Moving to Omaha

[squee!]

Us Nebraskans do most of our spear fishing in SD or Arkansas. Not much for local diiving. Some quaries & sandpits within a 2 to 3 hr drive but best vis is still less than 20".

Give me a shout when you get up here.

Terry

Less than 20"? That's what, less than 2'? sheesh. I knew vis was bad, I just didn't realize it was that bad. Oh well. I am interested in spearfishing and haven't done any bluewater because i've heard some bad stories. To attract fish, they chum up the water down here, and naturally, that tends to attract reef sharks. One guy got bit in the *** by a mako the other week. Not really looking for that kind of excitement Any reccomendations on an appropriate length speargun when I come back? Planning on moving sometime between mid-july and mid-august. So it will still be a while. Just checking the waters out before I arrive (so to speak).

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I use a Scubapro Panther. It came in 2 versions - 36" and 48" - and both are still made by Bandito and are available from Trident where they are marketed as the Prowler and Stalker.

I like the Delrin stock as it is stong, quiet and maintainence free. The guns themselves are slightly negative with the shaft loaded and the stock is positively bouyant with the shaft fired. In low viz this is nice as the gun will float up out of the way while you are putting the fish on the stringer and the line will not get tangled in anything on the bottom. They have an open muzzle design which makes for very fast reloading. Two bands are standard but the stock, trigger mechanism and shafts will handle three bands if the situation dictates. They have a pistol grip about 1/3 of the way up the stock so the 36" model works well in low viz at short range.

Any of the 2 or 3 band guns in the 36 inch range should work well across a range of conditions. In the moderate price range the JBL 38 special, 38 Woody and 38 Northwest all are suitable. A larger gun like the JBL Sawed Off Magnum is useable in great viz, but is not real flexible if you only own one gun. Many divers will use a couple different guns, one very short one for low viz and one in the 36" class for better viz. Pneumatics are also very popular. I have tried a few over the years but never liked them as much as either of my Scubapro Panthers.

Viz can vary widely in SD from 30' to near zero. In 20-30 ft viz it often helps to stir up a cloud of silt and back into it as sort of a blind as Walleye and Northern will otherwise not come in close enough to shoot (15' legal limit on line lenght). Northern will normally make one pass determine you are not food and depart, while Walleye and Sauger are a little more curious and will hang around a bit longer. Most bass species are a little on the stupid side and will come in very close and then follow you around. You can on occasion find some large catfish in holes and in rip rap and I have seen them run to 20 plus pounds. A large cat however can bend your shaft into a pretzel if he gets into some rocks.

We used to have some very sizeable carp (30-40 lbs) but they are regarded as trash fish and are treated accordingly so they are disposed of when caught as by catch rather than released and the population has plummeted with very few really large carp left. Spearfishing tournaments for carp have not helped the situation. I have never understood the animosity toward carp as are primarily bottom feeders and do not compete for food with any of the common sport fish. Spearing a 40 lb buffalo carp was always exciting and they tasted great when smoked.

 

[cantsee]

the diving at fort randel is ok for spearfishing but the tailrace below the dame is beter then anything that "Disney" ever dreamed up

 

[StSomewhere]

University of Nebraska at Omaha? I knew one of the football players there once. He explained to me that it was an excellent school with an outstanding academic program. He stated that in honor of the long standing tradition of academic excellence they wore the "N" on their helmets as it stands for "Nowledge".

UNL (Lincoln) is the Cornhuskers and they have the red "N" on their helmets. UNO (Omaha) is the Div. II Mavericks and their logo has the letters UNO morphed into a bull.

 

[Dochueb]

Heh, that's pretty funny
Nope, not UNO. Nebraska Med center. Did my college in MN where it's colder. Brrrr.
My college team was 2nd to last in football, so I probably can't relate to the football insanity that takes place in NE. We were just happy when our team got points on the board.

If you had the misfortune of seeing the Huskers play last year, you'll know that we were just happy when they got points on the board as well...

DH

 

[Dochueb]

UNL (Lincoln) is the Cornhuskers and they have the red "N" on their helmets. UNO (Omaha) is the Div. II Mavericks and their logo has the letters UNO morphed into a bull.

Very true...and the N stands for "nowledge", and UNL and UNO stand for "University of No Learning" and "University of No Opportunity" respectively.

We've heard them all -- y'all are just jealous!

DH