Seems like there have been more attacks than usual this year. Weren't there 3 or 4 in Aus in the past few months? Condolences to the family.
surf or body board or dive or spear fish near where whites hang out and you will encounter them.
As a spearo who regularly hunts in California's "red triangle" (highest concentration of great whites on the west coast of the US), I haven't found that to be true so far and I sure hope it stays that way...
What a crock. The combination of a ban on transporting shucked abalone (cooked or otherwise) and the law against the waste of game and the DFG law would essential dictate that someone (or a group) that can't finish a campfire meal is legally required to continue stuffing themselves until they are finished even if doing so makes them ill.
Ron, if I ever found myself in your situation, I would keep the half ab in my cooler with the shell and if DFG wanted to issue me a citation for it, I would be sure I had plenty of photos to show to the judge because I can't imagine a judge who wouldn't immediately throw the ticket and fine out once you explained the situation. But that's just me.
The only people that have a hard time finding abalone are those too out of shape to hold their breath for 30 seconds and the legally blind. I dove up near Fort Bragg this past weekend and just like every other time I've dove for abalone I saw hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of legal abalone. Literally covering every favorable rock surface in areas. And yet, you see rhetoric regarding how rare and threatened abalone are whenever there is any sort of article in the press about abs. Its to the point that its polluting the public sentiment about abalone. I've had numerous coworkers and friends be just stunned when I describe (and show photos) of the true state of the abalone population. They always say things like "Oh! I thought they were almost extinct or something!" Ugh.
I don't have any problem with DFG implementing temporary closures for areas too heavily fished. In fact I support that approach. Its certainly preferable to reducing the overall bag limit across the board when really the species is insanely abundant everywhere other than a few select locations that get hit too hard.
FYI, I tweaked the photos in iphoto just a bit last night and edited the original post.
Wonderful Carter! Thanks for taking the time to photodocument and post. Bryan really is a red addict!
Thanks, man. Glad you liked the pics.
Thanks guys, glad you liked the pics.
Awesome pictures! I want me a red sooo bad...
I'll trade you a red for that golden grouper!
Joel, Bryan and I took advantage of a break in the weather with an impromptu camping trip on the Big Sur coast. It was amazing to get back in the water after more than a month of undivable conditions. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.
:laughing:
Awesome, man! Congratulations, that's a huge achievement. I had a roommate that did a thesis his senior year and preparing it was about like raising a child for 9 months.
Very interesting topic too. How does it read? Would it fly way over my head? If you think I would understand at least 1/3rd of the words, I would be interested to read it.
Oh, and I forgot to say- I've got a couple ideas for new UW photo/video projects. Not sure when they'll pan out, because recently the water has been too god damned rough to dive! I'll definitely make a vid of my summer adventures, though, so if you can find some music for me by then that would be much appreciated ;).
I enjoyed your Ab film. I kept thinking.... once he get's past the washing machine inside reef, it should clear up. But no! Of course the chosen reef is right in the middle of the mess. Good effort. Much more man then me.
Hm, I think you're misreading the conditions. I don't think it had much to do with choosing an "inside" reef to dive and everything to do with it being rough as a witch's old wrinkly tit! In conditions like that, there ain't no where you can go where things will clear up.
Nutty diving, Kirby. If I was really dying for a dive when it was that rough out, I'd be searching googlemaps for a lake to hop in...
Nice, glad you're still out there making videos, Kirby. Awesome vids as usual!
Wow, lots of really good info here. It sounds like the bottom line is that a new pair of fins may or may not make a big difference for me and I shouldn't be so lazy as to just ask you all to make the decision for me :D... I guess I'll try to start borrowing fins from various buddies in order to see what setup is right for me.
Dan, think you might be able to set something up for me wherein I could order a pair of fins, try them out and if they aren't quite right, swap them with you for a different stiffness?
I've been reading good things on here about the Pathos pockets. How do they run size-wise? Wide, skinny, long, short?
Totally awesome! Any idea what BBC show/series this is from?
I know threads similar to this have been made 100 times and I apologize for the redundancy, but every diver's situation is a little bit different, so I thought I would explain mine and ask for a bit of advice.
I've been diving for somewhere in the ballpark of 15 years, but can't really say I was serious about it until about 7 or 8 years ago. In the past 7 or 8 years, I've owned only 2 pairs of longfins. A pair of Cressi Garas that I ran into the ground. And a pair of C4 Flaps (stiffness 30)- first in Omer Millennium pockets, and now in Captain Nemo pockets (one of the Millennium rails tore).
The C4s have been pretty good to me over the past ~3 years I've been wearing them. They're scratched up, but considering the amount of shore diving, cave diving and tossing them around that I do, I'm pretty impressed with how they've held up. Ever since I got them, though, I've suspected that they might be a bit too stiff for my legs. My legs don't tend to get too wore out during dives, but around here we have very little current and move from spot-to-spot fairly leisurely, so that might be why that doesn't come into play too much. But as I descend and ascend, I can feel (and video shows) that my fin stroke tends to be abbreviated incorrectly. Based on video footage, I'm kicking too much with the knee and too much forward without sufficient pull back. Definitely not the fin stoke we were taught in PFI when I took it last year. When I focus on it and make sure my stroke is making the proper range of motion I definitely tend to have better bottom times.
So my question is this: Do I need new fins or do I just need to put bit more thought into controlling how I kick until the correct motion becomes more second nature? Or both?
I have tried a number of different fins buddies own as well and in particular I found my brother's Omer Stingray Carbon 20s in the new Stingray pockets to be incredibly comfortable and efficient. They are a tad soft, but they have so much spring back that they still propel me very rapidly with little effort.
I have of course read lots on here about the Speardiver Carbon blades. I'm curious about them, but not interested in dropping $400 if its not really going to make much difference for me.
All thoughts/opinions are welcome!
Thank you in advanced for any help.
And a bit of fish porn, because everyone likes fish porn (the fins are in the photo, so its related :))
Holy crap, I have to visit the bahamas... soon.
I've seen similar looking clams in Seattle's Pike Market but they call them geoduck clam. I don't know if they are the same thing or not but they are pretty big. Cool video, thank you for sharing.
Yeah, horsenecks look similar to geoducks, but they are a different species. The flavor is similar (that's my understanding anyhow- I've never had geoduck).
it seems "weird" looking and it seems like a lots of work... BUT i wanna try it!!!
i'm wondering how does it taste.. .(?)
Its a lot of work and a lot of fun. You'll definitely be sore the next day when you finally try it. The trick is finding an appropriate tide. They aren't all that common, so it takes some planning ahead. This time of year (march-july) is when we tend to have some of the biggest tide swings, therefore the most opportunities for clamming. I like this site for tide charts: California Tides by ProTides.com
They taste delicious, btw. I have friends who describe them as the single tastiest seafood their is. I wouldn't go that far, but its certainly tasty and worth trying. Taste like a cross between abalone and normal clam.
Fun video, I was happy for you when you pulled out that big clam. I guess the buckets are to prevent the sand from collapsing? Is there any logic to choosing where to dig? Do these clams get tough when cooked like our conch?
Yeah, they're actually ~10'' diameter pvc tubes that are 36'' long. You shove them down into the sand around the clam's "show" to hold the walls of the hole up. Before you dig, though, you want to make sure that you've for sure seen the clams neck retract down into its hole because the mud flats are full of shrimps and tube worms that make holes that are very similar to a clam's. Once you know what to look for, though a clam's show gets to be fairly easy to identify.
Yeah, horsenecks definitely get tough. Its like cooking abalone or calamari- either short and hot, or long and low is how you have to cook em or you'll end up with rubber bands.
Are they the same species as gaper clams? Nice catch.
I've seen/heard horsenecks referred to as "gapers". If I'm not mistaken, there are a number of different species of clams called gapers and horsenecks are one of them. So, yeah.
Nice video, great way to make an introduction. Welcome.
the worst ever is when they gave a guy a citation for shooting squirls with a pellet gun in his front yard... the warden said they were out of season!!!:lol:
So does this mean mice and rats have seasons too!!!
You find ticketing someone for shooting a game species out of season and without a hunting license ridiculous? Do you also think its insane for them to give ticket to someone taking perch and opal eye without a fishing license? Tree squirrels (unlike ground squirrels) are edible game.
Late last year a buddy of mine described to me what sounded like one of the funnest activities we hunter-gatherer types could ever hope to engage in (short of actually getting in the water, that is). He described it as follows: You show up at a bay-side or estuary-side campground with 5 of your buddies. You set up tents, pop a few beers and wait. At the appropriate time, you load up your shovel and other equipment and trek across the mud flat as it is revealed by the receding tide. Upon reaching your destination out on the mud, you chat and joke and drink and have a grand ol' time while digging some holes in the mud- out of which you pull 1, 2, even 3 massive, delicious horseneck clams per hole. In no time you have your limit of 10 clams and you head back to camp drunk on your conquest of the sea (and beer) to devour your catch. You then sleep, wake up the next morning and go on your way...
With such a description in my head, I eagerly checked the tide charts... 
... not a single good negative tide for weeks.. no... MONTHS even. In fact, the next good tide wasn't for more than 3 months, all the way in January of 2012! Well, I circled it on my calendar and patiently awaited the day. As January finally rolled around, my excitement rose to a feverish pitch. I couldn't wait for my first clamming expedition! Finally, the week before that faithful day, not one, not two, but three different people who were slated to join us said they couldn't make it afterall. Unfazed, Joel, John Banks, and I arrived at the campground on the afternoon of the ideal tide, ready for action and excited for the fun ahead. We watched with great anticipation as the tide dropped and more and more mud was exposed. Well... I'll cut to the chase by simply saying that other than the drinking of a few brews at the car before heading out, nothing went according to plan. The wind was howling, the sun was setting, the mud was full of sharp rocks and shells that tore up our hands and made digging the necessary 36'' hole nigh on impossible. Hours later we found ourselves back at the cars, in the dark, exhausted from having dug 8-10 holes each, with bleeding fingers, bruised egos, and 1 clam a piece. Clamming FAIL.
We were disheartened, but not deterred. Right then and there we resolved to return on the next favorable tide and succeed where that day we had failed. Approximately one month later, there we stood- Joel, Bryan and myself (John Banks needing to excuse himself in order to spend time with the family)- poised to correct the mistakes of our previous outing. This time, rather than heading out as the tide bottomed out, we headed out well before. Rather than trying to dig one area of the mud flat, we moved to a completely different area. Rather than digging bare-handed, with frigid fingers exposed to the dangers of shell fragments and sharp rocks, we wore good rubber-palmed gloves. We were ready for round 2.
... And this time our preparation paid big! First 2 holes of the day and first 2 clams of the day- and one was a real whopper at 7.5'' in shell diameter! We were beyond psyched (at least I was) to have exceeded the success of the previous outing on the very first digs! (see video) The day went on in a similar fashion, with nearly every hole yielding nice to very nice sized clams. Though it was tough, dirty work, it was oh-so satisfying and gratifying. A few hours later, as the tide began to rise and the sun began to lower on the horizon, we headed back to camp victoriously redeemed! Joel and I each had our 10 clams and Bryan was only prevented from his limit because he headed in early (his girlfriend, who was brave enough to join us, was freezing to death in the wind). Beers were drunk, chicken soup was eaten, and a good time was had as promised.
Digging Horseneck Clams - YouTube
(note: the goofy attire is because a) it was cold and b) you don't want to wear anything nice because that stinky mud smell never washes out...)
I guess there may be a moral to this story, but instead of worrying about that, here's one of the tasty recipes I whipped up with some of my clams: Horseneck Clam Hash.
I figured I'd post this up here for those of you who don't frequent Spearboard. I had fun writing up a bit of a tongue-in-cheek account of a recent clamming trip.
