Wheeew that one was close....

Looks like it missed us...but jeeeeez is it wet over here- I know, been outa the loop as of late, but all for good reason....stay tuned

Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone

http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com

Speargun Line Retainer Bungie

I often get guys asking me how I make my speargun bungies, also known as muzzle bungies, shock bungies, and/or just plain "bungies". Perhaps my speargun bungies draw some attention due to the lack of any type swivel on them, or maybe its just they look a bit too simple (read not technical). Anywayyyyys hear in Miami spearfishermen tend to do quite a bit of improvising as do our European spearo friends so here is my version of the muzzle bungie.

BUT before I jam the pictorial let me enlighten thee on my take of the shock bungie. First, of all names given to this device "shock" is the least acceptable in my book, why??? cause in most cases by the time your spearfishing shaft reaches the end of the wraps it hardly has any more smack, penetration, power, force....well you get it. Second, ideally the less you have going on between your speargun, line, and spearfishing shaft, the less chance of something going wrong...so yeah if you can make do without a spear gun bungie then go for it..."Less is more"...true that! And yes their are other type of spearfishing "line retention" methods that at one point or another I'll be blogging on with a saweeet pictorial for the picture happy spearos. Third, if you insist on a bungie then try to make/buy one as streamlined as you can and fasten it to your line anchor...alot of spearos are always tweeking their spear guns, for optimal power and distance, to later have a huge piece of rubber halfway between the line and shaft. And finally the main reason why you should consider a bungie is to keep your line tight to the stock, this both lessens tangles and more importantly prevents it from getting caught to your self or bottom structure-that said a small, swiveless, bungie should suffice... and this is my take on the spearfishing muzzle bungie

Give yourself ample line to work with- for a 3" rubber I use about 15" of line, as you can always cut the excess. Double up the spectra (dyneema) spearfishing line (at this point make the call whether you want to use a swivel or not if you do I'd recommend these http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_8555____SearchResults

and make



a simple overhand knot. Alot of the Miami guys I go spearfishing with think I'm a knot guru, but truth be said I'm knot, er, um I mean I'm not, I just simply dip over to this site http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

and whalah!

OK still with me? This next step is vital, after your knot get some "super glue" you know, the strong smelling watery type glue that sticks your fingers together...yeah yeah that one....and add a few drops to your knot, this little step goes a long way, as it virtually welds your dyneema spearfishing line on to itself- In fact, I put a few drops of super glue on EVERY knot I tie thats gonna see water

ok so now you got your first knot done and you proceed to the next knot which is on the other end of your line, here you do the exact same function as above and you nip off the excess line here is a picture of your spearfishing bungie half way through the process

EDIT ok heres a better pic. So now you have your 2 loops and next you attach some whipping line (also called rigging twine) to one of the loops this will ease running your dyneema spearfishing line thru the rubber tube in the next step

Moving right along, next you get some liquid soap and dip your spectra line in it this eases the entire process, as a close spearo friend says "lubrication, rules the nation". You then proceed to thread the whipping line (which is waxed allowing you to straighten it out) through the rubber tube and pull the spectra spearfishing line through to the other side....wondering where to get that whipping line....here you go compadre http://www.meltontackle.com/products/heavy-duty-waxed-rigging-thread.html

once thats done you set up a couple of constrictor knots, here's another another cool site for the Miami spearo or for that matter any other spearfishing person that would like to be up to date on the best knots for spearfishing

http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

Pull the rubber tubing over one end of the dyneema loop knot and constrict it. I use two needle nose pliers for maximum torque, same goes when I tie my bands



You'll have some rigging twine left over you can do another constrictor or just nip off the excess

And here you have it...neat and purdy like, next you move on to the other side of your dyneema loop. Here it gets just a tad bit tricky ideally you'd like a third hand to help out, as in this way its one simple fluid move, but if a third ain't happening then just proceed without. First slip your second constrictor knot over the rubber tube and let it hang loosely there (in the picture on the bottom left you can't see it but its there on the bottom half),

next pull the rubber tube this allows the spectra line to "creep" into the tube, and generally stays well within it up to where the knot is. To get the knot in get those needle nose pliers, pinch the knot with them and cram them in, the dish soap we aid in this step

Slip your constrictor knot over the tube and constrict away...............then nip the excess, as so neatly, shown above. So their you have it a spearfishing bungie worthy of many an outing in any spearfishing adventure near or far!



Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone

http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/

New world Record cobia

A huge cobia was shot spearfishing off Espírito Santo, southeastern part of Brazil. I don't have to many details on the fish, but its said to be at or around 140#, if so, that torqued the current WR by over 30#'s

I'll keep you spearo's posted as I get word

Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/

A Cold window opened, today.

Headed out for some Runnin'&Gunnin' today. My sources said it was gonna be a good day spearfishing so I headed outa Goverment Cut swung North and headed to some Miami spearfishing numbers that never fail! Weather was nice and cold as....well you know. Seas where less than 2', viz was hazy in some spots , but mostly top to bottom down to 60'...seems fish are still shallow, which is good for spearfishing, hopefully the water will warm up as it was close to unbearable in my 3mil...but I got my mammalian reflect kickin' in fast when that icy water hit my face. Glad to see Miami still has its share of fish still wating to be hunted. Shot a trio of mutton snapper to 20" a few hogs in the high teens and a godzilla mango, a hair under 24"...some sashimi mac's rounded the bunch.



Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/

The $$$ Fish

GOOOOOOOD riddance 2009 has come to an end! Aside from some great spearfishing not much else can be said for 2009.....now 2010 seems like its gonna be a winner!!!!!!!

Quite a few fellow spearo's have been trying to get a hold of me for sometime....good news is yes I'm still kickin (my fins), bad news is not as much in the water as on land. I'll hopefully be spearfishing a bit more now that I've added a few more employees to my team... I'll have a few Miami spearfishing reports soon, as well as a few evaluations on new spearfishing gear as well as a few new carbon spearguns, ooops I mean Miami-made carbon spearguns. I hope to provide my readers with up-to-date news on Spearfishing Florida and surrounding waters, as well as the latest spearfishing rules and regulations. OK that being said....

How would you like to shoot yourself a $177k fish? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34711137/ns/business-world_business?GT1=43001
A 500# Bluefin tuna was caught off of Japans northern coast, auctioned off for a startling $177,000....imaging how many of my custom carbon fiber spearguns you can by with that! Quite a few articles have popped up on the www. regarding Bluefin Tuna and the crazy $$$ a fish like that fetches, food for thought in this depressing economy. Imagine running into a school of bluefin like this http://www.savethebluefin.com/profiles/blogs/aerial-video-of-big-bluefin on your next bluewater spearfishing expedition.

What a majestic fish, although it fetches a big chunk of ka-ching bluefin tuna are not exactly targeted be bluewater spearfisherman, in general as much as its close brother the yellowfin tuna. The spearfishing gear necessary to spear a fish like this is not only specialized, but downright tough as these fish can put up 2-3 hours worth of blood, sweat and tears http://vimeo.com/2311555. Speaking of which looks like the bluefin is on a decline- thanks to commercial overfishing http://www.bigmarinefish.com/bluefin.html.

Speaking of Bluewater spearfishing I'll soon post some quick tips and pointers on gear an methods for bluewater hunting, look for them soon.



Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/

Beauty and the Beast

OK I know what youz all are asking, Why am I here blogging with this pristine of a spearfishing day? Right? Well it has to do with the factors that have come together all at once. I will explain and at the same time perhaps enlighten you on a few things to register in the tip tank.

Sun, Rain and Moon- and how it will affect a spearfishing day.

SUN: aka Beauty....ahhh nothing like a sunny day to create that transperancy at depth, as well as warm up the water.

RAIN: aka Beast...Lately its been raining pretty much daily- rain will do a few things for one it'll change the salinity of the water, and second alot of it will got washed off the streets and dumped in the sea.


MOON: although presently a waning gibbous (about 72% full) it was pretty much full on, in all its glowing glory, not to bad if your romancing, but the current gets ripping when the moon be full.

Alright so what does all this info regarding the sun, rain, and the moon have to do with spearfishing? When its been raining alot the waters salinity changes when combined with lots of sun you get an algea bloom so the water gets particulated & greenish and the viz diminishes substantially, on a good note more baitfish will be abounding. The moon will cause the tide to swing stronger on both ends so alot of rain wash off will be coming in and out of the bay, also influencing the viz, plus not to mention make a spearfishing dive quite intense. So now you got bad viz and strong current and warm water....this means looking for fish in 50+feet (warm water=more depth), but since viz is shabby you'll have to hunt at mid depth or the bottom, add the ripping current to the mix and you got the "work for each fish" factor into play.

Ok, Ok, I know better to be in the water shootin fish than blogging....I'm outa here ;)


Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/

Another Enclosed Track Euro Build

Well, aside from not posting in forever...I've thankfully been busy tying some loose ends on the up and coming SettingSteel SpearGear site and finishing up some more Custom made Euro Enclosed track spearguns. This latest custom speargun design was also tweeked to the max! What we have is a Basswood core (think balsawood) all wrapped in carbon fiber, with a padauk wood triad-shaped sides and padauk/graphite enclosed track. With the very ergo Cressi Geronimo handle/trig mech. This gun like its early precessors also has the beautiful cuttlefish design that helps it track incredibly fast, and the main body of wood (basswood) keep it light and bouyant. As in the other designs I kept the bands as high as possible to alleviate recoil...this results in the famous "recoilessness" of a euro, while adding in an enclosed track also aids immensely in the prevention of shaft whip due to overpowering the gun. A couple of readers have asked why a full on carbon fiber wrap as opposed to just the carbon belly of the other guns? Mainly because the bulk of the gun is made of basswood a very light wood,and the guns incredibly tight dimensions (less than a 3/4' high and 3/4" wide)were needed in order to prevent the gun from bending hence the full on carbon wrap was essential. As in the other builds this gun also has an integrated shark pic/line retainer.










Here are some specs

Gun is 115cm (45")tip -butt2.5cm (1") high, and tapers from 2cm (3/4") to 4cm (1 3/4")

band to first fin 90cm (36") -5/8 20"band to second fin 100cm (39") -5/16 21"made this gun with a basswood,cumaru core, and padaukits triad shaped (like the other build), with a graphite poured enclosed track, CF muzzle and built in line retainer/shark pic








We tried this Enclosed track Euro gun on a few outings and this speargun is amazing! You can't even see the arrow peeling off the track; its got some amazing pinpoint accuracy thanks to the Euro design and enclosed track. This speargun feels like a feather in the water and maneuvers better than a tube railgun, thanks to the double tapered cuttlefish design. This is the fourth of this generation and the guys I've built them for have been stoked with the guns performance, hopefully their will be more to come!

Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/