Retarded noobie questions....

[Herby]

I just got my first proper polespear (a Manny Puig) and I'm yet to use it, I took it out once a few days ago but the dive had to be aborted....
Anyway I have a few questions;
1) on a Manny Puig, do I need to put a twist in the rubber? Or is it sturdy enough to not need it?
2) How do you aim the thing? Is it all just through instinct seeing how you cant look down the shaft like you can with a gun?
3) Do you swim with the spear ready to shoot at all times or just when you see a fish or a likely area? The time I took mine out I had it loaded the whole time and after a while it hurt like hell!

I've probably got more, similarly dumb, questions to ask in the near future so I look forward to your advice. Im scared that by switching from a gun to a polespear I wont shoot a fish for 6 months!

[calico5]

i've got 3 pole spears. i swim unloaded until i spot my target. i try to get as close as possible, but slowly so i do'nt spook the fish. as soon as i feel i have him in range and my aim is right i let go . no twisting the bands i do'nt think it helps but if you miss then you miss **** it look for the next one. if you hit it, dinners on the table. my opinion it's all instinct. think about it, do it once not twice (unless you have too or lucky enough to). happy diving, good luck, always be safe, have a dive buddy, feed the family, and always take only what is legal, and necessary. please do'nt over fish and keep our resources abundant for our future spearos to enjoy our mysterious oceans, adventures, stories, and fine seafood dinners that everyone loves, except for me, i do'nt kill anything unless it's gonna be eatin. good thing my family is filipino. happy diving, calico5

[Herby]

Cheers for that,
I've been spearing fish since I was about 7 with a gun, so I'm not a full newbie- just a newbie in regards to pole spearing.
I've ticked most of the boxes in my country (NZ) with regards to shootable fish, so it seems like natural progression to tick them again but this time with a polespear?

[SnpperWhisperer]

1. no. It is sturdy enough.
2. try what works. Use small schoolies like koheru to learn about aiming.
3. Load on your last breath before a dive when snooping or expecting fish. Load during the dive if not reallly expecting fish every dive (like on weedlines or chasing kings)

[Herby]

Well I got my first pole speared fish today, a red gurnard.
Had to take three shots at the same one to get it... The first shot missed - completely expected as it was my first ever shot with it, the second shot was an OK one in the head but the bugger ripped off, then the third shot secured it through the head.
Pole spears are great, three shots on one breath was easy, you couldn't do that with a gun!
The fish was nothing to get excited about but it is a start!
Had a pod of dolphins come play for a bit too.

I got the impression that the grip on the Manny Puig doesn't go up far enough, I was holding it up near the end of the fat section of the pole and my hand kept slipping because it was smooth for about a foot down to the top of the grip. Your thoughts?

[SnpperWhisperer]

A. grip tape. Stops your hand slipping and does not eat gloves.
B. 2 power options - you can put your hand through the main loop instead of the small hand loop. But you really don't need that much power, especially on a carrot

[Herby]

Ooops!
I had my hand in the large loop and was holding the spear up near the end of the wide section where it tapers in and you screw the skinny bit in. Too grunty?