Articles > Pole Spear
Pole Spears Using a pole spear is a great way to start spearfishing. The first lesson a new diver must learn is how to approach fish without charging at them and scaring them away. A pole spear has a range of just a metre or so, so you learn patience and breatholding skills as you approach fish, whilst also learning to give out the right non-aggressive vibes that scare fish away. Move slowly and calmly, use the terrain to stalk fish, and wait for them to come to you inquisitively, don't chase them. Learning these skills will help you if you choose to hunt with a speargun later, and you will enjoy being with the fish much more. Most pole spears have an effective range of about 1 metre, and up to 2 metres with the right setup. Basic choices are the length (anywhere from 5 feet long to 12 feet long), material (aluminium, graphite, fibreglass, or a mixture of these), ability to collapse the spear into two or more pieces when travelling, and then the choice of tips. Short spears have a much shorter range, and this makes it difficult to get many fish. I mostly use an 8 foot spear, which is easy enough to move around and also gives enough range to hit larger fish. Sometimes, a 10 or 12 foot spear is appropriate, if you know you are hunting fish in open water that may not come close and you need maximum range. These long spears are hard to move around when you are fishing on a reef, but have good hitting power and it is easier to hit fish at longer range. Thick fibreglass spears are very heavy, so the spear will move slowly but have alot of impact. These are not most suited to small slow moving reef fish, and will drive any spear head through a fish that is close enough. Aluminium spears are lighter and still have plenty of hitting power plus more range. Lighter spears made of part graphite and part aluminium sections are an excellent blend, as are the full graphite spears. These will travel further and faster, giving you more flexibility, but will not have the power to drive some of the heavier speartips through your fish. Speartips most commonly seen in NZ waters are the standard pranger head, which is a heavy setup with 6 or 8 barbed tines. These offer good holding power for reef fish that have been hit hard with a fibreglass or aluminium spear. The multi-barb heads do a good job of locking the fish up so they cannot struggle too hard. Another option is the single or double flopper head, like the ones used on most spearguns. These are faster and can be used on the lighter pole spears. Holding power is generally good, but it is harder to hit small fish with just one point. The Hawaiian 3-prong tip is like the pranger, but has just 3 spikes, all tightly packed and with no barbs. The barbs spread on impact, so should be kept straight and closetogether all teh way to the points. These are great for reef fish. Friction and tension hold the fish on to the barbs surprisingly well, and the three prongs ususally paralyse the fish so it does not struggle much. Finally, modern slip-tips, like those used for hunting big game fish, offer the ultimate range and speed and holding power for larger fish, but make it quite hard to hit smaller fish. Many of the excellent eating fish in NZ can be speared with a basic pole spear. Many youngsters start on some red moki (be careful not to take too many as they can be wiped out of an area quite quickly), blue cod, leatherjacket, red mullet and blue maomao. With time and more skill, you can hunt Butterfish, Porae, Blue Moki, Trevally, Tarakihi, John Dory, Giant Boarfish, Koheru, and Pink Maomao. With the right gear and quite a bit of experience and fish knowledge, you can also catch Kingfish, Snapper, and Kahawai. Finally, hunting fish with pole spears is not easy. The temptation to take a shot too soon invariably leads to losing the fish. Whilst you have the advantage of being able to re-load and chase the fish down, it is not often that you catch them again. It is easy to end up just hurting alot of fish and getting nothing to bring home, but with patience and the right gear, there are very few fish that you cannot hunt successfully with a pole spear. Author: Reid Quinlan Find out more at Reid's site.