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Went bugging today on a shoredive... viz was hazy. current wasn't bad. water's chilly... I wore my 1.5mm Mako and it was very comfy. bugs were plentyful and we actually couldn't fit anymore lobster in our 5gal bucket so we called it a day.

lots of snakehead i see....

For drilling the shafts you will more than likely have to take it to a machine shop or a buddy with a drill press. Its really hard to drill those high carbon shafts without a press. It may be possible if you have a vise to hold the shaft and a good centerpunch to start it off, but I've never tried it without a press. Also if you have it done by a shop get the hole edges tapered so it won't be abrasive on the mono loop.

Some of you may have seen this already, but I was asked to bring it over here. I’ve added a couple other small points and did a little organizing so hopefully its more coherent.

Someone had been asking some basic questions about slings and I ended up taking about an hour and typing up a bunch of info on slings vs polespears that I have compiled from years of using them in the Bahamas. Please let me know what you guys think...

Shafts
The most important difference between sling shafts and gun shafts is the size and placement of the flopper. On gun shafts the flopper is larger and set further back from the tip to account for the increased power generated from a gun. Typically sling shafts (and polespear floppers for that matter) will have the flopper anywhere from 1-2" back from the tip. This allows it to deploy with a less powerful shot that has less penetration.

In my opinion the RA sling shafts are the best because of the floppers and tri cut tip. The floppers are very strong and tuned for the best holding (somewhere around 60 degrees if remember correctly). There are other shafts out there made from from spring steel which are a little more bend resistant but from what I have seen usually have weak or not properly tuned floppers and pencil points. The reason I prefer tri cut tips is that I believe they provide better penetration through their cutting action rather than simply pushing through like a pencil point.

Range, Power, and Accuracy
In my opinion you can achieve much greater range with a sling than a polespear. The polespear is limited in range to the length of the pole, whereas slings are only limited by the length of the band and amount of stretch one's arms can generate. With a sling you can also use a different length or diameter spear depending on the situation to change your range and power. Smaller diameter spears will give you increased range and speed, which reduces drop and increases accuracy, however you will sacrifice some on stopping power. Thick diameter spears will give you more stopping power and shaft drop but less speed and range.

Loading
Polespears do have the advantage of reloading quicker, however slings can be reloaded and refired underwater relatively quickly with some practice. For slings one other advantage I see is that you don't have to pull back the rubber and exert energy until just before you want to shoot something. This also allows you to hold the sling with less aggressive body posture, luring the fish in until the last second. Polespears you really need to have cocked before you decide you want to shoot something because of longer loading loading time and longer length. This burns up extra oxygen on the dive and makes it harder to track and swing in the water using one hand.

To load a sling, the spear notch is drawn straight back while simultaneously pushing the hand on the handle forward, extending the rubber to the maximum length your arms will allow. I am right handed and use my right hand to hold the notch and left on the handle. For lining up where the shaft is going you basically turn your head to look straight down the arm that is holding the handle.

When hunting in holes and you have your head stuck up in there looking for the fish you can easily load the sling one handed by placing your dominant hand at the back of the sling handle around the shaft (this is with spear already notched) and using a rock to push up against to load the sling. In order to hold it cocked like this you must make a fist around the shaft in order to hold it from sliding. Then you simply aim it like a pole spear or my personal favorite, the pool cue shot, and release.

Floatlines
As for attaching a line to the sling, this can be done. Usually it will require drilling of the shaft since most sling shafts don't come drilled. There are many different ways to rig this. A hole can be made at the rear of the shaft with shooting line run up and out of the spear hole in the sling handle. This may require that the crimp or knot be made past the point of full stretch so that it will not get hung up when exiting the handle. The other option is to drill the hole past the point of full stretch and have the shooting line not threaded through the handle. You want to use a light line so there is minimal drag and it can be anchored to the sling or setup to a floatline.

Shooting
A sling not rigged with a shooting line would me more ideal for shooting fish on the bottom or in holes. For this case the shot angle becomes important. You need to be shooting from above and behind the target so that when you hit the fish and he tries to swim away he is only going to be pushing against the flopper. Also the weight of the shaft above the fish will put some pressure on it and aid in tiring it out.

Not every fish has to be stoned... I got this 60lb grouper by putting one shaft through the gill plate, which only pissed it off, and then following it up with another just behind the first on the next dive. With a little bit of hurting and the drag of the two shafts he stalled for just a moment after the second shaft hit him and I bear hugged him and brought him to the surface.

Don't mistake my praise of slings for being a put down of polespears. Polespears definitely have their own niche. For my type of diving and in my opinion polespears are most effective for free swimming fish off the bottom and smaller reef fish. I also like to carry a very short (3-4') polespear for extracting holed up fish. Often times fish will get up inside a hole where long polespears and sling shafts just can't contort to get a shot off, that's when the stubby comes out. One other advantage for slings on reef fish is the risk of bending a shaft. I'd much rather bend a $28 shaft on a nice fish than risk ruining an expensive polespear. On way to avoid this with polespears is to use a slip tip. While this will avoid damaging pole spear itself you still run the risk of damaging the slip tip when hunting fish on the reef. I’ve also found that holed up fish can be sometimes harder to extract when attached to a slip tip rather than a flopper, due to the additional leverage that can be gained by having a solid shaft attached to the fish.

Sling Choice
In my opinion the style of sling with the perpendicular handle aren't very good. It does seem like it would be easier to draw back and handle but what it ends up doing is putting your supporting hand perpendicular to the direction the shaft is traveling. When the rubber is released this will cause a torque around that point causing the spear to be deflected by the resulting movement of the hand on that handle.

I like just a simple teak handle with a brass notch.

I've always loved the ocean, and can't say enough about fishing, but I have come to the conclusion that I've needed more of a challenge to put dinner in the plate.

I was at Bahia de Los Angeles Baja Sur, 3 weeks ago, using my brand new JBL spear gun (smallest one they make) hahahah big enough to get dinner and did some free diving.

Before my two back surgeries I used to have a JBL 38 special which I sued while diving in Ensenada (about 8 years ago, only saved the weights and diving float) and that one was very efficient.

Once I used the small spear gun again 3 weeks ago I was hooked, so last weekend I went and bought a 7mm suit a brand new 38 special bboouuuuyaaaa !!!! and have been doing my homework and exercises to star and free dive/spearfish in the San Diego border area down to Ensenada.

So I guess I would be a nu-vie again as I have lost most of my skills.

Anyone in the Baja area that needs a partner please let me know, can also do San Diego .

Quote from mrmike

i use a tickle stick and net, if you kind of play with their antennas they will come out a bit to see whats going on, slip the net behind them and smack them in the head they will shoot back into the net. OR reach in grab on tight and shake semi-violently, the jarring motion allows you to work them out of even some pretty tight holes.

The grab and shake doesn't work alot of the times. I mean if you can get ahold of the farthest back part of the antennae then you're good, but getting that part is the hard part

Quote from Dan

Well done Ben.

Yeah I'd like to see that lobster spot too LB. I love using the snare, mine is very simple, an aluminum tickle stick with a mono loop. I think I'm good with it, the trick is finding the lobster.

Yea I use one with weed whacker cable and a simple crimp and loop. It works really really well.

lol dude... we gotta go sometime and I'll teach you. I'd love to go to that spot u told me about and see that many bugs in once place

went out today out to dania area. Strictly a bugging trip. Out there at 8, back by 11. 13 bugs. other pics are from a trip I took to marathon earlier this month. Enjoy!

That blue camo is simply insane! I love it.

Phil, what am I looking at on this handle?

Hau's gun has a different muzzle, though . . .

Very glad to have you here Phil.

I think that Steve summed it up. Delrin is strong, and finishes well, but it doesn't stretch at all. So I have learned to use it in applications that are in compression (like muzzles) and to avoid stress concentrations like sharp corners that can initiate cracks. For example, where my muzzles are necked down to insert into the barrel, I machine a radius to avoid a sharp corner. Likewise, it works fine for shapelock handle frames, which have a very large radius inside the grip area, but I do not use it for the AR-15 style because sharp corners are unavoidable. For cosmetic applications like pushrod covers and such, it works great.

No material is perfect. Part of our never ending education is learning which ones work in which applications, and with what critical limitations.

I have played with UHMW Polyethelene. Crazy tough impact strength, but almost impossible to get an attractive finish on a part that requires multiple machining operations. I'll have to play with some HD (High Density) polyethylene and see how it cuts.

Judah, I think that may be a rest tab or a tab for hole shots. If you look closely, you can pull the band back all the way to the last notch and thats right above the handle.

really hard to read. Might be just me, or sthg, but their english is really broken up and its hard to understand the point when trying to get through the incredible amount of info!

That's been quite some time ago, so I can't be certain. The way I do it now, is to drill the hole for the spike about 7-8 thousandths undersized for a press fit. Then I counterbore the beginning of the hole to 9/32" diameter, so that there is no stress due to the interference fit right there at the beginning of the hole where the edge is thin (underneath). But I don't remember if I was doing it that way in the beginning. It may have been press fit all the way, with no counterbore.

Hau - I have never seen Delrin or Nylon available in clear, though Polycarbonate material is available. However, it won't stay clear after I machine it. The machining, even if it feels smooth, will leave microscopic scratches that leave the surface opaque. The only way to get it clear would be an extremely fine polishing, which I can't do. Most clear materials are cast, which avoids the scratches.

Lunkerbuster - I'll hook you up with a replacement the next time I do a batch of muzzles. If Hau's white muzzle is holding up, then I think maybe the crack might be due to a defect, rather than an inherent difference with the white material. Just let me know what color you want.

On a side note, how did you guys find the white vs. black muzzle comparison? Any clear favorite?

Hmmm. It might be that the white Delrin has less UV resistance. Or it could be completely unrelated to the color. For example, maybe there was an undetected manufacturing defect when I drilled the hole, or inserted the spike. Do you still have your black one?

they're not mullet is what I was seeing. large schools of pilchards was what I was seeing close to shore. Mullet may be deeper where hau was. Im going to try and get out tomorrow, i'm drying out and can't stand this anymore!

Went to the beach today with some friends, water was definitely colder. Maybe it was all this rain?

But as Hau said, viz was mad shitty, saw lots of bait! Seems like the spearing is going to be getting better! I'm heading out tuesday. I really hope that its going to be separable.