i have had this burning need to make a large spear more like a pike, with a big brass weight on one end then fordging some 1 inch winch cable by brazing it down with some nickle and making sort of a damascus look this will be the spear point next will be to plunge it into a great big nile croc!! now that would be great!! (still undesided on shaft media)

lash, your best bet will be to find out who has a government contract for taking crocs in problem areas-- like the Zambezi river in Moz. They are allowed to hunt at night. You will never get close to a big wary nile croc in daylight. In 2004, I hunted the south shore of Cahora Bassa. finally got a good croc with a rifle, and then hunted at night from a boat with a light,with Stephen Edwards (frequent contributor to African Hunter Mag.), who had such a contract. We speared a couple of 8-9 footers. Here is what I learned:
1) Even small crocs roll like mad when struck with the spear---hence the shaft must be detachable.
2) The head/blade will not kill the beast--it should be meant to get into the body and the barbs(hopefully of the lever-kind as used by Inuit on seals or whales) keep the head from pulling out during the fight. The blade head must also have a ring for attaching the line used to pull the croc to the boat.
3) You will need a rifle to dispatch the beast once you get him to the boat.
4)Drink plenty of beer before going out.
Zambezi Croc with rifle


Crocs in Australia used to not being shot at


Zambezi croc

that is awesome!! i stood and stared at the big croc mount last year sci show and decided right to hunt a croc with spear.... thank you for tips will incorperate detachable spear head. as for firearm i am thinking .460 s and w should be plenty

Since you will be shooting from a small boat, would recommend something in the 30/06 line, big caliber might cause upset of boat.

Lash- You can get the job done with the bowhunting gear used for gators. We did this on a trib of the Zambezi. We would float down the river with the tide(fresh but low enough to be tidal) and skull up on crocs that are thermoregulating. It is as much fun as you could imagine. We did not take big crocs but had a big time. The equipment is a dragless reel with 600 lbs kevlar line attached to the arrow. The shaft detaches and the line is hooked to a bouy. We shot two of these into the crocs before using the regular broadhesds.

Lash, I just posted some picts over on the Australia/NZ AR site showing a croc we got last year in a small billabong. If they ever allow croc hunting by non-residents, it could be conceivable to get a croc with a spear if one could be found in one of these small holes of water during the dry periods.

Those guys are creepy, eh? Prehistoric.