Paintball SafetyWritten by John Doe
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Referee Administered Games Games at insured fields are usually if not always refereed by a minimum of 2 referees. These referees are trained to watch for safety related issues and if they see any they have authority to due whatever they feel is appropriate to repress issue, anything from removing offending player(s) or stopping game-play. Dead Zone (Staging Area) All fields have an area that is apart from play fields for purpose of preparing yourself to play. This area is usually called "Dead Zone", Safe Zone" or "Staging Area" it is where all players meet before playing to be divided into teams, hear rules and regulation for field, return to when eliminated and to get equipment ready for play. In this area it is against rules to fire your marker at all regardless of whether it is loaded, because in this area players do not have to have their goggles on. Equipment Fail safes Above I listed safety rules & regulations at field level which in themselves prevent a lot of injuries while playing Paintball. There are other safety measure in place also that a lot of people are unaware of because it does not directly effect them as far as person actions. These safety measures are at equipment level and are implemented by manufacturers of equipment. Below I will explain some of them in detail; Air Tank Expiration Dates - All tanks High Pressure Air, CO2 and NO2 have a date listed on them that after date you have to get tank tested and approved for safety before it can be filled again. Air Pressure Release Valve - All Air tanks also have a valve up on fill valve that has what they call a burst disk which is a thin piece of metal that will burst if pressure in tank gets above acceptable limits allowing tank to release air preventing tank from bursting. Safety Switches on Markers - All markers are equipped with a safety on trigger frame which when in safe position prevents trigger from being pulled. Powerfeed turn off - Some markers have a powerfeed which is a type of feed for paintballs to enter marker. These powerfeeds have a plastic plug on bottom that you can turn 180 degrees which will prevent balls from entering marker thus if marker is shot no paintball will be projected. For more info go to www.redcellpaintball.com
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| | Swordfishing in South FloridaWritten by www.swordfishingcentral.com
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Lets rig your other 3 rods for a dead bait. A swordfish favorite is squid. There are a number of ways to rig a dead squid, but best method is to have hook exposed half way down mantle. We find this much more effective that placing hook down by eyes of squid. . Once you have all four rods ready to be deployed, get out your jugs and weights, along with copper/telephone wire. Have gaff ready to be deployed as some days you may drop baits right into swordfish territory. We don’t know how many times we seem to drop a bait right on a swordfish. Tip* If you like to take your time in setting up, that’s fine. Go ahead and put out a flatline while getting your other rods ready. This way if you have a curious sword come to boat, you atleast have a bait in water. We have seen them come into light on numerous occasions. If you don’t have a bait in water, most likely they will just leave. Setting up your first Drift Drifting for swordfish is very very effective. Providing that you have your baits staggered, your chances of catching a South Florida Sword are very good! Now that you have 4 rods that are ready to be deployed, lets get some lines in water. Once you find your desired area to fish, shut off all engines. Here you will analyze your drift. You can deploy a sea anchor if you think you are going to need it. Once you are satisfied with direction and speed of your drift, get first line out. As a general rule of thumb, get your longest lines out first, meaning jug/balloon baits. Check out our forums and communicate with fellow swordfish anglers regarding everything mentioned here. You may even find out what depth fish were biting out night before. But a general rule of thumb is on a New Moon, you fish baits shallower. And on a full bright moon, you fish them deeper. Tip* Be sure to have a bait at 100 feet and 300 feet. These 2 depths are critical. Once you get a bite on one, you can adjust your other rods accordingly. With first rod, attach live bait rig, along with your electralume and flasher. Then take about 12 inches of telephone wire or a #64 rubber band and attach a 32-ounce weight to swivels top circle. Wrap telephone wire about 6 times and pull to ensure it breaks away. Put it back on and let your bait down to desired depth. For this exercise, we will go 300 feet on first line. Once 300-foot marker on line comes up, attach your jug or balloon to loop you left in waxline using telephone wire. You can attach balloon or jug using telephone wire or a small rubber band. Again, test to make sure it breaks away when pressure is applied by fish. Let float out about 50-80 yards from boat. Don’t forget to put a glowstick into your jug for visibility. Do same to second rod, but this time go to 200ft and let it out on jug/balloon about 30 yards. It is very important to test different depths by 100's. Don't forget to attach a lightstick to jug/balloon for visibility. Once you have 2 lines out on jugs, lets move to your tip rods. The tip rods are called tip rods because that is exactly what they are. You will see tip of rod bounce heavily when a fish is slashing bait. These rods are being fished right at boat at varying depths. Apply same rigs as mentioned above and set these rods at 150 feet and 100 feet. These will be your most active rods, as they are in direct light of boat. Now that you have 4 lines in water, lets get your 4ft light out and put it on opposite side of boat, to avoid direct light into your eyes. Turn off all boat lights and sit back and listen to your rods. Check all lines as needed. If you don't have any action within 30 minutes to an hour, start by checking your tip rods. If baits have been slashed than bring in your balloon/jug rods and re-bait. The 4ft green light can be a very important piece of puzzle when swordfishing. We have had bait by dozens including bar jacks, flying fish, and dolphin come to light. With bait we have seen swordfish follow right behind them. When swordfishing you want to have your best game turned on. Without light at boat you might as well stay home. We deem this light very effective. Think about when you see a boats navigation lights about 10 miles away. Imagine a swordfish. Their eyes are enormous and we bet can see much better than we think. This could be difference between a fun-filled night and a very frustrating night. Check out forums for more information on secrets and tips. Fish On? Now What? Once you hear drag being taken out or you see a fish surfacing, you want to jump on that rod fast. Each rod should have a different color light that distinguishes it from your other rods. The enables you to determine which rod fish is on. You should of had your drag set at practically nothing, just enough to keep bait from taking off line. Get on rod and start cranking until you get tight on fish. Once tight, start increasing drag until you hit about 8-16 pounds of drag. Too much drag may cause hook to rip from soft mouths of these fish. The hook will automatically set and you are in for a fight of a lifetime. Have a buddy put belt on you, so you can stand up and fight fish properly. Do not arch forward or your back will begin to hurt very quickly. Do not rush fish. These fish get in excess of 400lbs and have been known to keep anglers on wind for over 8 hours! Once fish is at boat, it is ideal to have one guy handline leader and another guy with gaff. We also suggest using wind-on leaders. This will help avoid dangers of hand-lining a big fish. A swordfish has to be at least 47 inches to keep. So before hitting it with gaff, you want to decide if you are keeping fish or not. We recommend not keeping a fish under 60 inches. This will help bounce back of swordfish industry. If you do decide to keep fish, you want to gaff fish right in gill plate to avoid ruining meat. Always wear tough leather gloves, as bill is very sharp. *Tip – Keep your hands together when leadering fish. This will help avoid dangers of hand lining fish.Tight Lines, Swordfishing Central
Owner of www.swordfishingcentral.com
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