[No Misses]

Originally Posted by Trey9123

I meant a shock cord like this one Spearfishing Shock Coil 15ft at Divers Direct - Scuba gear & equipment online dive catalog!. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

There is a saying that "most fishing lures are made to catch fishermen" I think this "shock cord" falls into the same category = Gimmick. Stick with the tried and true methods. When I started Spearfishing, my buddies were all “free shafting” (No leash on the spear), so I free shafted. I have since gone back to “line shafting”. Here are the pros and cons.

Free shaft:
Pro: The shaft travels further and carries more speed, since it does not have to drag the line through the water.
Pro: Reloading is very fast, with no line to deal with.
Con: You really cannot shoot fish high in the water column (Cobia, Dolphin, Wahoo), unless you stone them and grab ‘em before they get away. If you miss or the shaft goes all the way through the fish, it is going all the way to the bottom.
Con: A large fish may swim away with your shaft. If you are lucky the fish will rock up. I have seen people lose fish and shafts this way.

Line Shaft:
Pro: You can shoot fish in 1000 fsw. Who cares how deep it is as long as you don’t get dragged to the bottom. (There are other ways around this).
Pro: even a poorly placed “body shot” can keep you attached to the fish. I have shot fish where the shaft went all the way through and they were strung on the shooting line. A free shaft would have passed through and the fish could have swum away.
Pro: if you miss a fish high in the water column, you can easily retrieve your shaft and reload.
Con: The shooting line does slow down the shaft and limit your range. Although my new Riffe 110 cm has a effective range of 26’!
Con: reloading is slower since you have to deal with the line. Murphy’s Law states that “if you choose to shoot before re-wrapping the line it will get snagged on something and stop the shaft 1 inch short of the target”.

My first gun
Spearfish Specialties 48” Rhino with spare shaft and flashlight holder. I still use this gun when I am lobstering, since the second shaft makes it heavy and I can set it on the bottom without worries of is floating away.

Second gun
Riffe 110x Euro, this gun is laser accurate out to 26’! it is perfectly neutral in the water. I can let go of it on the safety stop and it just hangs there in the water next to me.

Good luck with your choices