The Picture Gallery

A post dedicated to pictures.. enjoy. Next one will be the Video Gallery........

 

Recipes do matter too

Well since we are enjoying some time without getting wet, it's always quite delightful to know about some mouth watering recipes & cooking methods of what we hunt. If you are not into fish or seafood in general; you can only know about these interesting ways but you will never know what are you really missing. In fact the logic would be to forget originally about spearfishing if you don't eat fish. No it's not that bad, you can still give the fish you speared to someone who eats it or to friends & family. You can't miss both, the taste of the flesh & the fun of hunting. That will be the true loss I assure.

So this post will be dedicated to adding interesting recipes for wonderful seafood & fish dishes. It will not be necessarily as in expert Chef  style or high end lavishing gourmet teasers however, it will be more to the simple side. Easy to pre & prepare the ingredients as well as easy cooking. By the way, everyone is welcomed to send me or add any recipe he/she wishes to this post. I'll try to keep them coming as much as I can. Just to make your spearfishing more juicy & rewarding. Moreover; many of our friends or fellow hunters usually exchange recipes while returning back from trips. It is one of the common mediums that you should enjoy as part of this wonderful package.

So this coming one would be my favorite for Groupers, you can check out the nutritional facts of groupers right here Grouper Nutritional facts isn't it a beauty ?? Grouper flesh is majestic, bright white chunks that amazingly has an outstanding taste. Only watch your cholesterol if you get addicted to Grouper meat.

The Spicy Fish/Al Samaka al Harra (Middle Eastern dish)

A very simple yet rich & aromatic dish. It's ideal when cooked with the honorable grouper flesh. So after the RIP rituals you need to prepare the base first. Lets see how this should start.

Step 1- The ideal form

First you need to prepare your grouper. The Ideal form that you need to have is 2 skinned & boneless juicy fillets. The ideal grouper should weigh 4 to 6 kg to get a decent fillet portion after cleaning it. It is best to explain to the person who will clean your grouper to skin it & remove its entire skeletal form to end up with such fillets.

Step 2-  Seasoning the fillets

Remove all those unwanted tissues that might appear to you specially near the abdominal part. You should do that while fresh water flows on both fillets. Do not remove excessively not to waste allot of flesh. Once you're done make sure to place the fillets in a strainer to dispatch any water into the sink. While that is in the process, start preparing 4 or 5 small lemons for squeezing, 2 medium sized cloves of garlic for mincing, 1 flat full table spoon of salt & 1 full tea spoon of cumin. Once you're ready with all that, you need to place your fillets in a large & deep pan. Preferably a rectangular shaped one. Start by soaking both fillets in the lemon juice & making sure that the juice reached all parts. Next you need to ad the salt & repeat the same process to distribute the salt evenly. then rub both fillets with the minced garlic & finally add the cumin. Leave the entire baby covered & intact inside the fridge for 1 hour to absorb the seasoning.

Step 3- The filling

 The filling is the essence of this majestic yet simple dish. You need to prepare 2 fresh green sweet peppers, 1 yellow & 1 red. Cut those into small squares. Then find 3 decent sized fresh tomatoes & cut those into small squares too. Mix the the peppers & tomato squares together in a plate then sprinkle a handful fist of shredded dill. Let all of those blend together in the plate & add a dash of salt, a dash of pepper & some hot sauce as per your taste for spicy stuff (optional). Now you are ready to warm up things a bit. Start by heating a frying pan & add some olive oil; about 2 or 3 dashes from the bottle. Leave that to heat very well then throw in the filling mix that you just mastered. Stir that for about 2 minutes until you start noticing the color of the tomatoes & peppers started to darken. Once you reach that point you will need to add 1 full table spoon of tomato paste then stir gently. As you stir the filling mixture will start to thicken & blend slowly. You might need to add 1/4 cup of fresh water to lighten up the thickness a bit. Keep on stirring the mixture in the pan over medium heat for about 10 minutes then leave it to cool down a bit.

Step 4- The preheat/stick in process

Great; so now you should start resurrecting your seasoned grouper fillets out of the fridge. Sounds like a ritual but it just fits in. Okay so now your fillets are out, your filling has cooled down a bit & is ready to rumble. You need to either use the same rectangular deep pan or just have a fresh one ready. Get your oven ready by preheating it to 200c. NO GRILL. Grab an aluminum foil roll & unwrap about  double the size of the pan you intend to use. Now you need to pamper the pan with the foil evenly then place 1 fillet. Get the filling & start distributing it evenly on top of the fillet until it's all there & have completely covered it. Get the second fillet & place it on top of this volcanic form to cover it entirely; as if it's a juicy sandwich. I'm drooling already. Finally just neatly place 3 or 4 slices of tomatoes on top of the fillet equally & wrap the whole combination perfectly with the aluminum foil. Make sure to perfectly seal it. When done try to puncture some holes into the wrapped aluminum foil to prevent any excess sauce from damping up the fillets & allow some steaming to happen. Once you're ready, stick it in the oven  & leave it to cook for about  30 to 40 minutes.

Nice & easy, you can serve that with rice or pasta to supply you with the carbohydrates if needed. Usually serving it should include Tahina Sauce  as well.

The current advice: we blog; you read.

It has been on the discussion table for sometime. All of us have this part inside us that says: Not everyone would understand & value this sport. I would like to add to that; some like who we call "EVIL" .... would try to pin us down & cry out to ban this sport. They actually don't know that they are the first to majorly impact the environment, not spearfishing. This does not include Scuba Spearfishing of course. Scuba hunting is way out of the league.  Again it revolves around how Spearfishing is perceived by the community. When I say community, I mean the general community, this includes a wide margin of cultures & backgrounds. From Scientists to normal people who don't even want to know that the ocean exists. Maybe because they don't know how to swim ? maybe, I don't know.

So it is not an ethical approach to ban extreme sports & adventure seekers like spearfishing fans. I would simply say that our ancestors; we are all human beings right ? our great great ancestors & tribes used spearfishing or hunting at some extent. Logic isn't it. Yes but things where different at that time & there was an abundance of everything you wish for. Now tables have turned & countries will start fighting over food for God Sake !!! So keep the fish there, don't scare them or hunt them, we need white meet to feed the people. Oh & you usually destroy the echo system when you touch anything down there. 

This is all respected; cant you see that in every single thing in this world there is Clint Eastwood's "The good, the bad & the ugly? Today it's still the same. The ideal hunters will be eager to learn about every single aspect of the echosystem they are tapping on. They are ethical & care about the environment that they enjoy & become part of. They believe in keeping this gift well preserved for their following generations will enjoy. They are for sure "the good". We see people who practice spearfishing generically without having even a slight idea about the basic environmental information nor the general behavior of the marine life out there. You might see them hunting stone fish, endangered fish or even cracking corals apart. They are for sure "the bad". The worst of all are "the ugly". They are the complete unwanted ones, who seek nothing but damage & only damage wherever they go. I have learned that commercial fishermen in some areas around are known to practice spearfishing frenzy's taking out every single edible fish in the sea. No matter how will this negatively impact the ecosystem & the general balance down there. They just seek more flesh & more weight to sell on the market. They are "the ugly" with honors. You can find those gimps widely spread in the Mediterranean sea & another majority in the south Red sea. They will spear anything, anywhere & at any time.

Now It was firmly noticed that fish on the market would sell fresh with perfect whole bodies that where caught in fisheries nets. I have never seen a speared fish being sold in the local market until recently. I have noticed that some outlets now accept to sell speared fish & believe me all kinds of fish that you may or may not imagine. The puncture of the shaft is so obvious & to tell you the truth; is cleanly done. Some of this fish  is too large to be sold on the usual retail market so most probably would be sold to Hotels for mass processing.

You know it's always an unpleasant thing to have a minority or even a majority misuse or abuse the whole sport. There are many restrictions in terms of environmental laws & regulations. However; through my readings it mainly targeted the protected areas or preservatives. All articles show vague displays of fishing regulations whether it's commercial or recreational. Some sets of Scuba diving regulations etc. & that's it. There is no specific highlight on Spearfishing as a water sport.  If you go to  CDWS

you will actually find nothing there except of it's rich content about Scuba Diving & Water sports as in Surfing, wind surfing, kite surfing, snorkeling, skiing, sailing & boats stuff. Most of it is coming soon but hey; at least we have something moving in the right direction.

This is what I am trying to talk about, it's not an individual quest but many hunters here in Egypt are talking about it. What's the harm of having a decent regulation that controls the sport ? I do not believe that it's an excess of work, it's rather so simple. As most of us learned; it's so cool to go to the school of winners. Why don't we learn from other countries like Australia or South Africa ? Why don't we learn about the regulations implemented for Spearfishing that includes coverage of marine life preservation, species bag limits & several other guidelines ? Controlling the seasonality & respecting the breeding time is another dimension. As mentioned in an earlier post; it is a long way that should be at least taken in small steps. Some of our friends have already asked their lawyers to pursue this issue however; all what they have came upon is the same result. No firm article or regulation bans spearfishing activity "Excluding national preservatives" or "Marine parks" Lets take this coming part as an easy read that I got off the POV "Project ocean vision" It's the set of regulations related to Ras Mohamed National Park, I have highlighted the debatable part.... enjoy the following article:

Ras Mohammed National Park Rules - Red Sea Diving Regulations
The National Park rules are largely concerned with conservation (as one would expect). I have not yet found any additional rules for divers concerning equipment, maximum depths or the like. Here are the rules issued by CDWS:

Do not collect, remove or damage any material, living or dead, from the Park (corals, shells, fish, plants, fossils, etc.).
Driving of any vehicle or motorized transport (including motor-bikes and quads) off the marked tracks or onto any beach is prohibited.
Chasing or tracking animals (including birds) by means of any vehicle or motorized transport is prohibited, Please treat our wildlife with respect.
Camping is prohibited except at the designated areas (as indicated by notice).
Littering is prohibited, please place litter, garbage and waste in the litter bins and other containers provided, or take it away with you.
Closed areas are used for studying ecosystems (habitats), monitoring the environment and to protect examples of natural habitat in their pristine condition. They are also genetic reserves .Access to them is, therefore, prohibited.
Please ensure that the vehicle you are using is in reliable condition and can sustain driving on the designated tracks. It is recommended that you inform someone of your route and destination.
Avoid walking or standing on any reef or other marine substrate on coral areas since this breaks and damages corals, which are critical to our natural resources. Please use the designated access points for snorkeling, diving, and moorings.
Feeding fish and animals upsets the biological balance and is, therefore, prohibited.

Fishing in any form including spearfishing, is not allowed in any Protected Area (except if a special license is issued by the Park Authority).

Visitors are required to leave the National Park by sunset, unless staying in the designated camping area at the marine laboratory or attending officially organized events at the visitors' centre.
It is prohibited to cause any form of pollution by discharging or throwing away any substance (including liquids and solids) that are harmful to the environment.
Please take care to avoid any pollution of the environment by discharge or escape of substances such as oil or sewerage.
Please take note of any instructions posted in the Park or provided at the gate.

Offenders are subject to prosecution according to the terms of Law 102 of 1983, and all other relevant laws.

 Any way; I know that this is taking too long but, it is quite important. So finally or unfortunately I have to go down low a little bit on the "Trip Log posts" as recommended by several fellow hunters. At least for the time being. Not to provoke any "EVIL" spirit & lead to stripping us from this wonderful package. So until we are back with the logs safely; hopefully in this life, I will be only posting any new records. Our trip logs will be at the discretion of each Mazameer & Red Sea Hogs member. Sorry, but I'll keep you posted.

Trip log 15 October: hunting the one that got away

Trip log 15 October 2010

Trip type: Day trip

Hunters: AN, KG, SG

Weather conditions: Acceptable

Unfortunately I wasn't able to join this time. I was so stuck with work........ at the weekend! This was in addition to several personal obligations. I canceled my subscription to this trip last minute however I was sure that Mazameer & Hogz hunters will be able to make us all proud.

While I was fiddling through some documents around 2:00pm, my coffee is on the desk smells so good. I was trying to get some work off my shoulders. The usual office day on a Friday was pretty interesting. It seemed to me just as a normal week day. Incoming calls every now and then, a bit of distractions made by traffic from coworkers also made my day even more glittery adorable. While suddenly my mobile phone rings & it was Ahmed on my screen. 

That was a bit weird because I knew that the usual scooter is out there slaughtering some fish. OMG I said to my self; even Ahmed canceled his subscription to the trip ? I picked up the call & Ahmed on the other line sounded so happy. I heard the background sounds so clear & they all sounded as Ahmed was in the middle of the sea. He said: "Etsh khadna btarak" this means "we took your revenge" so I didn't understand him & asked him: "Anhy tar dah yabou hmied?" meaning "What revenge are you talking about Ahmed?"  he said one word.... The Grouper of last week.............. WHAT ?????? I said that while I flew off my seat !! You got it ?? he said yyyyep we did. I was so glad that he said that because this grouper escaped last time. Honestly it gave me a massive mood swing. You can refer to the post "Trip log 8 October: a quicky" if you wish to track this grouper.

We had a very short conversation since Ahmed was just out of the water with the 28kg grouper & I was busy with the usual work activities, we agreed to have a discussion about it later in the evening. So the day went by & the joy of scoring this trophy was chasing the horses inside my head. The information really made my day.

Later in the evening Ahmed called me again & explained to me how they got this bully. He mentioned that they planned to visit the same spot we went to last week. Knowing that we have attempted to hunt this big grouper with no luck. He said that he usually arrived first to the cave & there she was half body sticking out. To make things more complicated; the grouper swam in a glimpse inside its cave. Ahmed tried several dives to spear it however he failed. He kept seeing the same golden eye teasing him. Finally on one of his dives; he said that he has only seen a shadow shaped like a big grouper head. He was using his torch. So he finally decided to take the shot with a great amount of propability in his calculatoins. 

When he made his shot; he said that he heard the grouper bouncing inside the cave walls, he didn't believe the force. so he called on Karim & Sherif, the both took their shots on this big grouper to weaken its strength a bit.  As they continue their dives into the cave, they all made several attempts to pull it out of the cave for about an hour. Finally after all these attempts Sherif dives & pulls it out of the cave. It looked wonderful.

 

I would say nice one guys & you made me feel so glad having this one added to our records. Next time we will strive to double the 28kg barrier. The pictures seem to be taken by a mobile phone this time but they show the monster quite good.

Trip Log 8 October "a quicky"

Trip Log 8 October 2010

Trip Start : 04:00am
Trip End: 09:00pm
Divers: HN, AN, KG, IM, KK
Type: REEF/BLUE
Temp: 27-30 C
Wind: 9-11knts NW
Viso: 7m

We started our day with the mother of nightmares; waking up at 3:00am after 2 hours of sleep. This is the worst part but hey things usually get better. I was about 50% pre-prepared with my gear from the night before however, I had to do another check before hitting the road. It all started with a nostalgic phone ringing sound, It was Ahmed on the phone; the usual early riser. Oh yes yes Ahmed I'm all is packed & well, I just need to freshen up & get into the Car.... no worries. In fact, from my voice I was sure that Ahmed noticed that none of that was true. But it wasn't that bad, by that time I was 80% ready & all what I needed is to wake up.

The nightmare continues with a long drive to our first meeting point. It's about 70km from where I am, so the drive was great with all these empty roads. After the super drive I met with Ahmed & Karim, we squeezed our gear in 1 car & peacefully hit the road.

It was a nice & smooth drive all the way; having our usual chats about many many interesting subjects related & non related to the usual addiction. We didn't feel the time & felt like the nightmare just vanished once our eyesight fell on the blueish shiny surface of the mighty sea. The weather was just perfect, ideal temperature, sun is shining & a nice breeze was in the air. As we reached our sailing point, we started moving our gear to the boat & greeted our colleagues who arrived at the same time. Today we were planing to enjoy ourselves at the most, regardless what catch we will have. So it was the usual conversations, group breakfast & enjoying the day while the boat rocked us delightfully.

As we closed up to our first spot, we all take a look at the water to try predicting the visibility. The place looks good & may have great potential but the water seemed to be like vegetable soup "Ximo". Every one of us raced to get ready for the first dip. It was fantastic, seamless coordination between us as we go in teams into the water. Ahmed being the usual scooter he was the first to drift away while we all followed. 

It is amazing when you start debating yourself that a lucky day may or may not exist, but for me; it exists. On some trips we come up with a big zero in terms of our catch. Other days just wont stop giving us great results. At the end; its the whole package as I mentioned before; the gathering, information exchange, funny moments & the whole experience. So it was a lucky day.

In less than 5 minutes in the water, as I approach Ahmed & Karim; I only heard a trigger snap in the water since the visibility was not that good. Another snap happens in less than 10 seconds. I suddenly look into the blue & see a massive Wahoo powering towards my direction. When it came closer I noticed the double impact made by Ahmed & Karim. It looked beautiful & I enjoyed watching this massive fish swim in circles, diving deeper & fighting with all its strength. It was a perfect hit. We were so glad since Wahoos are too rare to be speared in the Red sea, unlike other regions in the world like Australia or New Zealand. Here in Egypt they are commonly caught by trolling.

Here are some information  from www.fishbase.org Info about Wahoo  about this fish 

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 23 - 27; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12 - 16; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12 - 14; Vertebrae: 62 - 64. Mouth large with strong, triangular, compressed and finely serrate teeth. Snout about as long as the rest of head. Posterior part of maxilla completely concealed under preorbital bone. Gill rakers absent. Interpelvic process small and bifid. Swim bladder present. Body covered with small scales. No anterior corselet developed. The back is iridescent bluish green; the sides silvery with 24 to 30 cobalt blue vertical bars which extend to below the lateral line. 

Biology

An oceanic, epipelagic species frequently solitary or forming small loose aggregations rather than compact schools. Feed on fishes and squids. Eggs and larvae are pelagic (Ref. 6769). An important sport fish in some areas (Ref. 9340). Marketed fresh, salted or spice-cured slices of meat; also frozen (Ref. 9987). Flesh of very good quality (Ref. 9684).

On we go

Our first spot was extremely interesting. The formation on the bottom showed great potential for allot of groupers many of them where fast & the caves where so complicated to the extent that we lost allot of them. I came across a colorful rock, the depth was only between 9 & 10m. I quickly spot a decent sized grouper so I aimed. Then a bit farther from the rock I spotted a large emperor so I switch targets, In the background there was a humongous grouper that was 100% out of its cave. Must have weighed over 40kg. Seriously it was pretty large. So the confusion was at its utmost in these moments at 10m. So its the trophy that I decided to go after, leaving behind 2 100% kill shots on decent fish. I approached slowly & quietly but somehow the grouper noticed me approaching, turned to face me while I start taking the aim & in split seconds it was way inside its cave!! Some crazy stuff mood swinging situation isn't it ?

Made several drop dives on the cave & even explored it half body in. No signs of this massive chunk, I would also add that I didn't carry a torch at that time. Which made my life even more miserable. I found a huge black stingray in the cave that refused to move. Then I called in Ahmed & Karim to manage a group plan. We kept diving & fetching this grouper for about 40 minutes with no luck. The maximum Ahmed could see in the cave with his torch & almost all of his body is inside the cave, was a big golden eye that keeps peeking from the end of the cave every now & then.

Was a great spot & I guess we will come back there later. We have seen many decent fish & got several decent sized groupers. Some of our companion friends where enjoying some line fishing. In fact every one of us was enjoying the getaway from his usual routine.

The wind was so variable but the ride was enjoyable. We made a stop at another considerably shallow reef spot however, we didnt project any potential out of it. We sailed again to check another area but the wind & current by that time where starting to be an irritation. Again we all jump into the water headed for the reefs. It looked Okay but not super. We managed to catch some groupers again but what actually happened on that spot was unbelievable. I was separated by current from Ihab & was perfectly between him & the other team Karim & Ahmed. When I popped out my head out of the water to check them out, I barely spotted them, the waves where moving us up & down. I managed to spot them in 1 up lifting wave, I waited for the second one to calculate the distance but, I see like 20 dolphin fins swimming towards Ahmed & Karim. That was interesting, they where just swimming right into them. 

I managed to swim to them with some good effort then the party began. We all pointed down our spear guns & started to swim with them. They looked fabulous in every movement they did. They circled and made close eye contact. It seemed that they enjoyed our company as much as we did enjoy theirs. The good thing about it is that it was in the open sea with wild dolphins. The situation was just too good to be true.

We had our 15 minute party & decided to return to the boat. It was getting late & we had to start going back from where we started. The Captain managed to clean most of the fish on our way back since someone forgot to get the ice again this time. Any way all was well, a perfect quicky that will keep wonderful visions coming back and forth inside our minds. A smooth drive back home then it was the unpacking & gear washing activity. We really enjoyed this short trip, the Dolphins party was a big score & the fish as well. Now it's time to perform the mother of all sports "Sleep".