Posts by Wishihadgills

This is a video of a friend feeding a reef shark off his polespear. Not direct predation but they are willing to eat them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmCbbTCPU6A

Here is a video of a goliath eating one. The liondfish again looks dead though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP8GROhDwso

Here is an article not necessarily accredited but still useful.

Are predators eating lionfish? | The News-Press | news-press.com

These are just a few that turned up with a quick google search. A friend of mine at Florida Golf Coast University spent the entire summer doing lionfish research and found large groupers in the Northern Gulf of Mexico with lion fish in their stomachs and I personally shot a grouper (black) this sumer that had a small one in its stomach. In addition I believe there is a team in the keys trying to "teach" goliaths to eat lionfish by hand feeding them dead ones.

This is a relatively new development and like you mentioned there is very little scientific evidence or research directly on the subject. Most research has been focused on the lionfish spread and how to potentially control it. However there has been a lot of postulation that this could be possible/likely to occur.

Quote from hank

That reason alone is enough to leave them alone....for a few years until they teach others to eat the lions.

They aren't the only fish learning. Nature is incredibly good at adapting. While lionfish are invasive now and dominant, they will eventually matriculate into the food chain and things will balance out. This is just one example. Reef sharks and other predatory species are also starting to eat them.

In the short term the goliaths can be left alone to expedite this, but in the next 5 years or so they should prepare a plan for opening a season. I have a couple friends in school who are actually doing research on this as we speak. If the do something like the alligator tag with a limited number of "tags" that must be checked in, I think they can cull the numbers effectively and sustainably.

Personally I wouldn't shoot the big ones for food anyway. They don't taste very good (so I've heard) and they will likely contain ciguatera. There are, however, a couple on some spots of mine that I wouldn't mind "relocating" though.

Quote from nishthefish

Wow! Sounds like jewfish have the potential of being real pests for spearo's there!
I hope they're not associating humans with a free meal!

Unfortunately they already have. In my experience Goliaths are often more of a menace than sharks. When wreck fishing they destroy gear and steal fish all the time. Both the goliaths and the sharks in Miami have learned the sound of a gun going off but the sharks seem more weary of divers (in my experience, this is not always true and not true everywhere). The goliaths have also driven numerous other species out of certain areas. They are very territorial and i have even had them bump, "bark" and try to drive me out of "their" area.

IMHO there should be some form of open season to thin the population a bit.

One benefit of the bigger fish though, is they are learning to eat lion fish.

What is the difference between that and the stuff that Neptonics sells? I've had the Neptonics stuff for a while and love it. It sounds pretty similar to what you are describing.

I have some friends down in the keys that sell them to some vietnamese people for 60$ an eel. They can't be that bad, though I have personally never tried them.

Quote from Dude george

Only thing to add about suit choice is I found out the hard way that it does matter. A while back I did some green, dirty water diving in Trinidad and the fish would not come near me in my spetton blue water lycra suit, they would swarm my black wetsuit wearing buddy, but avoid me like the plague. I always dive alone, very picky who gets to fire hardened steel in my vicinity so it was a eye opener for me.

How can you definitively say that was because of suit color? Between two divers there are a lot of variables. Body language, heart rate, size etc. I would love to find a way of testing which colors are most effective but there are so many variables between conditions divers and even fish it would be near impossible to isolate and test the color/patterns.

Basically everything that Reefchief said...

I used to have the original Speardiver Reef pattern and loved it. I now own the Predator camo and love it too. The Speardiver suits are some of the best suits on the market. You honestly cannot go wrong with either.

I went through the same decision I chose the red for two reasons. One because I like the visibility at the surface. At about 30 feet the suit is still pretty red but as you get down to 40 and beyond the red becomes black and you are basically wearing a black and grey camo suit. The other was that one of my best friends/dive buddies had just gotten the reef camo. I didn't want to get things mixed up or match. If you can't decide flip a coin.

I'm on the right and my buddy Spencer is in the middle with the Reef suit.

Thanks for the feature Frank. Glad to know I make good filler.

Black snorkels won't grow algae but you can get mold if they are dry when they get put away.

The blow torch will get a few of the bubbles but unless you can spend 8 hours watching and going over the track with a torch its mostly a waste of time. It is also really easy to scorch the epoxy with a torch.

The track will run the length of the gun. I have seen some people pour just the front 3-12 inches but I prefer the full length track.

You don't need a dovetail if you are going to pour an epoxy track. a regular end mill will work. .5" will be just fine but if you have a smaller bit you can do it in multiple passes. Finding a bit for a 7.5 mm shaft might be tricky but a bit for an 8mm or 5/16" will work fine. Most of the carbide tooling companies will sell a ball end bit that will work. Don't use a burr style bit as it will clog and burn up the track. Look for a bit that has 2 cutting surfaces if possible. If not a single cutting surface will work it will just take longer and clog faster. Another tip is to remove as much material as possible with a .125" or .25" end mill before using the ball end bits. Depending on the epoxy you uses you will have to adjust the feed rate. Some epoxies are more brittle than others.

As for graphite yes any graphite will work I use molybdenum graphite I have left over from some previous projects. You can also add microfiber fillers or even chopped carbon fiber to add additional strength to the track. Dies are also fun to play with. You can get some pretty nice colors if that is your thing.

When you go to pour the track what I have found works best is to mix up substantially more than you need place it in a 1 gallon ziploc bag let it settle for a minute allowing bubbles to rise to the top. Then cut out one corner of the bag and pour the track from the bottom of the bag. This will help eliminate bubbles but you will still have a few so make sure you over pour the track as much as an .125" or more.

If your stock is 1 3/4" tall at the back you will have more than enough material for your design. The neptonics mech is 1" and although I do not know the thickness of the base plate of the JBL handle I don't think it is more than .25" which even when fully recessed leaves you with .5" of wood between the mech and the handle. That is more than enough. Also you have the extra "pad" for mounting a reel. Unless you like the aesthetics it isn't necessary. An enclosed track will not be more than 5/8" from the top of the gun and none of the reels that I know of require screws longer than .75" again leaving plenty of meat.

Not sure if that is what you are asking for or not.

Not sure what info you are looking for but there is a lot compiled in this thread.

http://spearfishing.world/spea…3-gun-building-101-a.html

Another suggestion is to find a gun on the market and use it as a baseline. From the look of your drawing I suggest finding a Koah Euro. I think you will be a little surprised how similar it is to your design.

Quote from LunkerBuster

You learn to get deeper. Not to be a better diver.

When someone asks how deep I dive I have two answers, "as shallow as possible to get fish" or " it depends on how I feel that day"

Anyone who guarantees a depth is not listening to the real signals

The courses do not guarantee depth...

Water rescue techniques are taught in the courses.

CPR is not only ineffective but can also be dangerous to a blackout diver. When a diver blacks out the epiglottis closes to prevent water from entering the lungs. Without reviving the diver, trying to force air into their lungs can won't do anything and you can potentially damage tissue. Also the main premiss of CPR is circulation of blood. The idea is that there is enough oxygen in the blood to prevent tissue damage. periodically adding enough air to the lungs to replace some of that oxygen. When a diver has blacked out the blood is oxygen depleted and the brain is doing everything it can to conserve oxygen and keep as much of it in the brain as possible. CPR would fight both of those natural mechanisms.

There is a bad misconception among those who haven't taken the courses and many looking to take the courses that they are all about depth. While you may increase your depth by taking the course this is mostly a product of proper technique. The courses focus primarily of safety, technique and physiology.

That being said the courses can vary widely from instructor to instructor. Some instructors prefer a more "hippy" style that includes a lot of meditation and other forms of relaxation. Others take a much more scientific approach. In my opinion these are the better and more practical courses.

Clearly there are different levels of quality, but there are a basic level of information and technique that, when applied properly, can improve diving. You can learn many of these with years of practice and from more experienced divers but the courses can condense and shorten this learning curve. You can teach yourself to read but it is still much easier and faster to be taught by a teacher.

If the diver in the video had taken a freediving course he would have known how to revive his friend and many of the factors that resulted in this event could have been prevented.

Sorry, I didn't intend for this for this to become the rant it did.

The price of lead is always going up and as a result of that an old post price is probably no longer accurate. I don't want to abuse the rules of the forum, so I won't mention the name unless Dan allows it, but the dive shop I work for sells uncoated weight for less than 4$ a pound.

Online the prices are often higher to offset the high shipping costs for shipping lead.

Probably not a good idea but I have seen much worse. My biggest concern would be any kind of waves or sudden storms popping up.

Also saltwater is rough on everything. Especially boats that aren't designed for it. Make sure you take extra care when you wash it.

Quote from hank

Other than looking cool, does tapering serve a function?

Some say it clears up the sight picture. I have never found it to be a huge difference though.

Riffe makes two types of notches. They have a Euro and american notched shafts.

Quote from Dan

Polespear and sling are effective in Bahamas because there's no pressure from spearguns in Bahamas. Try to use them in Miami and see how far you get.

At first it will be difficult but I know people that effectively fish in miami with slings. Shooting a bunch of 12" hogs would be pretty easy even here. However long term it won't effectively reduce the number of fish killed. The pressure from the number of divers and number of fish being taken is the key. Even in the bahamas fishing isn't what it was 20 years ago and it has always been sling/polespear only.

Quote from redrider

What do people have against spearing?

As I work at a dive shop, this conversation is brought up nearly every day. I was speaking with an FWC officer the other day and her explanation was this. "while spearfisherman make up a relatively small portion of those taking fish, they are responsible for the majority of violations and poaching" I have no idea of the credibility of this statement but regardless of its accuracy, this is a terrible perception of our community.

I'm all for smaller bag limits, closed seasons, and increased sizes but sling/gun is silly. Anyone who has been to the Bahamas knows that a sling/polespear can be just as effective as a gun. The only ways to have more fish is to kill fewer fish or allow more fish to reproduce. Either way the impact of recreational fisherman (spearos included) pales in comparison to the numbers harvested by the commercial guys.