Anglers Journal celebrates the best writing, photography, illustration, design and sporting art on the topic of fishing. Come join some of the most prolific fishing editors and writers in the industry for the best angling experience on the water.
“Bonefish are not usually thought of as predators, but a school of tailing fish coming onto a flat during a young flood tide can result in carnage to a resident population of crustaceans. It is a primordial hunt initiated by a celestial calendar. They are benthic predators, feeding on mollusks, crustaceans and worms buried in the grass and marl. Their eyes see all. Prey is pinned to the bottom and sucked savagely into a throat lined with crusher plates and granular teeth. Bonefish show uncharacteristic pleasure when they eat. Crossbands in shades of gray light up across their bodies. The translucent dorsal fills with air as the caudal fin quivers with emotion. It is the natural triumph of predation and survival.” –Jeffrey Cardenas, flyfisherman, author, naturalist (see “On Emerald Flats,” Page…
“I saw a lot of the world before it got civilized, I always had a fishing chair welded to the deck of my [Navy] ships and caught sailfish, marlin, shark, barracuda and dolphin in different waters. Key West was a little town. Bimini had a couple of fishing shacks. Garden Key at Dry Tortugas was a garden of every conceivable kind of fish and turtles. The Hawaiian Islands, except for Oahu, were very rural. There were few buildings on the big island. The fishing down through the Carolinas was unbelievable. The lagoon at Christmas Island was full of fat lobsters like cobblestones. We used to immerse the meat in pots of melted butter that was sent to the service while families were rationed at home.” — World War II veteran…
“It was late September, and I was free diving off South County, Rhode Island, targeting migrating striped bass with my underwater camera. I noticed gulls and terns over breaking fish, and like so many anglers fishing from a boat, I chased after them only to get there as the fish departed and the last bird flew off. I started making random dives, hoping to be positioned on the bottom when the fish showed up. As sunset approached, they suddenly appeared — a school of stripers, a few dozen fish, all “cookie cutter” size. I fired off a salvo of shots as the bass streamed by. I wanted to convey a sense of time and place to these images, so I broke the surface and shot photos of the setting sun…
My introduction into the company of rough men with earthy language and secret drinks and special rituals came in the form of one Henderson M. Kidwell, aka Uncle “Kid.” Kid indoctrinated me into surf fishing more than 50 years ago. He gave me a little fly rod with a small spinning reel attached, and for a couple of seasons we stood side by side on a beach in South County, Rhode Island, where we cast and cast and cast. I caught the fall wind and cloud shadows, but not a single striped bass took a swipe at my little popping plug. I fished aimlessly when I tired. I worked my feet back and forth so my boots would sink into the sand. I skimmed stones. And I watched Kid lob…
Ron Ballanti has worked in the marine electronics and fishing industries for nearly 25 years, and has fished some the world's top destinations with the best captains on the water. An avid angler, Ballanti enjoys sharing his experiences through art ides and photographs. South Florida native Jeffrey Cardenas is a peripatetic fly fisherman, author, photographer, pilot and former Key West guide whose writing has appeared in the New fork Times, Sports Illustrated, Outside, Time and other publications. The former owner of the Saltwater Angler fly shop in Key West, Cardenas enjoys exploring by small plane the out islands of the Bahamas and Caribbean. Jody Dole's award-winning photography has appeared on the covers of the New fork Times, Fortune and Time magazines. His images of the Jinishian family and Muriel Foster's…
AND THE CROWD GOES WILD I must say you have every right to be extremely proud of this magazine. With contributors like C.J. Chivers, Jim Harrison and my old friend Barry Gibson, this magazine is literature. The photography is fabulous; many of the stories are quite moving. This is a magazine for people who, like me, have been a part of the marine world, as well as for folks who are new to it. Reading this, those new folks will understand what all the enthusiasm and, to a certain extent, addiction is all about. Fishing out of Menemsha in the '70s and '80s, I came across many of the Cuttyhunk guides, particularly my friend Donnie Lynch. I had never heard of Bruce Borges, much less a "light tackle" Cuttyhunk guide.…
