Home made, simple spear guns

Most simple ‘spear guns’ are a piece of straight steel, acting as an arrow, catapulted by an elastic rubber band. Holding-, aiming- and releasing device is the bearer’s body. If utilized within water, it is a very cheap and effective way of spearing fish. Just needing a diver’s mask for seeing properly underwater.

As a luxury, snorkel and fins would improve own speed, range and diving duration. They also would decrease noise on the water surface.

Shooting fish with a homemade crossbow

In case somebody does not want to enter the water, he needs not only an arrow and an energy delivering device (rubber band), but also technical devices for holding-, aiming- and releasing the arrow in order to shoot precisely over a longer distance from air into water. In case a fish was hit, he has to be held in place. And there needs to be a solution to retrieve it again.

Thai handymen created for this job wooden spear guns similar to crossbows and added a holding device for a fishing line connected to the arrow. In a future blog I will present such ‘freshwater fishing spear guns’ in detail. At this place it should suffice to mention that such devices are very widespread in the northern parts of Bangkok, especially utilized when floods are setting in.

Lessons learned about fishing with simple spear guns

• A straight piece of steel, an old bicycle tube and a fishing mask are enough for spearing fish underwater.
• Much more convenient to handle is a crossbow in the shape of a rifle for spear gun fishing