Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Salt Water Sportsman

Spring is one of the hottest fishing months off southeast Florida, particularly Miami. In April and May, a major sailfish migration occurs along the coast. These are large breedingclass sailfish, not the typical 35-to 45-pounders common during winter. Add in a mix of large blackfin tuna, early arrivals of mahi and a sprinkling of wahoo, and it becomes difficult focusing on just one species. ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION Sailfish purists concentrate solely on running up releases, whereas tuna fanatics live-chum and fish deep baits around wrecks and tight contour lines. Then, of course, there are those seeking mahi dinners. As for me, I go for them all with one can’t-miss drifting strategy. With three dozen goggle-eyes and at least one livewell crammed with pilchards, we often head out of Haulover Inlet and…

Full disclosure: With regard to the outboard on a project boat a friend and I are working on, we screwed up big time. We wanted an inexpensive fishing skiff to hunt redfish in the shallow sections near the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, and found a “cheap” Pro Sports 18 Flats with a first-generation 2002 Yamaha F115. The boat needed work, but we loved its wide-open spaces and relatively wide beam. My experience with Yamaha outboards has been excellent. When properly maintained, they are reliable and can last a long time. Butas Yamaha likes to say, maintenance matters. Unfortunately, the guy we bought it from had no maintenance records because he wasn’t the original owner and hadn’t owned it for very long. That was the first red flag. LEARNING…

Specifications LENGTH 43'6" BEAM 13'0" DRAFT 3'5" (drives down) FUEL 540 gal. WEIGHT 24,000 lb. MAX HP 1,200 PRICE $1,560,425 tiarayachts.com The Tiara 43 LE is a luxury sport yacht with rugged boatbuilding DNA that belies its opulence. It’s ready to take on the snottiest of bluewater days when the fish are calling, and thanks to Tiara’s fishing package option, this boat can be rigged as a bona fide canyon runner. Let’s start with the 43 LE’s performance. For some background, Tiara hails from Holland, Michigan, where it designs high-end boats built to withstand the rigors of boating in the Great Lakes, where the weather can turn in an instant and kick open-ocean-size swells with tight periods that can beat down even the heartiest vessels. (For reference, listen to the…

Through the final quarter of the past century and first quarter of this one, Texas’ speckled trout fishery was dealt some ugly cards. Once the nation’s chip leader in trophy trout, the Lone Star’s fat stack took some hard beatings from mostly natural events and a few metaphoric sharks. This past year, intent on bettering the odds, the state pushed all-in for a full recovery of its most popular saltwater gamefish. Freezes dating back to the 1980s rocked Texas’ trout population to its core multiple times in recent history. And each time, within a few years, the fishery recovered—sort of. The rebounds were significant, but anglers on the upper Texas coast noticed numbers of higher-end fish dropped dramatically. Moderate changes to daily bag limits and minimum lengths replenished the bulk…

I smell the tree blossoms and hear the screeching osprey. Salt spray coats my lips and warmth returns to the sea breeze. That’s when I know April fishing is in full swing. Local fish are hungry, and transient fish are on the move. Get ready for spring’s best fishing at these early-season hotspots. LONG ISLAND SOUND ‘TOGS Everyone knows about the phenomenal striped bass fishing in Long Island Sound, but Capt. Bobby Tambascio is excited about tautog. “The blackfish season opens in April, when the fish are still inshore,” he says. Tambascio hits jetties, rock walls, bridge pilings and other hard structures on the west side of Long Island Sound. He holds the boat on the up-current side of structure and lobs ½- to 1-ounce Tidaltails jigs with chunks of…

For sight-fishermen, Abaco in the Bahamas is a dreamy destination worth pursuing. The marls consist of hundreds of miles of prime bonefishing habitat, most of it free of crowds. Shallow flats mixed with mangrove islands and mud make for a harsh environment—thankfully, bonefish thrive here. On the east side of Abaco, even larger bonefish roam, often in deeper water. Grass, rocks, sand—expect it all. Scott Hahn released this northern Abaco oceanside bone-fish on a pristine grass flat.…

I was sitting in my office day-dreaming about a bluefin run I made a while back. Catching these amazing gamefish creates vivid memories. It was on a day in early May, well before first light, when I left Manasquan Inlet aboard my friend Roger’s 32 Regulator. The weather was mild, the seas obliging, and our destination 55 miles away was the Triple Wrecks area. The first lump had no signs of life, and nothing showed on the depth finder, so off to the next we went. Along the way we spotted hundreds of tuna chicks dancing along the edges of a temperature break and slick. We immediately started deploying the four lines we had ready. Each of the 50-pound-class outfits loaded with 60-pound mono was armed with a large ballyhoo…

PURSUIT REVAMPS ONE OF ITS MOST POPULAR MODELS—THE S 328 Pursuit has reworked and reintroduced one of its most popular center-console models—the S 328. On the deck, Pursuit added coaming storage lockers on the port and starboard sides and an in-floor storage compartment for gear, improved storage under the leaning post and entertainment center, and added a built-in insulated cooler in the transom. ¶ The helm is also fully redesigned to optimize ergonomics and provide improved storage. An integrated footrest can fold down for greater elevation to improve visibility. There are also optional teak accents, a solid teak Edson steering wheel and a leather dash pad to add to the boat’s premium styling. ¶ The console interior has been transformed with a settee-to-berth conversion that’s accomplished easily with just one…

Specifications LENGTH 26'0" BEAM 8'6" FUEL 90 gal. WEIGHT 4,429 lb. (hull only, dry weight) MAX HP 400 PRICE $190,793 (base) $272,704 (as tested) scoutboats.com Scout’s 261 XSS is a 26-footcrossover offshore/bay boat that’s well suited for any water-borne activity, from bay inshore fishing and bluewater forays to afternoon sandbar gatherings. Scout’s Director of Sales and Marketing Alan Lang calls it a “luxury bay/offshore hybrid.” When rigged with top-shelf power, such as Mercury’s 400 hp Verado V-10, performance is take-charge spirited. The 261 XSS tops out at nearly 60 mph and accelerates to plane in 7 seconds, hitting 30 mph in 11. The 400-horse Merc and Scout’s V-hull team up to achieve 2.3 mpg at a best-cruise speed of 28 mph and 4,000 rpm, burning 12 gph at that speed.…

Gulf anglers aren’t even catching enough cobia to meet new reduced allowances. Gore spattered up the captain’s calf as he stomped a mesh bag full of recently netted menhaden in the transom. I was busy at the cutting board, chunking and tossing as quickly as I could. The net had come up full three times. We had bait to spare, in addition to a frozen chum block tied off the stern. With that oily mess, it didn’t take long. First the spadefish materialized behind the twin 200s. Then a big 10-foot tiger shark rose into view, following its nose in search of something more than measly menhaden heads. That was our cue. In rapid succession, the crew fired live baits behind the cruising shark. For a few seconds, we watched…

Long before the days of social media, or even smartphones for that matter, Southern California anglers spent most of their winter season targeting deepwater rockfish. Back then, we called them rock cod, and anglers targeted them using stout rods fitted with rail plates to steady the side-to-side motion of cranking the handle of a Penn 9/0 Senator full of 80-pound Dacron line. In those days, rock cod fishing was a lot of work, so anglers installed modified handles on their reels that were fitted with a bicycle grip, offering something more ergonomic to grasp when retrieving a fivehook gangion full of fish, as well as the 3 to 5 pounds of weight needed to get baits into the bite zone 600-plus feet below the surface. That style of fishing ended…