New to spearfishing, want recommendations

[cmburch]

I have Mares pneumatic spearguns. These are simple guns good for fishing up close and around rocks. They are quick to reload by pushing against a rock, or the palm reloader when over sand. Mine are over 15 years old. As long as the front of the gun is stored downward to keep the o-ring lubricated, I just pump them up about once a year. For halibut in open sandy areas, the gun is just under 4' long with a break-away point and about an 8-10 foot range. I mean I would only shoot something no further than about 8-10 feet from my body. The Mares gun I use the most is about 2' long with about a 6 foot range - for ling cod, Cabezon, rock fish - fish near the bottom or around the kelp. Most of my shots are less than 4 feet. I like a spinner rock point tip the best. It is easy to touch up and I have not lost any fish with it. Other than a Cabezon that swam into the rocks and jammed/lost my whole spear. I fish Mendocino, Monterey, to south of Carmel. With my favorite areas being south of Carmel - Big Sur area.

 

[cmburch]

I love chasing after fish and sucking up air. It makes me feel alive! The thrill of the hunt. I have only lost a few fish from from a poor shot or wrong equipment. But the fun of the hunt chasing down a Cabezon or the rare skittish ling cod can't be beat. Ling cod seem attracted to my stringer of bleeding fish and tend to hang around in one local for me to shoot almost as bad as rock fish. My favorite fish to hunt is halibut. The ling cod and halibut in California tend to be smaller than what's available further north.