Make T knot

How to make T form's bond so that hook, float or pendulum no twist within itself.

Bagaimana hendak membuat ikatan bentuk T supaya mata kail, pelampung atau batu ladung tidak berbelit sesama sendiri.

Langkah 1 - Putarkan tangsi supaya ia terbentuk seperti dalam gambar 1. Ketika proses membentuk, pastikan hala pusingan tangsi berlawanan antara satu sama lain semasa menemukan tangsi ini – lihat anak panah.

Step 1 - Rotating catgut so that it formed as in picture 1. When process of forming, make sure round direction catgut counter between one same other during discover this catgut - see arrow.

Langkah 2 - Apabila membentuk 5 hingga 6 putaran, tegangkan kembali tangsi (seperti gambar 2) dan ketemukan semula lilitan tangsi yang dibuat ketika langkah 1. Proses ini bertujuan supaya lilitan menjadi lebih kemas dan rapat.

Step 2 - When form 5 to 6 revolutions, taut return catgut (such as picture 2) and again meet catgut circumference which made when move 1. This process aimed so that circumference become neater and close.

Langkah 3 - Ulangi langkah 1 dan 2 berulang kali sehingga lilitan yang dikehendaki cukup panjang. Biasanya panjang antara 15 hingga 25 sentimeter atau ukuran sejengkal jari dewasa.

Step 3 - Repeat move 1 and 2 repeatedly until circumference is wanted sufficiently long. Usually long between 15 to 25 centimetres or adult finger distance measure.

Langkah 4 - Berikutnya untuk mematikan simpulan dengan menyilang kedua-dua lingkar (loop) tali sambil jari telunjuk dan jari hantu digunakan sebagai index. Loop yang terbina perlu besar supaya memudahkan kita membuat langkah berikutnya.

Step 4 - Further to kill knot with cross both coil (loop) rope as forefinger and middle finger used as index. Formed Loop must be big so that facilitate we make next step.

Langkah 5 - Gunakan kedua-dua jari telunjuk untuk memutarkan loop yang terbina sebanyak 5 hingga 7 pusingan seperti gambar.

Step 5 - Use both forefinger to rotate loop built as much as 5 to 7 laps such as picture.

Langkah 6 - Apabila mencukupi 7 pusingan, masukkan hujung pintal ke dalam loop melalui tengah-tengah loop.

Step 6 - When enough 7 laps, include end twist into loop through middle loop.

Langkah 7 - Tegangkan tali seperti gambar 7. Sebelum memulakan regangan pastikan hujung pintal perlu ditegangkan sepenuhnya. Lakukan regangan dengan perlahan-lahan supaya ia membentuk sapu simpulan yang sekata. Gunakan pelincir seperti air liur (terbaik) semasa proses regangan ini supaya kita tidak mencalarkan tangsi semasa regangan dibuat.

Step 7 - Taut string-like picture 7. Before starting stretching make sure end twist must stretchy fully. Doing stretching gradually so that it form sweep regular knot. Use lubricant such as saliva (best) during this stretching process so that we no scratch current catgut stretching made.

Langkah 8 - Pasang mata kali pada hujung pintal seperti gambar. Contoh mata kail adalah jenis ‘Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hook’.

Step 8 - Install multiply eye at end twist such as picture. Hook example was the type ‘Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hook'.

Langkah 9 - Selesaikan pemasangan mata kail dengan memasukkan hujung mata pada hujung tali yang dipintal seperti gambar.

Step 9 - Solve hook installation by including distal in end of rope spun such as picture.

Langkah 10 - Contoh ikatan T yang siap. Mata kail berada kira-kira 15 sentimeter dari perambut utama dan regangan T dibuat supaya kedudukan mata jauh dari perambut utama.

Step 10 - T bond's example completed. Well off hook about 15 centimetres from perambut major and T's stretching made so that far points standing from perambut major.

Langkah 11 - Hujung tangsi digantung pemberat (ladung) dan hujung satu lagi disambungkan pada tali utama.

Step 11 - Catgut end suspended weight (bob) and another end attaches to main line.

Perambut pancing pantai memadai 1 meter

Panjang perambut untuk memancing di pantai memadai satu meter kerana jika terlalu panjang maka anda akan mengalami kesukaran untuk lontaran nanti (rujuk lakaran gambar untuk teknik perambut untuk pancing pantai).


Antara umpan pilihan untuk memancing pari ialah udang hidup, ketam angin, anak bebolos sebesar jari manis, sotong kurita, hirisan ikan selayang atau selar kuning, anak gelama, sotong dan udang pasar.

Long perambut to fish at the beach enough a metre because if too long thus you will experience difficulty for throwing later (refer picture sketch for technique perambut to hook coast).


Between choice bait to fish skate was live prawn, sand crab, child bebolos as big as ring finger, octopus, slices of sardine or yellow brand, sea fish spawn, market squid and prawn.

Salt Rules…Cooking and Fishing

Salt Dome reef, teeming with sea life (Flower Gardens Creole Fish)

There are so many reasons why I love salt. Without a doubt, it is the most important of culinary ingredients. The value of salt truly knows no bounds, but did you know that salt is also responsible for some of the most exciting and productive fishing grounds in the Gulf Coast?

Well, salt domes to be specific. A salt dome is a vertical cylinder of salt that starts out below the Earth’s surface but, because the density of salt is less than that of most other sediments & minerals, pushes up towards the surface with a big, bulging dome or cap rock on top. It’s hard for me to comprehend but salt will actually flow upward through these sediments and rather quickly (in geological time, anyway).

Seismic grap of salt dome / 3D digital rendering of salt dome

Sources: www.tsunamidevelopment.com / www.gocad.ensg.inpl-nancy.fr

If you have ever heard of salt domes it was probably in relation to oil. The Spindletop “discovery” in Beaumont was where oil was first found in the uplifted sediments around a salt dome. Salt domes are good indicators of where oil and natural gas may be found because, as the salt pushes its way through the rock toward the surface, the salt can crack the rock (creating faulting) so that oil and gas deposits get trapped and accumulate. Salt domes are also used for salt and mineral mining and to create bases used in the production of other chemicals (like chlorine); and, it turns out, they make excellent, leak-proof storage containers for all sorts of things (from oil to hazardous waste).

That’s all great, but my undying affection for salt domes comes from other reasons.

One reason is the Flower Gardens, probably the coolest thing that exists in the Gulf of Mexico: a live coral reef located 110 miles South of the Texas-Louisiana border that has formed on top of an underlying salt dome, basically out in the middle of nowhere. Discovered in the 1900’s by Snapper fishermen, it was named the Flower Gardens because of the brightly colored sponges, corals and algae that got snagged on their lines.

The Flower Gardens is the northernmost coral reef in the United States and consists of three main sections: East Flower Garden, West Flower Garden and Stetson Bank (which is 30 miles closer to shore). These three separate zones support an amazing sea life community of Loggerhead, Leatherback and Hawksbill Sea Turtles (all endangered) and serves as a nursery for juvenile Manta Rays. In total, The Flower Gardens support 21 species of coral, 175 species of fish, 250 species of macro-invertebrates and 80 species of algae. Designated as a national sanctuary in 1992, some recreational and commercial fishing is allowed (no spear-fishing or long-lining) but scuba diving is the main attraction here.


Flower Gardens: Bright Bank / Warsaw Grouper

Flower Gardens Manta Ray

And the other reason is Sackett Bank.

The Sackett Bank, better known as The Midnight Lump, is a natural salt dome that rises from 400 feet below to about 200 feet above the water’s surface and covers almost a square mile. Heavy currents from the shotgun waterway, The Mississippi (thank you Corps of Engineers), cause huge upwellings, attracting the bait that brings the big fish, making this the go-to place for Yellowfin tuna, Wahoo, Billfish and many other species. The Midnight Lump (or just “the Lump,” as most call it) lies about 16 miles Southwest of the Mississippi Delta’s Southwestern pass, just south of Venice, the river’s last populated port. It was named Midnight Lump because, in order to hit the mother lode of Red Snapper that congregated at the bottom of the dome, you had to fish it at midnight to sneak baits past the hordes of Kingfish and Bonita that swim the waters above the Snapper.

Map of Sackett Bank (aka Midnight Lump)

The Lump might be slightly out of my range but not the Flower Gardens. This summer, “gardening” is high on my list of priorities. I’ll be working on my green thumb, baby!

Flower Gardens Photos: http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/

Tough Choices: Does Friendship Weigh More than a Big Ass Cobia?

Cobia

I nearly lost a good friend over a 50-pound Cobia and that’s no joke.

It was my first trip out with my buddy, Scott McLemore, on his boat, the Julie-Ann. We were about 60 miles offshore, Snapper fishing mainly, but I had been chumming religiously all day, free-lining two Ribbonfish rigs in hopes of tight lines. We had already hooked up with one small Kingfish when I looked up and saw a monster Cobia explode on the water’s surface and turn on the bait. These are the moments I live for, intense adrenaline running through my veins as the drag begins to squeal and line spools out so fast that, if not careful, it will burn right through your finger. I shot up, set the hook and immediately turned to Scott and started screaming, “I Got Him!” Scott was already right next to me with open arms waiting for the rod. (Offshore 101: it takes 3-4 people to work a big boat while offshore, so etiquette states that each man takes his turn at the rod, especially while fishing for the larger pelagic since they usually only strike in singles and it is a collective effort for that tight line.) By the look on Scott’s face, it was obvious that he figured it was his turn. I looked down at the rod, back up to Scott’s face and back down to the rod once again, weighing our friendship against the odds of experiencing such a monster in the future. For a split second, I hesitated and thought about keeping the fish. I mean, when will I ever get a chance to land a 50-pound Cobia? (I still haven’t, by the way.) Well, I chose to keep the friend over the fish.


Scott and I with that Big-Ass Cobia

Lemon Fish, Crab Eater, Ling, Sergent Fish, Cobia (Rachycentridae Canadum) -- these are all names for one of the most sought-after game fish in the Gulf, prized most likely because of its propensity for swimming close to shore and its tenacity as a fighter. Land a Cobia and you’re sure to have a story to tell back home During the summer months, you can see boats cruising the beachfront from Florida to Texas with spotters standing at the highest point, searching. Lord knows I burned plenty of gas trying to track them down myself. Cobia have flat heads and a distinctly shark-like appearance while swimming; they average 3-7 feet long and 20-30 pounds (although the world record weight for one is 135 pounds). A Pelagic fish, they are the only member of the Rachycentridae family and are found world-wide in warm waters (but are most populous in the Gulf of Mexico). Cobia have an extremely fast growth rate which has made them perfect candidates for open ocean aquaculture.


Aquaculture

While at the Boston Seafood show, I saw an open aquaculture vendor calling them “Black Salmon” – kind of a stretch. They are mostly found congregating in twos and threes around reefs, buoys, pilings, wreckage and anchored boats and will follow larger animals like sharks, turtles and manta rays looking for table scraps. Their diet consists mainly of crustaceans, hence the name Crab Eater.

Cobia flesh has a steak-like quality, similar to Swordfish but with a higher fat content and fuller flavor, which makes it perfect for grilling as well as sashimi. If cooking on the grill, take special care not to cook it past medium, as it will get very dry if overcooked.

Grilled Cobia, Plantain and Long-Bean Sauté, Pickled Plum Jus

Electric Fishing Reel Systems

The ELEC-TRA-MATE is for the serious fisherman who demands the ultimate in quality, performance and durability in his equipment, not the bells, whistles, flashing lights and gimmicks of some products today.

The ELEC-TRA-MATE introduces the fisherman to the full enjoyment of fighting the fish and feeling the pull without the hard work and tiring effort of cranking. The angler still sets the drag depending on the line choice and fishing conditions and has the choice of playing the fish by letting the drag hold on the up stroke and winding in on the down stroke or in allowing the motor to do all the work. The only difference between a conventional reel and the ELEC-TRA-MATE is the cranking.

All ELEC-TRA-MATE models are easy to install and are designed for your reel, ranging from small lightweight models to the largest deep sea models.

Currently there are 17 ELEC-TRA-MATE models available to power 19 different sizes of Penn Reels, so the angler can perfectly match the power and retrieve speed to his needs. These products are sold worldwide through quality fishing tackle stores, commercial fishing supply houses, and catalogs.