How NOT to free shaft a fish

[Capt.Gene]

I think there's great value here for a thread that shares thoughts on which shots and angels are best passed up for something better coming next.

[PatMyGreen]

Long shots on gags way out in the sand. They seem just as likey to break for more sand than returning to the structure especially if you are in between them and it.

Broadside 90 degree angle shots are ideal for line shafting but poor for freeshafting as are any shots where the fish is facing the diver. If the shaft doesn't exit the fish in such a way where it is swimming into the flopper it will have a chance of swimming off the back end or throwing the shaft just by shaking back and forth.

[titaniumdiver]

I seem to give up alot of broadside shots in favor of letting the fish swim a little, then angling the shot through the body out to the head or vice versa, freeshafting or line shafting getting the most steel through the body as I can without a glancing shot. It is hard for anyfish to swim swim that much steel running through thier body. I use alot of tri-cut tips that seem to work better for those shots than a pencil point or hawiian flopper.When using a hawiian flopper I still try to angle my shots through the head(not as steep an angle) with either the entry point knocking out the grey matter or the exit point. Just be sure when using any screw on tip that you put some locktight on the threads, almost lost my favorite RO tri-cut a few weeks ago! BTW Thanks Ray, still sharp as a razor...albeit it is really shiny now!

When line shafting, I still try to angle my shots on bottom fish, this gives me a few seconds to get over there and stick my kill spike in his brainpan, if I didn't stone him right off

Hope that helps someone!

[hardcore]

Any long "hail mary" shot should be passed up. I've noticed that by shooting the smaller fish close to me that want to be shoot, the big ones can't help but come in for a closer look. Also almost all midwater shoots are just a bad idea.

[titaniumdiver]

Originally Posted by hardcore

. Also almost all midwater shoots are just a bad idea.

Have to disagree there though

Some species like Spanish Mackeral only swim in mid-column, I enjoy eating them, but I also know my gun. Anyone, who does not have "alot" of experience with thier gun should refrain from shooting larger Spaniards with a freeshaft. I have been successful thus far shoooting them with a freeshaft but I also shoot a 60" shaft, and they just don't get big enough to carry around that much steel in Florida. Also, all of the Mahi I have shot were in the top 20' fsw...."I'll eat them too"

Just be sure of your shot, I guess I should say!

I don't want to offend anyone, but all of us have probably taken shots that we have second guessed! Just like, h&L fisherman have brought up fish that they wish they had never hooked. Still, all-in-all spearfishing is the most conservatory means of bagging a fish to eat, period! A target does not act the same as a real fish..plus you know how far the target is..where as a fish can kust show up..be it in a cloud that you just finned or a cloud that the last fish you shot kicked up....experience..be it hook and line or shoooter. Just my HO but I believe it is sound.

Opponents will always find ways of beating you down, but if thier methods are not even close to yours, who is in the wrong?

[Gradyman]

PatMyGreen...never thought of that!

If the shaft doesn't exit the fish in such a way where it is swimming into the flopper it will have a chance of swimming off the back end or throwing the shaft just by shaking back and forth.

Thanks!

[PatMyGreen]

I think I read Kitefisherman post that on here a year or so ago and a light bulb clicked on for me, seems pretty obvious now but if you are teaching yourself and start on the leash its pretty easy to over look.

[Gradyman]

Being a line spearo 99% of the time it is really a "revelation"!

[PatMyGreen]

Something else if making the switch to freeshafting, kinda been said above.............. Don't just take a shot that will hit the fish, you really have to shoot to kill or cripple. You don't have to be (I wasn't) very disciplined to line shaft fish since you can pull them to you and any body (not gut) shot that allows the floppers to toggle on the far side of the fish will likely work. So you end up having to pass on shots that you might have taken before because you didn't line up perfect with the sweet spot. Shot discipline is the hardest thing in the world for me keep in check on fish under 20#s.

[Ironhed]

Gradyman you should have went to the seminar. slight angle just behind the skull or hard on the head into the hard part of the head. in the angle like patmygreen said. and with a downward angle so as to pin the fish hopefully to the sand. this is impossible when shooting under ledges but worked excellent on our last outing on the ridge that day. man I cant wait to get out again. I really hate winters

[Gradyman]

If they hold them on any other day then Saturday I'll be there!

[Ironhed]

Who said weddings had to be on weekends anyway

[Capt.Gene]

Here's one from me.
Make sure all your freeshafts are floppered the same, either wing up or down.
Don't mix them.
If you have to use the shaft to help pull out a holed up fish, be sure to rotate the shaft to the gravity assisted, "wing down" position, push and shake a little before pulling up. You can do this by feel if you teach yorself ahead of time.
If your flopper is closed against the shaft this should allow it to open before you pull the shaft out of the fish, and maybe loose it.

[Spleen]

Question: should freeshaft shots be avoided on either small (but legal, of course) or larger fish? Is a spear more likely to go right thru a smaller or thinner fish, or more likely to be drug off by a larger fish? Thoughts?

[jfjf]

Originally Posted by Spleen

Question: should freeshaft shots be avoided on either small (but legal, of course) or larger fish? Is a spear more likely to go right thru a smaller or thinner fish, or more likely to be drug off by a larger fish? Thoughts?

Yes the freeshaft will go right through little fish and big fish will swim away with your shaft and die. You are very likely to lose both the little and big fish.

That is if you don't make the type of shots described in the earlier posts. For small fish you pretty much have to pin them against the bottom or some other structure. For larger fish, you need to try very hard to pin them to the bottom or at a minimum get a disabling shot. You can shoot small and large fish with the same type of freeshaft set up, but to be effective you must make the correct types of shots.