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All About Pole Spears & Slings What is it about that traditional method of the early hunter/gatherers under the water? These devices are indeed interesting and effective.

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Old 10-08-2016, 10:58 AM   #1
Brandon Sulik
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Unbeatable Polespear

I need help with what's going to be best for me.

I take trips 10-25 miles out in the Gulf ( Clearwater / Tampa ) normally 2-3 times a week. I am shooting Cobia, Grouper, Hog fish, Snapper, Mackerel, AJ's, and anything else running on the reef. I'm looking for a pole spear that will hit the 20lb groupers in a hole, and will take a beating when pulling them out, yet still agile enough to take a distance shot on the 30lb Cobia when they come up to sniff my fingers. Price is partially considered in this so other options should be listed with price. I don't want a carbon fiber pole, I really don't think it will stand up to my abusive cowboy shooting style. Looking for the best price possible for what I need. Bill Fish is out of my price range, but something similar someone might know about would be great. minimal thickness (0.5in, 12.7mm, 1.27cm)


Right now I'm looking at these:

Crist Neptune 8' @ $168
Neritic Big Blue 3/4" @ $300
Bill Fish Republic 3/4" "sniper" @ $450
Sea Stinger Thunderstick Polespear @ $325
Head Hunter Predator Pole Spear 1/2" @ $275
Maverick America Bermudian Pole Spear @ $199
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Old 10-08-2016, 11:19 AM   #2
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Re: Unbeatable Polespear

Brandon:

Please take a look at our Big Game pole spear as well. Very robust and we have a huge selection of tips and also have a great loading hook. And because I sell direct, you may save yourself a lot of $$$

Dive Safe!

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http://www.makospearguns.com/Big-Gam...r-p/mbgtps.htm

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Old 10-08-2016, 11:48 AM   #3
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Unbeatable Polespear

The spear you want doesn't exist. After using a carbon spear like the HH or seastinger you will realize how slow the big aluminum spears are...which is fine for grouper in holes or stupid hogs. Sure, guys take other fish with them but there is no comparison of speed and range. I would buy a carbon sea stinger and buy a replacement front section in the rare event you break it. Unless you are primarily shooting big fish in caves you will do better with a fast spear for snapper, mackerel, permit, etc. You will hear people talking about how fast and capable various aluminum spears are, but I would try them first for yourself so you don't fall into that trap.


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Old 10-08-2016, 01:49 PM   #4
Brandon Sulik
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Re: Unbeatable Polespear

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Originally Posted by jstiver09 View Post
The spear you want doesn't exist. After using a carbon spear like the HH or seastinger you will realize how slow the big aluminum spears are...which is fine for grouper in holes or stupid hogs. Sure, guys take other fish with them but there is no comparison of speed and range. I would buy a carbon sea stinger and buy a replacement front section in the rare event you break it. Unless you are primarily shooting big fish in caves you will do better with a fast spear for snapper, mackerel, permit, etc. You will hear people talking about how fast and capable various aluminum spears are, but I would try them first for yourself so you don't fall into that trap.


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should I wait and drop the extra money on the BILLFISH sense its carbon? I don't like carbons because they are all to thin and to flexible. I want a stiff pole I can slam into rocks yet snipe the AJ's. The problem iv seen with the carbon poles is the bigger blue water fish start spinning and the softness of the pole makes it go erratic and hard to handle and or control. a stiff pole with a slip tip the fish can just do doughnuts around the pole and it wont bend and get all torqued up.
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Old 10-08-2016, 02:08 PM   #5
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Re: Unbeatable Polespear

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Originally Posted by Brandon Sulik View Post
should I wait and drop the extra money on the BILLFISH sense its carbon? I don't like carbons because they are all to thin and to flexible. I want a stiff pole I can slam into rocks yet snipe the AJ's. The problem iv seen with the carbon poles is the bigger blue water fish start spinning and the softness of the pole makes it go erratic and hard to handle and or control. a stiff pole with a slip tip the fish can just do doughnuts around the pole and it wont bend and get all torqued up.


Not all carbon spears are the same, some are thin and super fast, some are heavier such as the riffe. The older HH predators are very thin and bendy but I think I heard the newer ones are better. The billfish is a massive spear, and have heard it is not very fast but unless I have used it, I wouldn't want to say too much. They looked pretty badass at the blue wild. I have used crist, keller, neretic, mako, and HH piledriver as far as aluminum spears go and they are all slow...some reaaally slow...but some have better features, slip tips, etc. Another SB member recommended the evolve carbon spear to me but I haven't pulled the trigger, they look nice. There are big trade offs with different types of polespears...not one is perfect. I personally have whiffed too many times with heavy aluminum spears, And would rather have something that I can actually hit a fast moving fish with and have to deal with the spear possibly being a little flimsy while trying to land it. With a slip tip it shouldn't be a big problem.


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Old 10-09-2016, 01:50 AM   #6
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Re: Unbeatable Polespear

Just my 2cents but if you want a spear that you can shoot hogs with and AJ's, set one up as a hybrid or buy two spears that are setup differently. The first will be a single flopper or slip tip, and the second will be a sliptip breakaway system for bigger fish.

I personally haven't ventured into bluewater pelagic hunting with polespears yet, but from talking to guys who have hunted and landed pelagics with spears they prefer breakaways to floats on bigger fish.

John (Linghunt) and Aaron (Crist Spears) could definitely help you answer these questions as well.

My advice to you is if they are companies that sell direct and are small scale operations, you can most likely give the owners a call and tell them what you're trying to do, and they'll point you in the right direction.
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Old 10-10-2016, 10:53 AM   #7
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Re: Unbeatable Polespear

Like other mention, no magic polespear to cover you for all conditions. Crist is solid and perfect for big fish, i havnt tried some of your other options, but will say that a not so long solid crist and a long hybrid will cover you in most scenarios, by using polespear you already know that not all the fishes are always for you
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Old 10-11-2016, 08:02 AM   #8
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Re: Unbeatable Polespear

I like my carbon Riffe (but it will eventually break if you are shooting into the rocks after big grouper for example). I'd say get a carbon fiber spear for your distance shots and an aluminum polespear for the rocks. Check out the connections on John's polespears from Linghunt. You can also pack them down to travel size which can come in handy. His prices are great as well since there is no middle hand and markup... Also, his slip-tips are bad ass
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Old 10-11-2016, 07:21 PM   #9
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Re: Unbeatable Polespear

Buy the basic JBL Gold Polespear. For $40 bucks you have a fast spear that if it breaks you won't shed a tear.
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Old 10-15-2016, 07:08 PM   #10
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Re: Unbeatable Polespear

I'll throw in my two cents in defense of aluminum spears. I've never had the chance to fish offshore, but at beach reefs and inlet spots, I've shot the following with a solid aluminum Ray Odor breakdown polespear since I started fishing last winter:

sheepshead from 12 to 18 inches
mangrove snapper from 10 to 17 inches
black mullet from 14 to 18 inches
silver mullet
barracuda up to 19 inches
gag grouper up to 24 inches
flounder up to 16 inches
black drum 16 to 21 inches

Some of those are slow fish, but I think most people would agree that snapper, at the very least, are fast. When I first started, I shot a few pompano as well under the mistaken impression they weren't illegal to spear. I think those are reasonably quick.

An aluminum spear is heavier, for sure, and maybe a little more sluggish off the line, but it can be just as fast with sufficient propulsion as a carbon spear. I think you can compensate for at least some of that sluggishness with a thicker band (I use 1/2 inch outside, 1/4 inch inside diameter) and of course a stronger grip to load it farther up. it seems like you could also compensate at least to some degree by being a good hunter, which I hope to become someday.

It stands to reason that shots that suffer most with a heavier spear are the ones where the fish is sitting right in front of your tip. All else being equal, a heavier spear takes longer to get going, and fish six inches from the spear don't have too much trouble getting out of the way in time. I don't take super close shots. I wait until the fish gets bored of looking at me and starts swimming away. I found that the heavier spear stays at speed longer and punches harder once it gets there, however.

I like aluminum because in my experience it's durable, costs a third what a carbon spear costs, and of course because of the aforementioned punch. An aluminum spear really shines on the distance shots, when it's flying fast and hard.

One of my spearing buddies uses a $300 Riffe spear, and he usually does a little better than I do, but he's been doing it for several years, so it may not be the spear. He and i (inshore at least) catch basically the same fish with both spears even if his fish are a little bigger, and I think skill has a lot more to do with catching fish than nuances between one kind of spear and another. I've lost a lot of fish because something wasn't fast enough -- but that something was me, not my spear. As a result, I have no plans to switch to carbon. I can't say enough good stuff about the Ray Odor. If I had any money at all I'd love to try a Mako big game breakdown spear, which seems similar. Care to sponsor a fella, Mako?

If I can give any advice to people trying to decide, it's to try aluminum first. It's an inexpensive gamble, and if some of the posters here are correct you may want one in your quiver eventually anyway for situations where a heavier spear is more appropriate. Take that for what it's worth I guess. As I said I don't fish offshore since I don't have a boat or a friend with a boat. But I have no doubt if you get an aluminum spear you'll catch something. I haven't fished for cobia or amberjack -- maybe they're impossible to hit with an aluminum spear -- I'm willing to bet I could hit some, though.
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