Wednesday, September 23, 2009
New Gun in Town
I made the post below on spearboard.com in response to a thread about spearguns. I'm posting it here because I thought some of you may be interested.
I have been messing with Mako spearguns for about 6 months now. I hunt N. Gulf of Mex. out of Panama City all on scuba and all line shaft. Mostly on artificial reefs 80-110', with lots of steel so I shoot 1/16" SS cable. Vis here is normally 20-30', this summer however has been exceptional with 50'+. Prior to Mako I was shooting JBL's, mostly a 450XHD and my "small gun" was the gulf magnum. Here we shoot a lot of cudas, AJs and Cobia for the big fish. I don't include grouper in big fish because they don't do anything when you shoot them but the grouper dance or try to hole up. I offer this info because I think it is important to know what fish and under what conditions a gun is being evaluated.
I got a Mako Predator Pro 100 cm in February after reading the hype about rail guns and Mako on Spearboard. I thought I would use it as a little reef (limestone ledges) gun. I soon found out that the gun was much more effective at handling "big" fish than I thought it would be. I didn't expect the single flopper to hold a big cudas without ripping out but it does. I expected the tiny 7mm shaft to bend like a pretzel when a mis-hit AJ wrapped around a steel girder, it didn't. I am embarrassed to say I lost the 100cm gun to a big cuda. I usually shoot medium size cudas for the table (15-20#), but this was for a local tournament and the cuda was 30+. I shot it through the gill plates and I didn't hang on tight enough when she hit the end of the string. It actually stung my fingers when the gun popped out of my hand, but not nearly as bad as it stung my ego. It had been a good gun for me after I learned to shoot it. I replaced that gun with a Mako Iconic 130cm. I thought it to be a little better gun than the Predator Pro with just beefier components. The problem was I went too far on the length for my style of hunting. It shot well but I just couldn't track fish with that long gun. I talked to Dano, the owner of Mako Spearguns and told him I wanted him to cut it down to a 110cm. He agreed to do that so I sent him the gun. When Dano agrees to do something for you, stand back....you are going to get more than you bargained for. He sent me back, not my old gun cut down, but a new model Oceanic 110cm with what I think is a better designed handle, because it has a little more rake to it and it helps me point it flat. The trigger is good enough to be on my .308 Sako and breaks like a glass rod. The muzzle is a design that has SS ears to loop the shooting line under which holds the shaft in the open muzzle. For me the 110 is just the right length for a balance of range, power and handling. Today was my first time out with the Oceanic and I shot a decent cuda but didn't find any other "big" fish so I decided to shoot Spanish mackerel because they were plentiful and offer a challenging shot. I got 5 out of 7 with one clean miss and one that pulled off from a too high shot. I'm sticking with Mako.
Duncan, Kate and I went out Tuesday for a final dive before PCS to AZ for Duncan. It was my second outing for the Mako Oceanic 110cm and it works for me. Duncan shoots a Predator Pro 90cm now. He plans to make it a fresh water gun.
I got a Cobia on the 2nd dive. The shot on the cobia was a little forward of where I intended to hit and it went in through the gill slit on the L and exited the cheek on the R. Then the fight was on with me trying to chase him around the steel girders before he could wrap up. Not surprisingly he was faster than me and really started leaning on that shaft, I could see it bending at pretty severe angles as I tried to get a grip on his gills. When I got him on the stringer and things were under control I was really amazed that the shaft was still straight. The 7.5mm shaft can really take some punishment, I think the 3/8 shaft of my JBL would have been severely damaged under the same conditions.
I told Duncan I wished he could have gotten the Cobia, it being his last dive and all. He eased my conscience by telling me he did see it earlier in the dive and missed the shot. He will return to even the match I'm sure.
I have been messing with Mako spearguns for about 6 months now. I hunt N. Gulf of Mex. out of Panama City all on scuba and all line shaft. Mostly on artificial reefs 80-110', with lots of steel so I shoot 1/16" SS cable. Vis here is normally 20-30', this summer however has been exceptional with 50'+. Prior to Mako I was shooting JBL's, mostly a 450XHD and my "small gun" was the gulf magnum. Here we shoot a lot of cudas, AJs and Cobia for the big fish. I don't include grouper in big fish because they don't do anything when you shoot them but the grouper dance or try to hole up. I offer this info because I think it is important to know what fish and under what conditions a gun is being evaluated.
I got a Mako Predator Pro 100 cm in February after reading the hype about rail guns and Mako on Spearboard. I thought I would use it as a little reef (limestone ledges) gun. I soon found out that the gun was much more effective at handling "big" fish than I thought it would be. I didn't expect the single flopper to hold a big cudas without ripping out but it does. I expected the tiny 7mm shaft to bend like a pretzel when a mis-hit AJ wrapped around a steel girder, it didn't. I am embarrassed to say I lost the 100cm gun to a big cuda. I usually shoot medium size cudas for the table (15-20#), but this was for a local tournament and the cuda was 30+. I shot it through the gill plates and I didn't hang on tight enough when she hit the end of the string. It actually stung my fingers when the gun popped out of my hand, but not nearly as bad as it stung my ego. It had been a good gun for me after I learned to shoot it. I replaced that gun with a Mako Iconic 130cm. I thought it to be a little better gun than the Predator Pro with just beefier components. The problem was I went too far on the length for my style of hunting. It shot well but I just couldn't track fish with that long gun. I talked to Dano, the owner of Mako Spearguns and told him I wanted him to cut it down to a 110cm. He agreed to do that so I sent him the gun. When Dano agrees to do something for you, stand back....you are going to get more than you bargained for. He sent me back, not my old gun cut down, but a new model Oceanic 110cm with what I think is a better designed handle, because it has a little more rake to it and it helps me point it flat. The trigger is good enough to be on my .308 Sako and breaks like a glass rod. The muzzle is a design that has SS ears to loop the shooting line under which holds the shaft in the open muzzle. For me the 110 is just the right length for a balance of range, power and handling. Today was my first time out with the Oceanic and I shot a decent cuda but didn't find any other "big" fish so I decided to shoot Spanish mackerel because they were plentiful and offer a challenging shot. I got 5 out of 7 with one clean miss and one that pulled off from a too high shot. I'm sticking with Mako.
Duncan, Kate and I went out Tuesday for a final dive before PCS to AZ for Duncan. It was my second outing for the Mako Oceanic 110cm and it works for me. Duncan shoots a Predator Pro 90cm now. He plans to make it a fresh water gun.
I got a Cobia on the 2nd dive. The shot on the cobia was a little forward of where I intended to hit and it went in through the gill slit on the L and exited the cheek on the R. Then the fight was on with me trying to chase him around the steel girders before he could wrap up. Not surprisingly he was faster than me and really started leaning on that shaft, I could see it bending at pretty severe angles as I tried to get a grip on his gills. When I got him on the stringer and things were under control I was really amazed that the shaft was still straight. The 7.5mm shaft can really take some punishment, I think the 3/8 shaft of my JBL would have been severely damaged under the same conditions.
I told Duncan I wished he could have gotten the Cobia, it being his last dive and all. He eased my conscience by telling me he did see it earlier in the dive and missed the shot. He will return to even the match I'm sure.
