Posts by Don Paul

  • Large Game fish float

    Quote from Slingador

    Don, if you had to do it over, would you try for a brain shot? Im a big fan of lateral line placement, had very very good results, mid body.
    Recent experiences similar to yours, with easy shots on big fish, where i actually celebrated the capture in my mind before seeing it all somehow unravel, has me reconcidering my default target zone on closer shots on once in a lifetime fish.? Thanks for all your input. I value it!


    For further or fleating shots, it does make more sense to target the spine, btwn the anal and dorsal fin, I feel its the most stationary part of fish, but when it all lines up, and you have the fish youve dreamt about 8ft from gun tip, Im giving serious thought to trying to get the brain through the collar bone, does that make sense? Or would you stick with the instinct that works of zeroing in on that part know are familiar with conecting with? I like to preprogram my mind so to speak, so the fish doesnt sense you deciding how you want him in your freezer and bolt.


    Thanks.
    Carry on


    I'll be back to this, but under the weather tonight, talking about fish brains will have me doing a Techno color Yawn ;)


    My big boy came screaming up from deep water with a massive tail going BOOM BOOM BOOM...I felt he was going to eat me, the bill was 8'from my face when I got out of the way. Think of a scared heavily muscled Brama Bull and a short sword charging and passing you in a tight ally. :@ I was so close I pulled the gun back to keep from dislodging the slip tip. ....later.^^


    Cheers, Don

  • Another wahoo at the poor boy FAD's

    Quote from Marco

    Thanks Don.


    Sometime I'll like to have a drink (or many...) with you. I think we have many stories to share. ;)


    Not too many now a days, I still want to be diving at age 90.;) I even traded in whiskey for a night cap to a glass of red wine.:toast:


    One year we should we should meet up in LaPaz Mex and slay some monster hoo and a couple big snapper.


    Cheers, Don

  • Good Spearfishing Video

    Thanks for posting this mate. Fun to watch, well shot and produced action.
    I love seeing Emestro Jarque shoot the nice YF Tuna with that 135 air gun, well done.
    Nice friendly gray dog footage as well.


    Cheers, Don

  • Mounting a composite reel on a Riffe speargun

    Think of the amount of continuous natural solid wood fiber that is cut out to install a 1/2'' dia SS threaded insert 1/2'' deep into surface wood X 2. I don't know if Jay bonds the inserts into the wood with a glue that bonds well to SS and oily teak like G-Flex epoxie?


    One advantage of a proper screw, is it can be longer. A Stainless insert can have just over a half inch of holding depth, a Screw in a gun like a Riffe could be burried into 1.5'' of solid wood. If I was changing out reels twice a year with different mounting bits, the inserts would be easier to mount with.
    I have a bunch of wood guns with huge metal reels from the dark ages when guys locally hunted Giant Black Sea Bass. The properly drilled and set blue grease coated SS wood screws are still doing their job 40 years later.


    In the end it all depends on the length, crosssection and barrel material used along with the builder, but I don't like big holes drilled into the center span of a large load bearing game gun.


    Cheers, Don

  • Tomba - vacuum barrel system

    What is the mono dia? The only thing I would be concerned with is the knot necking down
    under heavy load and cutting it self. This could be tested with a spring scale and pull to failure.


    My kit is still holding up well.:thumbup::toast:


    Cheers, Don

  • Speardiver C100 vs Deep Apnea 100 vs Moana Fins

    Quote from ausspearo

    Thank you for your perspective Don Paul. Coming from someone with as much experience as yourself, it definitely means a lot that you'd take the time to share that knowledge. Does that mean before you settled on the C90s, your fin of choice was plastic?


    I wore a ton of plastic starting with Cressi Gara, H.Dessault Spora Sub orange blade, backdoor Beuchant competition blades and pockets, JB Esclapez metallic particulate Purple
    (a crazy stiff as a board fin) much stiffer then the black or soft blue...these fins were nuts to kick up current, but me and a a guy (Mark Barville) were the only ones to stay with them.
    Then there was Peppo Biscarini long blades, Picasso protype Carbon/Haplon. these fins had a
    2''U-section cut from the center with haplon rubber glued to the blade forming a flexible channel. Then a pair of mark 1 C-4 stiff blade mustangs that I parked once I started kicking Dan's fins. The one thing that I can say for Dan is: he is relentless in going forward with blade performance, like rust he never sleeps.;) I am already looking forward to see and test what will come with time....


    Cheers, Don

  • Speardiver C100 vs Deep Apnea 100 vs Moana Fins

    I'm going to come into this discussion from a different angle on carbon blades, and one that I never see being discussed: What sounds and frequency's are being transmitted into the sea water hunting arena?


    Being a vintage diver that has traveled and dove with some world champion competors that used cutting edge gear over the last thirty years, I am not new to using Carbon fins...the first over 25 years ago. Cost and availability was never a issue as I had French contacts . What kept me out of Carbons while hunting was this.... Sounds/low frequency oscillations that scare one of my target fish, the great hearing.... White Sea Bass.


    Over the years I been given Carbon fins to test and keep if I wanted, if I wrote the company a review. Most fins were passed on or used my me for just pool swimming.


    Even when I purchased Dan's Carbon fins a few years ago I was skeptical about quite power delivery with my strong kick cycle style at times. To cut to the chase their still in my hunting gear bag and yes I have a underwater mic.


    Now I can tell you that big blue Horse Eye Jack, Grey Reef, and Silver Tip Shark love the low frequency sounds in French Poly.....but I don't hunt these. ;) I also don't like them blasting up to my 6 looking for a wounded fish.


    I'm not saying Mona's make noise as I never worn them and I'm not going to commit that kind of money to find out when I have a winner in the Speardiver med C-90's for my kick style in current and deep dives, plus they take a beating in the H.Dessault pockets I hammer on the shore dives locally.


    Cheers, Don

  • PV Shark Watch

    Just put a big cage around the stand up board photographers so we can see bars in the image.:rolleyes::rolleyes: the way people have been used to seeing GWS's the last 30 years.
    As for the pier fisherman, just have them buy a fishing license if their over 16 and take away giant treble hooks and gaffs, more room for coke and french fry sales, maybe a Fleckin ''legal'' herb shop next store.:rolleyes:


    Cheers, Don