Sport Fishing March 2017

Fish don’t interact. They neither eat other species nor are they eaten by other species. They aren’t affected by polluted waters or loss of habitat or warming ocean temperatures. In fact, the only thing that affects a species of fish is its harvest by fishermen. Sound a little fishy? That’s pretty much the way we have always managed our valuable marine fish stocks — one species at a time, trying to maintain populations at a maximum sustainable yield, allowing us to harvest as many as possible while keeping that harvest sustainable. The trouble with that approach is that — guess what? — fish do interact, and lots of variables in addition to how many we catch affect their numbers. And how many we don’t catch — how many we leave…

SOMEDAY SOON IÕM CONVINCED surface-iron fishing will spread like wildfire across all oceans to sight- fishermen everywhere. Any off shore angler who regularly sight-fishes with lures should have a surface-iron setup handy. Mackerels, jacks, tunas, mahimahi, trevallies and even striped bass are just some of the species anglers can target using this diamond-shaped lure workhorse. Until the surface-iron technique spreads cross-country, Southern California anglers will continue to catch the heck out of regional species like yellowtail, barracuda, calico bass, dorado, tunas and wahoo. Steal effective techniques from top pros who faithfully fish the iron, and translate their success to your favorite waters and species. HOW TO PICK AN IRON JIG Snatching a random jig from a tackle shop’s pegboard is not a productive way to pick surface iron. In fact,…

These solitary reef dwellers are widespread through the Caribbean, as well as South Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, but an infrequent prize for anglers. The IGFA all-tackle world-record tiger is a 14½-pounder from Bimini in May 1993. Like all groupers, the tiger is superb eating; however, like many groupers in the Caribbean, it has been implicated in ciguatera poisonings. 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 strength) or…

TWENTY YEARS AGO Hobie’s MirageDrive delivered a new way to kayak-fish by incorporating pedaling with the feet as a source of movement. The pedal-driven propulsion system was innovative, allowing anglers to put down the paddle in the kayak. Fishermen could now maneuver in the current, troll one or two rods, and move from spot to spot with both hands free. The popularity of pedal drives among anglers soared over the years. Today, most major kayak manufacturers — including Hobie, Jackson Kayak, Old Town, Native Watercraft, Perception and Wilderness Systems — all off er pedal-driven fishing kayaks or are expected to enter the market in 2017. “Having two hands free to fish is the reason why kayak anglers have sought additional methods to paddling,” says David Hadden, brand director for Old…

1. REAL-TIME LOCATOR Raymarine’s newest version of its Wi-Fish mobile app now features augmented-reality viewing of saved waypoints and fishing hot spots on Dragonfly and Wi-Fish systems. The app uses the GPS, compass and camera in a smartphone or tablet and displays the name, symbol, bearing and range to each waypoint as an overlay on a real-time view of the water ahead. Pan your device, and those waypoints show up on the live camera feed. The app also features a View-Switcher menu with more ways to look at your chirp DownVision sonar, augmented-reality, map and combo views. The updated app is free and available now for iOS; soon for Android. 2. IN NETWORK Garmin has added several new networking chart plotters and combos to its GPSMAP line. The xs series…

Pending as the new all-tackle record is a 38-pound, 8-ounce golden trevally [A], caught this past October off Queensland, Australia, on a Jaz lure. Scott McCauley of Gladstone, Queensland, required 20 minutes to land the tough fish. It would handily beat the current world-record golden of 32 pounds, 8 ounces, taken in 2002 near Point Samson, Western Australia. Fishing out of Quepos, Costa Rica, this past July, Gabriel Fernandez Tefel of Carolina Beach, North Carolina, landed a 51-pound Pacific snook [B], now pending as the 16-pound line-class record. The snook took a live bait. If approved, it will narrowly beat the existing 49-pound, 13-ounce Pacific snook caught in 1990, also in Costa Rica. A whopping 46-pound, 2-ounce law croaker [C], taken near Luanda, Angola, this past July would easily top…