Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2018 i Sport Fishing

Piloting Grady-White’s new flagship Canyon 456 is like driving a Platinum-package Ford F350 Power Stroke Diesel, like throttling the Orient Express, like flying a Learjet 85. At least that’s how I imagine it: The 456 is powerful and capacious while remaining sophisticated and plush. I arrived in Morehead City, North Carolina, in late August to fish-trial the new Grady with a crew of eight, including two other boating writers. We had decided to try for daytime swordfish, based on a budding fishery that local captains have developed over the past two years. We met pre-dawn at a nearby marina, where the 456 floated aglow, its LED cockpit and underwater lights bathing it in soothing blue. After stowing gear in the cavernous center-console cabin, we settled onto the aft-facing mezzanine bench…

THE S 288 JOINS a Sport family that already includes the S 408, S 368 and S 328, all introduced during the past two years. “We take pride in continuing to remain true to our history of innovative luxury fishing boats and to provide our customers with state-of-the-art features combined with the quality and comfort that they have come to expect,” says Bruce Thompson, Pursuit Boats president. This new 30-footer comes with an oversize fiberglass hardtop and tempered safety-glass windshield system, through-stem anchor system and integrated transom extensions. On deck, the center console offers plenty of seating, with storage at the bow and foldaway transom, and aft-facing seats in the cockpit. Aft of the helm, the S 288 features a 24-gallon livewell, large in-floor fish boxes and ample storage for…

THE VHF CRACKLED TO LIFE: “WE HAVE A FISH HOOKED UP, AND IT’S BIG!” ¶ ON THE MIC WAS FORREST LONG, OWNER OF BLUEWATER YACHTS, THE REGULATOR MARINE DEALER IN ORANGE BEACH, ALABAMA. I SENSED THE EXCITEMENT IN HIS VOICE. LONG WAS ABOARD A REGULATOR 31, OWNED AND SKIPPERED BY HIS BROTHER, BENNETT. ON THE ROD WAS LOCAL ANGLER ANGELO DEPAOLA. ¶ I WAS ABOARD A NEARBY SECOND BOAT, AND UPON HEARING THE NEWS, WE DECIDED TO GO TAKE PICTURES AND VIDEO OF THE FISH. BY THE TIME WE ARRIVED, THE BATTLE HAD NEARED ITS END. FROM OUR VANTAGE POINT, I COULD MAKE OUT THE COLORS OF A 100-PLUS-POUND YELLOWFIN TUNA IN THE PURPLE-BLUE WATERS BELOW. THE SWEAT POURED OFF DEPAOLA AS HE BATTLED THE POWERFUL TUNA ON THIS WINDLESS,…

MORE MUSCLE Garmin announced that its Fantom solid-state, pulse-compression radars now provide greater power output than previous models. The new GMR Fantom 54/56 and Fantom 124/126 offer 50 watts and 120 watts respectively, topping the 40 watts delivered by the original units. Fantom radars feature MotionScope, which uses Doppler technology to better show approaching targets. Available in 4- or 6-foot open arrays, the radars detect objects as close as 20 feet and as far as 72 nm (54/56) and 96 nm (124/126). They also offer Auto Bird Gain, making flocks easier to see at distance. Prices range from $5,999.99 to $8,499.99. COMPLETE PACKAGE Furuno has introduced two new multitouch chart-plotter/sonar units — GP1871F and GP1971F — that include many of the company’s most advanced features but sell for $1,095 and…

From my vantage point across the marina, Wellcraft’s new 352 Fisherman appeared every bit a serious angling machine, replete with a tower, outriggers and abundant rod holders. Yet, as I drew closer on this September morning and boarded from the inward-opening port dive door, luxury emerged in elements like the padded bow seating that serves as a dinette, twin loungers and an inviting sun pad. That’s just a taste of the amenities that I discovered on my test boat, which featured just about every option available, many of which contributed to both fishability and cruising comfort. For example, the optional Seakeeper 3 gyro-stabilization system results in a deck that’s virtually free of roll, and that pays off in a safer, more comfortable experience whether fishing or cruising. IN COMMAND As…

SEA VEE’S NEW 322Z center-console was built using vacuum-assisted resin-transfer infusion, which helps reduce harmful chemical emissions during manufacture and produces a lighter yet solid boat. The new 32-footer, which will replace the 320Z, also features Sea Vee’s cross-ventilated, twin-steppedhull design, with multiple lifting bodies and a unique geometry that results in a fixed running trim angle. Sea Vee offers a variety of deck options for any kind of water activity. For anglers, the company fashioned large, fully insulated standard fish boxes forward with an option for an additional cockpit box. Twin 40-gallon transom livewells come standard, and a side boarding door is optional. The deck design provides almost 7 feet of space from the tackle station to the transom, which Sea Vee says makes the cockpit a class leader.…

The term “stickbait” — which you definitely won’t find at dictionary.com — remained pretty much unknown to most anglers just a few years ago, particularly in the United States. However, in the past couple of years, an awareness of and demand for stickbaits are growing. But what is it that makes a stickbait a stickbait? The answer depends in part on what one is fishing for. Stickbaits have been around for some years among anglers fishing Australasian Pacific waters. But lately, freshwater bass fishermen have appropriated it to describe walk-the-dog topwater plugs or, more commonly, straight worms — essentially narrow cigars of soft plastic. In serious saltwater use, at least, stickbaits are hard plastic or wood lures. To derive a better understanding of these lures, I talked to a number…

Line ran off the reel on the right rigger at an alarming rate as we jumped to our stations and prepared for the fight. Capt. Bill “Wild Bill” Wichrowski grabbed the rod out of the gunwale rod holder; the mate, Juan, ran to clear the other line; Ozzy Delgado strapped Wichrowski into the harness; and I grabbed my camera and aimed it toward the point where the line disappeared into the angry gray waves. “Hang on!” Capt. Shane Jarvis shouted while he goosed the throttles of the 33 World Cat to ensure a solid hookup. Behind the transom, an enormous black marlin rocketed to the surface and began grey-hounding toward the horizon. Jarvis barked instructions, jockeying the throttles to help Wichrowski get control of the powerful fish. We’d had a…

THE untamed wilderness of labyrinthine rivers, creeks and bays that constitute Everglades National Park’s backcountry can be as intimidating as it is sublime. Despite their tricky navigation, these waters offer both amazing fishing and peace from South Florida’s concrete jungle just an hour away. It’s where you’ll find me in my skiff as often as I can get away, through winter and into spring, hunting for treasure — 100-pound ingots of living silver — the mighty tarpon. A friend introduced me to this world-class fishery in the late 1990s, and ever since, it has been an obsession of mine. A high point in these years of obsession came during a recent January when Carl Ball (a charter captain out of Miami) and I found the mother lode of tarpon. We…