Harpoon use ????

[Nomad]

I've never used a harpoon before and not sure wether it is attached to a buoy or directly to the boat. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Nightfighter]

Depends on size of fish, and how green it is. With a large green fish, I tie it off to a Polly ball, and hook my largest rod/reel to it. The average fish I’ll just tie it off to a cleat.

[flatfisher]

Sounds like you guys are landing some whales. I just take my young Cuban neighbor and have him jump in and tail wrap him. It's worth the 3 dollars. I'm sure harpoons are expensive.
Cheers.

[Rod Chucker]

thats funny flatfisher. we had a green fish, small one - 50" come right to the boat and basically ask to be boated. gaffed her and once she got in remembered it was a fight. trashed 3" of gunnel and a small piece of the engine cover while we all ran to the bow to avoid the sword antics.

whos your cuban? we could use one of those

[flatfisher]

Rod Chucker, I was just b/s'ing about the Cuban neighbor. Haven't caught one yet that would require a Harpoon. The ones we've caught were pretty much tired out when boated and haven't put up much of a fight. Can't wait to catch my first slob. 60" is my biggest yet.
cheers.

[Sword Hunter]

The way I know is to ruberband the rope to the pole, you do this to keep the tip in the right spot and keep the rope out of the way while still bieng able to release when you acheave a solid shot. The end of the short rope about 10'- 20' from the tipdart is attached to a bouy and from the bouy to the boat. Using an 80W or 100-200 ft anchor rope attached to the boat will work if ur short on room use a climbers clip on ur anchor this will let the rope serve both purposes. Make shure the rope is neat, if not you risk losing the fish of a lifetime and a worthy oponent. Wish I had one on the boat for that 74"er 187lb pinky george and I got this week

[HiD]

We lost a MONSTER last time out after a looong fight, we were simply HAD and un-equiped for a fish that size.

We just got a 12' Harpoon that due to weather has seen no seasalt. I can't wait to get a shot at a fish with that thing BUT I/we (crew) have never used one b4.
You guys that have used a poon tell me what you think????

I hate the fact of adding a poly ball to our setup so Im thinking,

We got the spot for the POON up in the ttop, bungied down, It will be ready with the arrow and wire attached to handle with rubberbands. I was thinking of adding a tie rap or two at the tip so that the head wont come off along the ride, these can be cut if in need to use leaving just the band on.
Anyways, most important. We get a BIG fish or any legall fish in this case,4 practice close for a shot the Poon will (hopefully) be ready with an 50/80 rod/reel attached from snap swivel on wind on to wire/cable on arrow. Stick him/her and fight her on both rods till brought in.

?????Is this the right/good way of set up for the Harpoon?????
Any suggestions/info will be greatly appreciated.

CaTcHeMuP
HiD
Alfred

[quack quack]

You should set up the poon after you stop running and are setting your spread.I keep the dart and 50ft 1/2in rope in a large plastic box.I set it up as we are putting out the spread.I leave about 6ft of rope out of the box then coil the rest of the rope into box with the dart on top.When ready I open the box and rig the poon.I cleat off the end of the rope under the coil.With 50ft of rope you get a lot of stretch if you dart a fish then it pulls hard.I used to keep the anchor rope ready to attach if I thought I might need it but even with big fish I never did it.Before you dart a fish make sure the rope is clear of people and equipment :!: Capt Mitch's use of a rope across the transom cleats looks good I fished with some one else that did that and thought it a good idea.Good luck stab em in the head and bring em back dead :twisted: Just make sure its legal before applying the iron :lol:

[Sword Hunter]

well the polly ball keeps a huge fish within reach so he dosent sink but i was thinking about the bungie idea also

[Broadbill-Pro]

polly balls deflat after going below the surface and become useless. most fish roll dead if you stick them in the head. small vessel, choppy seas and minimum light good luck nailing the head everytime unless you wait until it is boat side, at that point a harpoon should not be necessary. harpoon is not intended to stop the fish cold with a ball or cleat, dart will pull with a decent size fish or a bad stick. use a rigid hard ball and plenty of line (200 ft. min.). use 1/4'' line it will only fill a 5 gal bucket. fight the fish as you would if you were wiring the leader. no hurry to get her onboard after a good stick, play her out until she rolls.

best harpoon - 10' of 5/8'' galvanized steel pipe. thread or weld 18'' SS harpoon shaft on end. 3/4 way towards opposite end (dull end) tape a 12'' flexable stick to the pipe securing both ends of the stick with tape (a paint stirrer works great). place the dart on the end, pull the line tight towards the stick and insert the line between the stick and pipe securing the line so that the dart always has tension so not to fall off. add clip to end of harpoon and secure to 1/4 line, harpoon will be there when the fish is along side. harpoon can be reloaded in seconds if needed. weight of the pipe will sink the dart deep and is extremely accurate especially when fish is straight down.

everything else is expensive and junk

[CAPTINMITCH]

One other tip, don't tie off directly to a cleat. Instead tie a loop in the end of the dart line. Then run a line from one stern cleat to the other, through the dart line. That way, when the fish of a lifetime makes a quick dash to the other side of the boat, you can still stick him.

[CONTENDERCHRIS]

Broadbill PRO I made the same harpoon but with all SS. I welded the tip in to the harpoon shaft and sanded the weld. I also took the finished harpoon to my rod builder and he added a grip to it (not a foam grip, like a rubber sandpaper grip) I made one about 12 1/2 ft and one like 10 ft long. They are heavy but should track nicely in the water. At least I think it should, I havnt had a chance to use them unfortunately. I also painted one of them with white awlgrip, it looks pretty slick, it matches the boat. I have all the rope rolled on a yoyo so I can manage the line better. The opposite end of the rope is tied off to a cleat or ball. I have not had a chance to use the setup yet. Any suggestions or flaws in my setup?

[rafter]

CONTENDERCHRIS, normally in the harpoons used for swords the tip detaches from the harpoon handle once you stick the fish. I don't know how your set up would work with the extra weight if the fish decides to run unles you stone it with the shot.

Guys do a search there is a lot of info on this on this site. i have asked this question before when I started to get into swordfishing. I asked the same question because i don't like the idea of a poly ball. Someone suggested that it is better not to have too much rope if you are going to attach the end of the rope to the cleat. This make sense because you don't want the fish to gain speed after is harpooned. My harpoon has a 30' rope and i cleated to the boat. hope this helps

[DORADOsteve]

To me, there is nothing more thrilling than punching the harpoon through a fatty.

All of this talk about sticking fish is getting me excited.

When are we going???

[Sword Hunter]

You need at least 50 ft if u get a hot fish and get him with the poon he decides to run under the boat and perform a crecent moon run the rope will keep him from getting away but not from jumping in the boat. Infact if the rope is to short and she has no where to go somthing bad is bound to happen. That's last thing I need when I am out there. A huge sword jumping into the boat " hot " will def do some damage. Flying gaffs in the head are great they seem to take the wind out of a well played fish. Some times u just have to take the shot early when ever u can so if she's not shy and comes up to take a look at the sword light. I am the type of guy that dosent like to let her go back down. No second chances no matter how live but she def is not comming in until shes dead.

[Broadbill-Pro]

Contenderchris, your harpoon sounds fine. the yoyo may be a bit slow to let the line out when she starts running, coil the line in a square milk basket.

NEVER CLEAT A HARPOONED FISH, IT DOES NOT WORK LIKE A FLYING GAFF.

[catching]

Still have not brought a sword close enough to poon, or use a flyer. :sad: I do not use either. Have put a few decent shark’s boat side. Using a standard gaff and nailing them where the fork of the tail meets the body. Pull the tail out of the water and you have control of the fish. Granted you do get jerked around while holding on while tail rope is set, Kind of like riding a bucking bull. :lol: I think most of us have a good grip since we are fight these fish stand up style and most of these fish are under 300 pounds should not be a problem for most of us. This is the safest way I would see to keep the teeth, or a Bill from hurting anyone on the boat. Just my .02.

[CONTENDERCHRIS]

Broad bill The I was thinking of leaving the yoyo in the bucket and let it unspool itself as the fish pulls the line out or rewind it on the yoyo as we retreive. The yoyo is just a way to manage the harpoon line.
Maybe a ball attached to the line some distance from the harpoon and have additional line after the ball would work.

[DORADOsteve]

Originally Posted by CAPTINMITCH

One other tip, don't tie off directly to a cleat. Instead tie a loop in the end of the dart line. Then run a line from one stern cleat to the other, through the dart line. That way, when the fish of a lifetime makes a quick dash to the other side of the boat, you can still stick him.

Definetly the way to go.

[Broadbill-Pro]

Contenderchris, just make sure that you are wearing a helmet for when the yoyo comes flying past your head. having a few balls ready with LL snaps attached is the way to go, add a ball or 2 if necessary. a steady grip on the line usually is enough to wear her down.