How to lose a speargun

[renepotvin]

n a windy day of the first week of January (in Baja, three days ago), I dove for cabrillas on a dropoff. I saw some groupers but since I shot a few in the last week, I was not interested in anything smaller than a world record (31 pound for leopard grouper). It was nice to see all those fish anyway. I don’t take their presence for granted anymore; not after many weeks of very slow activity.

The owner of Offshore Lifestyle, which had just saluted me from his boat while I was in the water on the grouper spot, had taken wahoos the day before, so I decided to go checkout a wahoo spot a few kilometers away.

The visibility was absolutely terrible. I could not see the bottom before almost touching it. I was diving on top of rocks at 25 meters. I’m sure I could have shot groupers there, but that was not my objective. I scanned the upper water column.

On my second dive I shot a 25ish pound yellowtail right in the head. Not a wahoo, so I dragged it to the kayak and headed back. This time I shot an amerjack… not a wahoo…. So I tied that one off and tried a third time. The sun was going down.

This time, I waited a little longer on the bottom, but sure enough a shape appeared in the muck. It was another yellowtail. I took the shot. I stoned it dead. The shaft continued its trajectory and sank somewhere in the muck. I headed back to the surface, only to be stopped. The shaft barb had caught on something. No problem, I have a reel! Or so I thought...



I pulled a little harder, the reel was not doing its thing. Gulp. I was 15 meters from the surface. The visibility was so bad that I knew I would not find my gun if I let go. I checked my reel… the line was entangled around the handle! I tried to undo it. I was still good on air. The knot was hopeless. I couldn’t go back down to see what was up with the shaft.

Just as I prepared to let go of my favorite gun, the shaft freed itself! I made it to the surface with the gun! I may get a belt reel… I never thought of cutting the reel line…

[SEATUX]

Now that you have had that experience...hopefully you will be mentally prepared to cut the line in the future, if it happens again. This is NOT a criticism...I always dive solo and try to learn from not only my experiences, but from others as well.

[renepotvin]

I may have gone that way eventually. It simply did not occur to me at the time. and then the shaft let go.

It would be nice to have a way of simply letting go of the entire reel. Detaching a reel would also be nice for those times I have my shaft stuck in a hole.

[popgun pete]

10 meters of line, a shaft and a fish were at stake, but pop your reel and you lose all that, the rest of the line and the reel as well. Unless the reel is an independent floater.

[sacha58]

in dirty, deep water ...float and floatline are a good option.

[jfjf]

Thanks for the reminder! Nice fish!

[MeTo]

I dive with a float and float line. Saved me a few times.

[renepotvin]

About using a bouey, I do once in a while, when I really don't think I can get away with not doing it. I hate it.

[Marco]

Been there, done that. A belt reel is a good option, but things can go wrong. I've lost a gun with reel and belt reel to an almaco jack. I have it on tape...

Nice fish though.

[florfreediver]

Hi Rene,
There is another option ie a belt reel.
I see it was just mentioned by Marco.
Also useful if you make a bad shot, get spooled on your gun reel and do not want to apply too much drag.
Although I prefer float and line, perhaps the belt reel option is worth considering?
Regards,
Mike.

[sacha58]

Another option is to carry a float with a clip to your belt, In case of need you can safely drop the belt or you can clip the line to the gun if the reel has a problem. A lot of spearos use this method in the Med, were it is mandatory and highly advisable to carry a float near you, due to boat traffic.

[renepotvin]

So I'll have a float on attached to my belt, another to my gun, as well as a belt reel!

Kidding, I only hope someone will design a small belt reel...(i mean so much smaller than a gun reel that you could actually wear it to your belt, think of the possibilities and the sales that would ensue. That would be half inch thick, 2 inches in diameter, not the cave diving monsters sold now. these would be used once every 10 years, so it would not have to be super practical/ergonomic).

[Marco]

Best belt reels I've seen are Rob Allen and Aussie. All the rest is crap IMHO.

[renepotvin]

OK I'm going to get my Fusion 360 skill out and design something. Maybe we can group design something simple. I have a DIY design in mind that would blow the old gun reel on the belt dictum.

[renepotvin]

So here it is :
This would be 2 to 2.5 inches high, very small. It would be inside a small nylon pouch/envelope to keep it from spooling out.

Something would prevent the line from coming out accidentally. The hook would be unobtrusive.

Putting the line back on the spool would be relatively easy (time consuming but you just saved your gun!).





Well, it would have to look more like this to work :