maaaan, i don't know what to say, you surprise me with every thread. i can't wait for the next one, my only regret is that i live so far away i would love to have a few cold ones and just shoot the shit.
steve
Beer my ass! I'm thinking ouzo with me and my chick and some warm Med water.
εις υγεία, Don
Display MoreThanks for trying to explain - clears the pic up a bit, but still a bit cloudy for me. Is the Dacor float like one of the Riffe/Carter popper floats? Is it for the fish or just to keep track of the gun?
A big part of my curiosity was the thick kelp... you know that low tide matted stuff? It's challenging enough dealing with a single empty gun in the stuff, I can't imagine doing it very easily with a leash attached to a still loaded gun.
Seems like it could be a great setup for open water if you're used to it.
I have my dog trained well, It's pulled a few hundred out of the woods.;)
I keep the gun tight to my bod in the thick weed, the gun system is very flexible. I was using the reel in this image, but my guys had to throw me this red eye on a line so I could drag the fish out over the top.
I would post some shots of two WSB on a breath hold but I think that would piss some guys off.
I have also done a few combos, WSB and YT or two YT. I don't do that unless my freezer is empty.
The gun has saved a lot of fish I would have lost to torn shots over it's life time.
I am not suggesting any one build a double, but my gun has been a lot of fun for a long time.
Cheers, Don
Welcome mate, yeah this is a great forum. All the guy's are friends for the most part, and Dan is really cool.
Looking forward to seeing some big Muskies from you... hell, I never shot a fish in fresh water, so I don't even
know if Muskies and Northern Pike are legal to shoot?
Cheers, Don
Welcome, I use to surf fish the Cape for Stripper's when I was a Kid. In the 1930's my dad broached a sail boat in a storm at the Cape.
He had worked on the boat for 2 years. He was a very strong swimmer and made it to shore.
That place has some great blue water.
All the best, Don Paul
Thank you Don....
your threads are a wonderful tour of a history I wish I could have lived. Thank you for sharing it with me/us
You make your own history...remember the past but live flat out in the present and love what you do everyday.
Cheers, Don
Thanks for the Pictures and thread Don Paul:)
My pleasure mate, Thank You for your service to this fine country.
Cheers, Don
cool, so you shoot and let the gun drift/sink? and then use floatline for retaining the gun?
I hang it from a leash like a Bad Ass dog.... Its a dangerous Mother:@ around kids. I posted in the Guns section.
Cheers, Don
The second images shows the Dacor popper under the handle, it pivots aft on a Ti pin on the stock. A Ti and Abalone fish inlay keeps away
the bad MoJo. I have inlays from my first abalone in my personal guns and hand made knifes.
My kit is very versatile, I shoot my game gun full brake away to a 50' bungie linked to a tuna cord, cored poly float line and float depending on fish type. (hard or inflatable). Around my waist I ware a lose fitting polespear sling with a small adjustable down rigger clip.
My gun has a 500# vinyl covered mono leash 1 meter long; it's short length never allows the muzzle of my gun to point back at me.The clip allows the
gun to break away should a big fish spool me.
Having the leash allows me to hang my gun when I get hands on with the fish.
Once I have my hands in the gills I pull my float to me, yank a stringer from
its vinyl sleeve from my float, string the fish through the eyes, and only then remove the shaft. By now a few more big yellows come in close thinking I'm unloaded. I pull my gun back into my hand, make a dive on the fish and go for a head shot with my 1/4 inch 1 band lower shaft...this way I can have my ''reel'' fun.
Cheers, Don Paul
I has consulting to the late Patric Frain for a short time in the mid eighty's on blue water gun development for the West coast. This handle came to me unmachined,.My gun has a 7075 T6 core and fabricated rear mech from 17/4. along with line releases for each shaft.Boron/carbon side pods provide a barrel able to handle up 800 lbs of rubber.The pods contain champers and ports allowing the gun to be trimmed for 3/8, 9/32. and 5/16 shaft weights. My gun floats with the bottom shaft in
but is ballasted to sink nose down for safety.Patrick Frain's original Double was a freeshaft gun with twin front
mounted float tubes,top and bottem shafts seared in the handle/trigger assembly.
When I first pool tested it, one of the metal buoyancy tubes flooded and the
gun took on a heavy starboard list. The large tubes also made vertical tracking
of the gun very slow. The large buoyancy tubes would also point the speartips skyward as it sank butt down.
I designed a different approach which had a 66' 7075 T6 barrel, bonded and screwed lace wood sides, redesigned open muzzel with line cross over pin for
shaft retention of both shafts, a new clevis push rod 17/4 mech mounted at the very back to increase rubber pull.
I CNC milled a cast handle to include a clevis end Ti push rod and articulated
light wt trigger. All my components were weighed to the gram for a balanced launch platform.
The new gun was very powerful, with the wood side slabs the gun balanced well with a tip down trim angle. A small pad of 3M 5200 at the roof of the sear box and hi end planking made for a quieter shaft release.
At the end of the day my complete approach was not cost effective for Pat to produce, but may have led the way to his next generation of guns.
!. Pat Frain's lovey wife and dad at DEMA
2. Me and Ultimate Double with float tubes and handle sear assembly.
3.Double Trouble with Carbon pods, WSB head shot with 1/4'', 1 band under shaft.
4. One of my hero's Big Johnny Carrol, Don Paul with lacewood Double Trouble.
Big John is inventor of the first commercial over/under and father of the Sport Ways gun. He is also a Life member of the LA Fathomiers.
That brings up more questions than it answers. <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">
Perfect.
<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">
Been wondering... how do you handle your gun after you've fired one shot?
After I shoot, I do the normal process of slinging my arm through the bands. Doesn't seem that smart an idea with a loaded gun - since the business end of the shaft would be pointed at the back of your head. Is it rigged differently?
I'll do a Double Trouble thread someday, My gun has a system that includes a leash and adjustable out rigger
clip brake away. DT has carbon pods with ports for adjustable mass, with water and lead shot. I have it rigged to point down with the lower shaft in. My whole dive system has developed over a long period of time to match my diving style and the fish I hunt.
Cheers, Don
id be really interested in hearing about the results too, i dont know much about pneumatics but of all of them the omer is definetly the sleakest looking IMO, how do you go about modding it? do they sell kits or is it altercations youve jsut learned to make over time?
Dan has post's about air guns here on the forum, the conversions are very common and know as ''Dry barrel''. I am I devout band gun user that likes to mix it up when I get bored.
Cheers, Don
i was gonna add that too Don, the most effective fish attractant seem to be the sound of firing your gun...
...approx 1,387,267 mackeral have swam past me while reloading...D'oh!
That's why I have Double Trouble.;)
Cheers, Don
I croak in local White Sea bass while using aspetto style hunting, strumming the bands can also work.
The Tahitian's taught me to call in fish and they are masters, you just have to be careful who you call in, while in blue water. Try taking a short gun down and shooting it, when the big AJ's come in to check it out you have a very easy shot with your main gun.
Cheers, Don
Hey Don, have you used the airbalete yet? Let us know what you think of it when you do. I've heard some good things
No I have not received it yet. A very good friend of mine Rene Rojas( World Class diver) loves it for dirty water, and shot some big Stripe Bass with it. I plan on using it when I get up close and personal with the
big bass.
Cheers, Don
Being a proud Italian as he is, I think Marco doesn´t forgive Omer to manufacture things at China.. Can´t blame the man for it. I would rather spend the big bucks for either an Italian , American or Frenchmade product, rather than a china thing. Omer still does great products thou-
I like Chinese Chicks, food and Shaolin, and their torch lit without a hitch at the last Olympic games.;)
I collect guns, and the Airbalete is a bench mark gun with it's hydro formed barrel. I'll post some pictures when it kills fish. The the gun will not be stock for very long. 
I should have it in 30 days.
Cheers, Don
I'm not that creative in computer circles, I ripped it off a guy in the UK. I'm going shoot my first white sea bass of the season with my ceremonial gun. Than I'm heading to the dirty water with a Omer Airbalete,
I all ready found a dry barrel kit for it. If I can't stalk well enough to land a nice fish with it I shouldn't be eating WSB. My double is so deadly it's making hunting less fun lately.
Cheers, Don
Soon it will be a 110 for the low vis...... I'm going to the...Dark Side.
Some of the holes are 2'' deep, having a can 100' back gives a guy a 50/50 chance when a big eater takes a love bite. The way the teeth come together a leg would be gone. Some day I'll tell the story.
Don
<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">
I'm pretty sure Don meant "here are a couple pics that Brandon took.".
Since graduating from CMA(merchant marines), Brando has done a few fun jobs - one of was this trip down to Guadalupe. The story was in the last issue of HSD.
Yes Those are from Brandon's trip, Here are some I took of my float that got bit at Catalina Island.
No story to night, I'm having Lap Top issues.
Don
