# Spearfishing for Carp



## coachmitchell (Nov 19, 2010)

I am thinking about giving spearfishing for carp a try this weekend up at Bear Lake. I was curious if anyone has made their own spears before? I have used a hawaiian sling in the past. If anyone has one they are willing to sell, knows somewhere in town that sells them, or knows how to build them, I would appreciate you letting me know.


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## Moostickles (Mar 11, 2010)

Underwater Dynamics is a good place to go in Orem, and you also have Dive Addicts in Salt Lake. Last I heard they had polespears (Hawiian slings are illegal in Utah because the spear has to be attached to a line). You can also look online, diversdirect.com is a good one. JBL makes polespears that are a fairly inexpensive and they last a long time. Let me know what questions you have, I'll help where I can.


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## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

Where does it say Hawiian slings are illegal? I haven't seen that anywhere.


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## Moostickles (Mar 11, 2010)

Utah Admin. Rule R657-13-9 of the fishing proc (pg 12) states, "free shafting is prohibited." So it does not specifically prohibit Hawaiian Slings; however, a Hawaiian Sling is much like a sling shot, except rather than rocks, it flings a spear. The spear is not attached to a line. See below:

[attachment=1:3fce2f63]DSCF0782-1024x768.jpg[/attachment:3fce2f63]

Now a pole spear has the bungee attached to it which is kept in your hand when you release the shaft.

[attachment=0:3fce2f63]polespear.jpg[/attachment:3fce2f63]

Many people mistake a polespear for a Hawaiian Sling.


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## coachmitchell (Nov 19, 2010)

Thanks for the help. I guess I was told differently when I went spear fishing before. It was the pole spear I used, not the Hawaiian sling. That is the one I will try to find.


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## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

thanks for the clarification


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## freepunk (Sep 17, 2007)

I do know Scuba Utah in Cottonwood Heights carries pole spears. Nice people that work there. Good luck!


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## coachmitchell (Nov 19, 2010)

Ended up finding a pole spear at Dive Utah in Ogden. Took it up to Bear Lake and had some fun chasing around some carp. Definite learning curve with that thing. Ended up hitting quite a few, but only landing one. A buddy also landed one. Thinking those stinger heads may be tougher to keep them on than other heads, but still had a blast.


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## Moostickles (Mar 11, 2010)

Thanks for the update, sounds like fun!

By "stinger head" I assume you mean the three-prong barbed heads (aka paralyzer); they work well for smaller fish like bass, perch, etc. The best type for carp, large trout, walleye or other larger fish are break-away heads. They give a big fish some room to fight, but are nearly impossible for the fish to pull out if they penetrate deep enough.

[attachment=0:fdwm2zsx]JBL824.jpg[/attachment:fdwm2zsx]


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