Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i Salt Water Sportsman

It’s become an increasingly common scenario: From the deck of a skiff, you’re working a stretch of tidal creek deep in a Louisiana bayou. Late in the morning, you hear the hum of an outboard before a camo-clad johnboat rounds a bend in the creek. You raise a hand in greeting to a group of duck hunters, expecting the boat to throttle down and pass at idle speed in the 30-foot-wide channel. Instead, the captain shuts down his tiller-steer. As the boat drifts to a stop, he shouts: “Y’all can’t be back here. It’s all private property.” Whether you move along to avoid conflict or stick to your guns for what you believe is a right to fish a “navigable” waterway, a fun day of fishing is tainted by the…

A steady drizzle of liquid sunshine kept us huddled underneath my T-top. Armani Garcia, Diego Toiran and I had just entered Hawk Channel by the Marquesas, some 28 miles west of Key West. This navigable, shallow belt averages 10 to 30 feet deep and spans along the Keys’ Atlantic side. During the cooler waters of winter and spring, an influx of bait and game-fish enters these shallows, hence what brought us here. HOW EASY IT IS We trolled Rapala hard baits from two 10-pound-class spin outfits. One lure had a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader, the other a short trace of 27-pound titanium wire, since cero mackerel were around. For the next hour, we caught South Florida favorites such as yellowtail and yellow jacks—all by trolling these shallow-running plugs. Leader preference didn’t…

Much of the docking done by boating anglers takes place on face docks against which the boat must be pulled side-to, often between two other boats, such as at a fuel dock, a marina bait and tackle shop, or waterfront restaurants. Here are four tips to help docking at face docks in challenging conditions. 1. DOCKING IN A STRONG CURRENT We’ve all been there. You’re heading to a popular waterfront restaurant with little room between boats at the dock and plenty of people dining on the patio watching your every move. Even worse, there’s a ripping current to add to the degree of difficulty. When faced with this scenario, nearly all recreational boaters point the bow into the current because it feels more natural, but this tactic can cause several…

Hybrid bay boats may be the most popular new hull style today judging from the number of model introductions in the category and how many we see on the water. Grady-White nailed this niche with its Coastal Explorer series, which includes the 281 CE, 251 CE and now 231 CE. Yet in a market where hybrids are growing in size, why step down in length? Perhaps it’s to feed a hunger for a more nimble and more trailerable inshore fishing boat with exciting performance on less horsepower. So, how did Grady-White pull this off? Grady designers borrowed the console, lean bar and hardtop from the 251 CE. The 25-gallon live-well is built into the lean bar, just like the 251. The beam is a generous 8 feet, 6 inches, similar…

SPRING IN THE SHALLOWS INSHORE WATERS ARE HEATING UP FOR REDFISH AND SPECKLED TROUT. As the days get longer and air temperature climbs, shallow water heats up first. Anglers itching for early-season backwater action head south to get a jump on speckled trout and redfish. Starting in North Carolina’s Outer Banks and stretching along the coast to Texas, fish are transitioning from winter hideouts to spring hotspots. Clear, cool water makes the early arrivals finicky, so every detail counts. To score the first fish of the season while other anglers are still shoveling snow, head to one of our picks for the best marsh fishing in March. WADING FOR TROUT INSIDE THE OUTER BANKS One of the early season’s biggest secrets is the red-hot skinny-water fishing along the west side…

One corner of my garage is piled to the rafters with coolers. I have picnic coolers, party coolers, soft-sided and hard-sided coolers, but my fishing coolers are a step above the average cooler. My fishing coolers keep fish, bait and drinks cold for hours in scorching sun. At the end of the day, I wash them of fish blood and slime until they are sparkling clean. Then I leave them on the boat to suffer through winters, summers, rain and snow. For years, I cycled through cheap coolers that succumbed to the torture of living on a fishing boat. About a decade ago, I invested in premium coolers capable of putting up with my abuse. High-quality materials and smart construction make a premium cooler highly efficient and damn near indestructible.…

For nearly 400 years, mariners have relied on optics—mostly spyglasses back in the day—to see farther across the water. In more recent history, the magnifying and light-gathering properties of conventional binoculars have enabled boaters to identify hazards at a distance, navigate more safely, and spot signs of faraway fish. Yet, there are downsides to trusty old marine binoculars. Rough seas make it difficult to steady a magnified image aboard a boat. The greater the elevation—such as in a tower—the more jittery the view becomes. Also, conventional binoculars don’t work as well in the dark as they do during the day. They do collect more available light to see a bit better than the naked eye at night, but boaters still struggle to make out details. Fortunately, today’s electro-optical technologies are…

Retired news anchor and fly-fisherman Tom Brokaw once wrote: “Is it my imagination, or are almost all stories about fly-fishing told in hushed tones in pristine settings where man and trout are engaged in a solitary test of wits that, whatever the outcome, has a deeper meaning than mere fishing?” Pfft… I just wanted to catch some drag burners. In truth, landing a tarpon, bonefish and permit in a single day hadn’t crossed my mind as I hopped aboard Capt. Anthony Solmo’s 24-foot Yellowfin bay boat. Targeting those glamour species was for deep-thinkers in skiffs with their long rods and large-arbor circular reels. I was in Key West to test Penn’s fourth-generation Battle spinning reels and fish with assistant product manager Skylar Pieper. Then Solmo, of Got Em On Sport-fishing,…

HONDA MARINE PARTNERS WITH MCLAREN TO CREATE A NEW 300 HP OUTBOARD If you’re an IndyCar or Formula 1 racing fan—or you just admire fast street cars—you know the McLaren name. Now this vaunted engineering brand has set its sights on the outboard market with a new 300 hp V-6 engine built in partnership with Honda Marine. The M300 engine is based on the existing BF250 V-6 outboard. McLaren Engineering has performance-tuned this model for enhanced top-end power and midrange torque. ¶ McLaren’s modifications include the integration of a new camshaft for enhanced valve timing and high lift, a new engine control unit to maximize output, and new fuel injectors for higher fuel supply and efficiency. ¶ McLaren Engineering’s parent, Linamar Corporation, has been a supplier to American Honda Motor…

Robalo partnered with Michael Peters to redevelop the R300 center-console from the keel to the hardtop. The new hull offers impressively crisp handling during sharp turns and when crossing aggressive chop. At speeds of around 40 mph, we reined the R300 into barrel-racing turns, and it took them sure-footedly. Top speed nearly tapped 59 mph. At rest, the 10½-foot beam held steady footing so crew could work efficiently while trolling or bottom-fishing, resulting in a solid offshore platform. Twin Yamaha 350 V-6 outboards are controlled with Yamaha’s exclusive Helm Master Full Maneuver-ability system, which includes a joystick integrated with Yamaha’s proprietary autopilot system. The system provides incomparably convenient docking confidence, but more importantly, it includes station-keeping capabilities that hold the vessel in three ways. First, it can hold the vessel…

Shoosh… boom! Shoosh… boom! Creamsicle-colored clays whirl over the water, followed by a loud explosion from a Remington shotgun. The skeet shooters take aim from the cockpits of BlackJack center-consoles beached on a quiet, muddy bank on Sullivan’s Island. Spirits are high. Onlookers crack beers and pick from a massive tray of Chick-Fil-A nuggets. Behind us, Spanish oaks create a canopy where dappled light peppers the ground. At first glance, this scene looks like a family reunion. And in a way, it is. The crowd is made up of charter guides and loved ones connected to RedFin Charters. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, and running 3,500 charters a year, RedFin is the biggest and busiest fishing charter business on the East Coast. An operation this size, with a five-star rating…