Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2015 i Sport Fishing

TO TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, a team would average 12 mph every hour for almost three months. Thank goodness Heath Daughtry and his crew from Yellowfin Yachts only had to average 25 mph every hour for two days … in a 17-foot flats skiff … with a 60-hp outboard … partly in open ocean … in early March. In the company’s first-ever Florida Skiff Challenge from March 5 to 7, the team attempted to travel 1,200 miles — from Pensacola around the Keys to the Okeechobee Waterway, crossing Florida to Sarasota — in 48 hours. “It has always intrigued me what guys have done in small boats,” says Heath Daughtry, Yellowfin’s vice president, citing Flip Pallot’s crossing to Walker’s Cay, Bahamas, in a 16-foot skiff, and the…

As we blasted along Georgia’s St. Marys River in the pre-dawn darkness, I couldn’t really see much of Insetta’s new 45, but I could certainly feel the raw power of the twin Yanmar diesels and the precise handling of the stepped catamaran hull. This was the beginning of an early-April trip aboard the 47-footer in pursuit of wahoo — an adventure that would take us to the edge of the Gulf Stream, more than 75 miles off the south Georgia coast. “We want to get out there early, because this afternoon a front is forecast to come through with 25-knot winds out of the northeast and seas to 10 feet,” said Bryan Folsom, vice president and design engineer for Georgia-based American Marine Design (AMD), which builds Insetta boats. Also joining…

The thought of purchasing a new fishing boat always sounds tempting, but for many would-be buyers, the timing might not be right. If the propulsion system on your current boat is growing tired, however, the timing might be right for fresh horses. Repowering is a great way to extend the life of a fishing machine. Yet there’s more to consider than just bolting on new engines. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself or your dealer, with answers offered by outboard experts. [1] Should I change horsepower? “Look at the boat’s capacity plate to learn the maximum rated horsepower,” says David Meeler, marineproduct information manager for Yamaha Outboards. “That’s the horsepower you should put on your boat during a repower, no matter what you had before.” Boats perform at their…

CAPT. ROB RUWITCH IS AS HARD-CORE A BILLFISHERMAN AS ANYONE. HE EVEN LANDED ALL FIVE ATLANTIC BILLFISH SPECIES IN A SINGLE DAY — A FANTASY SLAM. NATURALLY HIS SON, ZACH, WAS BOATING BEFORE HE COULD WALK. BY AGE 3, WITH DAD’S HELP, ZACH WAS CATCHING JACKS OFF THE DOCK AND SNAPPER FROM THE BOAT. ONE DAY, THINGS CHANGED. “HE WAS 4,” RUWITCH RECALLS. “WE WERE ON THE NORTH DROP OFF ST. THOMAS, AND WE HOOKED A BLUE MARLIN. AS WE WIRED UP THE FISH, ZACH LOOKED OVER THE SIDE AND STARTED CRYING HYSTERICALLY.” BUT ZACH WASN’T SCARED. “DADDY, I WANTED TO CATCH IT,” HE SOBBED. ZACH RELEASED HIS FIRST SAILFISH AT AGE 6 AND FOUGHT HIS FIRST BLUE MARLIN TO THE LEADER, UNAIDED AFTER HOOKUP, BEFORE HE TURNED 8. Zach’s…

AS SUMMER APPROACHES, anglers daydream about the islands — any islands, where warm breezes ripple the seas and chunky snapper swarm reefs. Or perhaps your tastes run to simple trips along the coast, hopscotching productive shorelines and anchoring under the stars. Some boats are purely made for just these kinds of weekend adventures. With the right bank account, you can go big and roomy — with all the comforts of home. If your budget requires a little restraint, try one of these five ultimate weekenders under 40 feet. (Boats are ordered from shortest to longest.) Scout says the 300 makes a great getaway boat because of the features it offers, which are not typically found on a 30-foot center-console. The forward lounge seat, bow benches and optional stern seat create…

The neon colors pop and the seafloor undulates dramatically. Fish marks cluster, suspended at precise depths. The newest face of recreational sonar creates the stunning effect of a 3-D video game. When Garmin debuted its Panoptix sonar during the February Miami International Boat Show, the company demonstrated affordable phased-array technology — previously an option only for military and commercial interests. Panoptix leaps to the forefront of a genre of sonar that now allows anglers and boaters to see ahead and around the boat. First side-scan and down-scan units provided picture-like views of seafloor terrain. Now a number of units can see ahead of the boat and in a wide circle surrounding it. Garmin describes its Panoptix as “all-seeing sonar,” Humminbird has its 360 Imaging, Lowrance offers SpotlightScan, and Simrad features…

SEPTEMBER 2013 MARKED a drastic change in Gulf of Mexico fishing regulations when the region’s federal fishery managers decided that venting tools were no longer mandatory on boats targeting bottom species such as snappers and groupers. But why? No one wants to waste a bottomfish by releasing it with distended stomach and intestines, bulging eyes and bloated belly, just to watch it struggle and perish at the surface. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council wasn’t neglecting its duty to conserve bottom species. Instead, the change happened partly because NOAA tagging studies for Pacific rockfish found a better method to combat barotrauma: fish descenders. Fish-descender devices don’t require punctures with a hollow-needle tool, but instead attach to the fish’s mouth and take it back down to the depths using a…

SIXTY MILES OFF LONG ISLAND, the late-May ocean lay flat as the fleet trolled lazily around us. We had miraculously picked up a small bluefin tuna on a jig, but the radio chatter didn’t sound encouraging. I was getting antsy. I pinned the throttles on my 31-foot Contender and headed north. I noticed several trawlers on the horizon. As we got close, I saw a center-console bobbing alongside one of the commercial boats. The crew was doubled up, both anglers leaning into what looked like good fish. I noticed boils forming all around the trawler’s steel hull as the commercial crew cleaned scallops. My heart pounded! Grabbing a fresh clam, I baited the nearest circle hook and pitched it as close to the scallop boat as I could. Handing the…

“Mahi at 12 o’clock. Get a bait!” shouted Capt. Wil Rogers from the tower of Boston Whaler’s newest and largest center-console to date — the 420 Outrage — as we approached a floating bamboo log off the coast of Stuart, Florida Crew members Ron Berman and Del Kelley each scooped up a live pilchard, deftly pinned them to hooks, and then hustled to the bow. “Look, there’s a bunch of them,” Rogers pointed out. “Cast now!” Both anglers launched baits, which were quickly inhaled by hungry mahimahi below. Double hookup! Little did I imagine this early April scene when I first saw a 4-foot scale model of the 420 Outrage 14 months earlier at the 2014 Miami International Boat Show. Now I was on the real thing — a supersized…

SEA VEE 370Z SEA VEE ANNOUNCED the fourth offshore center-console model in the stepped-hull Z lineup — the 370Z — at the Miami International Boat Show earlier this year. The 370Z’s hull design features multiple lifting bodies with unique geometry, which results in a fixed running-trim angle. Sea Vee also employs a four-port air-induction system that uses a central air-reservoir unit to maintain air cavities that reduce power- and speed-robbing drag. Sea Vee says the 370Z offers good directional stability — which can be a problem for some stepped-hull boats — using an array of patented speed rails. The design creates appropriate counterforce during hard maneuvering, such as turning at high speeds. The 370Z can be outfitted with a variety of seating options. For anglers, two large, insulated fish boxes…