King George Whiting

I have been spending the last few days sorting through some of my GoPro footage and found these. The first is a perfect example of the body posture a King George Whiting adopts just before it bolts. Notice the position of the tail relative to the body at the 53 second mark. King George Whiting are notoriously hard to get close to, and for me the best angle is from directly above. When chasing Whiting I like to use a 1200 Rail Gun fitted with a reel and a single 20mm band and a 5/16" shaft with a 6 barb Pranger . I find this combination to be the ideal length for maneuverability, yet it can still handle most chance encounters with larger fish such as Western Australian Dhufish that often favor the same ground as King George Whiting. I find the ideal water depth to be around 12 meters as this allows me to see the fish but still be far enough away that the fish is not aware of you.

The second is an example of how hard these fish can be to spot over the sand, I often see a give away shadow before I can make out the actual fish.

Last Weeks Crayfish.

 I finally got around to editing the Go Pro footage from last weeks day out catching Crayfish with Will.
There were some big ones around if you looked hard enough, I ended up with 6 and Will with 5, not a bad effort for 2 hours diving.

How NOT to lose your boat.

While I am waiting for my boat to be completed I have been making up all sorts of things and getting my gear ready for the coming diving season. A new anchor and rope was one of the things that I needed to prepare. If you have ever had to swim after a drifting boat or worse still lost one you will know how important this piece of equipment is. The type and size of Anchor and size and length of chain you use critical as it is the weight of chain that sets the Anchor,  you should always follow professional advise on what type and size Anchor, Chain and Rope you purchase. The first 5 meters or so of rope is the most vulnerable as it connects to the chain and is therefore close to the bottom. So with that in mind and considering as divers we often anchor on reef that can damage our anchor rope here is a run through of how I prepare a new anchor rope.

Step 1. Purchase about 5 meters of clear tubing with an internal diameter
a little larger than your Anchor Rope. Then using an electricians fish tape
or similar tool pull the rope through the tubing.

Step 2. When you have pulled the tubing down the length of your rope
and reach the Eye, carefully split the tubing to a length of a little over
twice the length of the splice and Eye.

Step 2a. When splitting the tube be very careful not to cut yourself or the
 Anchor Rope and always cut away from your body.

Step 3. Pull the splice up to the end of the split and trim a section as shown
 to go around the Eye.

Step 4. Wrap the tubing around the Eye and then back over itself up
past the splice.

Step 5. Tie a couple of constrictor knots with some strong cord
 ( see tying Spear gun rubber tutorial) to secure the tubing in place.
You can use Monel wire and twist it if you like  I just prefer cord as the
ends don't rip up your gloves or hands.

Step 6. Tie some more constrictor knots at intervals along the length of the
 tubing to secure it in place. 

Step 7. Tie a constrictor knot on the other end of the tubing.
 ( this step is not required I do it just to keep things looking neat).

Step 8. Now you can secure your Anchor Chain with a Bow Shackle,
be sure to tighten the Shackle Pin with a spanner .

Step 9. Now using some Galvanized or Monel wire. secure the Shackle Pin
so there is no chance of it working loose.

Step 9. Close up detail.

Step 10. Trim the wire and bend the ends over so they will not tear your hands
of gloves when you are handling the Anchor in future.

You are now ready to use your new Anchor rope safe in the knowledge that it will not easily chafe through on the reef. Once again seek professional advise on the Anchor set up for your specific type of vessel and local conditions.

Crimping New Mono to a Spear Shaft.

Step 1. Get together all the required parts, Mono, 2 x Crimps, Crimping tool,
Snips to cut mono and a lighter.

Step 2. Thread the mono through one side of a Crimp.

Step 3.  Thread the Mono through the hole in the end of the Spear Shaft.

Step 4. Thread the mono through the other side of the Crimp

Step 5. Place the Spear Shaft in the Spear Gun and check the Shaft can fully
engage the trigger without the Crimp interfering. Adjust the position of the
Crimp if needed.

Step 6. Using lighter carefully melt the end of the mono into a mushroom
shape taking extreme care not to damage any other section of the mono*.
*See note at end of instructions.

Step 7. Using the crimping tool compress the Crimp as shown, do not compress the crimps right on the ends this will damage the mono.

Step 9. The completed Crimp should look like this.

Step 10. measure off the required amount of Mono and cut.

Step 11. Thread the mono through one side of a Crimp then back through
 the other side to form a loop.

Step 12  Using lighter carefully melt the end of the mono into a mushroom
shape taking extreme care not to damage any other section of the mono*.
*See note at end of instructions.
Then using the crimping tool compress the Crimp as shown, do not
 compress the crimps right on the ends this will damage the mono.

Step 13. The completed loop and Crimp should look like this.

Step 14. Using the Clip on the end of your reel line or Muzzle bungee
attach the mono loop.

*Note. There is debate about the practice of melting the mono end prior to crimping, I do it but others may not. Some claim it can weaken the mono however I cannot attest to the validity of this claim. Although I have never had mono fail through the practice of melting the ends prior to crimping, I leave the choice to melt or not up to you.

Baja Cabrilla

Footage of a nice sized Cabrilla captured in the Sea of Cortez Baja California Mexico in July 2012, filmed with Mask mounted GoPro camera and captured using a Rob Allen signature 1400 carbon Rail gun.

A short clip from a Winter trip north.

Mulloway and Spangled Emperor taken with a Rob Allen 1500 "Zulu" carbon Rail gun and filmed with a mask mounted GoPro Camera.