Why a float line is safer than a reel

Right on Dan. I have been diving for years and the only time I ever nearly lost my life was when using a reel. I still use reels for the convenience but will not hesitate let go of the gun when something goes wrong.
Here are some reel rules to follow:
1) Never use a reel in water that is deeper than you can dive to the bottom and un-rock a fish.
2) If you have a fish rocked up get your buddy to come watch you retrieve it.
3) Never try and think how to untangle anything until you are on the surface.
4) Once you are on the surface start swimming towards a running fish then try and get him turned towards the boat. This technique works well with Cobia, Kingfish, Amberjacks, African Pompano, Permit and Wahoo.
5) Always have your reel set to free spool when hunting. Tighten it on the way to the surface if you are comfortable but always keep in mind getting to the surface first.

Cheers,

G.R.

All the motions I go through after shooting a fish are instinctive and require little thought. Much like a pop up on a surfboard or an Eskimo roll in a kayak. Been using floatline for 20+ years. Never could get use to reels. Float lines are probably a bit safer.

One practice I've tried to adopt on all fish of any size and or depth, is to stay with my buddy. If Jake shot the fish and is pulling up the reel line, I have his gun and am winding it back on the reel so there is no bunch of loose line on the surface. My biggest concern, reel line or float, is a big shark grabbing the fish out of nowhere and bolting for the bottom. It's happened and fortunately nothing was wrapped around any part of me or Jake. But if it had been, there isn't much you can do except try to get your knife fast….and equalise…..fast because you'd be dropping faster than any stone.

Quote from hank

One practice I've tried to adopt on all fish of any size and or depth, is to stay with my buddy. If Jake shot the fish and is pulling up the reel line, I have his gun and am winding it back on the reel so there is no bunch of loose line on the surface. My biggest concern, reel line or float, is a big shark grabbing the fish out of nowhere and bolting for the bottom. It's happened and fortunately nothing was wrapped around any part of me or Jake. But if it had been, there isn't much you can do except try to get your knife fast….and equalise…..fast because you'd be dropping faster than any stone.

This reminded me of the time when I speared a big Jewfish, probably 400 pounds, at 30-40 feet over a deep drop off. My float line was a store bought nylon yellow ski rope tied to my speargun that jammed over a lead weight on my weight belt.

I was going down FAST while trying to lift the line off the lead weight. Finally pulled it off at around 80 feet and shot to the surface and watched my float and gun disappear forever. Would I have ditched my weight belt in time? Who knows - hard to second guess what happens so quickly.

Scary shit. And it always happens fast and unexpectly.