Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i Sport Fishing

In some eyes, Invincible Boats’ 37 Cat might have a tough act to follow. Its debut came on the heels of the much-anticipated rollout of Invincible’s first-ever multihull model, the 40 Cat, which I tested for the September/October 2018 issue of Sport Fishing. But now, as the Invincible crew welcomed me aboard the 37 Cat at Crandon Park Marina on Florida’s Key Biscayne for a summer morning of offshore fishing, one of my first questions was, “Why would a customer choose the 37 instead of the 40?” “Someone might want a slightly shorter length to fit in a slip or to dock along a canal in back of a home,” said Bill Cordes, Invincible’s director of sales and marketing. “The smaller size also helps when maneuvering in small, crowded marinas.”…

ALBEMARLE SAYS its 27DC does not represent a departure from its offshore roots, but rather an evolution in its product offering to align with customer demand. “We are hearing our boat owners demanding a more family friendly and versatile platform,” says Burch Perry, general manager. “They truly want to be able to do all things boating, from anchoring up at the sand bar to chasing fish offshore.” The 27DC features a 24-degree deep-V, hand-laid fiberglass hull with an Armstrong custom twin-engine bracket for Yamaha F200s or F250s. The 58-square-foot cockpit comes equipped with a 60-gallon in-deck fish box, an 18-gallon livewell, a transom door, and undergunwale rod storage. Albemarle included lockable rod storage in the starboard console, which also offers a berth with cushions. Inside the port console, families will…

Cold fronts spun from mid-Atlantic winter snowstorms force sailfish south to warm, bait-filled waters off Florida’s coast. There, on cool, clear tournament days, anglers face jubilation and heartache rivaling the best football games on television. Like top NFL teams, competitive sailfishing requires unfaltering teamwork and skill when releases of feisty Atlantic sailfish come in triples and quads in less clock time than a Tom Brady game-winning scoring drive. Comparing a winning sailfish team of 10 years ago with a competitive team today isn’t unlike the jump from good college football to the NFL — tournament sailfishing has changed that much — but not everyone wants to compete like a Tom Brady. Nor do they have to: Advancements in tournament-level play trickle down to more fish on everyday trips. Here’s how,…

We were feeling pretty lucky: Fishing 50 miles off Virginia Beach on the hottest day of summer, my friends and I had already fooled two white marlin that came in on the left teaser. One fish peeled off to the right flat line and the other circled back on the left long. Mid-Atlantic anglers dream all winter about hooking and releasing white marlin, and practice all summer, so the guys managed the chaos like clockwork. The anglers dropped back baits as the captain put the boat in a circle. Then, a silent 10-count. The guys on the rods engaged their drags and cranked tight. Five feet of blade-wielding muscle exploded out of the water on both sides of the boat. The engines revved to an angry growl, and we gave…

TECHNICAL TRANSFORMATION Shimano has fully redesigned its Tekota 500 and 600 star-drag reels, implementing the company’s latest technologies to make the reels more compact, ergonomic and lighter. The new models feature Hagane bodies and CoreProtect technology for water resistance, and come in left- or right-hand retrieve standard and line-counter versions. All haul in 38 inches of line per crank with 6.3-to-1 gear ratios. The 500 (pictured) can carry 240 yards of 50-pound braided line and costs $209.99. The 600 holds 330 yards of 65-pound-test braid and costs $219.99. CALAMARI COPYCAT Savage Gear used a scan of an actual squid to design the new 3D Swim Squid bait to better mimic the undulating cephalopod. The 3D Swim Squid can be cast-and-retrieved, slow-jigged or trolled. The two-part design allows anglers to add…

A friend and fellow angler here in small-town Brunswick, Georgia, where I live, told me a while back that he took his bay boat to the dealership for outboard maintenance. While the vessel was on the lot, thieves stole my friend’s electronics Boat thieves. Brunswick, Georgia. But Brunswick is located off Interstate 95, which apparently screams “easy getaway” to those who would steal electronics, and also outboards and boats. That popular north-south highway ends in Miami, Florida, where some sources say near-epidemic marine theft occurs, although no agency or company can provide statistics. The problem plagues both boat owners and, in the case of electronics, product distributors. That’s why everyone from individual boaters on Facebook watch groups to the largest electronics companies in the industry want to combat the issue.…

“Hope ain’t a tactic.” The gritty mantra uttered by Mark Wahlberg’s character in the film Deepwater Horizon sums up the principle behind bilge-pump systems. Failure to maintain a way to effectively evacuate bilge water implies that you’re relying on hope that a through-hull fitting won’t fail, a livewell hose won’t come loose, or a floating timber won’t hole the boat and sink you. I’ve been to the edge more than once, most recently on a run in heavy seas from Key West, Florida, to the Dry Tortugas. About 30 miles out, the captain noticed that the boat — a newly built 39-footer — had grown sluggish. The crew opened the bilge hatch and were met with a gusher of seawater. We discovered later that one of the hose clamps for…

We see the change. New outboard engines literally look different: more-angular shapes, removable cowling sections, coordinated color combinations — and just plain bigger. Engine builders reshaped the insides too. They’ve included innovative technologies — electric steering, contra-rotating props, performance customization — that are ever-so-finely tuned by repetitive, robust computer simulations. Can we say, “The future is here”? Can we say, “These aren’t your father’s outboards”? I believe so. At least we can say that we’ve turned a page. In addition to cutting-edge engineering and design changes, motor-makers pointed to an even newer twist: the concept of bringing the engines “into the boat.” While that phrase initially might jar you, realize that they’re talking about incorporating outboards — particularly that exponentially growing segment of higher-horsepower models — into the boat’s systems.…

WHITE MARLIN One of the world’s great sport fish, white marlin offer it all: fast action, exciting bite, violent fight, ending in a clean release. Mid-Atlantic whites average 50 pounds, with bruisers pushing 80. The fish arrive off Hatteras in June, then skip up the coast through summer. The best action is late in the season as the fish amass and move south. The key to finding white marlin is interpreting satellite water-temperature images for eddies of cooler water swirling off the Gulf Stream. To indicate the number of marlin released, anglers hang flags from their outrigger halyards. To increase the number of flags, smart crews cut the spread to four small rigged ballyhoo, keeping confusion to a minimum. BLUE MARLIN Weighing up to 1,000 pounds, Atlantic blue marlin are…

I had anticipated this day for more than two months, ever since first seeing the Sea Vee 322Z at the 2018 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. From the carpeted floor of the convention center, I checked out the twin-step, cross-ventilated running surface, then climbed aboard to tour the new layout and imagined myself fishing from the deck. Now the day had arrived for the real thing. I found the same exact boat from the show docked in the canal behind the North Miami, Florida, home of Jimmy Montes, who welcomed me aboard the 322Z that he now owned. Also joining the crew on this early January morning were Sea Vee’s Eddie Juan and Sport Fishing group publisher, Scott Salyers. Montes had a floating pen tied at his dock full of…

SCOUT DEBUTED its new flagship model — the 530 LXF — at the Miami Boat Show in February. This mega center-console tops a lineup of luxury sport-fishers that includes seven previous models from 25 to 42 feet. The 530 LXF is built on Scout’s carbon-fiber, epoxy-infused double-stepped hull, previously used on the 380 and 420 LXFs. Scout offers various outboard packages for the 53, including four, five and even six engines. Standard features include a Seakeeper 6 gyro stabilizer, a glass helm enclosure with electronically sliding windows (port and starboard), a cockpit island with a forward-facing bench seat, aft-facing bar stools that retract and stow, 16,000 BTU air conditioners for the cabin and helm, an electric sliding sun roof, heated helm seats, and more. Anglers will appreciate the two 30-gallon…

Most of us are familiar with the adage, “All fishermen are liars.” But occasionally an outing is so grand, you don’t need to lie about it. We actually had many such days this past season, starting with our first trip of the year in late spring. ¶ A light southwest breeze tufted western Long Island Sound as my buddy Elliott Taylor and I accelerated out of Branford Harbor from the Connecticut shore. We made a turn to the south and headed toward Branford Reef, 4 miles away. As we closed within a half-mile of our destination, we spotted the unbelievable: a 50-acre swath of working birds and breaking fish. And only two other boats were on them. By the time we had reached the ledge and motored up-current of the…

Saltwater restocking programs tug at the heartstrings of anglers and nonanglers alike. What’s not to love? You hatch and rear little cobia, flounder, redfish, salmon, snook, spotted seatrout, white seabass and other game-fish species. Then you release the juveniles to help bolster wild populations that have been reduced by factors such as habitat destruction, pollution, environmental catastrophe or overfishing. Hatchery fish integrate with native fish, reproduce, and fishery stocks rebound. But do restocking programs really work? How does anyone know how many hatchery fish survive in the wild? Do they survive at all, and if so, do they reproduce? These are questions that hatchery managers and fishery biologists around the country strive to research, answer and document on an ongoing basis. It’s about economics as much it is science, for…

FOR SOME, fishing is a relaxing, contemplative sport. But not for tournament competitors. Think “intense” and “focused” — fun, but with a purpose. And think “teamwork,” since successful cooperation of crew and anglers is paramount to winning. While tournaments come and go, some endure: The offshore events described in these pages have been around for not just years but decades. That speaks volumes for their prestige and character. Many teams try, but few win. Granted, luck is always a factor, but the breadth and depth of preparation gives the best teams an edge, from double-checking the sharpness of every hook to scrutinizing temperature charts. Baits are rigged, and drags checked and rechecked. But many teams include those new to tournament fishing as well as veterans. Anyone can participate, and anyone…