sort of new to this and looking for gear info....

[locodiver11]

I am an avid white tail bow hunter from the Midwest and have killed over 1000 lionfish off Roatan. I am moving to pensacola, Florida and am looking to start offshore spearfishing. I am looking for some info on the type of gun you would recommend for the many medium size game fish that frequent the wrecks and reefs of the gulf coast. All I've ever used is my yellow three pronged lionfish killer. I would like to purchase a trusty all around gun to build my skill in the sport before venturing into the blue for large offshore fish. Can you guys recommend any brands or models to begin my search with??? Thanks, happy hunting!!

 

[Capt.Gene]

I am an avid spearfisherman, and I started chasing fish with a pointed stick about 30 years ago.
There is no single perfect speargun for evey condition you will want to hunt in. You will end up with a long and a shorter gun. At minimum.
You might soon own a free diving gun and a couple of different scuba guns.
But any gun you select should have premium construction and have these features including a stainless steel (SS) line drop, SS safety, spring SS spearshaft and a SS spearpoint. Your free shaft gun probably won't have a detachable spear point, but you can rig the gun different ways to do different things.
Somebody might recomend to you a gun that has plastic bits instead of SS. I do not like plastic.
Spearguns either load on you upper leg or gut, my preference, or Euro style on your upper chest. Before you purchase a Euro style you better try it. Most scuba shooters select a gun with a longer butt stock to aid in loading the gun.
While not all models will work for you, brands that you might consider , in no particular order, AB Biller/Sea Hornet, Spearfishing Specialtys, JBL, and Riffe.
Gun brand popularity runs hot and cold in different regions, so expect to do some homework.

 

[John from the burg]

^^^ nailed it. :smash:

I started with a double band, rail, jbl 38 special and killed tons a fish under bridges with our gulf coast limited vis. Now I'm offshore and my go to gun is a "custom" 46 inch sea hornet that I line and free shaft sometimes in the same dive lol. I also own a 52 inch riffe that never gets use because I can kick out rods so fast with the 46, it just fits me better because I'm a short guy.

 

[keyshunter]

I, too, have been spearfishing for about 30 years. For what you want I recommend either a Biller (wood) or a SS. I don't know if there has been an upgrade, but the older Sea Hornets (Aussie) had soft trigger parts, which caused problems with extended use. I also recommend that you get as long a gun as you can load comfortably--no shorter than 48.

 

[John from the burg]

Ive never once thought "damn i wish i had 2 more inches"

 

[Hank49]

One gun might not really do all what you're asking.
Reef hunting in clear water can be done with the guns mentioned. (I'm partial to Wongs) But blue water hunting ...the bigger the better. And a floatline ...and maybe free diving over scuba too.
As Capt Gene said, do your homework before buying a gun.
For instance, a Riffe C3X stock is 54 inches long. A Wong Hybrid 55 is....55 inches long. But the Wong is a lot bigger gun based on band stretch and shaft length. It has almost the same band stretch as a Riffe 65 Baja Plus.