The fish we are shooting here are yellowtail that weigh 25-30 lb.  Flags on the floats are essential for bluewater drift diving.  It is possible to lose a diver if he gets swept away in strong current.
As you all know, spearing fish while freediving is potentially dangerous.  Large fish can drown a diver if he gets tangled in line, he can become "lost at sea", hit by boats, eaten by sharks, speared by his buddy and just plain drown due to "shallow water blackout".  Spearfishing can be an obsession which ruins marriages and relationships.  Like any big game fishing, it can be very expensive.  Each of the rigged guns in the picture above is worth quite a bit more than a thousand dollars. Float rigs are also very expensive, as well as the basic cost of the trips. You can go broke persuing blue water fish. This is a risk which is seldom discussed by spearfishermen.

The next picture below is of Ian McGonagle on the left and Don Wert on the right. Both divers have taken striped marlin.

These striped marlin fell victims to accurate shots from the modified Jack Prodanovich spearguns. Both divers are still using the same spearguns ten years after these fish were taken.  If any of you think that all marlin should be released, just try eating one.  They are absolutely delicious as a food fish.  Striped marlin canned is comperable to albacore tuna, marinated and barbecued, it is supurb.  These two fish were consumed as food by people and not wasted.

Ian McGonagle can be seen with exceptional gamefish in Terry Mass' book, BlueWater Hunting and Freediving.

Spearfishing is a potentially dangerous and always exciting sport.  Luck always plays a big role in determining what swims up to look at you. Without appropriate spearfishing equipment, a diver may lose the best fish he has ever seen.  It is wrong to shoot fish with a speargun that you have no chance of landing.  Responsible spearfishing means that when you select your fish to kill, you have a very good chance of landing it.  The use of small, weak spearguns and inadequate float rigs to hunt large gamefish is wrong. Any fool can stick an arrown into the side of a fish and have it tear off.  One experience like this should be enough of a lesson for the diver to start saving up his money and get serious about his equipment.  Still there are some foolish clowns out in the water who continually destroy fish without boating them.  Wake up! Make your own big game speargun or purchase one from a quality manufacturer like Riffe International.

I am not making any more spearguns in the forseeable future and I don't sell any components. Don't contact me. Thanks.