Posts by Dan

I always did wonder about the edibility of those crabs. People would have sack fulls of them so I imagined that even if the yield is small there's enough of them. One day I took one apart to see how much meat is in there that you can grab, there was nothing. The only thing I can see using them for is soup. However I'd like to learn otherwise so if straight shaft has the recipe..

Is fishing law enforcement in PR strict? What is the name of the PR state agency that does the regulation? Comparable to FWC in Florida.

What a blast from the past! There are tons of these in Cuba. I hate to say that the poorest people gather them. They are usually found near sewers. They also make holes in the garden and are considered pests, people try to drown them with gasoline. There is a period of time in the year when they migrate by the thousands and cross roads where cars run them over. People with cars (few) hate them because the claws can cause punctures. It's an uncomfortable feeling driving through a mine field of these crabs on the highway.

At this time I think it's beyond me to predict which part of the fish to shot will assure that I will not get a bent shaft. After the incident I described with the Crevalle I wondered why the shaft bent because I hardly put any pressure on the line. At home I took a shaft, held it with %70 to %80 of the length free, and simply swung it stopping the swing short. The momentum alone of the weight of the swinging shaft was enough to bend it. Now I knew how the fish did it.

I shot very few such big fish and in such situations my concern was that the flopper pin will be the weak point and give way. After that experience with Pantoja pulling on a stuck shaft with the boat and the 400lb mono breaking first I no longer worry about it. Do you feel like you cheated since you didn't bend a shaft?

You just don't have any appreciation for how difficult it is to get that logo on the float to never come off.

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I gather you have had them crack on you?, Are these PHs heat treated, Aluminum? or just machined? Does this device come with instructions on how to reload it, epoxy and all?

I have not had one crack on me but I was told that they can crack by the manufacturer. I don't know what factors will make it crack on one occasion and not on another, nor do I know what percentage of the time it will go one way or the other. They are made of aluminium which theoretically is not made to withstand repeated firing of a cartridge. When I first walked into a gun store to buy ammo for a reloadable aluminum PH the store owner who was a ballistics expert said he would not expect the PH to stay intact. I realize that this may not be the case all the time but you must admit rifles or pistols are not commonly made from aluminum. One might argue that the physics of firing underwater are different, I do not have the knowledge to say yes or no to that.

Reloading is possible if the casing is not stuck in the PH after firing it. It requires cleaning out the cavity well, inserting a new round and sealing it. Epoxy is used to seal the front of the PH. Soft sealant is used to seal the back that comes in contact with the spear point. The spear point has no problem penetrating this.

As far as making the PH reloadable. First, I'm sure you're aware that companies such as Beco make a very reliable reloadable PH. The question is why is such a PH not suitable for us as spearfishers for shark protection, there are a few reasons.

1. They take too long to put on, secure in place and remove one or more safeties in a tense situation.
2. For a consistently effective caliber cartridge the stainless steel PH would have to be too heavy to allow reasonable range when mounted on a speargun shaft.
3. They can be deployed by accident, such as by dropping them.
4. Not a very important reason but nevertheless; The legality of moving one around on land is questionable.

An aluminum PH solves the problem of weight and range while allowing for a powerful cartridge. The single use design makes it compact and further increases range while at the same time eliminating all risk of accidental discharge and any legality issues.

If the aluminum PH were to be manufactured to allow reloading, cost would increase while the probability of rendering it useless after discharging will stay the same, not a good deal.

There is a combination of factors here that make the status quo the best solution.

This Speardiver Quick Slip-on Power Head is designed to be used as shark defense. It is a slip on single use powerhead made of aluminum containing a sealed in 7.62 X 39 Remington 145 grain round (AK-47 round). This power head is spear actuated, there is no moving firing pin and as such it is legal to carry on one's person or in the car. The powerhead is deployed when the tip of the spear strikes the primer through a water tight seal on impact with the shark. The spear hole is machined with very little tolerance and as such does not allow play when the shaft is fired from the speargun. Common misfiring which is due to the spear point striking off the primer is non existent. Comes in different diameters to fit 9/32(7mm), 7.5mm, or 5/16(8mm) shafts and can be made custom to fit larger diameters as well. The neoprene Speardiver Powerhead Belt Pouch holds two powerheads.

Features
- Very powerful round is enough to kill shark depending on shot placement or at minimum severely wound it to the point of discouraging it from returning.
- Very quick to mount on spear, especially if used with belt pouch
- Sharp edge on the front end helps it catch on the shark on angled shots.
- Built in O ring for snug fit. The powerhead seats tightly enough on spear that if target is missed the powerhead will not come off due to inertia when the spear is stopped short by the shooting line.
- Machined grooves provide grip when mounting on spear with bulky gloves.
- Water escape hole for easy insertion of the spear.
- Completely waterproof, the round is sealed inside on both ends and as such requires no maintenance.

The PH are coated with a clear coating. This will keep them looking shiny and new, aluminum will normally look dull grey in color after exposure to salt water. You may even toss the PH and let it fall through the water to flash in that big one that just won't come close

I know from personal experience and have received feedback from many others that the common reloadable powerheads which use the little piece of rubber hose to retain the round consistently fail to deploy. This occurs due to the spear point striking off the primer. Water resistance/drag on the PH as the shaft is fired exerts enough force to displace the spear point as the rubber piece does not hold it firmly enough. It is easy to see upon inspection of the round that misfired. There will be a dent outside the firing area. A machined aluminum PH with very close tolerance to the diameter of the shaft does not allow this to happen. The spear point strikes in the same spot every time. For this design to work the round must be inserted from the front. In this case there is no way to keep it in place but with epoxy. This makes a reloadable powerhead not feasible for this application. I suggest to those of you who own a reloadable powerhead to test it before you need it. While there is a comfort element in assuming you are protected, I personally would rather know than guess and would be willing to invest the cost of a round and a little time to find out.

After some deliberation I bought the Canon SD1000 black, I like the retro look, with a waterproof case. The total cost including shipping was $335. If I had some more money to toss around I would have bought the Canon G7.

Canon WP-DC13 waterproof case.

These were some of my first pics taken with the camera in the housing.

I haven't been out with the camera yet in great visibility conditions so I can't post any underwater pics that would show the quality that the camera is capable of. Here's one pic of so so quality.

As a side note I made a leap with my understanding of digital photography. I came to realize that the camera is only a basic capture instrument with a weak engine for processing the data it captured. Nevetheless the data is still there although it is not immediately apparent. A much more powerful engine is your PC with a program like Photoshop. You can take practically any pic and make it look fantastic. These pictures are heavily edited and you would not believe it if you saw the originals. Looking at it from this perspective this camera will do fine for my needs. It takes decent video as well and gives me ample time on a 4GB card.

I shot a cuda a while back that made some good escape runs. The difference was that I was in shallow water messing around without a float and line. When I have a float I usually let go of the gun and play the cuda from a distance until I know it is spent. I couldn't do this yesterday and consequently was rather quick in trying to handle it before it was spent. I did this by grabbing the mono to bring the fish closer to me. That's when the fish made another run and the mono slipped through my hand. As it was going through my fingers I had a mental image of the speargun getting closer and then "the spike" but it was too late. I got spiked in the left arm. I must've tightened up on the mono instinctively because I stopped the cuda's run, I don't think it was my skin that stopped it as the spike didn't perforate it completely. I imagine it could have been much worse had it been a stronger fish and had it got me in the head. In the future I may put a cap on the spike and keep it there until the moment I need to use it.

These are rubber rails for fiberglass and carbon fins. The small tendon rails fit very well in footpockets such as OMER, Picasso etc. The wider rails are for water channeling.

http://freedivingspearfishingg…m/41-fin-rails-small.html

http://freedivingspearfishingg…ils-water-channeling.html

It's rare for me to want to shoot a particular fish but I have to admit an African Pompano is a fish I really want to spear. I hear they are hard fighters and I imagine that at that size with that flat body it's a hell of a ride. I shot what looked to me a huge jack Crevalle about that size, I think Pantoja was there and saw the school, it shook and bent the shaft without me putting any pressure on the line. Then it got off. It is really an incredible rush controlling the line knowing you have that huge fish on the end of it. Almost better not to get a stone shot.

Pics of the gun before and after cleanup.

Pantoja took Larry and myself out diving while he fished for grunts.

I got a couple of nice hogs and a lone mangrove.

I also found a Mares cyrano speargun that looked like it's been submerged for at least a year. It was still loaded and I asked Larry to take a video of me trying to fire it hoping something interesting will happen. Nothing happened and the gun shot fine but I put up the video anyways because it's my first. I had some serious sinus trouble that's why I appear to be taking my time with the descent.

Pantoja, Allan, Davie, Larry and myself headed out this fine Wednesday morning to do some lobstering with the opening of the season upon us. With the exception of one or two all the lobsters in the pics came from spots located by Davie the lobster mobster who was gracious enough to call us over and share in the loot. This was my first real experience using the snare to catch lobster. I found it works quite well and had a lot of fun. I'll be taking the snare along every trip now. One of two quick spearfishing stops yielded a nice cuda for Larry. I guess the cuda juju was passed along with the gun :; We limited out for five people and called it a day.

Dude you're on a roll. Glad your local conditions took a turn for the better. Why is the pic so small?

The thread is called Not all that glitters is gold. You'll need 20 minutes to go through it. El lobo may be sponsored by Pelaje, which would explain his posts in that thread.

I found this on spearbroad, post dated 05-11-2008.

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Closure of Nassau Grouper Fishing Throughout The Bahamas

The Department of Fisheries wishes to advise the public that the taking, landing, processing, selling and offering for sale of fresh Nassau Grouper will be prohibited from the first of December to the end of February throughout The Islands of The Bahamas.

There appears to be a consensus so why no world record?

I was looking for a pic of a speared Nassau grouper to represent the Caribbean section. It occurred to me because I know they're illegal to spear here and are indigenous to the Caribbean even carrying the name of a Bahamian capital city. I only speared one once in Cuba, a beautiful fish of 5 to 6lb. I remember well because it was the same day I got stung by man of war real bad, I thought of ditching the gun, float, and fish but pulled through.

Anyways there are no speared pics to be found. So I thought naturally to look through the IUSC world records because there's bound to be one there http://iusarecords.com/world_record_list.php Guess what; they don't even list the Nassau grouper, and it doesn't go by another name. So my question is why don't they have a record for the Nassau? And if it's an oversight and legal to spear in some place in the world why doesn't someone take one and put themselves in the record books?

I looked into this in the first place to find Bahamian regulations on fish species the same way we have in the US, such as fish prohibited to spear. I wasn't able to find any. Could it be that as far as species the regulations are the same as line fishing? Is it possible there are no prohibited fish species nor size limits?

I found this on spearbroad in a thread related to Bahamian regs, post dated 05-11-2008.

Quote from westpalmspearo

you can shoot every thing but nassaus when they are out of season even jewfish are open