Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2021 i Salt Water Sportsman

Liam Stewart 7, Florida An avid angler, athlete and loyal SWS reader, Liam will take a day on the water over hockey and lacrosse, his other favorite pastimes. An undaunted fisherman, he recently landed this 28-inch snook all by himself. Steve Hotz Jr. 5, New Jersey With his sights set on bigger and better catches, Steve wanted just one thing to celebrate turning 5 years old: to go yellowtail fishing in the Florida Keys with his grandfather. His birthday wish came true. Stephen Hering 12, New Jersey Whether surf-casting near his home in Shark River, New Jersey, or heading offshore, where he caught this little tunny, Stephen always enjoys spending time on the water with his dad, grandpa and uncle. NOMINATE A KID: SWS recognizes kids who represent sportsmanship, passion…

The 280 CC keeps the running surface of its predecessor, the Cobia 277 CC, as well as the smart layout—which includes a front-entry head and hideaway bow table—and a wealth of tournament-inspired fishing amenities, like a leaning post with tackle station, a 42-gallon livewell with clear lid, undergunwale rod storage, eight flush-mounted rod holders, twin macerated 47-gallon fish boxes, cockpit coaming bolsters, a transom door, and raw- and freshwater washdowns. But a number of additions elevate the 28-footer to a higher echelon: an advanced console design that integrates with the hardtop frame for a more stylish look and greater strength, a three-sided windshield with electric wiper and vent, an acrylic infinity dash to house a full array of electronics, and more. Comforts and conveniences include a 62-quart forward-console cooler, a…

FIND THE HOT BITE THIS MONTH IN THE TRAVELING FISHERMAN, PAGE 82 Yellowfin tuna—Allison tuna to old-timers, and ahi in the Pacific and on most menus—are esteemed as angling adversaries and for their quality on the table. Ranging worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas, they often school with like-size classmates and can reach 400 pounds. Yellow fins are epipelagic, traveling above the thermocline, usually above 300 feet. This school was found feeding off Isla Coiba, Panama.…

SEAVEE IS SYNONYMOUS WITH TOP-NOTCH, FISHINGFOCUSED CENTER-CONSOLES, AND THE 450Z, THE BUILDER’S LATEST ADDITION—BASED ON ITS PROVEN STEPPED HULL—IS DESTINED TO BE ANOTHER WINNER. WE GOT THE CHANCE TO TEST THE RIDE, PERFORMANCE AND NUMEROUS FEATURES WHILE PRE-FISHING FOR A SAILFISH TOURNAMENT IN SOUTH FLORIDA, AND THE BOAT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. Our survey began in front, where the forward deck features an in-floor storage bin that serves as an optional livewell and a large insulated fish box on the centerline, bookended by full-length rod lockers, a great feature for traveling and overnighting away from home. An anchor-locker hatch affords access to the through-hull anchor shoot and windlass. A plush, two-person lounge rests at the front of the console, with seven vertical rod holders on each side. But rod storage is…

Under the right circumstances anywhere, money talks. And on a media fishing trip to Mexico, $20 spoke loudly enough to put a good man in a bad mood for the dark half of a day. Five outdoor writers, who ran into each other regularly on fishing junkets around the turn of the century, met yet again in Houston and enjoyed another smooth, two-hour flight south. Beyond customs, we were welcomed by two representatives from the host lodge. As the men introduced themselves, two local porters stacked our significant pile of luggage and rod cases onto carts. One of the hosts, having hatched a plan with one of our group beforehand, was carrying an extra $20 bill as we walked and talked through the airport. Parked tightly against the terminal curb…

After four action-packed days, the 2021 Costa Off shore World Championship came to a thrilling conclusion, with a single sailfish release separating the three leading teams in a field of top international anglers who had to win one of the qualifying tournaments to earn a spot in the event. Held April 11-16 out of Marina Pez Vela in Quepos, Costa Rica, a location renowned for its world-class off shore fishing, the championship required all teams to fish aboard a different charter boat each of the tournament days, following IGFA rules and using video verification to amass billfish release points, and also targeting tuna, dorado and wahoo for extra points. Michael Moretti, Dwight Wolf, JP Rodrigues and Dell Dembowsky, who punched their ticket to the big dance by winning the Presidential…

1 Costa Blackfin Pro The redesigned Blackfin Pro from Costa with 580-glass lenses incorporates sweat channels and eyewire drains, improved grips to stay in place, adjustable ventilated nose pads, metal keeper slots on the temple pieces, and side shields and hooding to stop light from leaking in. $269; costadelmar.com 2 Shimano Exsence Exsence spinning reels from Shimano feature magnesium frames, cold-forged Hagane gears, and a MagnumLight spool for a 14 percent weight reduction, among other proprietary performance features. Available in trout-taming 3000 and redfish-ready 4000 sizes, for 10- to 30-pound braid. $539.99 and $549.99; fish.shimano.com 3 Toadfish Rods Spinning rods from Toadfish combine responsive tips for solid hook-sets with a progressive bend for fighting power. Lightweight, high-carbon graphite blanks, premium components, and an indestructible one-piece grip and reel seat resist…

“With the GoFish camera, you can easily download footage to a computer or smartphone.” Ocean depths remain a mysterious realm. Though advances in sonar technology help demystify the underwater world, even the best machines require interpretation. Wouldn’t it be great if we could see for ourselves? Today you can thanks to submersible video camera systems that let you peer below the surface. Ethical Angling? Before delving further, let’s address the goliath grouper in the swimming pool: Do underwater cameras belong in the toolbox of an ethical saltwater angler? Some might view them as cheating, but the same could be said about other technological advances such as live-sonar systems, which let you view fish and lures in real time. I’ve used underwater cameras to explore, then employed the information to fish…

LOCATION: Virginia Beach, Virginia TARGET SPECIES: White marlin SEASON: July through September MID-ATLANTIC WHITES Each summer, hordes of billfish migrate along the Eastern Seaboard, and Virginia Beach is right in the middle of the action. A fixture on Rudee Inlet, Capt. Jimmy Bayne has fished tournaments and hosted anglers on his 58-foot Paul Mann, Sniper, for decades. He says white marlin go in a feeding frenzy in late summer before migrating to their winter grounds. Bayne studies satellite water-temperature images, looking for warm-water eddies spinning off the Gulf Stream prior to starting the 50-mile run to the fishing grounds before sunrise. When he finds blue water between 76 and 78 degrees, along with circling birds, he slows the boat to 6.5 knots, deploys two squid daisy chains and two 20-bait…

For a bucket-list destination, this internationally famous British Columbia salmon pool at the mouth of the Campbell River on Vancouver Island is strangely quiet. The evening water is flat with slow swirls around skinny rowboats, and transparent enough to see broken littleneck shells on the bottom a dozen feet down. My rower, Dwayne Mustard, a tyee salmon evangelist, whispers that we’re coming into the “biting tide,” the three hours before high slack. The biting tide is no secret. As the time approaches, boatmen guiding a fleet of look-alike lapstrake rowboats jam the eddy off the mouth of the Campbell River, pushed together by an incoming tide and a singular goal: tyee, the First Nations word for “chief.” In coastal Canada, the title now describes any chinook salmon over 30 pounds.…

THE 302 CC, THE LATEST ADDITION TO BLACKFIN’S LINEUP OF FISHING MACHINES, BEARS THE BRAND’S HERITAGE, ALONG WITH MANY OF THE TRAITS THAT MADE ITS SIBLINGS POPULAR WITH SERIOUS ANGLERS, ON AN EFFICIENT, HIGH-PERFORMANCE MICHAEL PETERS SVVT DOUBLE-STEP HULL. The high sheer adds to the boat’s sleek look and seaworthiness, while all-composite construction from stem to stern, with major parts bonded, ensures long years of service and peak performance. Blackfin firmly believes an offshore fishing boat must be able to withstand unexpected gnarly sea conditions, so every switch, latch, hinge and screw is triple-checked, and fuel and water systems are also pressure-tested thrice for potential leaks as part of the builder’s extensive quality-control protocol that guarantees every boat that rolls off the line is absolutely free of building and rigging…

Patty Clayton of Port St. Lucie, Florida, fishing in the St. Lucie River with her husband, Tommy, in their 14-foot Carolina Skiff, decided to troll a popular casting lure: a root-beer-colored D.O.A. TerrorEyz. Cruising slowly along a tributary shoreline, she landed a few small snook as a warmup to this 30-incher. YOUR CATCH To send in your catch photo, email us at catches@saltwatersportsman.com. Got a piece of good news to share? Want to gripe? Like to see your thoughts on the pages of Salt Water Sportsman? Send your letters, manuscripts and any relevant comments to editor@saltwatersportsman.com or via U.S. mail: SWS Editor, 480 N. Orlando Ave., Suite 236, Winter Park, FL 32789. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcomed but will not be acknowledged or returned unless accompanied by an SASE. We are…

This is not the first time I have discussed this, so bear with me if it sounds repetitious. There are approximately 9 million saltwater anglers in the US. Guessing conservatively, 80 percent of those anglers have smartphones, which means there are 7.2 million mobile platforms that could supply fishing-success information into a system managing the fish we all like to catch. If just 10 percent volunteered to submit data every time they went fishing, the amount of information would dwarf what is currently compiled with in-person intercepts and fishing-eff ort surveys. The amount of data would be valuable to managers, if it could be ground-truthed and calibrated against in-person collected data So, what are the problems with this kind of data collection? The first is outreach and how to gain…

South Carolina-based Xplor Boatworks has added a bay model to its lineup, the X24 Andros, boasting a 13-inch draft to venture into areas where only flats skiffs dare to tread. UltraX Total Infusion, combined with cored construction, ensures the entire build is consistently rigid, strong and lightweight for durability and performance. The Xplor has ample room for gear storage and a long list of fishing features. There’s a dedicated anchor locker and 430-quart storage compartment at the bow, a 320-quart fish box in front of the console, plus a 38-gallon livewell. As for rod storage, the Andros comes with a four-rod rocket launcher on the leaning post, gunwale racks for six rods, and six flush-mounted holders on the covering boards. An Atlas hydraulic jack plate, power steering, rear flip-up seating,…

Throwing Shade Humminbird’s CoastMaster Premium-Florida charts include shaded relief that depicts bottom structure such as wrecks, reefs and rock piles in ocean waters off the Sunshine State in 3D. Compatible with the Humminbird Helix G3/G3N and newer models, and all Solix and Apex units, the charts feature aerial imagery, bottom-hardness auxiliary contour layers, and all the features of existing CoastMaster charts. $299; humminbird.com Your Turn Optimus all-electric steering from Dometic serves as a direct replacement for hydraulic steering for outboards. It integrates with an electronic helm, Optimus joystick, EPS or autopilot systems. It works with single, twin, triple and quad installations. Programmable settings include speed-sensitive lock-to-lock turns and speed-sensitive wheel effort. $5,700 for a single-outboard system, $9,700 for twins; dometic.com Power Boost Weego’s N44s jump-starts boats and most tow vehicles.…

ON PRETTY DAYS IN LATE FALL AND MOST OF THE WINTER, CAPE LOOKOUT, NORTH CAROLINA, SERVES UP EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR TROPHY REDFISH. AS A BONUS, THE LOCAL REEFS AND WRECKS HOLD HORDES OF GRAY TROUT AND BLUEFISH; GO A LITTLE DEEPER AND YOU’LL FIND GROUPER, AMBERJACK AND SNAPPER. Sandwiched between Cape Hatteras to the north and Cape Fear to the south, the Cape Lookout area is served well by Morehead City and Beaufort, where many anglers launch. Access to the ocean is via Beaufort Inlet. Farther east, on Harkers Island, anglers reach the ocean through Barden Inlet under the watchful eye of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Location, Location Cape Lookout Shoals runs 10 miles almost due south into the Atlantic Ocean. To the west of the shoals is Onslow Bay,…

Anglers on Florida’s east coast know that the redfish populaaon has declined in recent years. And at CCA Florida, we know that something needs to be done to ensure this iconic fishery is healthy for generaaons to come. Once again, we’re working with our friends at the Duke Energy Mariculture Center to restock Florida’s redfish populaaon and you can help. Over the past 28 years, the Mariculture Center has released 4.1 million fish and crustaceans on the west coast, including the over 34,000 red ade recovery redfish in southwest Florida in early 2019. Now we’re expanding our efforts to the east coast. Phase I of our east coast redfish restocking iniaaave includes the raising and release of up to 100,000 juvenile redfish, but we can’t do it without you. With…