South Bend Fishing Catch

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Zebco® 202® Spincast Combo

Zebco® 202® Spincast Combo

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Public Health 257B – Fall 2009 – Lecture 11

Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response Professor Thomas Aragon

An Evening of David Foster Wallace

The Harry Ransom Center commemorated the opening of the David Foster Wallace archive with readings of Wallace’s work by writers and actors on September 14, 2010. Readers include Wayne Alan Brenner, Elizabeth Crane, LB Deyo, Doug Dorst, Owen Egerton, Chris Gibson, Kurt Hildebrand, Shannon McCormick and Jake Silverstein shared selections of Wallace’s fiction, essays, and correspondence. Wallace’s archive is housed at the Ransom Center. The program was co-sponsored by American Short Fiction and Salvage Vanguard Theater.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

South Bend Worm Gear Fishing Rod and Spinning Reel

South Bend Worm Gear Fishing Rod & Spinning Reel (Red) Combo

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Γ SOUTH BEND WORM GEAR FISHING ROD & SPINNING REEL (RED) COMBO

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Freedivers Go Deep!!!

Even as a small boy paddling around the swimming pool, Doug Sitter never had a problem putting his face in the water. In fact, he didn’t mind putting his whole body under the water – sometimes a long way under it.

Doug, now 33, is a “freediver ,” a small but growing group of enthusiasts who train their bodies to dive deep without scuba equipment. Those at the top of the sport can descend more than 300 feet using just the air they inhale into their lungs before descending.

“I started out as a young boy, diving for the rings at the bottom of the pool,” says Doug, who quickly found he needed more water than that to satisfy his urge to go deep.

In his early childhood, his family lived in Deep River, Ontario. The Ottawa River was nearby and he was soon diving there “to see how deep I could go.” Doug would go on to become Dive Master and a certified NLS lifeguard.

His water world expanded when he developed an interest in scuba diving from his fourth grade teacher. On returning from a dive trip to the Bahamas, the teacher told students of the underwater experiences there. Doug took up scuba, became certified, took more advanced courses such as enriched air nitrox and became a Dive Master. All this while still a teenager.

But he was also comfortable being underwater without scuba gear. By then, his family had moved to Exeter, Ontario, which brought Doug in contact with a sport that would lead to freediving. Just to the south of Exeter, in the city of London, Ontario, there was an underwater hockey league that interested him. The sport was a natural fit for Doug. At the bottom of the pool, players battled for control of a lead-filled puck using only speed fins, mask, snorkel and a short stick.

“It was all about speed and stick movements,” Doug recalls.
By 2002, Doug learned from fellow underwater hockey players that Florida-based Performance Freediving was offering a program in Toronto. Doug and three other graduates of this course immediately started a club known as Freedive Toronto www.freedivetoronto.com

In 2007 through his contacts with other Canadian Free divers he helped form AIDA Canada, which would become the Canadian affiliate of the international governing body of the sport, known as AIDA International
Doug is the current president of Free Dive Toronto and vice-president of AIDA Canada.

AIDA Canada looks after education and how to develop both recreational and competitive free divers. This includes setting the standards for who represents Canada at the world championships.

Doug competed for Team Canada in the 2006 world freediving championships in Hurghada, Egypt that saw the Canadians place eighth out of 25 countries.

But for Doug Sitter, exploring the underwater world and experiencing nature up close was always the central interest of his water sports. To him, training the recreational diver in a sport that can be enjoyed by people of a wide range of ages is every bit as important as training the elite divers for international competition.

“It’s a beautiful way to see the world,” he says. “I can swim along a coast and not have the drag of scuba equipment. The air bubbles (from scuba gear) tend to scare fish. But the fish will sometimes come over to you if you just stay calm and quiet. I can swim along the surface and if there’s something below that interests me I can go down and check it out. It’s more like a scenic hike.”

Doug says a freediver can see a lot in just 15 metres of water, which is easily attainable for even most recreational free divers.
Scuba gear isn’t something you’re likely to carry on a hike in to a remote area that you may want to dive. Instead, scuba has its place in pursuits such as exploring ship wrecks and caves.

Doug says the recreational side of freediving suffers from negative press of rare accidents caused by individuals who haven’t been properly trained and may not even know what freediving is or what risks are involved. It is important if people are interested in getting involved they should find an AIDA affiliate club in their area and start making inquiries,he adds.

Freediving goes back centuries to ancient Egypt and China. People have always used their ability to extend the depths of their dives to collect food, shells and other objects on the ocean floor. The sport is beginning to grow in Canada and currently it has clubs in this country’s three largest cities – Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

As in golf, the competitive freedivers can serve as a measuring stick for those who just participate for the exercise and fun. To that end, there three main categories of competition: dynamic, static and constant ballast.

Dynamic is the distance a person can swim in the pool underwater, with or without fins. In men’s competition, the world record is:
Men: 250 metres with fins and 213 m without.
Women: 214 metres with fins and 160 without

Static is how long a swimmer can hold his or her breath under water. The current world record is:
Men: 11 minutes, 35 seconds.
Women: 8 minutes, 23 seconds.

Constant ballast is the depth a competitor can reach, with or without fins. The current world records are:
Men: 122 metres with fins and 88 metres without.
Women: 101 metres with fins and 60 metres without

The idea is to test freedivers for time, depth and distance.

Equalizing pressure in the ears is a focus in depth training. Techniques include: Valsalva (holding your nose and blowing out to clear your ears); and Frenzel (holding air in your mouth and using the tongue to piston the air into the ears).

Staying relaxed is crucial. Panicking quickly uses up the finite supply of air the diver takes into his or her lungs. And obviously, a mental breakdown deep in the water is something to avoid.

Training also includes a video analysis of a student’s kicks. Efficient kicking is central to performance. Usually, much larger fins are used, sometimes one very large fin that is propelled by both feet. “Long-blade fins are super effective and powerful,” says Doug, but he cautions that you need training and conditioning to use them. Those who haven’t yet developed that strength are better to start with shorter fin blades because the long ones will quickly tire them out.

Doug was on the Canadian safety team at the world individual depth competition for freediving in Long Island, Bahamas Nov. 24 to Dec. 5. That is a favourite site for freedivers because it is the home to Dean’s Blue Hole, the deepest blue hole in the world, extending 300 metres below the ocean floor. Canada’s team did well in the event. William Winram, who is from British Columbia but is now living in Switzerland, reached a depth of 86 metres in the “constant weight, no fins” men’s event. (Constant weight means the competitor must return to the surface with any weight he wore on the way down. This is opposed to variable weight, where the diver can discard the weight before returning to the surface.) Winram’s dive won him the silver medal and was just two metres short of the world record. That record was shattered by the gold medal winner, who descended 90 metres. In the women’s constant weight, no fins class, Jana Strain of Calgary (now living in California) finished fourth and set a Canadian record with a dive of 54 metres.

The event was injury free. To protect competitors, safety team members go down 30 metres, stay there for a full minute, and still have enough left to assist a free diver in trouble up to the surface. The divers will have gone as deep as 120 metres without air, so if they’re going to have trouble it’s most likely to be in the last 25 to 30 metres on the way back up. Fitting safety team members with scuba gear is not an option because it’s crucial to get a freediver in trouble to the surface as quickly as possible. A scuba diver would have to surface slowly to avoid problems with decompression. A freediverusually does not have to worry about the bends because he or she is not breathing compressed air.
The common characteristic of all the top performers in the sport is that they are “very relaxed people.” That is why you will often see professional people doing the best in the sport because they are accustomed to dealing with the mental side.

Freediving is not a sport solely for the young. In fact, many of the top competitive divers are in their 30s and 40s. But that’s nothing. Tom Elliott, who runs an underwater rugby program in Brantford, can hold his breath for 5:47. He is 73.

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Galapagos Travel Report – Islands Frozen in Time

A Journal by Rick Britcher, July 2008

Introduction

            I have been diving since the late sixties, and the one thing that has keep me diving is the inherent sense of adventure and the lure of the unknown that it provides. No matter how many times I dive the same place, I never know what I might see or what adventure I might have. There is also the commerodary among divers. Some of my best friends are students of mine or people I’ve met while on dive trips. It’s these things that draw me to such exotic dive destinations like the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.

            Getting there is a journey itself. Since there is only one flight each day to the islands, it takes at least two days travel time. I hooked up with a group of fourteen divers out of a dive shop in Pasadena, CA. We started our trek at LAX at 5 AM for our first leg of the trip to Miami. From there we boarded a plane for Guiyaquil, Ecuador, one of two main cities in that country. We arrived at 10 PM that night and were transferred to the Unihotel in downtown Guiyaquil, where we had booked rooms for the night. The next day we had a couple hours to kill, because the only flight to the Galapagos was at 12 noon. We decided to take a short walk around downtown. Guiyalquil is a very clean, picturesque, modern city with many parks, beautiful churches and government buildings. Across the street from the hotel was such a park and cathedral. I was busy taking pictures in the park when I saw some of the my friends frantically waving and pointing at me from across the park. I looked up in the trees above me where they were pointing and I saw at least two dozen large iguanas roosting there like some many chickens. Then I heard the SPLAT! I looked down and saw that the ground was covered with their fresh droppings. If I had taken one more step, I would have been nailed by iguana poop. My roommate wasn’t so lucky. They told me he was on his way back to the hotel to take a shower.

            A representative from the Aggressor Fleet met us at the Guiyaquil airport at 10 AM and handled all our check in and baggage. What a pleasant surprise! The flight took two hours and finally, after 36 hours, we were there, San Cristobal Island, Galapagos. Again, the representative from the Aggressor was there to met us and handle all our gear. We all boarded a bus for the ten minute ride to the dock in the center of town. Stepping over sea lions laying on the dock, we climbed aboard an inflatable dingy for a short ride to the Aggressor II, moored in the harbor. What a beautiful boat! The rooms below deck each had two single beds, bathroom and shower. The rooms above deck had one double bed, bathroom and shower. There was a sun-deck on top with lounge chairs and hammocks. The dining room and lounge was very plush with lots of wood and brass. The dive deck had 14 stations with a very large rinse tank for cameras and two chase boats. Lunch was ready for us when we boarded and we spent the afternoon stowing gear while the boat moved to an anchorage on the southeast side of the island for our check-out dive.

            Except for the small town at the harbor, the rest of the island is uninhabited. The islands are all volcanic and look very prehistoric. We anchored in a small cove and geared up for a dive to check our weights and make sure everything was working correctly. We were told to wear our 7mm suits, hoods, and gloves even though the water temp was 79 F. The dive master said the water would be much colder at our dive site tomorrow. The islands are affected by three major currents, one from the south, one from the north and one from the west. The time of year and strength of the different currents would determine the temperature of the water at each site. So we had to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. This first site was murky and the bottom was sand and rocks and inhabited by the usual reef fish: butterfly fish, damsels, grunts, puffers, eels, rays, etc. After the dive we stretched out on the sun deck until dinner at 6 PM. When we all gathered in the dining salon, the crew came in dressed in their white naval uniforms. They were very stunning. They greeted us with a champagne toast and a fabulous dinner. We had BBQ steak, chicken, fish, potatoes, rice and beans, seveche, and salsa. I ate way too much! As the boat motored to our first dive site, we sat up on the sun deck and watched the sunset, talked and laughed until we were too tired to stay awake any longer. Diving started tomorrow.

Day 1

            The breakfast bell rang at 6:30 AM and we could have what ever we wanted: eggs, waffles, cereal, fruit, toast. All you had to do was ask and the chef would make it. Dive briefing was at 8 AM and for each site the dive master drew a detailed map showing bottom contours, depths, currents, etc. The first site was called Mosquera Island, a small sand bar between two larger islands, Seymour and Baltra. We anchored on the inside between the islands and the dive  was on the ocean side of Mosquera along a wall with a long sand flat on top. The wall dropped to 90 ft. and the sand flat was at 60 ft. The dive master said that this was an easy spot with no currents and we would start at one end of the wall and dive the wall to the other end. He wanted to check our diving skills to make sure we could handle what was to come. We had seven divers and a dive master in each dingy and we were dropped at the left end of the wall over the sand flat. I sank down to the sand a 60 ft and checked my computer. Visibility was only about 30 ft. and green with plankton, reminded me of Laguna Beach on a good day, except the water temp. was 79 F. I swam down over the wall and could see the shimmering layer of the thermocline at 75 ft. As I swam through it, the water temperature dropped ten degrees but the visibility opened up to about 50 ft.. The wall was covered with black coral. Moray eels and lobsters poked their heads out of the cracks. As I followed the wall, I was surrounded by the usual suspects: schools of big-eyed jacks and small tuna, grunts, crommies, angel fish, butterfly fish, moorish idles, barracuda, spotted eagle rays. I ascended the wall and swam over the sand flat to do my safety stop. On the sand were a couple of large stingrays and a big field of garden eels. As I sat on the surface waiting to be picked up I could see dozens of sea lions sunning on the beach on Mosquera. When we got back on board after the dive, one of the crew had a plate of hot cinnamon buns and hot chocolate for us. When I pulled down my wetsuit another crew member put a hot beach towel on my shoulders. Sweet!

            The second dive was to be a repeat of the first and, after about an hour surface interval, we were dropped off in the same place on the reef. This time I went straight down the wall to the bottom at about 90 ft. Due to the upwelling it was still pretty chilly down there, so I didn’t stay long. I came back up through the thermocline and stopped at the top of the wall and looked out over the sand flat. There, about twenty feet away was a Great Hammerhead, the largest of the six species of hammerheads. It was the biggest shark I had ever seen. It had to be at least 12 ft long. It was massive! I’ve swam with 12 ft Caribbean reef sharks before and they were small in comparison. It reminded me of a Great White, only with a handlebar head. It was accompanied by several other smaller scalloped hammerheads and they quickly swam across the sand and over the wall, disappearing like ghosts. There was no chance to take a picture. I looked around for my buddy, but he was down the wall about ten feet taking pictures of reef fish. He didn’t see them nor did anyone else. Damn, nobody was going to believe what I saw. It was at that moment that I realized that I was in the Galapagos. I later told the dive master what I had seen and he said he had seen one there a couple of years ago. Since the island faces the open ocean, they come in to feed on the schools of tuna swimming over the sand flat. I continued along the sand hoping to see them again, but never did. Hammerheads are very skittish and don’t like divers and their noisy bubbles.

            A land excursion on Seymour Island was planned for after lunch. At 2 PM the dingies took us ashore and we followed the marked trail across the island. It was like we stepped back in time. The island was pristine and the wildlife was not afraid of humans. We could get within inches of nesting frigates, blue footed boobies, land and sea iguanas, orange and blue crabs, and sea lions. Richard, our dive master, was extremely knowledgeable about the history and biology of the island. It was amazing.

            After a two hour hike we went back to the boat, which had just refueled at the military base on Baltra. Next stop was Wolf Island, an eighteen hour crossing. We should arrive there at about 8 the next morning. After a dinner of sauteed shrimp and rice, we sat on the sun deck and watched the sunset and talked about the day’s events.

Day 2

            We arrived at Wolf Island on schedule escorted by a pod of dolphins riding the bow wake. Hundreds of seagulls were diving a bait ball and the dolphins moved in and attacked it as well, jumping ten feet out of the water. The first dive of the day was at Schrk-bai with the current running to the north, visibility was 50-80 ft and the water was a beautiful turquoise blue. Water temperature was a balmy 82 F and the air was 90 F. I had my 7mm wetsuit on because I didn’t know what to expect. When I did my back roll off the dingy I knew right away I was going to roast. The bottom was strewn with big boulders covered with barnacles and sloped down from 30 ft and disappeared into the darkness below. I immediately swam down towards the thermocline at about 100 ft. to cool off. Out it the blue I could see the ghostly shapes of several hammerheads right at the edge of visibility. Large schools of big-eyed jacks, barracuda, and wahoo passed by. Every few minutes a green sea turtle would swim by. I tried swimming out into the blue to photograph the sharks, but they keep their distance, too far away for a good picture. By the time we finished out safety stop the current had carried us to the north end of the island where the dingies were waiting to pick us up.

            The second dive started at El Derumbe (landslide) and I wore just my 5mm vest and board shorts and no weight belt. As soon as we descended we were surrounded by hammerheads, galapagos sharks and silkies. The current was a lot stronger, so I hid behind a large boulder and waited. The sharks paraded by, sometimes twenty at one time. Big squadrons of hammerheads swam into the current and they got really close. They were all about 6-10 ft in length and they came from all directions. Finally I decided to swim out into the blue and let the current take me. I swam through big schools of tangs, wahoo, jacks, and tuna. At one point I was surrounded by hammerheads and turtles. After my safety stop I had once again drifted to the north end of the island where the dingy was waiting to pick me up. We didn’t have to worry about getting lost at sea because each of us was equipped with a GPS locator and a 10 ft flag. I never had to use them because the dingy drivers were excellent at keeping track of everybody. We had BBQ for lunch and we had a rainstorm pass through that cooled things off. The rain stopped just in time for dive number three.

            Because we had so much action at El Denumbe, dives three and four where exactly the same. The water was warm, the current was strong, and the sharks were everywhere. It was almost too much for one day. How could we top this? We anchored on the north side of Wolf for the night and we were moving to Darwin Island the next morning. It was only a two hour crossing and we could actually see the island off to the north.

Day 3

            When we woke the next morning we were anchored off of Darwin Island with Darwin Arch off to the left. There was a large thunderstorm to the north and a rainbow appeared between the arch and the island, a good omen of things to come. The first dive started at small inlet in the middle of Darwin Arch. The water temperature was still 82 F and the visibility was 80 to 100 ft. with the thermocline at about 70 ft. There was a mild current and there were lots of groupers, jacks, wahoo, trumpet fish, moorish idles, angels, eels, and turtles. The current carried us around the arch to the flat shallow area in front of Darwin Island. There we saw a squadron of hammerheads in about 35 ft. of water. The dingies picked us up there and it was back to the boat for hot cinnamon buns and hot chocolate. We were so spoiled!

            The second dive started at the west corner of the arch and we were to hang out there to wait for the action. We dropped down to just above the thermocline at 70 ft. with no current and watched as the hammerheads and turtles cruised in out of the blue. A couple of spotted eagles rays sailed by along with a huge school of big-eyed jacks. We went back for lunch and then returned to the same spot for dive three. When I dropped in this time, conditions had changed a little. I looked down and the boulders on the bottom were whizzing by. The current had to have been at least 3 knots. It’s what us old timers call an E-ticket ride. I quickly swam down to try and grab onto a rock. The current was so strong I couldn’t hold on and I couldn’t even hold my position no matter how hard I kicked. So I just went with it. Swimming into the current was a huge school of jacks followed by a group of hammerheads. I drifted for a while at 90ft. until the bottom disappeared, all the time surrounded by sharks. I surfaced after my safety stop and found that I had drifted about a half mile past the east side of Darwin Island. I did a quick 360 and saw that the chase boat was only about 20 yards away. He knew right where I was the whole time. These guys were great! I am definitely taking my reef hook on the next dive.

            The current was still ripping when we jumped in for the fourth dive. I had my reef hook this time, but it took several attempts to hook up. The hook keep popping off the rocks. After I was finally secure, I started taking pictures. I quickly discovered that it was going to be more difficult than I expected. The current keep bending my strobe out of position and my mask kept flooding. I was whipping back and forth on the reef hook and banging my bare knees against the sharp barnacles that covered the rocks. I decided to unhook and just drift with the current. This turned out to be a good idea because I passed through a couple of big groups of hammerheads swimming into the current. I shot all my film and surfaced in about the same spot as the last dive.

Day 4

            The next day we were returning to Wolf Island, but we had a chance to do two more dives at Darwin Arch if we got up early. We boarded the dingies before breakfast and motored over to the arch. There was no current and the visibility was at least 100 ft. A couple sea lions played with us and we could see a school of hammerheads out in the blue. An enormous school of jacks surrounded us and we could hear dolphins squeaking and clicking, but we never saw them. On the way back to the boat the dolphins showed up. We quickly jumped in with our snorkels and swam with them for a while. What a blast! After breakfast we went to the same spot for our second and last dive at the arch. We could still hear the dolphins but we couldn’t see them. They got louder and louder and then six big bottle nose dolphins came in out of the blue. They circled us a couple times, checking us out, and then they took off.

            We arrived at Wolf Island at noon and two dives were planned. We were diving the landslide again and the current was so strong that the surface looked like rapids in a fast moving river. It was intense. We were immediately swept away. It was hard to hang on even using my reef hook. There were sharks everywhere: 6-8 ft. hammerheads, galapagos, silkies. They just keep coming and they were all eating tuna! When we surfaced we had drifted around the end of the island a half a mile past Schrk-Bai. Since we had so much action, the second dive was at the same spot. Conditions were the same except the water temperature had dropped to 75F. The current must have caused a cold upwelling. It got a little chilly with no wetsuit. Again we were surrounded by sharks. This time the green sea turtles were there in force. I counted nineteen turtles on the dive, seeing five at one time. As soon as we boarded the Aggressor II, we pulled anchor and headed south for the main island group.

Day 5

            We arrived at Santiago Island the next day at noon and we had time for two dives at Cousin Rock. It was a small rocky island with a long wall to the south. The water was green with plankton and visibility might have been 10 ft. at the surface. Water temperature was in the low 60′s and it looked like we were back in California water. It was time for 7mm wetsuits again.   The wall went down to 100 ft and visibility was better down deep. The wall was covered with black coral and thousands of aquarium fish. We saw turtles, mobla rays, white tip sharks, and seahorses. We followed the wall south and surfaced on the backside of Cousin Rock. While on the surface, a couple of big eyed fur seals came over to play with us.

            Following our two dives we headed for the anchorage at Bartolome Island for a land excursion. This is the most famous location in the Galapagos Islands and there were a half dozen boats at anchor. The beach we were going to was one that was featured in the movie “Master and Commander”. As we approached we could see a couple of small penguins standing on the rocks and swimming in the water. They were only about 12 inches tall. We walked down the sand beach as dozens of red and orange crabs scurried into the water. We could see trenches all over the sand dunes where sea turtles had laid their eggs, some just the night before. Sea iguanas perched on the rocks like gargoyles. The island was a volcano that erupted only 150 years ago and the fresh lava flow looked like a moonscape. We hiked to the top of it and the view of the islands was amazing. As the sun set and the mosquitos attacked, we made our way back to the dingy. Back on the boat we were treated to a roast turkey dinner and everyone joked that it was really a pelican that the crew had caught.

Day 6

            During the night we had moved to Plazas Island for another land excursion. This island looked very prehistoric because it was covered with prickly pear cactus trees and hundreds of land iguanas. The iguanas main food source was the cactus and there was no shortage of either. As we walked around blue foot bobbies squawked at us and we had to step over sea lions sleeping on the trail.

            Our last dive was at Gordon Rocks, nicknamed the “Washing Machine”. It was a collapsed volcano that had currents coming in from all sides and we would be diving inside it. Visibility was much better than yesterday, 50 to 100 ft, depending on the currents. There were many submerged pinnacles and the currents were fairly strong between them. We started on the far right side and swam around the pinnacles to the left and ended up on the outside. There was a large school of barracuda on the inside of the crater and when we reached the outside on the left a group of manta rays greeted us. Right behind them was a bunch of eagle rays. What a great way to end the last dive!

            Our next stop was the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island. This is where they breed and house the various species of land tortoises that inhabit the Galapagos Islands. Each island has it’s own distinct species of tortoise. Early sailors and explorers slaughtered thousands of them for food and several species have become extinct. On the island of Pinta there was only one left and his name is Lonesome George. He now lives at the research station where they are trying to breed him in order to repopulate his island. Another island had only 12 left and through a successful breeding program there are now over a thousand. The station has hundreds of baby tortoises and dozens of adult ones up to 100 years old. They collect the eggs from each island and hatch them. Each tortoise is numbered and they raise it until it is five years old. Then they release it on its island of origin. We spent all afternoon at the station.

            We returned to the boat at 5 PM for a well-deserved nap. After resting for a couple of hours we all met in the salon for a farewell toast with the crew. They were all dressed in their whites again and we all agreed that they did a fantastic job of taking care of us. Then we headed back to town for dinner at a local restaurant. We ate, drank, and talked until 11PM and then went back to the boat for our final move to San Cristobal. The next day we boarded our flight for Quiyaquil, where we spent the night again in the Unihotel. We were back home the following night.

            It should be noted that diving the Galapagos Islands is not for everyone. It is definitely advanced diving. You must be comfortable diving in strong currents, cold water, with no bottom, surrounded by big sharks. However, if this is the kind of adrenaline diving you are looking for, then you must put the Galapagos Islands at the top of your list of exotic dive locations. I am glad I did.

How to Do Offshore Fishing : How to Make an Albright Knot

An albright knot can withhold a lot of pressure, including pressure exerted from a fish’s teeth. Learn more about offshore fishing techniques in this free video series. Expert: Rafael Mayans Contact: www.seacrossfishingmiami.com Bio: Rafael Mayans is a licensed and insured Coast Guard Certified Captain,a member of the International Game Fish Association. Filmmaker: Paul Muller
Video Rating: 1 / 5

Lake Tahoe Mackinaw Attacks and rigging setup

Wild Mackinaw attacks at Tahoe details on lures and rod setups and tips in this action video while fishing with a couple cowboys buddies Don Romine and Tim Obrien from Nevada and grandson Trevor Watts. We launch out of Cave Rock and when south to fish a hump off the ski run for 4 and ran to another spot I know up on the north west of the Lake for one moreUsing bomber A type lures. Tofind out about other fantastic products such as FBR™ for salmon, trout, stripers and halibut trolling and trout fishing go to www.sheltonproducts.com How the self releasing quick out trout catfish bass bait hook works. To find out how the amazing self releasing hook works and to see the animation of release action go to http To find out more about my advanced fishing invention go to www.sheltonproducts.com To see my video movie theater with a incredible list of how to and action fishing video go to http To see a video of the TadPole snagless weights go to www.sheltonproducts.com There were two hook mortality study done with them in the Eastern Sierras and sponsored by US Forest service and local business men in Mono and Inyo Counties that proof the mortality rate was equal to or less than fly fishing mortality. Since you aren’t breaking off hooks in fish and with the TadPole snagless weights, not breaking off in rocks, you get in more fishing time because you are not down re-rigging so that gives you more time with your bait in the water and you improve your catch. This is especially important …
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Proper Planning Will Lead to an Enjoyable Camping Trip

So you, like me, are an avid camper. My family and I try and go on at least camping 4 trips during the year. Here in New Jersey, at least for me anyway, the best times to go are March through the end of May, and September through middle of October.

For me the summer months in New Jersey can get too humid, bringing out a plethora of bugs and mosquitoes, which quite frankly I do not find too pleasant of an atmosphere. I try to limit my time during the cooler months for that reason and for comfort. There is nothing more enjoyable about camping then sitting around the camp fire on a crisp cool evening. Something that I don`t feel you can enjoy during the dog days of summer.

Now that is not to say that camping isn`t enjoyable here in New Jersey during the summer months. It is, as you will find many, if not all of the campgrounds, private and public are booked solid. The main reasons being, kids are out of school and the days are longer.

New Jersey provides a wonderful selection of campgrounds throughout the state. You can hit the mountains in Northern New Jersey, the Jersey shore campgrounds down in Cape May. Whichever you choose, be prepared for the terrain.

If you go camping in Northern New Jersey, expect very rocky ground. If you are tent camping, which is something that I absolutely love to do, bring a good hammer with you to bang those tent stakes in. In fact, you probably should bring some heavy duty tent stakes with you. If you just use the ones that come with your tent, chances are they will bend on you.

A hammer is not needed central to south Jersey for camping as the soil is more soft without much rock to break through.

If you are a novice to camping I would recommend not so much “roughing” it on your first try. What I mean by that is, look for a campground that has water hookups near your site. It will make it easier on you when you need water for cooking, cleaning etc. Also choose a campground that has bathroom facilities. Not all of them have them, most do, but keep that on your checklist. I recommend the more new you are to camping, the closer your site should be to the facilities. It doesn`t make the trip enjoyable when you have to go in the middle of the night and have to walk a half mile to get to the bathroom. Once you get accustomed to the camping lifestyle, trust me, it really is not that big of a deal.

Regardless of where you camp, what time of year, or who you go with, the key to a fun, safe and rewarding camping trip is in the planning. Sit down and write a list of everything you will need to make the trip comfortable. Separate your list into categories, such as food supplies, cooking and eating utensils, sleeping gear and so on. After you write your list, double check it against the list others you are going with might have made up. Maybe you forgot some things that they have, and vice-versa. The more time you spend in the planning process, the more easy your trip will be and the more fun you will have. There is nothing worse, then when you are about to cook those steaks over an open fire and you forgot the utensils to cook, or the seasoning or even worse, the steaks themselves.

Camping is a fun and enjoyable activity for the entire family. Proper planning, and not trying to extend beyond your comfort level, will make it even that more special.

By: Bruce A. Tucker