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Upper Gulfcoast This is the area for spearfishermen in Panama City, Destin/Ft. Walton, Pensacola, Alabama, Miss., and Louisiana.

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Old 07-10-2005, 05:55 PM   #16
tigerjustice
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

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Originally Posted by chasintail
There is a hole at the bottom of the handle of your biller.Make a loop of cable thru this hole.Clip your float line to that.The gun will be attached if you need to let go of it.The hawaiian break away is another method.Either way will take some getting used to.The line release on you biller is on the handle so the float line will get in the way.You could drill a hole in the loading stock and make a loop.This would get the float line away from the handle.PM Bill McIntrye,he has some good pics of rigging.Or if you read this post some Bill.

OK I see what you're saying, seems though that such a setup would be good for open water but not the rigs? I was told for the rigs, at least another option was, to use that same hole on the butt of my gun to simply attach a 5' piece of rope and then if needed due to the size/strength of the fish, just tie it off onto the rig structure and let the fish tire itself out...Are we on the same page here?, because I like that setup..seems the float system can get real messy but maybe it just takes getting used to
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:00 PM   #17
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

I assumed you were freediving?
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:05 PM   #18
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

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I assumed you were freediving?
OH..Hell NO..I can't hold my breath in the shower much less the open ocean....sorry for the confusion chasintail
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:08 PM   #19
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

Got ya.The riding rig would work well.Use two wrap of SS cable and the 5ft rope.IF ya gettin ya ass whiped tie him off!
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:08 PM   #20
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

I'm not sure I followed Nick and I don't know where the line release is on a Biller, but I think he is asking me for photos of the Hawaiian line release set up.

You cut your shooting line to a length so that the loop in the rear end is a few inches from the line release. Then stretch a loop of bungee from the shooting line to the line release and attach your float line to the loop in the shooting line. When you pull the trigger, the shooting line is released and the fish is connected directly to your float line while you get to keep the gun in your hands without it being in the chain. Here are before-release and after-release photos. Don't let the fancy bungee thing confuse the issue. You can simply tie a loop of bungee to the rear of the shooting line using a square knot or hog rings.
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:12 PM   #21
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

Thanks Bill,
That should help LSU out.Tiger,you threw me off asking rigging questions on a freedive thread.
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:17 PM   #22
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

That is a sweet getup..great idea for hunting the weedlines for dolphin or tuna, I guess I could just keep two different lines with me..thanks for the pics..hey chasin, what type of line for the float line do you use and what type of float?
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:18 PM   #23
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

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Thanks Bill,
That should help LSU out.Tiger,you threw me off asking rigging questions on a freedive thread.
Sorry Bro for the threadjacking..just really F@!*ing bored and wish I were killing something now..my bad
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:21 PM   #24
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

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Originally Posted by chasintail
LSU,
How many shafts do you have?The float line set up I made cost me $20 bucks so don't worry about that.If money is an issue I can show you a cheap way to rig the gun for both.
Money isn't an issue; I guess what I was really wondering is if is easy to have the same gun for freediving and for scuba spearing on the rigs. The float line sounds cool, but I like to swim around a lot in the rigs and it seems like it would get tangled up too easy, particularly in high seas and strong currents. That makes me think that a reel is a good idea..however, what do you do with your gun to keep tension on the fish preventing him from going deeper while you go down and try to free him up? do you take the gun to the boat and swim down hands free?
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:23 PM   #25
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

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Money isn't an issue; I guess what I was really wondering is if is easy to have the same gun for freediving and for scuba spearing on the rigs. The float line sounds cool, but I like to swim around a lot in the rigs and it seems like it would get tangled up too easy, particularly in high seas and strong currents. That makes me think that a reel is a good idea..however, what do you do with your gun to keep tension on the fish preventing him from going deeper while you go down and try to free him up? do you take the gun to the boat and swim down hands free?
LSU, see my earlier post about taking a 5-6' line and using it to tie off in case you need to..My Biller works good for that because the butt of my gune is hollow so I can stuff it in there till needed..I have a small carrib clip on the end to pull it out and hook it.
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:32 PM   #26
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

And here is the alternative that Nick mentioned. There is a loop of mono or cable through a hole in the butt, and the float line is clipped to the loop. With this method your shooting line would be attached to the gun, and the gun would be pulled around between the shooting line and float line.

If you wonder why the loop suddenly appeared on that gun and was not there in the previous photos, I just got the gun Thursday night and forgot to put the loop on before going diving Friday and Saturday. I never attach a float line to the butt loop, but I do throw clip lines over the side so that I can attach the guns to them and not have them in my hands while I go off or on to the swimstep.
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:40 PM   #27
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

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Originally Posted by LSUBigL
Money isn't an issue; I guess what I was really wondering is if is easy to have the same gun for freediving and for scuba spearing on the rigs. The float line sounds cool, but I like to swim around a lot in the rigs and it seems like it would get tangled up too easy, particularly in high seas and strong currents. That makes me think that a reel is a good idea..however, what do you do with your gun to keep tension on the fish preventing him from going deeper while you go down and try to free him up? do you take the gun to the boat and swim down hands free?
Float lines are a PITA!I don't like to use them for rig hunting.When hunting with a reel shoot the fish,grab your line and swim up and out of the rig.Fight your fish from the surface and try to keep his ass away from the rig.Don't worry about the gun.Let it go,just hang on to the line.The gun will float and is still attached by the reel.If the fish is about to drown you hang on to a leg.Once it tangles us the reel line to pull yourself down.Arms use less energy than legs so try not to kick.Before you try to untangle a fish brain it.Sometimes its easier to unclip your shooting line from the reel and untangle without the weight of the shaft and cable.
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:41 PM   #28
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

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Originally Posted by LSUBigL
That makes me think that a reel is a good idea..however, what do you do with your gun to keep tension on the fish preventing him from going deeper while you go down and try to free him up? do you take the gun to the boat and swim down hands free?
We have that same issue out here with fish tied up in the kelp. If I leave the gun floating, will he just take more line when I dive to free him up?

In general, I find that its not a problem since the fish is so tied up that it can't take any more line out. After all, you wouldn't be diving to free him if he were loose and could be pulled up. However, remember to put your reel in freespool before you dive. Otherwise, while you bring the fish up one side of the cross member, you will be pulling your gun down the other side.

I know a guy who shot a big fish that tangled up in the kelp in a stiff current that had the kelp bent over 20 feet below the surface. He found the fish, brained it, and pulled it up. But he had left his reel locked, so about the time he reached the surface, the gun had been pulled deep into the kelp and the fish was jerked from his hands. He was unable to find either the fish or the gun in that current and had to leave both of them. The next day he returned with a tank and found his fish dead on the bottom without a seal or shark bite in it. Then he followed the line up into the kelp and found his gun all tangled there.

And of course the best option is to have your buddy on the surface holding the gun while you dive on the fish.
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Old 07-10-2005, 06:48 PM   #29
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

Bill, you guys are nuts diving in that Kelp...I am concerned enough about bulls and tigers which at least I can handle, but GREAT WHITE"s...no spank you..you got some big family jewels there buddy..more power to ya
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Old 07-10-2005, 07:03 PM   #30
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Re: Texas Rig Freediving

I think most of us have the illusion that we are safe as long as we stay in the kelp. I don't think its true, but whatever works.

But we were just discussing the trade-offs on the way to the islands the other day. You guys have so many of those bulls, tigers, etc and they are really dangerous. While it seems like they generally give you a bit of warning, they do seem to get a lot of swimmers, if not divers.

Our great whites, on the other hand, don't bite us nearly as often, but when they do, its not as if we are likely to be able to fight them off or even see them coming.

All this leads me to a rather fatalistic attitude. At least my odds of encountering one are low, and there isn't much I can do about it anyway, so I try not to think about it. It probably beats the shit out of dying of prostate cancer.
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