Rainbow runner

    Pantoja shot a good size rainbow runner today. I've never eaten one before so I asked him for part of the fish to try. I was really surprised, it was excellent, either raw dipped in soy sauce and lime, or lightly coated with fish seasoning and fried. Since Marco is always joking about this fish I never took it seriously, keep in mind I don't come from a hook & line fishing background and I can't remember having seen this fish when diving, or maybe I didn't pay attention to it thinking it's just another dark fleshed jack. Anyways The rainbow runner will be one of my preferred targets from now on.


    I have seen a few myself. I have never been able to "connect" with one. Seems that they are a bit more skittish than thier cousins.


    They are very much similar in appearance to the Northern Yellowtail that I used to frequently hunt in So Cal, with the exception of the two lateral bright blue lines. I am interested in taking one myself, simply for the experience; both culinary and for the hunt.

    we see them regulary in tobago waters. they like clear water. very tasty, people here love it, its one of the best selling fish on the market.locally known as "salmon", because the meet contains more fat then others.
    they appear over reefs and in blue water. big schools of them circling around you mostly on the way back up to the surface. usually 2-5 pounds big. bigger ones, 5-10 pounds (everything over 10pounds is a trophy)
    mostly swim in small groups up to 5 individuals. or they swim alone. these bigger fish can be also found at wrecks. or fad's. when a school circling you, pick the biggest one you can and shoot fast, because the quick they appear they also disappear. and once swimming away they never turn back (hardly ever).
    bigger singles behave different. you can hunt them more like a amber or almacojack, but they tend to be more wary then those species. rainbow runner also mix up with schools of other jacks, horse eye, bar jack or blue runner.

    not much to tell it came close to me as I was swimming and just swamm to it fast and shot it. after I shot a school of about 20 came over around me but by the time I loaded they were gone. I took one before but it was bigger . and they are very good eating .

    They are very fun to shoot on most occasions I shot them they bolt everywhere and almost run into me. I've seen nice ones on deep artificials and bouys.

    Davie Peguero

    they are awesome...i agree about them hiding out with other jacks,,I have seen them too late in schoold with hardtail jacks and spanish macks..


    Sheri Daye WR one was huge:
    Runner, Rainbow Elagatis bipinnulata 7.0 kg. 15.4 lbs. (womens) Sheri Daye

    i like to spear fish

    Old, old post - but I am reading through the archives these days;-)


    Rainbow Runners are amazing for ceviche, kinilaw or any other kind of raw fish salad - so, I am not surprised they are good for sashimi as well.


    In the Philippines and Thailand I have taken some small to medium sized ones and they haven't really been skittish as eg. the groupers there are. I'd place them somewhere between grouper and the small trevallys (stupid fish, as I call the latter for always being so suicidal:)).


    Actually, thinking of it, sometimes the runners are just too curious for their own good. I took one on the lowest possibly power setting (by mistake) on my short Mirage which kinda just spits the spear out and then it starts dropping. So, that fish was certainly close.


    I have yet to eat a non-raw Runner as they have all been made into cerviche. They are just that good. Firm and white flesh and still juicy. Yummy fish. Don't pass them by;)

    Yeah, in the over fished waters of Thailand and Philippines, I have to say they were a real pleasant surprise.


    I just reviewed some video I had of a few of my shots on them and they aren't actually that skittish. It seems like that they either come in close enough in small schools or they stay quiet far out.
    Also, the ones I have encountered behaved very much like what's been pointed out before. They don't hang around for long and once you've let the spear fly, they are gone, so you better get one the first time around.
    And most of the ones I have seen also cruised around 50 or so meters from the edge of the reef towards deeper water - but they were rarely more than a few meters under the surface.

    I just edited a quick video of the four rainbow catches I have video of.
    Now, since I only show the successful shots, they will look like turkey shots, haha. And the video do make them look a lot less skittish - even docile!. But as I mentioned, often they don't even come in but you just see them out in the distance or they just come in for a quick glance.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM45z6FtwC0


    A few notes:
    Shot #2: I had missed on a fish moments earlier, so hurried my reload and had forgotten to flick the power regulator on my Mares Mirage to full power, so the shot is extremely weak. It's not even a low power shot - it is a setting only meant to be used for loading.


    Shot #3, notice the runners mixing with small jacks as has been pointed out by others.


    The first three shots were on my 40 year old Mares Mirage 84 upgraded with an STC vacuum muzzle.
    The last shot was on my Sporasub One Air 120.


    I love the pneumatic speargun shots. Used one a lot when my shoulder was messed up. Still use my Sten and MACO2 ocasionally.


    Good video, thanks.

    Quote from Mighty kc

    I love the pneumatic speargun shots. Used one a lot when my shoulder was messed up. Still use my Sten and MACO2 ocasionally.


    Good video, thanks.


    Thanks:-).
    I love them, too, for sure. And I even considered stating that the video was in no way sped up - as you know, the vaccum-muzzled guns just shoot that fast, haha.


    Good to hear your shoulder is working again.
    I think the very first time I came across the Maco guns it was because of your posts about it.


    Honestly, I have a few shoulder issues myself. It's on/off, though. Perhaps, some rotator cuff stuff but what's interesting is that the movements I have to do to load a pneumatic, don't bother me. But give me a band gun, and I risk messing up my shoulders.


    This is a recent discovery, though. I fell in love with pneumatics for the power in a smaller package and since I am nerdy;-).


    I still use the pneumatics, just not for blue water. An old Cyrano 870 is my go to Sheepshead gun. I love the MACO2, but it is not a pneumatic, rather a co2 powered gun. I changed the shaft to an 8mm from the 10mm that came with it, and it really changed the performance of the gun.


    I use it for Amberjack, Cuda, and large reef species. I use a custom wood gun with multiple small bands for blue water. For many years i used a single tight 20mm band on all my guns. Those days are gone.


    KC

    Got you on the MaCO2 being a CO2 gun:-). An upgraded Pelletier, so to speak.
    I bet it is sweet with an 8mm shaft in place of the rail road track it shipped with.


    It's very cool that that gun exists for people who suffer from a disability that keeps them from using/loading big guns but who still have the skill and wish to hunt in the blue.


    The category under is any gun that will let you partition the loading effort. So, as you say, even a big band gun with multiple thinner rubbers - or, for a pneumatic, the ingenious design of the old Mirage:-)


    I am in the process of making a custom Mirage in 130cm. They only ever came in 84 and 104cm and I want to simplify my traveling gun locker to one Mirage 84 and one 130:-). I have teased it before and when I have all the parts, I will indeed make a thread about it. I am getting there but the logistics of sourcing speargun parts aren't easy when you live in China.


    So i looked up the schematics if the mirage. It has 2 barrels inside ito help in the loading process. So it is possible to change the length? what about the Sten, possible to change it to a 130cm?

    Quote from Mighty kc

    So i looked up the schematics if the mirage. It has 2 barrels inside ito help in the loading process. So it is possible to change the length? what about the Sten, possible to change it to a 130cm?


    Yup, the smaller barrel of the Mirage does the magic. Since it has a smaller diameter there is less force on the piston (10mm vs. 13mm for the "shooting barrel"). What you do when loading a Mirage, is to first insert the spear into the smaller barrel and then pump 5 times. This moves a lot of the air in the gun into the forward chamber. Then you move the spear back up into the regular shooting barrel - but since a lot of the air has been moved, there is much less pressure in that part of the gun and you can easily load the shooting barrel.
    Flick the power regulator switch back to open the port between the chambers and get access to all the goodness of (up to) 40 bar;-).


    The lenght of all pneumatic guns are only determined by the length of the inner barrel(s) and the outer tank. And the spear, of course. The rest of the hardware is exactly the same. Actually, the power regulator bulkhead is the same distance from the handle whether the gun is 55cm or 135cm...


    So, to make your Sten longer, you would just need a longer tank (100cm app. to get to 130cm), longer inner barrel and a new spear.
    The Sten actually used to be made, long time ago, in 130cm and some are out there in 140cm, too.
    But Mares does not make the inner barrels this long anymore - but you can use one from Seac for an Asso 135. You would need to cut down the first 2-3 inches as the front thread is different on the Seacs. And then you would need to re-thread the front plus cut at least one new o-ring groove, possibly two (if you have a power regulator bulkhead in your gun). For anyone good on a lathe this is kids work.
    The Seac barrels have the trigger sear in the right place and the rear pump inlet valve thread is the same. There are some notches on the tail end of the barrel that may need to be cut to fit the anti-rotation plastic stubs inside your handle. These may differ from Seac to Mares.


    So, the process is the same for my Mirage, I just need one extra barrel than for a standard pneumatic.


    Another option is to source a spare barrel for the 130cm Salvimar airguns - which is even cheaper than the Seac. But I don't know if the sear is in the same position as on the Mares and Seac or if any of the other measurements fit with the Mares. Though the front thread should. I have never taken a Salvimar apart - haven't had the chance yet.


    That said, the Salvimar Predathor Vuoto seems the best value pneumatic out there. Comes in 130cm and supposedly comes with a proper SS spear and not the galvanized crap guns used to come with. It should also ship with a reel.


    Maybe that's the easier route.


    I don't know how easy it would be to find these barrels in the US, but I know a shop in Italy which can help you out.


    If you are incredibly lucky, you would be able to find an old 130cm Mares replacement barrel and then it should be very close to a clean swap (bar the tank).

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