Maximum size fish to spear without a reel

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What would be the maximum sized fish you guys would spear using a gun without a reel/float? I will be hunting sheeps and calicos in the outer islands of socal. assuming that I dont stone the fish, would you guys say its ok for me to shoot a 10/15 lbs sheep on scuba?

Also, any recomendations for a gun and size around $200 that I could shoot inside crevices and not damage the tip to badly, but also but bigger sheeps and calico near the kelp? I went through dozens of thread but cant seems to find those specific to my case in socal
 
What would be the maximum sized fish you guys would spear using a gun without a reel/float? I will be hunting sheeps and calicos in the outer islands of socal. assuming that I dont stone the fish, would you guys say its ok for me to shoot a 10/15 lbs sheep on scuba?

Also, any recomendations for a gun and size around $200 that I could shoot inside crevices and not damage the tip to badly, but also but bigger sheeps and calico near the kelp? I went through dozens of thread but cant seems to find those specific to my case in socal

Reels on spearguns are generally used by freedivers. It allows them to leave a fish in a hole or near the bottom and swim to the surface without having to "fight" the fish. A floatline and float attached to the gun/spear serves the same purpose for a freediver.

Scuba diving is different in that the diver has nearly an unlimited time to secure/subdue the fish after it has been speared. Scuba divers who target larger pelagic fish, that have soft bodies will sometimes use reels on their guns. This allows the fish to run away and tire itself out, without putting too much stress on the spear which would have a tendency to cause it to rip out and the fish to be lost.

If you are scuba diving and targeting fish within a reef, wreck or rock structure, then a reel is almost certainly NOT what you want to use. The line can get pulled off the reel and get tangled on the bottom and the diver and make a real mess, not to mention the potential hazard of diver entanglement.

So no reel for this application...

As for some advice about what kind of gun to use..A very popular size gun for our customers in that area is the 90 cm Predator Pro gun. The gun is simple and robust. One thing you should understand is that shooting into caves, rocks etc, is tough on the spearshaft. if you select a gun with a stainless steel shaft and a screw on (threaded tip) you are quite likely to snap the shaft off at the threaded ends. This threaded connection is a structural weakness.

We avoid all of those issues because we use South African spear shafts. They are made from a MUCH harder and tougher metal that is less prone to breaking or bending (compared to a stainless steel shaft). Some of the most expensive customer gun manufactures whose products cost $1000 (or more) have switched to using these exact same shafts.

We have eliminated the threaded connection completely. Instead the shaft itself is ground into an extremely sharp tri-cut tip and a flopper is attached to the shaft itself. This is a much more robust configuration, that is much better when shooting in the proximity of rocks. It also results in a smaller entrance hole which provides for better penetration and less chance for a tear out, compared to the bigger hole a screw on tip generates, due to the larger diameter tip.

If you do slam the shaft into hard rocks or the steel of a wreck, the tri-cut tip will be dulled, this is unavoidable, but the shaft can be touched up and restored with a file in a minute or two.

This type of configuration can be used on fish much larger than what you are targeting. Check out our facebook page where so many happy customers have sent us pictures of their success.


Lastly, since I sell direct with no domestic retail stores, I have eliminated the typical retail mark up, and can offer an extremely good gun, (with an incredible warranty) for much less than you may find elsewhere.

Thanks!

Dano



Predator Pro 2nd Generation Railgun | MAKO Spearguns


MSFS-2.jpg


MPP2GR-2.jpg
 
Definitely no reel or float line for scuba. I use a "riding rig"... about a 4' section of rope with a loop in the end, attached to the shooting line, held by your free hand.
 
Scuba guys using reels for some reason is becoming more popular in my area. Or maybe I never noticed until recently? They do come in handy for BIG AJ's and Cobia's. (From what I've seen - no personal experience). Scuba guys worry about Big fish pulling them up too fast and bending or down too long and OxToxing.

IMHO for a 15Lb fish, a reel is definitely not necessary on Scuba

I just keep throwing shafts into the fish or use a single wrap of mono and slide ring if fish is holed up.
 
Any specific reason for wanting "bigger" fish? Why not let the big ones continue to reproduce and go after the smaller and often more tasty ones. I have nothing against spearfishing (in fact, I think it is a lot better than rod-and-reel since a spearfisher can target the specific species and size they want), I just think it best to leave the big ones out there to reproduce.
 
Dr. Bill is spot on... the "small ones" taste better anyway.

@Waterboy76... shooting BIG fish means at some point in time you are going to have to abandon the fish... either due to it sounding, shooting towards the service, or when it becomes lunch for a 10' bull shark. Having that fish attached to your gun means you lose everything.
 
First, I agree with drbill that spearfishing is the most sustainable form for fishing. However, I disagree with the assertion that the bigger fish should be left to reproduce. I know it sounds shocking but let me explain.

The slot limits in my area (Florida) are intentionally sized so that fish outside of the slot (smaller fish) are of sexual age to reproduce. Therefore, there are hundreds of fish swimming around me that I cannot target that are going to breed.
Secondly, if I target 1 large fish, I have enough meat to take home and will leave the other 4 within my daily limit to live. That takes only one fish out of the breeding pool. So if I target smaller fish, I will kill all five within my limit and get less meat. I've effectively taken five breeders out of the breeding pool instead of one. There are also studies done showing that taking the alpha males helps make the fishery stronger by replacing with younger alpha males.
In fact, our recreational fisheries laws have become so restrictive for some species "Gag grouper" that all of the one's we see are well over the slot and 15lbs plus.
Please understand that I make these comments respectfully and I'm sure that we will agree to disagree.

lemke: I don't know why you are saying that shooting a big fish means that you are going to loose your gun? Remember the guy is scuba diving. If you get a proper shot you will paralyze or disable the fish no matter what the size. Unless it's a cobia they never die ha ha ha.
I believe that you "rig" dive. We dive ledges and wrecks in my area. If you shoot a fish on a lineshaft or reel you have nothing to get "wrapped" on, you just let the fish tire itself out. I've been on boats with 85lb AJ's, 55Lb Cobias brought onboard using linshafts, reels and even freeshafting. Also had friendly bullsharks taste test my fish before I could get him to my stringer. No guns were ever lost. Had some guns lost for other reasons but that's another story. ha ha

Here is some video of a buddy of mine getting owned by a cobia. This proves my original point about the safety of getting pulled up and down the water column. Likely a reason why Scuba guys are starting to use reels.
Epic Cobia Spearfishing Pandemonium - YouTube
(disclaimer - the music in the video is terrible)

Respectfully - Waterboy
 
I'm only giving my experience around rigs... because there's not much else in the Texas Gulf, LOL. I wish I had the vis you have or even see the bottom in some of the places I go. Nice Cobia by the way!

---------- Post added November 17th, 2014 at 11:43 PM ----------

@ Water Boy 76... I take it you've never had a fish "spool" your reel.
 
No I've never been spooled because I don't use a reel. I freeshaft or slide ring attached to mono. But I am thinking about adding a reel eventually.
 
Ya know WB76, I just re-read your original post... and it dawned on me I was arguing against myself. I think we're on the same page!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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