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"One local fisherman contacted King George through the week saying how he had been nabbed by authorities in possession of a Hawaiian Sling which had a five prong spear. It is illegal he was informed to have a spear with more than two prongs and the unfortunate victim hopes that this is a warning to other spearfishermen not to get caught as he was."
I never knew hawaiian slings were illegal!? :blink:
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08-12-2003, 02:13 PM
(This post was last modified: 23-05-2004, 12:25 AM by glen.)
Hi Adam,
Here are the regulations for spear fishing. Note that a hand spear and a spear gun are two different things. A hawaiin sling is a spear gun.
Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide 2003 - 2004
Contents
Spearfishing
[url="http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/fishing/"]http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/fishing/[/url]
The use or possession of spear guns or hand held spears is prohibited in, on or next to inland waters.
The use of any spear or spear gun to take rock lobster is prohibited.
Hand held spears and spear guns must not be used in marine national parks and marine sanctuaries except in those areas where fishing is permitted until 1 April (other than Corner Inlet Marine National Park). Hand held spears and spear guns may be carried in marine national parks and marine sanctuaries subject to conditions relating to safety.
Hand Held SpearA hand held spear must not have any barbs or more than two prongs. May be used to take fish other than rock lobster in marine waters, but not:
within 30m of any jetty;
within 30m of the mouth of any creek or river;
in inland waters, Curdies Inlet, the North Arm of Gippsland Lakes, Mallacoota Inlet, Swan Bay, Sydenham Inlet, Tamboon Inlet, Lake Tyers Inlet; Wingan Inlet;
in specified parts of Corner Inlet and Andersons Inlet;
within all Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries.
Spear Guns (including slings)
A spear gun is a mechanical device or object that is capable of imparting propulsive energy to a spear or arrow.
A spear gun may be used to take fish (other than rock lobster) in marine waters, but not:
within 30m of any jetty;
within 400m of the mouth of any creek or river;
within all Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries.
The possession of a spear gun is prohibited in, on or next to Lake Tyers, the Lower Lake at Mallacoota Inlet, and Wingan or Curdies Inlet. You may possess a spear gun in a boat on these waters only if you are proceeding by the most direct route to or from a boat ramp or mooring to waters in which the use of a spear gun is permitted.
The use or possession of a spear gun is prohibited in the waters of the Gippsland Lakes except for those waters that are within:
20m of the 3 rocky groynes off the eastern end of Rigby Island;
20m of the 'barrier' in Hopetoun Channel, west of the barrier landing;
50m of the compass beacons in Eagle Point Bay;
imaginary lines running from Wattle Point to Trouser Point and from Waddy Point to Pelican Point in Lake Victoria.
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I plan to use my 5 prong cluster. My hawaiin sling is a "spear gun" so I believe I am acting legally. It is up to everyone else to decide what they want to do. To be completely safe you can stick with 2 prongs and no barbs.
There is no good reason why barbs are not permitted. It was once thought that barbless prongs would allow you to spear some poor fish accidently and then let it go to live another day. However I suspect very few speared fish would survive.
If Fisheries Victoria took this regulation seriously then surely they would stop Complete Angler selling illegal pronged hand spears. It annoys me to hear your friend gets a fine but shops can sell illegal equipment!
Also if anyone is interested, the bag and size limits for flounder are:
Flounder (all species)
Minimum legal size: 23cm.
Bag/possession limit: 20.
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I consantly see alot of people using 5 prong hawaiian slings and spear guns around the frankston to mt martha area.
but i dont think anyones gonna do anything if you use it glen!
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The whole prongs/barbs argument seems a bit ludicrous to me....I have a spear with 3 barbed prongs, which according to the above definition is a hand spear, and is illegal. All I need to do is stick a rubber on the end (which I won't use anyway!), and hey presto, it becomes a spear gun, and legal. Also, why would they regulate the number of prongs/barbs on a hand spear but not on a spear gun? (I can't find anything anywhere which says that a 5 prong speargun is illegal)
Another example of fisheries regs that are as clear as mud.
Jaz <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':angry:' />
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its really stupid to me. How do the number of prongs and barbs make a difference anyway??!
Jazman, are you saying if you add a sling to your spear, it will be legal? lol, but you could still use it as a hand spear anyway! it makes no difference! except, youll have a peice of rubber flapping around! 
The whole thing is really confusing, and I dont really care about it.
They need to make it abit easier to understand before ill take notice of it!
:blink:
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09-12-2003, 12:42 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-12-2003, 01:21 PM by adam.)
Hey Glen, you mentioned that jv marine were selling sling spears for $115 or something...
well I was at a dive shop in dandenong this morning, and they had a great selection of spears, and they had hawaiian slings for $35 for a 5ft, and $65 for an 8ft, along with heaps more!
(thought i might mention that they were all 5 prong, and had barbs! Is this classified as illegal :blink: ? im confused!)
They have everything youll ever need at that shop! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />
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Hey Adam,
Yep, I had a good hard look through the regs last night, all I need to do is add a rubber and my spear becomes a speargun, and legal. What a bullsh*t rule, what I don't understand is why you can use a 5 prong hawain sling but not a single pronged flounder spear with no rubber.
And yeah, I thought $115 was expensive, that dive shop at JV marine gives good advice, but EVERYTHING is more expensive than other places, and they usually only stock the top (expensive) brands. $35 sounds on the money.
Are you coming floundering with us at Blairgowrie?
Jaz
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i want to, but i dont know if ill be able to get down there this w/e cos I wont have the car( my dad needs it to go 2 work), but if you guys make this a regular thing, I should be able to make it to the next meet!
I wanna head down to flinders this week aswell, but i might have to make it next week <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />
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Hi Adam,
Where would you be coming from? I'm driving from Edithvale, I might be able to give you a ride.
Depends on how well we do, could become a regular fixture (although with floundering in particular, weather is the key, you don't need much wind to make it a waste of time)
Let me know if you want a ride
Jaz
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Thanks for the offer Jaz, but I live in dandenong north, which is abit off route from where your travelling isnt it? :huh
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Adam,
No probs mate, that's not too far at all.
Just let me know by Friday.
Jaz
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Cool!
hey, adam, i agree, i see alot of people using 5 prong hiwwain slings along the rocks, from frankston to mt martha... i my self do this..... and we havnt had anyone say anything to us..
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I have just sent an email off to DPI (fisheries) in regard to the sling/handspear issue.
I asked them for a hard and fast definition of what is regarded as legal in relation to the number of prongs and the presence of barbs when attached to a hawaiian sling.
When and if I receive a response, I will post here.
I wonder if they will respond, since I mentioned that I would be posting the response on a fishing forum.
Am beginning to hold my breath now, waiting for response from DPI.................
................................(turning red now)........................................
..............(a little purple now).....................
...................(world spinning and getting further away)
..............................................................................
...............................................................................
[Sound of body falling to floor, unconscious]
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14-03-2005, 02:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-05-2008, 08:48 PM by glen.)
[quote name='sea-dog' date='Mar 1 2005, 10:36 PM']I have just sent an email off to DPI (fisheries) in regard to the sling/handspear issue.
I asked them for a hard and fast definition of what is regarded as legal in relation to the number of prongs and the presence of barbs when attached to a hawaiian sling.
When and if I receive a response, I will post here.
[right][post="4261"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
I have just received reply (took 13 days to answer)
First, my question:
" Hi, I was looking into regulations regarding Spearguns vs Hand-held spears.
By my reading of the regulations on the website;
a hawaiian sling is defined as a speargun as it "is capable of imparting propulsive energy to a spear or arrow."
There is no mention of a limit to the number of prongs or the presence of barbs on a speargun/sling.
So if I use a 5 prong, barbed head, hawaiian sling for floundering in Port Phillip bay it is quite OK, but if I were to remove the rubber sling, then it would be regarded as a hand-held spear. It would then be illegal to use as it had more than 2 prongs, and had barbs.
Am I correct in my interpretation of these particular rules? "
Now, the response.
(quote)
Dear Ross,
Thank you for your recent enquiry.
The Department's response is:-
Yes. Your interpretation is correct.
The guide does not specify any restrictions on the number of prongs, or the use of barbs, on the hand of a spear gun because no such restrictions exist.
However, if a hand held spear is used (a spear that is propelled only by the arm), then the spear must not have any barbs and no more than two prongs.
The following link to the website may be of assistance to you: [url="http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/"]http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/[/url] or [url="http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/"]http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/[/url]
If you require clarification or have a further enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact the Customer Service Centre on 136 186 between 8am - 8pm weekdays or email customer.service@dse.vic.gov.au
Sincerely,
Sheridan
Customer Service Officer
Communications & Stakeholder Relations
Department of Sustainability & Environment
Phone: 136 186
Fax: 5332 5050
(end quote)"
So there you go..... Just attach a rubber sling of some description to your flounder spear, and you can use any number of prongs (with or without barbs) as you like.
Cheers. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='  ' />
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Thanks for the effort seadog, it's good to have that regulation clarified once and for all.
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