The Spearfishing Gear Guide: Guns, Polespears & Rigging

Complete guide to spearfishing equipment — spearguns, polespears, shafts, rigging, and essential accessories.

Spearfishing is hunting underwater — a pursuit that requires purpose-built equipment designed for stealth, power, and efficiency in a three-dimensional environment where you are a visitor, not a resident. This guide covers the primary gear categories: spearguns, polespears, rigging, and the accessories that make the hunt safe and productive.

Spearguns: How They Work

A speargun launches a steel shaft at a target fish using stored mechanical energy — either rubber bands or pneumatic (compressed gas) power. The shaft is connected to the gun by a shooting line that prevents the shaft from being lost and allows the diver to retrieve both shaft and fish after the shot. Speargun design has evolved over decades into two primary categories: band-powered and pneumatic.

Band-powered spearguns use surgical-grade rubber bands (also called power bands or rubbers) stretched from the muzzle to the shaft's loading tabs. The diver loads the gun by stretching the bands onto the shaft's rear notches, then pulling the trigger releases the shaft. Band guns are the dominant design worldwide because they are mechanically simple (fewer parts to fail), easy to maintain (band replacement is the only regular maintenance), and available in a wide range of sizes from short cave guns to long bluewater guns. Band power is proportional to the number and thickness of bands — a single sixteen-millimeter band provides adequate power for small reef fish, while double or triple twenty-millimeter bands power shafts through the heavy bodies of tuna, wahoo, and other pelagic species.

Pneumatic spearguns use compressed air in a sealed barrel to propel the shaft. They are mechanically more complex than band guns (the barrel is a pressure vessel with seals, valves, and a piston), but they offer a slimmer profile for the same power output — which matters in tight reef environments where a wide band gun cannot maneuver into shooting position. Pneumatics are more popular in Europe and South America than in the US and Australia, where band guns dominate. Their disadvantage is maintenance complexity — internal seals degrade, the piston requires lubrication, and any failure of the pressure system renders the gun inoperable until serviced.

Polespears: The Beginner's Entry Point

A polespear is the simplest spearfishing tool — a long shaft (typically fiberglass, carbon fiber, or aluminum) with a pointed tip at one end and an elastic sling at the other. The diver stretches the sling by gripping the shaft and pulling back, creating tension that propels the spear forward when released. Range is shorter than a speargun (effective range is roughly the length of the polespear), and power is lower, but the simplicity makes polespears the recommended starting equipment for new spearfishers.

Polespear length determines range and power. Short polespears (four to five feet) are maneuverable in tight spaces (reef crevices, structure, caves) but limit effective range to three to four feet. Long polespears (seven to nine feet) provide greater range and more stored energy in the sling, but they are cumbersome to carry and difficult to aim in current. A six-foot travel polespear (three-piece breakdown design that fits in a dive bag) is the most versatile starting point — long enough for effective range, short enough to manage underwater, and portable enough to travel with.

Shaft and Tip Selection

Speargun shafts are steel (stainless or spring steel) rods with a pointed tip at the front and loading notches (for band engagement) at the rear. Shaft diameter affects penetration power and the gun's range — thicker shafts hit harder but create more drag in the water, reducing range. Standard shaft diameters are 6.5mm (reef and small pelagic), 7mm (all-purpose), and 7.5-8mm (heavy pelagic). Length matches the gun length — a 90cm gun uses approximately a 130cm shaft (extending beyond the muzzle for loading).

Tip types determine how the shaft holds the fish after penetration. Flopper tips have a hinged barb that swings open after passing through the fish, preventing the shaft from pulling back out. They are the standard for most spearfishing because they hold fish reliably and are easy to remove (swing the flopper closed and slide the shaft out). Slip tips detach from the shaft after penetrating the fish, connected by a cable — the shaft falls away, and the fish is held by the tip and cable. Slip tips are used for large, powerful fish (tuna, grouper, giant trevally) that would bend or break a fixed shaft if they thrashed against it.

Rigging and Shooting Line

Shooting line connects the shaft to the gun, preventing shaft loss after the shot. Monofilament line (80 to 400-pound test nylon) is the most common material — it is abrasion-resistant, low-drag, and available everywhere. The line runs from the shaft's rear eyelet along the gun barrel, through a line guide at the muzzle, and attaches to the gun body or a reel. Line length must accommodate the gun's maximum effective range plus the fish's potential run — too short and the line stops the shaft before it reaches the target; too long and excess line tangles around the gun, the diver, or the reef.

Float lines and floats are essential for open-water and deep-water spearfishing. A float line connects the gun to a surface float (an inflatable buoy visible from the surface), which serves multiple purposes: it marks the diver's position for boat traffic safety, it provides a resting point between dives, it absorbs the initial run of a large fish (the fish tows the float, tiring itself against the buoy's resistance rather than against the diver), and it prevents the loss of gun and fish if the diver must release the gun during a powerful fish's run. Every bluewater spearfisher uses a float line and float — diving without one in open water is both dangerous and impractical.

Essential Accessories

A dive knife or line cutter is a safety-critical tool for spearfishing. Entanglement in shooting line, float line, or fishing line found underwater is a real hazard — a sharp cutting tool accessible with either hand can prevent a life-threatening situation. Mount the knife or cutter on your forearm, BCD shoulder strap, or weight belt where it can be reached without contortion.

Catch bags (game bags) hold speared fish during the dive. Mesh bags with a spring-loaded opening allow one-handed fish insertion while keeping the bag securely closed to prevent fish from escaping. Clip the bag to your weight belt or BCD at your hip — avoid clipping it to your float line, as a bag full of fish creates drag that makes surface swims exhausting. For species with sharp spines or teeth, a puncture-resistant bag prevents injuries during handling.

Gloves protect your hands during loading (stretching bands creates significant hand pressure), fish handling (fins and spines cause cuts), and reef contact (sharp coral and rock cut unprotected hands easily). Loading pads (thick rubber pads worn on the palm) distribute the pressure of band loading across a larger area, reducing hand fatigue and preventing the deep palm bruises that new spearfishers develop from loading heavy bands without protection.

Choosing Speargun Length

Speargun length is the most important selection criterion because it determines effective range, power, and maneuverability — and these factors are dictated by your hunting environment. Short guns (50 to 75 centimeters) are designed for reef holes, caves, and tight structure where fish hold within arm's reach and a long gun cannot be aimed in the confined space. They carry a single band and a thin shaft, prioritizing maneuverability over power. A short gun is the specialist's tool for extracting reef fish from their hiding spots.

Medium guns (90 to 110 centimeters) are the all-purpose workhorses — versatile enough for general reef hunting, structure fishing, and mid-water shots at passing fish. They carry one or two bands, a seven-millimeter shaft, and produce enough power and range to take most reef species at distances of six to twelve feet. If you can own only one speargun, a 90 to 100-centimeter gun is the correct choice — it handles the widest variety of hunting scenarios without being too specialized for any single condition.

Long guns (120 to 160 centimeters) are purpose-built for bluewater and open-water hunting where targets are large, wary, and beyond the reach of shorter guns. They carry multiple heavy bands (double or triple twenty-millimeter), thick shafts (7.5 to 8mm), and shooting line rigged to a float system. Effective range extends to fifteen to twenty feet with sufficient penetration power to hold large pelagic species. Long guns are heavy, cumbersome on the swim out, and impossible to use in tight spaces — they are specialists, not generalists.

Freediving Equipment for Spearfishing

Spearfishing is predominantly a freediving activity — most recreational and competitive spearfishing is done on a single breath of air, without scuba equipment. (Scuba-assisted spearfishing is prohibited in many jurisdictions specifically because it provides an unfair advantage over fish that evolved to avoid predators who must surface to breathe.) This means your fins, mask, and wetsuit are as important as your speargun — they determine how efficiently you move through the water, how long you can stay on the bottom, and how comfortable you are during hours in the water.

Long-blade freediving fins (plastic, fiberglass, or carbon-fiber blades, 70 to 85 centimeters long) provide the propulsion efficiency needed for repeated descents and surface swims. Short scuba fins waste energy that a breath-hold diver cannot afford — every wasted fin kick shortens your bottom time. Carbon-fiber blades are the performance standard because they store and release energy most efficiently, but they are expensive and fragile (a blade slammed against a rock will crack). Fiberglass blades offer eighty percent of carbon's performance at half the price and superior durability. Plastic blades are the budget option — adequate for shallow-water hunting but noticeably less efficient on deep dives where every kick counts.

Low-volume masks (masks with minimal internal airspace) are essential for freediving because you must equalize the mask's airspace during descent by exhaling into it through your nose. A large-volume mask requires more air to equalize, consuming breath that could otherwise extend your bottom time. Low-volume masks also provide a wider field of view relative to their size, which helps you spot fish before they spot you. Dark silicone skirts (as opposed to clear silicone) reduce peripheral light entry, allowing you to look directly into reef shadows and holes where fish hide without glare from above washing out your vision.

Safety and Buddy Protocol

Spearfishing is inherently higher risk than recreational diving because it combines breath-hold diving (with its risk of hypoxic blackout) with the handling of sharp, projectile-launching equipment in proximity to other divers. Shallow-water blackout — loss of consciousness due to low oxygen during or immediately after ascent — is the leading cause of spearfishing fatalities. It is preventable with proper buddy protocol: never dive alone, always have a buddy watching from the surface who can reach you within seconds if you lose consciousness during ascent.

The one-up-one-down rule is the standard spearfishing safety protocol. One diver descends while the buddy watches from the surface. The surface buddy tracks the descending diver's position, monitors their ascent, and is ready to perform a rescue if the diver fails to surface. When the descending diver reaches the surface and gives an OK signal, the roles reverse. This protocol ensures that a diver who blacks out near the surface (the danger zone for hypoxic blackout, because oxygen partial pressure drops rapidly during the final meters of ascent) has an immediate rescue response rather than floating face-down unnoticed.

Loaded spearguns are live weapons. Never point a loaded speargun at anything you do not intend to shoot — this rule is absolute and admits no exceptions. Never load a speargun on the surface or on the boat — load only underwater, when you are actively hunting. Keep your finger off the trigger until you have identified a legal, ethical target and have a clear shot with no other divers in the background. A speargun shaft that misses a fish and travels beyond it can strike a buddy, a swimmer, or a snorkeler who was not visible behind the target. Treat every loaded speargun with the same respect you would give a loaded firearm — because the consequences of a negligent discharge are comparable.

Ethical and Sustainable Spearfishing

Responsible spearfishing is one of the most sustainable forms of fishing because it is inherently selective — you choose each individual fish before taking it. There is no bycatch (unintended species caught in nets or on hooks), no ghost fishing (lost gear continuing to catch fish indefinitely), and no habitat destruction (bottom trawling, reef anchoring). A spearfisher who follows regulations, takes only what they will eat, and avoids spawning aggregations and critical habitat is practicing a form of fishing that has minimal ecological impact compared to virtually any commercial or recreational fishing method.

Target identification is mandatory before every shot. Know the species you are hunting — their appearance, their legal status (protected species, size limits, bag limits, closed seasons), and their ecological role. Taking an undersized fish, a protected species, or a breeding female has consequences beyond legal penalties — it damages the fish population that sustains the spearfishing activity itself. Experienced spearfishers develop deep knowledge of the species they hunt, including seasonal behavior patterns, preferred habitat, and reproductive cycles, allowing them to make informed decisions about which fish to take and which to leave for population sustainability.

Catch-and-release is not practical in spearfishing — a shaft through a fish is generally lethal, so the decision to shoot is the decision to kill. This finality demands certainty before pulling the trigger: certainty of species identification, certainty of legal compliance, certainty of a clean shot that will dispatch the fish quickly, and certainty that you want and will use the fish you are about to take. If any of these certainties is missing, do not shoot. The fish will still be there on your next dive — taking a questionable shot is never worth the risk of killing a protected species, wounding a fish that escapes and dies slowly, or taking more fish than you need.