Posts by Reefchief

Sounds like a nice day very similar to hard line and i's especially the lots of dumb boats part. Nice work guys. Sounds like a nice stringer for a first reef beach dive.

Went out again with Hardline. Had a blast as usual. This time off hollywood. Viz was decent about 30 feet. Slight southern current, flat. We went out to the second reef for a while. Weren't having much luck saw lots of boats and the chop picked up so we headed back to the first. Just keep swimming.

it was a good move. We came upon a nice patch holding a monster gag and lots of other fish. We waved him on and concentrated on the snapper going in and out of the reef. I shot a mangrove passing by. And while stringing him up noticed some dog snappers. On a dive waiting for a dog I saw a nice hog an shot him. Then frank made an amazing brain shot on a nice dog. I got one more dog snapper and then we called it a day. Can I just go diving again tomorrow instead of going to work?

Frank, that nurse pic is incredible. B+w is a great idea for the unbalanced pics gopros put out. Can't wait for my 3 to get here here.

Judah's with the hog are nice too. It sure was a fatty

The reoccurring nightmares I have about gear being lost/breaking/being forgotten on epic dive trips let me feel it without actually doing it.

Went out with Judah and Frank today. Last night it looked like it was gonna be kinda crappy. But good enough to dive.

By morning the forecast was down and calling for it to get better. When we got to the beach and it was blowing but the water was blue and by the time we were suited up it had calmed down even more.

We had good viz on the second reef. Drifted the back for a while where Frank took a trigger. We weren't having much luck so we moved in. Eventually we came to a coral head holding a lot of fish. Judah and Frank arrived first. First Judah shot a beautiful hog. Then frank missed an AJ who was running from the scene. I took a trigger and got out smarted by a few weary mangroves. The head had a serious 8ft nurse in it who came out when we started bugging its inhabitants. We moved on and didnt find much else the rest of the day.

Tomorrow looks even better so I am going to have to go diving again.

I just love meticulously packing my banks board the night before diving. Going through my checklist. Double checking the weather. Going out tomorrow off Fort Lauderdale with Judah and Frank. Not the prettiest day I've ever seen projected but were gonna try to make the best of it.

Now that Ive used the Banks Board a lot I can really say I lovvvveeee :kiss::kiss::kiss: it. The ability to pack everything into one unit. carry it to the car. And then carry it into the water on my back and paddle it out. Is just really incredible.

Welcome. Omer Millenniums in c90's here. Based on a fitting by Dan. They fit like a glove.

Quote from Don Paul

Open or ET track?

Cheers, Don

Was planning on enclosed track but that was just based on most other bluewater guns I see being ET and liking ET on my other wood gun. The simplicity in routing etc. But I dont mind loading my OT speardiver 120.

Thanks for the insight and history Don. Definitely see the steve alexander influence after googling him some.

After doing some mockup gun pointing I im pretty much set on a rear handle.
Also no blue water reels for me. Although it sounds like fun. A breakaway floatline just makes too much sense and works too well.

Here are the new specs I am considering.

63" 160 Teak laminated stock
4 5/8" bands
5/16" shaft / Speardiver SlipTip
Breakaway rig with 400lb mono shooting line to bungee to floatline.
Rear Handle
Custom wood or ulusub handle.
American Mech.

Im also considering an inset handle for better aiming, recoil, etc.

Quote from Nate

I chose the rear handle because I've shot midhandles in the past and had a tough time transitioning. I'm sure I could make the transition, but I don't want to miss fish in the process. I've only shot on the reef with it so far, to see how it performed, it tracks well.. not as quickly as a midhandle I'm sure, but I'm certain it will be just fine.

Ive never shot one. But you bring up a good point for me. I think it would be very hard to transition.

I am cross hand-eye dominant. My right eye and my left hand are dominant. This requires me to shoot rifles,bows, and I guess mid handle spearguns right handed/backwards. Since the gun cant be put infront of me. Guess I need to figure this one out and probably go with a rear handle. 4 bands in front of my face just makes me think of sherri dayes terrible wong handle accident though.

Congrats 75th!

Quote from Nate

Very cool Reefchief, I look forward to following this one. I'd go with 4 5/8th bands, especially if targeting wahoo. I recently did a similar build with 5/16th shaft in an enclosed track with 3 5/8th bands.. I'm wishing that I had put a 4th one on it, in fact I plan to modify it.

Daryl Wong makes what's called a rear handle plus, it seems to be in between a mid handle and a rear handle.. thus a "quarter handle" with a vey short push rod.. so that's entirely doable. Good luck, keep us updated.

Thanks for the advice. It does make sense to go with 4 as the main reason for building the gun is getting hoos.

I just looked at your build again and see its a rear handle 63". I was thinking about a rear handle but thought that might be a bit big. Yours makes me rethink that. Are you happy with the rear handle? mahi and wahoos dont need to be tracked fast like tuna so Im thinking it may actually be better.

I think my gun is very wong inspired. I thought about guns I liked and before I knew it was basically describing a Wong. Although im not as big a fan of the hybrids.

Drumroll!
:ymca:
:boohoo::boohoo:
:music_band:

In 15 minutes someone wins. Good luck everyone.

Hey Guys, I am in the process of planning to build a Bluewater Mahi Wahoo Machine. My dad is always making me go offshore fishing with him (im easily convinced;)), so I figure why not be prepared.

While I have shot lots of small to medium mahi with my Speardiver Carbon 120. Im no bluewater expert by any means. So I would love some input from you experienced blue water guys on building a gun that will suit my needs. And Ive built one gun before. A teak holegun with A Speardiver American Reverse Mech. So again not clueless, but I would love any input from you experienced gun builders out there.

Here are my basic plans so far:

62-65" Teak (laminated?) stock
3 or 4 5/8" bands?
5/16" shaft / Speardiver SlipTip
Breakaway rig with 400lb mono shooting line to bungee to floatline.
Somewhere Between Rear and Mid handle (quarter handle? )
Wood or Ulusub Handle
American Mech with pushrod.

Probably going to build it in the "tapered square log" style no wings or weird routering, just clean lines.

Here is a quick render of what I am thinking.

Thanks for looking. I will steadily post updates on the planning, building, and shooting of this thing.

Im all out of additional solutions. However I envy your problem having to carry multiple 10+lb fish back from a beach dive

Quote from Mpspearo

Need some help figuring out how to keep sharks off my catch. I usually dive 10-65 ft of water, go out from shore and have a float attached to a 75 ft line that is also attached to my gun, I use a loop steel stringer. Don't have the money for a nice float to keep my fish out of the water (In fact, what I use now is modified from a dock pad). Down here we have blacktips and bulls, first sighting of a bullshark was the other day and he took my mackeral and my yellowtail but left my cuda all in one shot. I am usually able to poke at the blacktips when they get close or I spot them, but usually they come out of no where and hit my stringe. Any ideas? Tips? Tricks?

Do you have access to a cheap foam boogie board? I used a home made boogieboard float for quite a while before switching to the banks board. With a bag tied down on top it worked well to keep my catch out of the water.

Quote from sdeisen

I should probably change this to Sdeisen and Nate's little fish reports.
Nate and I got out early at 8 this morning to some pretty volatile conditions. It was real pleasant when we geared up and got the Yaks in the water, then at some point paddling out everything suddenly went dark as if someone hit the light switch and a cool west wind picked up. It started really blowing and it looked like water spout territory so we anchored up and hopped in the water. No fish to be seen in shallow so when the wind subsided (marginally) we paddled east to the outside of a ledge in 70feet. There was too much current there so we found a nice sweet spot in about 45feet and stayed for a few hours. Nate and I both took triggers and hogs and got to enjoy some clear water and a few unusual sites (a pair of beast queen triggers among others). Anyways a very enjoyable day but very exhausting on account of the wind. I left my gopro in the car and Nate's died, which is a shame cause the viz was actually very good. Oh and it was my first day in my new Speardiver suit which is amazing and Nate's first day since hes been duck infatuated.

P.S these fish are maybe a little pushed
http://i47.tinypic.com/bfg7de.jpg

Nice hogs! Glad to hear they day turned out decently. Riding to work in the wind and rain I was wondering how crappy it was out there.

Queen triggers are cool. Ive only seen a few small ones but they are beautiful fish.

Sorry it wasn't the spear trip you hoped for. But it still looks like a nice day with some beautiful fish. And A day where you see a rare bit of Marine life is definitely special. Thanks for sharing.

Ive seen so many insane backing down on marlin pics ive wondered when I would see a boat sinking from it.

Heres some cool ones:

Awesome stuff Nate. Great pics and interesting report. Looks like a beautiful place to hunt and enjoy nature. Are you originally from there?

Whats your main method of transportation? Canoe/John boat?

Quote from sdeisen

Dan those are good, wholesome country squirrels,. I still think the back alley ft. lauderdale squirrels are better left un-ate.

Hhaha, im just imagining a one eyed rough & tough street squirrel who fights cats and gets fed garbage by a hobo every night.

Quote from LunkerBuster

Mark you bastard!!! That sounds like my first day in heaven!!

I should have known you were a ska guy too! We have much to discuss

I forgot to mention a passionate love of bluegrass. This has led me to many many awesome other genres like Cajun high country fiddle music, zydeco and slamgrass/jam grass. Still bill Monroe and David Grisman are the best

For sure. The obsession began when my older brothers friend brought over and I heard Sublime - Sublime at like 10 and shit my pants. Still one of my favorite bands.

Bluegrass is awesome too. I dont listen to enough of it.

Between liking GD and bluegrass im guessing you love these guys:

Lonesome Fiddle Blues - YouTube