Approach: it is justified more especially as the depth is low; indeed, a noisy duck or a not very discrete descent will make flee fish. The choice of the post of waiting can be done either of surface when the visibility and/or the depth allow it, or in half-glides if one distinguishes the depth only progressively with the descent. When the good post was found (shelter of a wall, accesses of a hole, herbaria...), stop the swimming near the depth and finish your approach in diving. Choose the most discrete possible duck, back from the selected post and join it also discreetly. Pay attention with the fins which raise up by the current or with the noises of inopportune friction against the rock caused by the fins, the speargun or leads, which will systematically make flee fish. But there are noises which attract them: noises of throat to attract the seabass, scraping of grip against the rock to make come mullets... In any case, said although the fish, thanks to their sensory elements, will have detected since a long time your presence, more especially as the propagation of the noises in water is much more perceptible than in the air. Finally the crucial moment: the shooting. An arriving fish of face is very difficult to aim because it offers a little surface of shooting, therefore to shoot as soon as it starts to turn, and that most promptly possible if not you will see nothing that his tail! With the climb up also, discretion is of setting. Sometimes the fish did not arrive at range of shooting and thus it is important not to frighten it to try another "agachon". To go up, one can remake the way reverses in the case of another approach, or deviate discreetly from his post while benefitting the maximum of morphology of the depth. For an other waiting, either one attempt exactly at the same place, or at another being post nearby. The choice of the speargun is conditioned by the clearness of water and the type of required fish: more water is turbid and the reduced visibility, more the model used will be short. Conversely, if water is clear and/or if the fish is apprehensive, one will choose long models with great range.

Fishing with the glide consists in going down towards fish to shoot it while being let run, from where the name of this technique of fishing. Being about the glide, it starts as from the moment when the hunter reaches a negative buoyancy; the descent towards the depth can do without the assistance of the fins. The spearfisherman must then control its descent by spreading or by tightening the legs to manage its speed, by using the orientation of its body and its fins to manage its direction. Thus, if during the descent the hunter wishes to go towards the right, it has just only to make a rotation of its body in this direction to see its deviated trajectory. The fins are used then as a rudder. As for the waiting technique, discretion is a fundamental element in the good execution of a glide, therefore the duck should not be noisy, since the aim is to approach more close of fish without frightening it.

To try to reduce to the maximum the movements, one can advise to keep the hand which is used to compensate the balance of eardrums near the mask (to compensate, but also to mask its look of the hand, and this in order not to frighten fish by an attention too much attracting). To perfect discretion, the speargun can be held along the body then pointed slowly towards the target as we go near. The glide is a technique of hunting in its own right, but is also used as approach for techniques such as the waiting or hunting into holes. Generally, glides are made in clear and deep water, the principal difficulty being not be far from fish to shooting. For that, you can use a long speargun (100 cm and more) provided with sandows powerful. The depth and the weight of fish concerned with this technique recommend the use of the reel.

Nevertheless, not too much general information following because where one dives (the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, Channel...) the depths and the flora are different, from where a change of lifestyle of fish. One can practise hunting into holes with any depth, and obviously, more it is deep, more it is difficult. Indeed, the difficulty increases with the type of required fish (grouper for example), and is amplified by the possible problems related to this type of fishing: an arrow trapped into a cavity, a fish difficult to extract from its hole, small details which make that by eagerness we forget that we are in apnea, with the consequences which you can sense. Also not reject the psychological effect of this fishing method. It can be sometimes difficult to be getting close to a hole a little darker than the others, or to be made small frights when your tuba bump against the vault of a hole, which causes irremediable to fill the mask with water. But once again, act with discretion, especially at the approach of the hole. The inappropriate blows of speargun against the rock will systematically doomed any attempt to failure. Even the hand which is posed against the rock and produces such a light noise may frighten fish. It is necessary to be discrete. Thus, one will prefer to approach the hole by the top by holding the speargun so that the release of the shooting is done with the thumb and not with the index, or by side, but never of front. The point of the arrow must be put when we set apart the interior of the hole. Moreover, its orientation will follow the direction of the look to allow a possible shooting with instinct.

This technique can be practised in a way voluntary, or unexpected, following an unfruitful waiting. This hunting requires fast reactions. You may surprise fish, and not the reverse. If you are nose against nose with a fish, it is the latter which will react most quickly: a blow of tail and it will be out of reach your speargun. It is thus necessary to anticipate, at any moment to be ready to shoot, by constantly pointing speargun towards the supposed place from where a fish can emerge, because it was very difficulty to adjust a fish which moves quickly.

It is a not much used technique which thus consists in hunting fishes came to eat algae and small shellfish torn off the rocks beaten by the waves, and which are: mullets, seabass, seabreams and salemas. The technique consists, not to be swept away by the backwash, to be pined against the depth while being leaded to the maximum. This fishing, you understood it, is practised near the shore, in low depth. The purpose is to make a summary waiting and to watch for fish passing in the vicinity. The conditions are far from being favorable: in order not to be buffeted everywhere, it is necessary to be well fixed between two rocks or in an anfractuosity and firmly hold on tightly on any salient relief with the hand not holding the speargun . Water being dirty because shaked, fizzy and full of bubbles, it is necessary to have the brisk eye and to shoot on the furtive reflections hanging the sunlight. A speargun of 75 is advised, because beyond this length, it is impossible to maintain it thus to aim.

On Selecting A Speargun

This type of gun question is probably the most contentious topic in all of spearfishing and will continue to rage so as long as there are still fish in the sea.

The answer is largely dependent on a number of variables that change according to circumstance: the species of fish being hunted, the diving conditions (visibility, currents, and size of surf), the location being dived, and the experience of the diver. Accordingly, most experienced divers tend to own a collection of guns to provide them with the optimal tools in all conditions.

Having said this, most divers have a favourite gun that they use 80% of the time. This is especially true for divers operating out of their home water where conditions will be reasonably consistent, and where one gun will suffice for all but exceptional conditions. If you are unsure about selecting a gun, and have inquiries regarding the aspects of particular guns, please let us know.

The following table serves as a guide of what guns may be appropriate for your type of diving.

Measuring length: **Note, with railgun length, the "length" referred to is the length of the barrel only, and does not include the handle and the muzzle. For example a "100cm gun" has a barrel length of 39", a muzzle length of 2", and a handle of about 6 inches, making this a 47" gun from butt to muzzle.

Please note that this guide has been compiled based on personal experience and individual preferences may differ. Accordingly this is a guideline only and is not intended to be prescriptive.

		*Blue Water Diving*	*Reef Diving*	*Kelp Diving*	*Cave/Hole Diving*
*Viz*	50ft+	130 /140cm Dbl band. 7.9mm Spear	120 / 140cm Dbl band / 120cm / 130cm Single band	60/90cm	60 / 70cm
	30-50ft	120/130cm	120/130cm	60/ 90cm	60 / 70cm
	15-30ft	110/130cm	110/130cm	60/ 90cm	60 /70cm
	0-15ft	110cm	80/110cm	60/90cm	60 / 70cm

On selecting spears:

The key to selecting a spear (and indeed to selecting any diving gear) is to always match the tool to the job at hand. No single tool is best for all jobs, they each have their specific pros and cons, and no single spear is the best for all hunting environments.

The key to a successful dive is to match the gun to the dive, and then select the correct spear to match the gun. So the spear you select will be determined by the gun you are using.

Spear Thickness:
The thickness of the spear will be determined by the rubbers. If you are using a multi-rubber gun, or heavy rubbers, we recommend that you select a heavier spear, in the 7mm to 7.5mm range. The reason for this is that a heavier spear will have more momentum (kinetic energy), and will go deeper into a large fish than a thin spear will. It will also be stronger so less likely to bend at impact, and will be stronger as you battle the fish to the surface, and less likely to tear out because the spear-barb is larger. But the most important reason for correct spear selection is that the spear will fundamentally determine accuracy. If your spear is too light for the rubbers, the gun will become inaccurate. The reason for this is that at the moment of release, the spear will bend slightly and start vibrating as it screams down the barrel towards the target, developing a slight U-bend. (You should visualize this as the back of the spear trying to catch up with the front of the spear). This phenomenon is called spear-whip and the next result is that the spear will not fly true, and the gun will usually shoot low. This is one of the major reasons why over-powered guns are inaccurate, but there are many others.

Spear Length:
The length of the spear will be determined by the length of your gun. Clearly a longer gun requires a longer spear, allowing you to get more range and stopping power. The support given by railguns allows the guns to use a shorter spear than a normal gun. The benefit of having a shorter spear is that the gun is more maneuverable, and the spear is stiffer and less likely to bend, but these effects are marginal in shorter guns. To make a standard gun accurate, the length of spear has to be such that the section protruding from the muzzle will counter the sag in the middle section, such at the moment of release the spear is straight and in the correct horizontal plane. The effect of having an overly short spear will be apparent, because the gun will shoot high. The opposite is true if too long a spear is used, as the gun will shoot low. The reason for this is that in a standard gun the spear is only supported in the mechanism and in the muzzle, while in a railgun the entire spear is supported.

In general, we recommend the following general configurations for our railguns:

Spear Composition:
Another major consideration when selecting spears are stiffness and corrosion. Spear bending is primary a function of the material the spear is made out of, and the length of the spear. The tougher the material, the less it will bend.

Straightening a spear is a non trivial process, and involves hitting and repeatedly rolling the spear on an anvil, so it is often better to get a stronger spear that is less likely to bend than spending a lot of time hammering away in your garage when you could be diving.

On Selecting A Speargun

On selecting spears:

Spear Gun Safety:

Speargun Maintenance: