Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Salt Water Sportsman

The first striped bass I ever caught was holding above a giant underwater pipe in the Chesapeake Bay delivering natural gas out to a docking station. My first-ever permit ate a crab that drifted into the boiling currents above a nuclear power plant outflow on Florida’s east coast. My biggest fluke ate a bucktail in 40 feet of water near the foot of an abutment of Brooklyn’s Marine Park Bridge. Fish love man-made structure. They’ll key in on even small rocks on otherwise featureless bottom. Sink a few subway cars and you’ll attract huge schools of game-fish. Jetties, piers and bridges concentrate bait and make the best fishing spots around. But there’s another type of structure they love even more: infrastructure. Specifically, sewer systems. I’ve seen firsthand how septic tanks…

I come from a casting background, growing up a stone’s throw from the Potomac River. Summers were spent throwing Zara Spooks and Hula Poppers at largemouth bass, then freaking out every time one got smashed on top. That experience turned me into the jig-and-pop addict that I am today. When I got my first offshore-capable boat, I bought a small fortune in trolling gear: 30s and 50s, a couple of 80s, and some absurdly stiff rods with roller guides. There were spreader bars, daisy chains, Joe Shutes trolling lures, and all the other stuff too. But when I got out there, my results were tangle after tangle. During one of those tangles, I noticed we were marking tuna pretty well, so I dropped down a jig and got properly spooled.…

Records are broken all the time. This one was demolished. Steven Viltoft, of Southport, North Carolina, blew away the state record for the common thresher shark with a 589-pound, 1-ounce fish caught off Oak Island on January 10. The previous record, set in 2005 out of Oregon Inlet, was a mere 185 pounds. Viltoft was fishing with Oak Island Fishing Charters for blue-fin tuna, using 130-pound line, an 80W Shimano Tiagra reel and a Bazen custom rod. Capt. Wally Trayah says the crew would have preferred to release the thresher, as they have in the past with similar-size fish. But by the end of the two-hour fight, it was clear the shark was distressed and unlikely to survive. However, thresher sharks make good table fare, so the local folks enjoyed…

The 30XO is Regulator’s biggest model in the brand’s XO series to date. Designed and equipped to serve the needs of inshore and offshore anglers alike, key features of this crossover machine include twin Yamaha F300s, an optional half-tower station, and a convertible tackle and entertainment station. Anglers will love the combined 1,363 quarts of fish-box, livewell and storage space, the 10 rocket launchers on the helm station, and optional under-gunwale locking rod storage. When it comes time to kick back, the 30XO offers plenty of plush seating, with the option to upgrade to diamond-quilted up-holstery and add teak accents for a rich, classic look. The standard forward console settee delivers 218 quarts of cooler space, while the flush-folding rear cockpit seats house integrated dual bucket holders, with custom buckets…

For West Coast anglers seeking true adventure, the waters on each side of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula have long been the go-to destination. These waters are just a hop, skip and jump below the border, yet the fishing opportunities are still wild, primitive, unpredictable and, in some minds, magical. Trips here are the stuff that angling dreams are made of and often result in memories that endure for generations. Both coasts of Baja have much to offer, but the breathtaking eastern side facing the Sea of Cortez and its chain of islas (Spanish for islands) offers a distinctly rich ecosystem drastically different than the wave-swept Pacific side. It is here amid the often-calm crystalline waters and jagged shores of the coast and the socalled Midriff Islands that cabrilla sardinera lurk,…

“Competition can lead to anglers losing their heads and making bad decisions.”—Jerry Audet Confrontations between shore and boat anglers can get ugly. Access to the best fishing spots is getting more and more crowded, and competition can lead to anglers losing their heads and making bad decisions. In these confrontations, neither party is innocent, and both are guilty of being rude or worse. It’s really easy for a boat angler to unintentionally (or intentionally) block or ruin a fishing spot for a shore-based angler. Typically, shore anglers are far more limited on the spots they can fish, and it takes a lot more time to move from one spot to the next. While it’s easy to suggest that the shore angler should “just buy their own boat,” some can’t afford…

Slow-pitch jigging is a listening game. You’re taking everything in, using all of your senses. “The rod is the tool that allows me to do that,” says Benny Ortiz, Shimano pro staffer and slow-pitch-jigging guru. He’s talking about one of the latest fishing techniques to land on our shores from Japan, which utilizes jigs that emulate a wounded baitfish in its final throes. The magic lies in the slow, fluttering action of the jig, which seems to force even neutral fish to bite. And the magic wand is the rod used to make those jigs dance so enticingly. “The rods are really onetrick ponies. They are designed to impart action on the jig,” Ortiz says. When selecting a rod for slow-pitch jigging techniques, water depth and the weight of the…

The 34 CT is not just the newest model in the Caymas lineup, it is the first catamaran boat from this builder. Designed for hardcore offshore fishing, the 34 CT center-console features Caymas’ RDVS (Ride Dynamic Ventilated Stepped) semi-asymmetric hulls and aggressive bow flare for a smooth, dry ride in even the roughest seas. The 34 CT offers six insulated and plumbed storage boxes, totaling 3,000 quarts of storage connected to macerator pumps. With two storage compartments forward, two midship, and two in the cockpit floor, you can choose how you want to utilize the space, be it for gear and tackle or keeping your catch chilled on ice. A 70-gallon transom livewell is standard, with two optional 25-gallon wells alongside. You can also plumb two of the aft insulated…

Wherever you go, the basic equation is structure plus current equals fish. An easy solution is fishing a bridge. Bridge pilings, jetties, channels and flats create an artificial reef hosting the entire food chain. But the same rocks and concrete hiding bait and predators pose an obstacle for anglers. The trick is placing the bait in the structure without getting caught. I fish the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) for sheepshead, tautog, speckled trout, striped bass and red drum. To improve my skills, I dropped a line to friends across the country who specialize in bridge fishing. LIGHT-TACKLE BRIDGE BASS Casting light-tackle lures into the current swirling around pilings is one of the easiest ways to fish a bridge. On the CBBT, a well-placed swimbait such as the Storm Wildeye…

There are few pieces of structure as iconic as jetties. These rocky manmade points dot both coasts, providing thousands of unique and productive fishing opportunities. Jetties act like an oasis where vegetation, mollusks, crabs, bait and gamefish accumulate. They are beloved by all anglers, and many of us cut our teeth by fishing from them. If you’re interested in becoming a better jetty angler—from shore or boat—here are some tactics to help up your game. JETTIES MEAN CURRENT Jetties are built in areas with current running parallel to shore. They are designed to break up this flow, slow it down, and reduce shoreline erosion as a result. They vary dramatically in size and composition; some are short and loosely cobbled together, while others are extremely long, with carefully placed, tightly…

Get ready to drop, we’rejust about there,” said friend and longtime mentor Jim Hendricks. His eyes were glued to the screen of his multifunction display, the screen split to show both his chirp sonar and C-Map Reveal shaded-relief chart. Just as the chart display showed our boat nosing toward the edge of a small rock, the sounder display indicated the bottom was getting harder and coming up a few feet. After idling forward a few more feet and then bumping the boat in reverse to slow our slide, our lures were headed to the bottom. It didn’t take long for my “donkey rig”—two 1½-ounce Hookup Baits tube lures rigged in tandem—to reach the subtle piece of structure 120 feet below us. The one-two punch came on the second gentle jigging…

In the early mornings along Florida’s coasts, you can hear the distinct cavernous pop of snook feeding on silvery finger mullet near the edge of a mangrove stand. The snook, hiding along the tangled knot of roots and branches, use the mangroves as ambush cover. That deep pop is distinct from the splashing of shouldered redfish that shake the mangrove branches as they forage for crabs and shrimp. When the finger mullet come into view, those same redfish will churn the water into thunderous boils. The mullet leap frantically away from the onslaught, darting into the cover of the roots. Whether in Florida, Texas or even Hawaii, mangroves are incredibly productive habitats for targeting many kinds of fish. Anglers who understand mangrove ecologies are better able to develop strategies for fishing…