57" Yellowtail Slayer

[miles]

Hiya

After having so much success with my 57" Mid-handled woodie with 3x16mm's and a 8mm spear on our tuna, a yellowtail gun with the same attributes was sorely lacking!!! To the drawing board and out came a couple of proto-types. The final result, a 57" Mid-handled woodie with 2x16mm's and 7mm spear. The stock is thinner than my 3 banded 57" and there are no front side stocks. The gun is the same length as my 1.2m Carbon RA BUT has the manuoverabilty of a 90-100cm gun. The tracking ability of a mid-handle is simply the BEST. VERY helpfull when shooting at moving targets, like yellowtail swimming in schools. Makes it sooo much easier to select the biggest fish in the school.

Had an RA reel mounted on the gun and loaded it with just under 30m of 3mm parachute cord. The waters i hunt yellowtail in are seldom deeper than 30m, so all i need is enough line to get to the surface and the 3mm line is MUCH easier to grip.

Regards
miles

[strangelove]

Hiya

Those are great looking guns, they look deadly, I had the same idea but on the other side of the Atlantic. I set my yokooji 44 inch gun on a similar way (I've used the omer pelagic reel - that is too heavy - the RA reel looks better). Added a Alexander slip tip and three 16mm bands. The waters in Rio de Janeiro can be really murky (good for the YT bad for us). You've got me thinking about a 50 inch middle handle gun. Those RA reels are great looking, are they as good as they look ? They have a salty price on U.S. (140 USD).
My 44 inch wodden gun with reel without shaft was negative, also the 8mm shaft made the gun dificult to move (the murky water again) , I think the 7.1 mm shaft and a plastic picasso reel would be better for Rio.

[miles]

Hiya

Those RA reels are lighter than the Omer Pelagic and they do work very well!! I have used a picasso reel on my 110cm Picasso, but was NOT impressed. Not very solidly built. That reel jammed twice on me. Almost lost my gun to a 10kg yellowtail.

I've read a bit about those yokooji guns and most owners RAVE about them. How about posting some pictures??

I originally had a 57" mid-handle with a 8mm spear and 3x16's built, but that was waaaay to powerfull. It ended up as my small gun for YF tuna!! The smaller 57" (or should i say thinner!!) works much better. 7mm spear and 2x16's. Quicker to reload, especially helpfull when the yellowtail is circling you!!!!

Regards
miles

[strangelove]

Hiya

Thanks for the advice on the picasso reel, I will think about some other reel may be imerson. I've no pictures with me at this point (the gun is in Brazil I am in Alaska). I am Brazilian but I am currently in Anchorage Alaska, where I live for 11 month of the year, for one month (January) , I am in Brazil spearfishing. About the yokooji gun ,the one I have is the hawaiian Skin Diver one (rear handle). I went for thin stock and small gun 44 inch (like a 90cm euro) , it is better with murky waters. The gun is very pretty ,very well design and finish (It is definitly the best looking gun I have - I have several Sporasub, one riffe and one teak-sea). The only comment I have is the Alexander handle , it is aluminun cast and I think a little bit too short , also It can be slippery with the leather gloves. I have not use the teak-sea or riffe yet, the waters were too murky last January. The Alexander tip, was not apropriate for the water as well, the point blank shots damage the tip cable ( I am probably will change to spetra - more flexible).
Your wodden gun , they are made in South Africa correct ?

Rafael

[ajwaverider]

Miles, I was wondering what kind of knot you use in the parachute cord to attach the mono too. Also if you have a gun that has three wraps of line on it,do you use three wraps with the reel or 2 wraps?

Aj

[miles]

Hiya

AJ, its a old fishing knot that i learnt. Don't know the name of it!!! Will try and get some drawings for you.

On most of my reel guns i've got a single wrap, then the reel. On this one though, i've got a double wrap, then the reel. This is specifically my BIG yellowtail gun. With it i'm looking at taking bigger fish, so there's very little chance of shooting another fish from the same school, so the additional loading time of the double wrap isn't a issue. The 16mm rubbers are also very short and the spear absolutely flies!!! Single wrap is definitely not a good idea on this beasty!!! The gun actually jerks in your hand when using a single wrap and the spear reaches the end of its tether.

Even my 5x16mm cannon only has double wrap. You'd have to shoot a pretty mean gun to use tripple wrap!!! Maybe fit 6 rubbers to my big gun!!

Regards
miles

[icarus pacific]

My hat's off to you Miles. That's a really, really sweet looking gun that would do great down in So Cal as well if and when the water and weather ever clear.

The Yakooji's now made for Hawaii Skin Diver are very nicely put together with top drawer componants. Short of building your own or shelling out the real ducats for a vey custom gun from Kitto, Merlo, me or Mori, they are the way to go. I'd opt for a Wong if not a Yakooji.

On the Alexander handle, you can wrap it with grip tape for that little extra and if your mitts are too large for it, gimme a ring and I'll swap you a Wong/Aimrite.

[strangelove]

[IMG]Miles
Here it is my vision for the yellow tail slayer from the other side of the Atlantic. The 44 inches yokooji gun with the Omer pelagic, three bands three wraps Alexander slip time and 8 mm shaft. The waters in Brazil are murky that is why the short gun. For the next year I am going to replace the Omer Pelagic reel with a plastic reel (immersion), the 8 mm shaft is also going to be replace with a 7 mm shaft (and a kitto slip tip). These two added too much weight to the system (specially the reel) it was very difficult to track fast moving game like blue fish. The one thing you had me thinking is 50 inch gun with a middle handle.
For the picture it was grouper day, that was a very long shot, it used 3 and half wraps, and luckily I hit on the spine.

Icarus Pacific that was a good tip, I wrap some gripping tape on the handle.

Strangelove

PS: I am not sure how to insert a picture, I home I did it right !

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