Summer Update and Other Stuffs

Well, summer is in full swing here in Florida and the fishing will only continue to get better. I haven't made it out to fish much in the past two weeks but that will change come tomorrow. My dad and I leave to Port St. Joe Florida to kayak fish for a few days. We aren't camping since we haven't had much time to get our things ready, but we'll still get plenty of time to fish and hopefully have a blast.

This trip will also give me a chance to try out a few things. I recently received the Baker Magnum "T" Hookouts from a gear review opportunity through the Outdoor Blogger Network.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to try it out during this trip. Also, Snapper season finally opens tomorrow and when I get back, I'll have another chance to put the hookouts to the test. Another thing that I'm itching to try out is a homemade Hawaiian sling/sling bow. Now, I'm a HUGE fan of Dave Canterbury from the Pathfinder School LLC and (the more popular TV show) Dual Survival. On his youtube channel, he's got instructions on how to make a sling bow. Essentially, the sling bow is a sling shot that can shoot an arrow.

The idea looks great and I really wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, I don't have my Crossman slingshots with me (I left them in my apartment at college) and those are the ones that are used in the video. Instead, I have an older slingshot that was bought from Academy Sports and Outdoors. The handle isn't solid plastic like the Crossmans so I can't fit the PVC piece as shown in the video. Instead, it's wrapped in a thin flexible plastic material to cover the metal frame. I schemed for a while before I decided on my own version of the sling bow. Since I'm relatively terrible at crafting things, I decided to keep the design as simple as possible. Therefore, my sling bow only has one additional part.

I bought a 6 inch eye-bolt at Lowes and stuck it in the handle. Yep, that's it. 4 years (going on 5) of college education and that's the best I can come up with. Surprisingly, it works...sorta. I have no intention of shooting an arrow with fletchings from my sling bow. Instead, I bought a bow-fishing arrow and plan to fire the sling bow underwater at fish.

It's HIGHLY doubtful that I'll actually shoot anything, but it's worth a try. I know that Port St. Joe has a bunch of big mullet that come pretty close so I'll be testing out my sling bow this week. Out of the water, it'll stick the bow-fishing arrow about 1/2-3/4 inches into a fence from approximately 10 feet away. Underwater...who knows? I'm hoping to start getting into free diving/spear fishing and I think this might be a good start. I'll be taking along my pole gun as well, and I hope that will at least work.

I'd also like to start video taping such outings with a waterproof camera. I'd really just like something I can use when I kayak fish, spear fish, wade fish, bow hunt, or whatever it is I'm doing at the time. As of right now, I'm thinking about purchasing a Contour HD Helmet Camera and with it, a waterproof case.

I've seen other people using the GoPro HD Hero, but I'd like something I can strap to the side of my visor or snorkel mask and not have a giant camera on an arm sticking off of it.

I also got word that I'll be receiving the 1470 and 1449 Guide Series Waterproof cases from Plano. I'm really excited about trying these out and writing a review on them. I plan to put them through the usual process that my gear endures including, but not limited to: Sun, sweat, saltwater submersion, heat, being dropped, stepped on, lost, found, being dropped, kicked, run over, stuck by lightning, being dropped, and possibly a good scratching.

And with that, I'm off to pack. Hopefully I'll have some good reports rolling in sometime next week!