Sport Fishing January 2016

Collateral damage. That’s what saltwater-angling enthusiasts have become. It’s unfair and counterproductive, but there it is. Among recreational anglers, the greatest travesty in fisheries management occurs when laws restricting fishing effort are issued with a blanket approach. Thus, in a one-size-fits-all model, fishery managers apply the same restrictions or closures to all fisheries for a given species or in a given area. With no attempt to distinguish between user groups, this methodology suggests that weekend anglers — who, statistically speaking, release more than half of what they catch and are relatively inefficient as far as what they do catch — are in the same league as factory trawlers and longliners, harvesting tons of targeted fish and, often, tons of bycatch. The failure to consider the relative impact of sport versus…

THE BAIT HOOK that catches an amberjack in Florida is not the same one anglers tie on for roosterfish off Baja or yellowtail in California. Or is it? Most anglers agree that bait size determines hook size, so if roughly the same size baits are available across the continent, are hook style and size all that important? The answer is a resounding yes. Because techniques vary from port to port, top anglers have modified and refined rigs that require specific styles of hooks. One trend that’s become a staple with many rigs is the utilization of circle hooks. More and more, anglers are picking circle hooks over J hooks. I reached out to a diverse group of pro anglers and captains to learn their favorite hook styles when fishing live…

(Caranx lugubris) Found in all the world’s tropical seas, the black jack is every bit as tough and powerful as it looks, and can always be counted on for a grueling fight. Although eaten in some places, black jacks have been implicated in ciguatera poisonings. The IGFA world record, caught in 2013 at Hurricane Bank off Mexico, weighed 41 pounds, 7 ounces. CHALLENGE OUR EXPERTS (And Win Up to 10,800 Yards of Line!) SEND IN YOUR QUESTION and any relevant photos of your mysterious catch or observation for our experts’ ID and feedback. If we publish your question, and you have a shipping address within the United States or Canada, you’ll win a 3-pound spool of Berkley Pro Spec ocean-blue or fluorescentyellow monofilament (1,000 to 10,800 yards, depending on line…

ONE OF THE tiniest pieces of fishing tackle can make all the difference between landing and losing a fish. The gear is so small it doesn’t register on a bathroom scale. “We were casting in an area that held some really big tuna,” says Capt. Josh Zacharias, of Cape Cod’s Outermost Angling Charters. “My client launched a cast, and an estimated 800-pound bluefin crashed his topwater lure. The explosion was as fierce as you might imagine.” After the fish made two or three blistering runs with the boat in pursuit, Zacharias’ angler locked down the drag and started to regain line on his Shimano Stella’s spool. That’s when the lure came unbuttoned. “We noticed the forward treble hook was missing from the lure,” Zacharias recalls. “Though the split ring was…

1. ADDED BENEFITS With successful Helix 5 and 7 launches under its belt, Humminbird has expanded this multifunction-display family to include 9- and 10-inch models plus a 12-inch CHIRP version. All come with side-imaging, down-imaging and 360-imaging compatibility and are Ethernet-capable, allowing multiple units aboard to share data and enabling a Minn Kota i-Pilot Link connection. The Helix 12 CHIRP allows anglers to select multiple bandwidth settings between the 28 and 540 kHz frequency ranges. Available in multiple configurations, these non-touch-screen Helix units cost $699.99 to $2,299.99. 2. LIVE LARGE Okuma has added three new sizes — 50W, 80W and 130 — to its Makaira Special Edition (SEa) conventional reel lineup. The key differences between the SEa models and the gold Makaira lineup appear in the spool bearings, handle sizes…

From the deep reefs off Long Key, Florida, comes a pending all-tackle record for a 28-pound queen snapper [A]. Capt. Chris B. Walter of Long Key made the catch last September, dropping squid for bait. If approved, it would replace the current 27-pound, 4-ounce snapper caught off Islamorada, Florida, in 2008. A tough 36-pound, 6-ounce longfin jack crevalle [B] has been approved as the all-tackle record for angler Marco Cuoto of Luanda, Angola, who fought the fish for 20 minutes after hooking it on a soft-plastic shad bait last June while fishing Angola’s Barra do Kwanza. While fishing Chesapeake Bay last September, Vic Gaspeny of Tavernier, Florida, muscled in a 49.2-inch (125-centimeter) red drum [C]. He’d been bottomfishing with cut bait. If approved, the length-record catch retires the 46-inch red…