The first time I used a 130cm railgun for a reef dive I was completely lost for words. The thing looked incredible and so wrong for the job at hand. The fish played all around me laughing at my misfortune (or so I assume they were laughing at me anyway, they seemed to be having an amazing time).
To find your perfect speargun you have to start with you have to realize that there is so much more than the gun itself! The most important thing is to find a spearguns that perfectly matches you! That means your gun has to fit your style of diving, your hunting style and even your personal strenght! (yes, that’s right! Even your strenght! Have you ever had the situation where after a long dive with a heavily loaded long speargun your arm is aching like hell? and you can’t even load the gun anymore because your arm is just too tired?) So when choosing a speargun you have to take all these factors into consideration and more! Don’t rely on other people’s experience and then go and buy a speargun based on that! Nobody knows you better than yourself!
Water visibility changes everything
Visibility in the water where you plan to dive is possibly the biggest variable when choosing a speargun. New divers are frequently unaware of this simple fact. In clear water long guns are great, in very murky or low vis water they are useless. In areas with lots of structure such as rocky points, drop-offs, with strong currents such as river mouths or estuaries after rain, even the shortest guns can be frequently lost.
In very low visibility dives like are found in rivers, estuaries, or even really dirty coastal water, long spearguns can actually get in the way of very short range shots. A 3m (10’) shot requires a gun that is short enough to hold in front of you easily and fire off quickly. 60-90cm (24”-36”) spearguns are typically the best choice for very dirty water and make for very easy diving. These guns are very easy to maneuver, can be loaded quickly, and fired accurately. They also tend to get into less trouble with rocks and kelp in restricted areas of the dive site.
This is open water where pelagic fish appear suddenly to assess you in a split second and then are off in a flash before you can even get a shot off. To penetrate to sufficient depth to make a shot before the fish takes off you need reach, and sufficient power to penetrate to sufficient depth. A 110-130cm speargun will get you the reach you need to make shots before the fish take off.
(There are many spearfisherman who swear by their shorter spearguns whilst on offshore dives, however this is a topic for another day).
Reef Diving – Open Water Hunting – Two Different Games
When you are diving a reef you are playing chess. You are confined to a small area, or pool of water and you have to make your way slowly and methodically through the area. The occasional nook and cranny needs to be searched thoroughly, and it is common for fish to have hidden away in these crevices waiting for an incautious diver to wander past. Because of this type of diving is generally very good for maneuvrability a short railgun or a compact band gun with a single or double rubber setup are more than adequate for tackling the odd pelagic that wanders into the area. The odd pelagic occasionally gets into a reef, but it is a rare occasion, and generally a short spear gun and plenty of patience are more than a match for them.
Diving the reef is an entirely different form of diving and requires a great deal of maneuverability in order to shoot through holes and around corners. In many cases a short speargun or even a band gun is best to hunt in the reef. Short spearguns have the added benefit of allowing for a variety of rubber configurations including single rubber and double rubber. The choice of rubber will be largely dependent on the experience of the diver and the type of fish that are commonly found in the area that the diver is planning on visiting.
Open water hunting with the aim of catching larger pelagics such as tuna and mackerel requires a completely different approach to equipment.
- Longer barrel for extended range and accuracy at distance
- Multiple rubbers for more power behind the shaft
- A reel or floatline, because a big fish will run and you want to be attached to it safely
- Larger shaft diameter to handle the force transfer on impact
The Open water hunting and reef hunting is two completely different games, and both have their own rules and their own challenges. And I find both of them really interesting in their own ways. The Open water hunting is more like a chess game – you need to be really strategic and plan ahead, whereas the reef hunting is more like a sprint where something might appear in front of you in a split second and then be gone in the next, so to speak.
Target species matter more than people admit
Note: The destructive results of an overloaded high powered speargun on small reef species and the inhumane way of killing these fish for spearfishing is avoided by using the correct shaft and power rating for the species being hunted. Larger pelagic species such as tuna and mackerel require a far larger amount of kinetic energy to kill humanely and bring to the surface then smaller reef species.
Here’s a rough breakdown worth keeping in mind:
| Target species | Recommended gun length | Key considerations |
| Small reef fish (under 2kg) | 60-75cm | Low power, fine shaft, close range accuracy |
| Mid-size reef species (2-8kg) | 90-100cm | Balanced power, good for moderate visibility |
| Large reef or bottom fish | 100-110cm | Heavier shaft, consider a reel |
| Pelagic or open water species | 120-130cm+ | Maximum range, reel mandatory, float line recommended |
What nobody really tells you about experience
As well as the distance to the target the weight of the speargun also plays a huge part in tiring your arm out during a long dive. After 45 minutes of strong swimming with a heavily loaded speargun your arm starts to get heavy and your aim will begin to wander. This is why a speargun that you can’t quickly reload is as bad as not bringing one at all. It will cost you shot after shot. So start with short guns and work your way up to the longer guns. A 90cm speargun is a perfectly good speargun and many experienced divers reach for it for reef dives.
As a beginner, it is recommended to start with a shorter speargun and then go from there as you gain more experience with your new setup. For most diving situations, a 90cm speargun is more than capable and is also an extremely portable piece of kit. Most very experienced divers carry 90cm spearguns for certain types of dives. It’s a myth that more gun equals better diving.
But the longer gun was fantastic as a reef gun. And that’s the point really. The 130cm of tube was far too much for the open water but as a reef gun it was fantastic. Long, solid and completely controllable at close range it was a fantastic piece of kit. And that’s really my point, more gun does not equal more success. There are plenty of very experienced divers who have, and still do use 90cm spearguns for most of their diving.
So there you have it. A fairly detailed overview of spearguns to get you started on choosing the right one for your first dives. You should go and take a good look around online at retailers such as ANCHORLINK ENDANCHOR for spearguns, look at all of the guns on offer and then have a think about the type of diving you will be doing most often. As a general rule of thumb the type of diving you will be doing most will determine the best speargun for you.
One last thing worth saying
Finally, no speargun does it all. You’ll find very expensive spearguns that are long, but only suit a very special group of divers. Most successful divers are consistently good on their dives using a variety of setups for the different conditions and manage to develop great situational judgment through the good and the bad of spearfishing. The longest speargun does not necessarily mean the best dive.
The 130cm reef dive that so miserably sucked is still a sore spot with me. All that could have been learned from that excellent piece of tackle off of one very poor dive. And a whole lot more from that one dive than all the ‘great’ dives where everything goes right and one bags lots of fish.
