundreds of dives and I still take it very slow and easy when adding a small equipment change. In fact, I usually practice in the pool or a 20-30 foot shore dive, prior to testing anything off a boat or a deep dive.
I would not jump in the water with a diver that has less than 100 dives who is brandishing a speargun. No way! I would encourage him to hunt a lobster season or three, first. Then, get a few hundred regular dives and spearfish next season. Carry around an unloaded speargun in the meantime to get used to it.
The fishing can wait!
I'm not against hunting. I'm against hunters and hunting partners being killed.

 

[terrylowe]

I would not jump in the water with a diver that has less than 100 dives who is brandishing a speargun. No way! I would encourage him to hunt a lobster season or three, first. Then, get a few hundred regular dives and spearfish next season. Carry around an unloaded speargun in the meantime to get used to it.
The fishing can wait!
I'm not against hunting. I'm against hunters and hunting partners being killed.

I don't normally ask the two spear-weilding guys on the other side of the dive boat their dive history while I'm deciding if I am gonna dive or not. From what I understand, most dive deaths are caused by panic. Living near the Gulf Coast, we've all heard stories about a diver being dragged away or getting wrapped up by an AJ. We just don't hear too many stories about other divers on the dive trip being hurt. (Don't look at the picture of the spear in the ass....). I don't know if there is any hard data on this?

There is no magic number of prerequisite dives. Is the diver comfortable and do they really have good buoyancy control? Are they comfortable with a sling? Maybe a 25-dive diver would be ready.

By the way, my camera causes a lot more task loading for me than my spear gun.

 

[mathauck0814]

There is no magic number of prerequisite dives. Is the diver comfortable and do they really have good buoyancy control? Are they comfortable with a sling? Maybe a 25-dive diver would be ready.

Dead on. I have no problem spearing our local sea bass, snapper and sheephead. It's entirely another thing when you get a big, strong fish like a yellow tail on the end of your gun. Most of the time we don't even have to stone a fish, just hit it, string it and bring it up. Tuna is a whole other game altogether. You need to have your s**t in order to control that situation. Only the spearo can make that decision. A spearo that muffs the decision has a distinct chance of ruining their dive, not much ill will happen to others in the water with them, imo...

 

[zamboxl]

I remember being surprisingly task loaded the first time I did a night dive with my camera. Now, mind, I didn't have strobe lights, so I had hands busy with a light in one hand and a camera in another, no hands to clear ears or work the inflator button. But still, I was on around my 200th dive and the dive was easy,easy.
This impressed upon me how little it takes to go from comfortable to uncomfortable with the addition of one small extra piece of new gear. I'd been using the camera a lot but not on my night dives.
Since then, similar things have happened while doing my DM training, adding a slate/reel for mapping and other minor equipment changes.
My point is, I have hundreds of dives and I still take it very slow and easy when adding a small equipment change. In fact, I usually practice in the pool or a 20-30 foot shore dive, prior to testing anything off a boat or a deep dive.
I would not jump in the water with a diver that has less than 100 dives who is brandishing a speargun. No way! I would encourage him to hunt a lobster season or three, first. Then, get a few hundred regular dives and spearfish next season. Carry around an unloaded speargun in the meantime to get used to it.
The fishing can wait!
I'm not against hunting. I'm against hunters and hunting partners being killed.

your welcome not to jump in the water with me. as far as slings every dive i have gone on since actually before getting my advance was with a sling, i did feel a little overwhelm the first time i went lobster hunting/night diving due to holding tickle stick, snare, flag, and two lights but i got through it just fine, i want to try and get the hang of spear fishing. If it makes you feel better i will be doing it from my own boat, but once again if you ever feel me in the water with your force power your welcome to leave.

 

[AussiePro]

Good on you zamboxi for not letting all of these worry warts put you off. Sometimes I wonder how these people get through life wrapped up in their bubble wrap.
I'm sure you have enough brains in your head to spear safely. Get out there and have some fun spearing and ignore people who want to detract from that, those people have probably never experienced the thrill of putting your spear through a big fish.

 

[EastCoastWreckDiver]

Spearfishing is so much fun, I know most divers will tell you not to spearfish being so young a diver but I bought my first pole spear right after my OW class. I will say I needed to get more dives in to work on basic skills before I started using my polespear but if you want to start spearfishing go ahead! I reccommend using a polespear because I have never had a problem getting that nights dinner with one. Spear guns are nice but I think using a gun takes up more air (with pulling the bands back and so forth) so I will always use a pole over a gun just to get more dive time in. Just remember to be safe and have fun, check your local laws and regulations and as always, love what you do.