Posts by captmattson

And after asking a few people, I decided 200 firm is what they will be sold for. No haggling

"Cay Sal Killas in Carbon Fiber"

I am getting rid of lots of spare gear I have. I just dont need 3 pairs of fins, so I'm selling my Medium stiffness Persistent Cheetah Carbon Fiber Fins with medium size 40-41 or 9-10 foot pockets. The pockets are very comfortable. I really enjoy these fins and used them about a dozen times.

They have a few small surface scratches but and are in very good shape. The rubber side rails have a couple nicks as you can see in the photos. The fins are very durable and my buddies pair look like the went to war but have never cracked unlike many other cf fins. I think i paid around $450 a little over year ago, but I just need some cash so Im selling them for $250. Email me because I never check my PMs. Im in Palm Beach and would prefer to sell locally in central to south FL.

Michael
captmattson@aol.com

I'm selling an AB Biller 42 ST that I have had for about 4-5 years. I used it only a handful of times. It is in good condition and I just put another coat of epoxy on the blank to bring the gun back into very good condition. It has a couple light scratches in the handle.

It has a 5/16" spring stainless threaded shaft with a double flopper tip. It also has 2 good condition bands that are very tight. Rigged with new shooting line. The only change I would make to the gun is I would get a single flopper tip and save the double tip as a spare. I'm in DT West Palm Beach FL and Charleston SC. I think $160 is a very good price!

Michael
captmattson@aol.com

sold

Hey,
I'm getting rid of my extra guns. I just don't use a lot of my guns anymore.

I'm asking $230 for a great condition Yokooji Hybrid. It is an exact same design as Wongs first generation hybrid. It isn't a Wong but it shoots just as well as my 55 and 63 hybrid.

The gun is a 50" (125 cm) model with with epoxy coated teak and aluminum barrel with rail. The shaft is a 6.5mm pinned stainless shaft. The muzzle is an open hammerhead style muzzle which aligns the 2 bands with the shaft. I'm not sure what size bands, but they are only a few months old. I will take some pictures tomorrow.

The gun shoots like a laser and has taken lots of hogs, snapper, amber jacks and mahi. It is a great all around gun for florida reefs.

I'm in palm beach and Fort Lauderdale.

Michael
843-224-3542

Quote from seaweed

I have a 100m beuchat pacific reel with 100m of yellow 1.7mm spectra for sale. I also made an aluminum insert for it to mount to my wood gun. I'm selling it for $140 if you are interested.

It is way too much line for me, I'm getting an 80m reel.

I do like the reel, but that is retail pricing. Is the gun new?

Hey,

Spearing has been great in SC this year with lots of big fiesty sharks as well as big Pompano, Mahi, Cubera, Cobia and jacks. Now, Im in bermuda bluewater hunting with the pole spear. Wahoos have been giving me some trouble over here. I did shoot a 60 pounder yesterday only to have it rip out after making my buoy fly by at mach 1 then he dove and my bungy maxed out with my float 40ft down and the torque of the pole ripped out the spear. Oh well, I'll get one later this week.

As for my question, Im building a 140 wood euro for wahoo and sorts which my wong tuna is overkill. I would like to find a large reel. I have run out of line twice with my rob allen on my riffe 120 euro, so what else is out there? I know that if I stone them they dont run, but whats the fun in that? I would prefer a composite or aluminum reel so it won't affect the balance of a low mass wood euro gun, but I'm open to all options. I don't think a riffe or rob allen reel is going to cut it. Please help

Michael

Hey anyone own a wong hybrid magnum? I'm ordering one. Any suggestions? I was thinking 5/16 shafts with a 7.5 for wahoo or kings. Any dislikes with the gun? I dont want to shoot a tree trunk gun and I want a gun that can track yet still kill a 200+.

My 120 riffe just wont cut it for truw blue water and I cant find a used gun that i like.

Thanks

Just came back to the Carolinas for the next couple months until I head for Bermuda. With the water warming from 51' up to 60'' since our last trip we were itching to go stack the cooler. I forgot how horrible our visibility was in Charleston. I cant wait for my next trip.

We ran out 10 miles to 55 ft of water on a wreck. The surface vis looked great at around 20 ft but as I made the first drop that all changed on the way to the bottom. I actually bumped into the wreck with visibility less than 6 ft. Then all I could see was stripes. I aimed at the largest set and pulled the trigger. For the next 25 drops sheep head from 8-13 lbs hit the deck. Then they wised up and we had to hunt them inside the holes of the wreck. After a couple hours, we had all that we needed and cruised home to drink some beer and plan our next hunts for when the cobia show up.

I enjoyed my second wetsuit from Dan. It was a great 5 mil suit and I was actually a little hot!

I tried to buy a 63" yokooji ono, I told the guy I wanted it but I was fishing when he called me. I called him back 2 hour later and he said he promised it to another guy because he thought I wasn't serious. Oh well.

I'm not looking to spend a fortune and I know it doesn't take a $2000 gun to kill big fish. I just have to find some one who isn't building a work of art. I need a reliable tool to get a job done.

Also, I cant find any info on a "Striker". No pics or references?

Hey,

I'm looking for suggestions on what makes a great bluewater gun as well as suggestions for a gun. I would prefer a 60"+ wood gun. This year, I have set a personal goal set to take a few large fish such as a blue marlin and next year I'm putting together a trip for a bluefin in the 250lb range. I already hunt with a riffe 120 euro, so i dont need a dolphin wahoo gun.

I dont want to spend ridiculous amounts of money for flash and paint. Spending less than $1100 would be great because I like putting my money toward trips. My guns also take alot of abuse because they get crammed into horrible places that are not climate controlled because I'm a traveling sportfish captain.

I prefer to place my hands on items of at least experience them but apparently with bluewater guns that is not going to happen. It is hard putting faith into a gun for that ONE fish and ONE shot with out having experience with bluewater guns.

Also, please dont fill this forum up with "hear say" This a very important decision and I need help from people with real world experience.

Thanks
Michael

Just so you dont worry. I know deeper dives are dangerous.

We are diving in a rotation of 3 divers each has received rescue and safety classes from PFI or FFI. 1 Surface, 1 Camera man/safety, and 1 diver. That is when every we are hunting deeper than 45ft.

While diving under 45 ft we are in pairs alternating dives with minimum surface time that is 3x the dive time.

Michael

I was laying on the deck at 80ft. Thats my max hunting depth. Hopefully I'll be hunting 110 by the end of the summer.

yeah but i dont think other people will be able to see them

Yeah, Ben

I wish I knew how to post facebook pics on here, but I just fish for a living!

Today was another great day in the keys. We hunted deep wrecks again.

After shooting some yellow jacks. I dropped onto the deck of a wreck in 110ft and layed in wait for the fish we had passed on earlier this week (due to regulation questions)! As soon as I was ready to surface from the dive, I saw 2 fish swimming right toward me.

I pushed through the contractions and she turned broadside 15 ft from me. I hammered her in the pec fin and out the other gill plate! She dragged me into the wreck and I managed to turn her toward the surface. Just before I hit the surface for a breath, she sounded once more. I looked up at my dive buddy and thought thank god! He spotted me to the surface giving me the confidence I needed. Finally I took those 6 crucial breaths. Then screamed to the boat HUGE AFRICAN come fast!!!!!.

She pulled and pulled finally I had her in my hand and placed my knife into her skull! She was mine! As I through her onto the boat, everyone around fishing us let out a couple cheers.

After a great photo session she was measured and filleted for a great fish fry! She was between 42-47llbs and was my goal for the year! And it was all on film! Next is my 300+ blue marlin that I will shoot in St Thomas or the DR this fall.!

Thanks to Dan for a great wet suit, kill knife, and go pro!

Michael

Today was beautiful, but the vis was only 40 ft not the 80 ft vis of the past few days. We hunted a deep water wreck with near zero current.

We made alternating drops down to 50 ft were the bait was and the fish appeared almost every drop. 1 nice AJ, 2 big yellow jacks, and 2 huge jack crevelle.

Then I let my dive buddy try my gun. He dropped in as I was filming 10 ft above him then a school of big yellow jacks began to swim by. He passed up the first 6 then drilled the largest one of the day. At the surface he was battling the big jack when the fish tried to take him back down. Then we saw the reason. A huge 300-350 bull shark. One bite and all but the head was left of a 25 lb fish. He was pulling the line up as fast as he could when the shark came back to eat the head and take my new shaft. Oh well, we left the tax man and went inshore to 40 ft of water to play with my new hybrid.

The reef edge was alive with hogs, but we had already taken our share this week, so we just kept searching. I was laying on the bottom watching a school speedso when a huge cero blazed into view. I drilled him. Turned out he was my biggest cero at a hair under 10 lbs.

That finished out the day to fill the demand of a fish fry for the local marina workers and their families.

Michael

Oh, the jacks were in 110 ft of water. Dive computer says we shot them at 70'

Well, Hunting has been pretty pretty slow but we have managed a decent catch. The past 3 days have yielded 2 divers many great dinners.

12 decent hogs up to 18", 5 Mutton up to 20", 3 Yellow Jacks up to 23 lbs,and a 30 lb AJ. We also grabbed 9 spinys.

The hogs and muttons were in 30-45 ft and the jacks were out deep around 110 ft.

We spotted some nice permit, a big black grouper and a school of african pompano, but decided to check the regs before we shot! Turns out we should have shot! The only one with immunity is the grouper! Oh well, as soon as the current dies so will they! They were all near the bottom structure in 110 ft. The dives were deep and the fish looked at us as if they had never seen a person that wasn't blowing scuba bubbles.