# Spear Fishing Tip # ???



## captken (Feb 24, 2008)

Actually, this is an off-the-cuff synopsis of a tip somewhere amongst the e-books.

Ever had to replace a flipper? I've replaced a bunch andhave found out there are several ways to screw the job up. 

The easiest way to screw up is to brad the nail (Pin) holding the flipper on too tight. I've loosened the flipper by moving it up and down with my thumb about a thousand times until it got nice and loose but this can weaken the flipper by causing excess wear on it. If you cut the nail about1/8" long and use a large punch or hardened bolt against the tip of the nail while holding the nail head against an anvil, it takes only a light tap to secure the flipper while allowing it to pivot freely.

If you orient the flipper on the up side of the shaft rather than the under side of the shaft, you will miss a bunch of fish by shooting low. Mounted on the up side of the shaft, the flipper will cause the shaft to "dive" where when mounted on the bottom side of the shaft, it adds a little lift. If you don't believe me, try it. Once the spear starts to dive even a little at the front end, gravity takes over.

I don't have a clue which E-book this tip is in so I am not going to search for a drawing or photo.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

Are you referring to tips with a single wing (flipper)? The dive/lift effect that you describe does not affect double winged tips since the opposing wings counteract each other.


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## captken (Feb 24, 2008)

Yeah, the single wing on a free shaft.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

What is a "free shaft"? Is that a spear that is not attached to a a line or shockline?


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## captken (Feb 24, 2008)

No line, just a 5' shaft. A 20# Grouper seldom goes far. You can shoot further, fasterand more accurately with a free shaft. The only time I ever used a line gun was on wrecks and in big coral. 

My friends and i shot many tons of Grouper and Snapper with free shafts. When we were comercial fisning, it wasn't unusual to shoota couple ofhundred pounds of Grouper per person per day.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

What kind of speargun are you using? I use a JBL Gulf Magnum with 3 5/8" bands and a 3/8" (9.5 mm) shaft (48"L). The extra 3.5 mm of shaft diameter compared to other spearguns which use a 6 mm shaft makes it harder to push the spear completely thru a large fish - assuming no gut shots. At what ranges are you shooting the fish? Have you lost any shafts due to the shaft not going thru the fish and the fish swimming off? Does your shaft always go completely thru the fish or does it stay imbeded some/most of the times? I saw a video posted in the last couple of weeks which shows a diver shooting an AJ with a free shaft and stoning it. Did not appear to be very large. The last large AJ that I stoned was a fairly long shot. I was ready to ascend when I saw the AJ in the distance. The spear hit a few inches behind the eye and imbeded itself in the spine. Good thing I stoned it because I could not get the spear out underwater and I had less than 250# of air left at 90'. I carry a 19 cf pony on every dive for just such situations. Still made it to the surface without having to use the pony.

One more question - If you're using a free shaft, what is the advantage of a wing? Why not just remove it?

Thanks in advance for the info. If that's too much typing, please call me (Vlado) at (850) 255-7789


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## captken (Feb 24, 2008)

You gotta have a barb to keep the spear in the fish. You don't stone them all .(or even most of them) Darned if I can remember the name of the guns we used. They were wood and plastic and used a 5' shaft--2 bands. They look just like the AB Biller but were called something else. I didn't need to use but one band most of the time because my gun was mighty long and I didn't want to shoot through the fish. Fish were probably less spooky back then. I had a big line gun with a reel that I used free diving. It used a 3/8" shaft. I also used a little "hole gun" with a huge slip tip and a line about 3' long of 400# mono coiled as shown in tip # 717. I shot a Black Grouper that weighed 97# gutted with it. One helluva fight.

Why do you shoot Amberjacks? They are hardly edible.

We ran to the Bahamas about every other week until they got too tight on regs. I trailered my 23' Formula from Tarpon Springs to Ft. Pierce and made a 65 mile run to the Little Bahama Bank around Mantinella Shoals. 

Too old to do much spear fishing now. I use a home made pole spear with a trigger and get a few Grouper and Flounder free diving in about 12' now days. I sold my last SCUBA gear about 15 years ago.


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

> *captken (7/31/2008)*
> 
> Why do you shoot Amberjacks? They are hardly edible.


The Amberjack here on the Gulf Coast are very tasty. I have heard of folks along other coasts not eating them due to worms. But our AJ's are worm free here along the gulf coast. They are great table fare.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

*Captken*

Thanks for the info, I'll try that next time. I asked about the barb because I was under the impression that when using a free shaft, one would want the shaft to go completely thru the fish. After reading your last post, I understand that the weight of the spear will prevent the fish from swimming to far away. Assuming its not too large. Thus the barb.

As for AJ's, they taste great marinated and grilled. My favorite way however, is to filet them and the cut the filets into 1" strips, lightly brush them with yellow mustard, some salt/pepper, then bread and deep fry them. I guess it's all a matter of taste. I heard raves about grilled wahoo. Tried it several times. It's good but not that good. Grouper however, is a different story. Love it.

Again, thanks for the pointers. I really appreciated them.


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