That last bit is how I think it works for most people. I don't know if I'd be spearfishing today if the first gun I tried was a chest loading gun and I believed there was no other option. Hmm.. :idea2: That will be my next thread in this section; What's up with chest loading y'all!
Posts by Dan
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Emil, I'm sorry for your animal and I'm sorry for what your family is going through. I'd try to block the guilty feelings because those feelings are not good for anyone, not the dog not the family not you. Nor will they help you make good decisions but rather cloud your judgment. I read Dirk Benedict's book confessions of a kamikaze cowboy. He cured himself of prostate cancer by starving himself and changing his diet. You said you had the dog for 11 years but you didn't say how old the dog is. If it's very old then it probably doesn't make sense to do anything drastic. Still I'd starve/fast the dog for a while as a last resort. I'd get rid of all the drugs and starve him. Dogs can go without food for months. Make sure he has water. It may purge his system in some way.
Past that I'd be in uncharted waters. It is a moment that I dread. I've put down with my hands a dog once. I hated it and thought for a while I will be emotionally scarred but it passed. I'd rather that though than give the responsibility to someone else who's a stranger to the dog. It seems like a betrayal to have someone else do it. Now I'm rambling. I've read that you will know when its time. Anything before that and you will not feel right. In the meanwhile don't kill yourself fussing over the dog in an unusual way. From the dog's perspective the familiar routine is what is most comforting.
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OK I thought my numbers were going to be too low for you. Up to 35lb is no problem with a flopper shaft. You run the risk of bending the shaft but not so much losing the fish. It does have to be a holding shot and right behind the gills is an excellent spot but it will hold in many other spots as well. Look at Straight Shaft got a hefty cubera with a tailshot and complete pass through. Well at least on the fish we have here. Maybe their Mexican cousins are tougher <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">
Which are the species of medium size fish that tend to rip off of floppers in Mexico? Here muttons go very crazy when shot. I don't know if the big muttons go as crazy as the little ones.
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Always interesting to find out about the kind of people attracted to spearfishing. So you're saying that both these guys use pneumatics? Did they arrive at using them independently or is it something that runs in their circles? Another thing I'll give pneumatics is that the loading process is smoother, after a while you can almost do it by tact. A band gun takes more concentration to load. Still some people use JBL's just because everyone they know are using them from 40 years ago.
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Monster, I'm curious what weight range do you consider medium size fish. If I were to say medium I'd be thinking arbitrarily 5-30lb.
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I think there are guys here in South Louisiana who hunt catfish in the local freshwater lakes, and typically in about 3-5' vis. I think they generally use pneumatics because they are looking for adequate power in the smallest possible package. If not with a pneumatic, how would you approach that application?
OK I'll address that line of reasoning. For 3-5' vis, and it's rare I do this I have a spot in some dirty shallow intracoastal water, I've used a cyrano 70. Basically a 70cm pneumatic gun. I've done the same spot with Riffe C2X that I cut down to roughly 70cm size and put one tight 20mm band on it with a short 8mm shaft. I preferred the band gun. The only thing I didn't like was the wood gun getting banged up on structure when horsing a fish around. Also the pneumatic was difficult to hold for extended periods of time in the ready to shoot position as you must do in low vis. The reason for this is that it's front heavy and you have to exert constant pressure to keep the muzzle up.
Now you mentioned adequate power. The pneumatic has most of it's power a the end of the piston stroke which is just as the shaft leaves the gun. That in itself take 3-4' of distance. The band guns by contrast I believe to give up most of their power right as the bands start tightening. This is one of the reasons I believe the band guns have more recoil. I'll give pneumatics that, they're accurate when powered correctly, but other than that they're a pain in the ass <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">
Yeah, but noodling is usually practiced in water shallow enough to wade, I think, so that you can plant your feet and drag him out of the stump. The guys I know are generally freediving among sunken cypress logs in 6-10 feet of water. They routinely shoot catfish in the 25-35 lb range, and sometimes up to 45-50 lbs. Not unusual to come upon a gator resting on the bottom either. :0
Who are these guys? They sound like they have big balls or they're very hungry <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">
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They are because pneumatics are a pain in the ass. Yeah they'll get you fish and they're cheaper. But if you have the possibility to choose don't choose the pain in the ass gun. I know of some die hard pneumatic gun users from Cuba that took a long while but they finally switched to band guns. They only thing I see attractive about them is to somebody who likes a bit of technology. But once you know pneumatics they're very simple on the inside so there goes that illusion.
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Yeah you're right, that is definitely the positive way of looking at it. For me coming from the clear Cuban waters to SE Florida was traumatic, but I'm doing it. I think maybe yesterday was the first time I ever relaxed in bad vis here. But I don't confuse this with not disliking it. Although there was a point there that the bad vis was having a putting you to sleep effect, like a security blanket or something. I suppose that can help you relax.
It's also the difference between freediving and scuba. We have so little time down there that it's hard to work it properly. It can be pretty miserable actually to the point of making me quit. It's hard to work an expanse of reef when every drop is just luck. You can't even dive on the same hole twice. You can only see it on the bottom and most times you will drop away from it and spend some more air getting to it. It's my idea that on days like this it's best to dive an artificial structure. Drop a marker on it and work it effectively that way. The key is to find those hot spots and only work them when the vis doesn't allow covering a reef. Yeah a different kind of diving. I think to me the best thing about yesterday is that it wasn't shitty as other times with bad vis have been. I'm crossing my fingers for it to clear up however and have a nice clean water winter with some good fish movement.
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Good stuff. Now tell everybody why you don't like pneumatics.
Cause they're a pain in the ass!
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I agree, I found the fish to be spookier yesterday, but that was on shallow reef maybe 30'. Maybe it gets more pressure. Generally though people say that in bad vis you get more fish, but I don't have enough personal experience to agree or disagree. Rolo dives in Port st. lucie and vis is often bad there so maybe he can say. Do you get more fish than us Rolo? I think hunting in really bad vis is more difficult. You have so little time to react when you finally see a fish. It has an element of fun in it but I always prefer good vis.
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Thread title should say "shitty vis"
:thumbsup1: Done!
nice fish and good stories.
Rolo is always taking shits in the water. Es un cagon
It's been a while Oto, I understand work is keeping you away from the water. Hope you'll be back soon.
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One day I'll get you for that and it won't be with an innocent turd fish <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x"> I knew there was nothing in there but lobster and when I felt the stick shake I was startled and almost dropped it. I thought impossible that the lobster grabbed it with his mandibles. As I started to surface I already was thinking how I'm going to describe it to Davie and then I saw him ascending, singao'! The vis was so bad at one point I saw what I thought was a big fish and it turned out to be Jim's fin.
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<img src= " class="smiley" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x" height="23" width="23" loading="eager" data-tooltip="biggrin" aria-label="biggrin"> <img src= " class="smiley" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x" height="23" width="23" loading="eager" data-tooltip="biggrin" aria-label="biggrin">
That sequence is classic. It looks like it even captured Davie giving us the finger just as he sidestepped the turd.
I think you're right! I thought it was just him trying to keep the snorkel as high above the water as possible <img src= " class="smiley" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x" height="23" width="23" loading="eager" data-tooltip="biggrin" aria-label="biggrin">
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<img src= " class="smiley" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x" height="23" width="23" loading="eager" data-tooltip="biggrin" aria-label="biggrin">
The sky was blue, the water was green.
The turd fish were frolicking in the autumn sun's sheen.After an early morning discussion of healthy eating habits which promote good bowel movement Rolo showed us all how it's supposed to be dung. Here is a series of pics commemorating the event for posterity. What you see here is Davie swimming directly behind Rolo following his float line. Unbeknown to Davie, Rolo has forged ahead and pinched a few loafs. The dexterity of this man is to be commended as he didn't seem to break stride, diving in biking shorts sure is advantageous <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x"> On the boat Sergio and I were alerted to the presence of the flotsam by Rolo and were anxiously watching it and Davie's trajectory. Here you see Davie swimming into the turdfish and taking evasive action.
Rolo proud of his accomplishment.
Davie reaching the boat relieved to have escaped certain doom.
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Thanks, guys.
The report.
Crew: Sergio, Rolo, Davie, Jim and yours truly.
Location: South of the inlet.
Sea: Almost flat.
Temperature: A little too cold for rashguards. I switched to a two piece 1mm top and bottom and was comfortable. There was a note worthy thermocline, cold on the surface and warm 15' down.
Current: Slight south to north.
Visibility: The poorest vis I've seen here yet. Green water with the bottom not visible at all from the surface in 30'. On the bottom maybe 20' horizontally and later in the day down to 15'.
Tally:
2 Red grouper
A few mangroves two of which were very nice size by Jim.
A few muttons one of which was notable.
2 Yellojacks
A few hogs
3 Mackerels one of which was notably small by me. The vis was so bad that when I finally saw the fish due to being very close they appeared much bigger. When I saw the mackerel I thought it was big. When I got it in my hand it was 12" long. It was also disappearing into the murk as I took the shot, a perfect mid body shot. When I saw how small it was I couldn't believe I hit it.
1 triggerfish
A few good size lobsters all by Davie.A decent haul for four people especially considering the vis. Pantoja was still H&L. Other than what was caught I only saw a good number of juvenile hogs and a few juvenile red groupers. Despite the poor vis I felt very relaxed and was diving well. Was able to locate bottom structure in spite of diving blind. It felt like a very relaxed day. Maybe surrendering to the conditions instead of feeling bad about it was a contributing factor.
Jim's tall, in reality the two mangroves were hefty.
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I'll post details later. There are a few funny stories.
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All working dogs; hunting, herding, guard, police service dogs etc. A section can be further divided into subsections like hunting could have retrievers, pointers, catch dogs etc. or by the type of animal being hunted birds, pigs etc. There's a lot of overlap and one group of working dog people definitely can learn from another even it the work is different.
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Yo uso Hawaiian (espoleta abajo).
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The only difference is the position of the flopper (espoleta). As far as I'm concerned they're arbitrary names and there isn't any real standard for what they mean. However most people when saying Hawaiian mean the flopper opens down and Tahitian opens up, a few people think it's the other way around. I don't know the Spanish names for this.
My main reason for using the Hawaiian (flopper down) is because when the flopper is Tahitian (on top of the shaft) it tends to open and stick up just as you aim for a fish. It's distracting enough for me to not want to deal with it.
