Spearfishing Spearguns

Using a speargun to snare a fish is one of the oldest and most sustainable forms of sport fishing, plus it is a great compliment to snorkelling and free diving activities. Originally the earliest spear guns were fashioned from wood and rubber bands but here at The Scuba Doctor our selection of spear guns is a little more high tech!

Spearguns come in two options: Sling or Pneumatic.

Sling or Band powered spear guns use a rubber bungee under tension to propel the shaft through the water. They are the most popular spearguns on the market as they are silent when shot and very easy to maintain and so are the speargun of choice for local fishermen here in Victoria.

Pneumatic guns have an internal barrel that connects to a separate chamber filled to a pressure of about 20bar. Pushing the spear into the barrel compresses the separate chamber closer to 35 bar that is used to fire the shaft.

Your speargun is THE most important tool in your spearfishing kit and as such it is important that you put aside at least half of your spearfishing budget to purchase a high quality speargun that will last.

You can compromise on certain items of equipment, but not your spear gun. You get what you pay for, so buy the best gun you can, given your budget at the time.

Speargun Sizes

Victoria has a great range of exciting spearfishing locations to keep even the keenest spearfisher busy. The most popular spearguns in Victoria are those with a 90 cm or 100 cm stock/barrel length. This length gun will allow you to hunt and land quality reef and smaller pelagic species such as salmon, trevally and whiting and has an effective range of 3 to 4 metres maximum.

Those doing close inshore work chasing smaller fish species might drop down to a 75 cm size speargun.

The serious Victorian spearfisher wanting to target large species like Kingfish and even Southern Blue Fin Tuna will typically use a longer 130 cm speargun.

Speargun Regulations

In Victoria a Hawaiian Sling or Spear Gun can have barbs and more than two prongs. They may be used to take fish (other than rock lobster and abalone) in marine waters (but not restricted waters).

Victorian Restricted Waters include: within 30m of any jetty; within 30m of the mouth of any creek or river; in or on inland waters including Curdies Inlet, Tamboon Inlet, Upper Lake of Mallacoota Inlet, Swan Bay, Sydenham Inlet; in or on the waters of Lower Lake of Mallacoota Inlet, the North Arm of Gippsland Lakes, Lake Tyers, Wingan Inlet and specified parts of Corner Inlet.