Collection Gift Guide: A-fish-ionado
12/01/2005
Riffe International
In 1948, at age 10, Jay Riffe harpooned his
first fish. As a teenager he began to spearfish competitively with guns he
built in his garage, and the young phenom broke world records with the
triple-digit bass and yellowtail he landed. Five decades later, Riffe still
hunts trophy-size fish, and blue-water hunters from around the world consider
the guns built by his eponymous company to be among the best available.
Forty-one Riffe models in four series—Standard, Mid Handle, Metal Tech, and Competitor—suit a variety of diving and hunting requirements. The company, based in San Clemente, Calif., handcrafts each speargun with cured cross-grain teak laminated several times to prevent warping or bowing. But any spearo will tell you an underwater gun’s beauty is worth little without durability, and Riffe reinforces its guns with treated stainless steel and bolted-through dowel muzzles.
Too large and powerful for reef hunting, the $1,250 Blue Water Express from Riffe’s Mid Handle series is the ultimate gun for pursuing big pelagic fish in the open ocean. The 68-inch speargun comes standard with a 3¼8-inch-diameter by 72-inch threaded spear shaft, ice pick slip tip, and four 5¼8-inch-diameter by 32-inch power bands. It will shoot up to 29 feet with 120 pounds of punch per band. Riffe’s ballast wing kit and front stabilizer wing kit combine to absorb recoil when firing and provide a longer shooting range with greater accuracy.
Riffe International, 949.361.2818, www.speargun.com