Posts by hau

spearos---This is about a shaft tab to keep unstreched bands out of the way.

Where and what I hunt often means that 2 bands stretched on my RA130 are not needed and can even lead to a damaged or stuck in the reef spear:(
So many times I depower my spear by taking 1 band off its notch and just using 1 band to shoot a small fish or a close fish or a fish down against the reef. The problem then is that the loose band flops around loose, gets in the way of sighting, scares the fish and is distracting. I tried to tuck the loose band under the stretched band, but that method almost always threw the shot off for some reason. [I shot at the same trigger at least 6 times until I realized that the tucked in band was the cause of all the missed shots].
Solution== A couple of days ago I remembered seeing a "cocking tab" on a shaft. I realized that the cocking tab would keep my ëxtra" band out of the way. I thought about welding on a tab, drilling in a pin, etc. Then I settled on suberglueing on a very small streamlined tab to the top of my RA shaft just back far enough for the band to hook to and stay hooked. I have used this now for 2 days and it works great.
Hope this idea helps

OK, here is a true fish story from yesterday.
Part 1; I shot a 26in mack in the gut, was taking it off my RA shaft with slip tube. I wasn't paying enough attention and the mack jerked once and slipped out of my hand and swam straight down into a very small hole in the top of the reef in 20fsw. The hole in the reef was so small I could just barely see part of the macks tail. I made another mistake and took my eyes off the spot for a split second and then lost the spot where the mack was. I searched for 15min and gave up feeling bad that I had lost a nice fish. I swam a 360deg circle around my yak anchor and ended the swing at aprox the same spot where I lost the mack. Down on the reef top was about a dozen small reef fish acting strange. I watched and realized that the reef fish were looking [pointing] at something down in the reef. It was my mack still in the same hole.
Part 2; I now could see the macks head just partially exposed in the hole. This time I did not hesitate. I did a very short breath up, dropped straight down, grabbed the reef in my left hand and reached down into the hole and grabbed the mack by the throat. The hole was so small i nicked my suit as I pulled the mack out. I held the mack with both hands going up.
Part 2 would have made an interesting video to see a spearo swimming along, stop and drop down onto the reef, reach down a hole and pule out a nice 26in mack

Now I was very happy to have gotten my mack and not wasted such a nice fish

spearos--:(

SATURDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 20 KNOTS. NEAR SHORE...SEAS 6 TO
8 FEET. IN THE GULF STREAM...SEAS 7 TO 9 FEET BUILDING TO 9 TO
11 FEET. NORTHEAST SWELL 2 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS ROUGH IN
EXPOSED AREAS. SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT SHOWERS.
SUNDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. NEAR SHORE...SEAS 6 TO
8 FEET. IN THE GULF STREAM...SEAS 9 TO 11 FEET SUBSIDING TO 7 TO
9 FEET. NORTHEAST SWELL 2 TO 3 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS ROUGH IN
EXPOSED AREAS. SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT SHOWERS.

National Weather Service
Generated 1412 UTC, Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009
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at Dania pier beach today
begin at 930am---------------end at 1pm
wind from W at 5mph--------from SE at 9mph
water temp 73deg in 25fsw
current from N at 1 1/2mph---from N at 1/2mph
viz 30f in 25fsw--------------same
seas FLAT--------------------2f or less
air 78deg PC-----------------80deg PC

Stevo and I went spearin today. Today was a beautiful yak/spearin day.
Took Stevo out to a spot I found and we never moved off that spot all day
I got 2 cero, 1 spade and 1 bonito
Stevo got fish also. Hope he posts his story.
Today was day 8 IN A ROW SPEARIN for me

dewasw--IMO, open RA 2 band muzzle, notched shaft with RA slip tube. I use the shortest shaft possible to reduce shaft weight and decrease shaft bending. I will never shoot without a RA slip tube again. Yesterday I shot one time and got 2 spades I have never lost a hit fish yet using the RA slip tube. If I even hit a bigger fish in the last part of the tail all I have to do is hang on. Many times I will hit a fish, let go of my RA130 [floats with reel], and pull the fish in and up as fast as possible regardless of how much the fish is fighting. With a flopper, many times you have to let the fish tire out a little before pulling them up, but that lets the fish flop around on the bottom, maybe bending and scraping up the shaft and attracting the taxman. It is a nice feeling grabing the shooting line and fighting a tail shot 30inch mack
All the above is just my opinion and my spearin experiance since 1975.

at Dania pier beach today
begin at 930am-------------------end at 630pm
wind from SSE at 8mph----------same
water temp 73deg in 30fsw
current from S at 1 1/2 mph----from S at maybe 1/2mph
viz 25f in 25fsw------------------same
seas 3f in 25fsw-----------------2f or less in 25fsw
air temp 75deg PC--------------78deg cloudless

Todays wind and surf conditions were much better than yesterday
Spent 9 hours IN the water today
Got no real good fish. 1 18in hog, 1 26in cero, and 8 spade fish
Today ended as a beautiful yak spearin day
Today was day 7 in a row yak/spearin
OK, gotta go clean fish

C-los F.C.---
The RA;
1. The RA grip fits my hand better
2. The RA will do anything the Euro will do and is aprox. $200. USD cheaper than the Euro
3. The RA allows me to get the web of my shooting hand up and almost directly behind the barrel to help stop muzzle flip
4. The RA whole package of reel, spring steel shaft and slip tube works better for me than the Riffe package.
5. The RA barrel design gives me a much better sight picture than the bands piled up on the Euro barrel.
6. The RA major US distributor is 1 hour from where I live
7. The RA will never warp like a wood gun:)
8. The RA is more accurate for me
etc, etc
[ just my opinion]

Toledo970, LunkerBuster---thanks guys. I love being in the water and spearin. <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">

pargo---yes, from the water.:) Yes, from the yak
Best part is, I was calling him from the 2nd reef to warn him of the rough conditions when he said to call him back when we saw what the viz was

I tell them that it is a team effort==Us against the fish
Today was day 6 in a row spearin for me

I USED to own 2 Riffe Euros, but now I like my RA way, way better
[just my opinion]

pargo---you are correct, today was not the day. We had 2 spearos abort before even getting in the water.
1 yak flipped and dumped gear into the surf. He was very, very lucky we found everything.
Beach erosion was high and beach viz was 0 so the jaxs were not even divable.
The kiteboarders were thick and could have been a real danger to a spearo with only a float.
There were at least 2 dozen surfers right at the yak launch/landing spot
You know the seas are getting high when you cannot see the buildings when you are sitting on your yak at the bottom of a wave.

Also, you can always call my cell for a faster condition report instead of waiting till I post. I always check the phone everytime I get back into the yak during the day
[ 1 spearo said to give him a call this morning when we saw what the viz was]

at Dania pier beach today
begin at 830am--------------end at 130pm
wind from SSE at15mph----same
water temp. 72deg
current from S at about 1mph--same
viz 25f in 25fsw---------same
seas 4f in 25fsw
air temp.75PC------78deg PC

Me and Scott lost NO gear going in and out through the 3f beach surf
rough day out on the 2nd reef in a yak today with4f high seas and low viz:(
finally found my #spot and got 1 mack, 1 18in hog and 2 spade:) Missed a nice mack:(
Today was day 6 in a row spearin

at Dania pier beach today
begin at 2pm-----------------end at 5pm
wind from SSE at 15mph--- SSE at 18mph
water temp.73deg
current from S at 1mph-----none
viz 55f in 40fsw--------------same
seas 3-4f in 40fsw----------same
air 78deg PC----------------80deg PC

went to the beach really late and had to park at the South end of the lot:0
surfers were thick to get through going out and then back in later:(
did NOT crash and burn yak surfing back onto the beach today, I bailed off the yak between waves in 4f of water
saw octopus, squid, snook, a big smart grouper who ran when he saw me on on the surface 40f above him.
FWC " stopped to see if you were OK out here". They didn't want anything else, no lisc, equipment or fish check
only got 1 18in hog, 1 spade and 1 14in trigger, but I was only IN the water aprox. 2 hours as it takes a while to get out and back

mca00176---you wouldn't have wanted to go today. It was very rough and windy from the time I left shore till I touched shore again and was worse out in 40fsw.

Tomorrows forecasted conditions are deteriating. Now calling for 2-4f seas:(

monster slayer---I'm almost positive those are RA shafts shot from RA130's exactly like I use

mca00176---I don't know if I'm goin out today until I can see the beach cameras, or drive to the beach at 0730. I will let you know one way or the other if I'm going out. Thank you

yak/spearos---
SUNDAY
SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS.
INTRACOASTAL WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SPRINKLES.

sharpen your spears and knives
I'm not sayin fish are gonna die, but ---- --- ----- ---
just let me know where and when
__

at Dania pier beach today
begin at 9am----------------end at 1pm
wind from E at 10mph-----from S at 14mph
current from S at 1mph---same
viz 60f in 40fsw------------same
seas 3-4f in 40fsw-----------same
air temp 72deg PC--------78deg PC

Beautiful yak spearin day. Great viz. Seas OK
Got 1 30in mack, 1 18in hog and 2 spade
Lots of beach buns again today. Yeah, spring break
Today was day 4 in a row spearin
Tomorrows conditions are to be better

funny we're talking about flooding. I just got off the phone with fishingdude. His Olympus Stilys 10-30 flooded yesterday and he said that his retailer, TVs Depote told him to send back the camera, copy of receipt and copy of warranty to get a new camera
To early to tell if he really is getting a new camera with no hassle or not.
I'll keep checking with fishingdude for the results of the warranty and let you know.

pargo, av001---thank you for the advise. I have never bought a newer UW camera and have no experence with UW digital cmaeras. The last UW camera I had was a Nikonos in 1980.
I just saw the Canon D10 advertised and I looked good, [other than it probably is negative bouyant and would make my RA130 sink]:(
I really like the idea of mounting a camera on the gun but do not want my gun to sink. I was forced to use my RA130 with no reel yesterday and was amased at how positive it was without the RA reel. The gun sinks slowley WITH a 7.5mm shaft and slip tube in the gun It floats WITH the reel on and shaft out:), which is best for me and the way I hunt.
The Canon D10 is probably a sinker.

My other concern is: Is there a warranty with UW cases?

I cannot afford to loose a $100-300. camera because it got flooded.
Thanks for the advise

spearos---I just bought the new RA composite reel in Oct.08 and broke it yesterday.
This is to help others who have the same problem.

I was cranking in excess line the other day and felt my reel line slip down between the line already on the spool and the reel side and lock up. The spooled line felt like it had been cranked onto the reel too loose and had allowed the line to slip down against the reel axle. Next morning I spent 2 hours taking the 200f of QPower line off the reel and putting it back onto the reel only to have the reel now not cranking correctly and eventually falling apart in my hands, [2 hours after I wanted to be in the water].
Problem--Today I took the line off again and found the problem. The RA reel body is 2 pieces and mine had seperated, allowing the 2 reel faces to spread and let my line slip down against the axle and the spooled line and forcing the mounting nut off the axle.
Solution--I lightly scuffed the 2 connecting surfaces of the 2 reel sides and superglue GEL the 2 reel sides back together so they cannot seperate. The design of the 2 sides allow for a very good connecting glue surface. I waited 4 hours and rewound the line back on the reel which now works better than ever.
Sorry I do not have pic.
Please to let me know if I can help anyone with this RA reel as I have now completely dismantled and put one back together.
Hope this helps