Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2016 i Sport Fishing

FOOTBALL, BULLET, shad, grub and boxing-glove heads — these common jig styles catch fish, period. Similarly, bucktail jigs (with natural or synthetic hairs) always make it into our tackle trays and onto our boats. But plenty of other types of jig heads exist beyond the known commodities. The same companies that produce traditional jigs also manufacture lesser-known designs meant for specific fishing styles and techniques. Traditional jig heads fill the jack-of-all-trades role, but better options might be available for specific styles of fishing. Fish the grass flats regularly? Prefer to chinweight your live baits? Cast soft baits for tuna or calico bass? There’s a specific jig head for you. Check out these 10 diff erent jig-head designs to consider adding to your tackle arsenal. ALMOST ALIVE WEIGHTED SWIMBAIT HOOK SIZES:…

A colleague sent me an email recently that’s typical of many I’ve received in recent years. He had just been copied on a cruise report from a research group working off the Texas coast. Their vertical longline had just landed 112 fish, of which 109 were red snapper and three were vermilion snapper. A couple of days later, I attended a meeting of fishery scientists in Tampa, Florida. While I was enjoying a beverage with a colleague at the hotel lounge, our server overheard our conversation and took interest. “Are you guys fishery workers?” he asked. We both nodded, and he carried on. “Well, I wish you all would do something so I can start catching grouper again. Every time I drop a hook on any of my favorite grouper…

THE DRY TORTUGAS are so well-known among Florida’s most productive areas for sport fishing that anglers would likely figure on finding plenty of competition out there. I was reminded in one long, largely nonstop fishing day last spring just how wrong that assumption is. Even though the weather proved outstanding, during the course of the day I caught glimpses of only two or three other small boats, none fishing anywhere close to us. Why should we enjoy that relative solitude? The fundamental answer is the distance of the Tortugas off Key West and the high price of fuel. Or, stated even more simply, it’s all about time and money; it takes a good bit of both to make the 65-plus-mile run west to the Tortugas. And of course it also…

From Virginia to Maine, striped bass (Morone saxatilis) are often the center of every hardcore angler’s universe. Strong, hard-striking and gorgeous, with fleeting hues of pink and purple, the extraordinary bass is revered by sportsmen along the coast. Yet most fishermen who spend more than a few days on the water each season acknowledge that the dynamics of the fishery have changed considerably. Anglers saw shifts in striper size and abundance for well over a decade, with the latest science — a stock assessment released in 2014 — pretty clear in its conclusions: Numbers have diminished gradually but significantly since 2006. Yes, things have changed since the boom years, but it certainly isn’t all doom and gloom. There’s still outstanding fishing attainable along the striper coast and its many estuaries,…

The galactic splendor of the Milky Way lit up the pre-dawn sky as I lay in a beanbag in the aft cockpit of Alex Laing’s Jupiter 34 FS, White Noise, and reveled in the magic of a night passage. Now more than 100 miles from our starting point on the island of Grand Cayman, we aimed for a small and desolate seamount in the western reaches of the Caribbean, a bank closer to the waters of Honduras than those of our home port. A half-hour later, Laing pulled back the throttles on the twin Yamaha F350 outboards. I pulled myself from the beanbag and glimpsed the purple glow of a new day on the eastern horizon. No other boats in sight. After a four-hour run, we had reached our target:…

WHO DOESN’T LIKE the idea of tricking out a boat so it caters to every fishing whim? I can’t think of anyone, given carte blanche with the boat of his or her dreams, who wouldn’t feel blissful at the thought of customizing a new vessel. And that’s exactly what some pro anglers do year in and year out as they negotiate sponsorships with top boatbuilders. To find out just what kind of gear they choose, I asked five sponsored pros to talk about how they customize their rides. Many builders can completely trick out a boat at the factory. A few pros also add aftermarket touches that keep their vessels well-equipped, highly functional, and easy to sell at the end of their use cycle. (Boats are listed alphabetically by builder.)…

March represents a special month for boating anglers, a time when many captains — even those in coastal regions free of snow and ice all year — begin preparing their boats, engines and marine systems for the season ahead. This is a great time to thoroughly examine all of the boat’s systems and equipment, and to repair or replace items that might show excessive wear or corrosion; it’s a regimen that can help you avoid lost fishing time later in the year. As my dear departed grandfather used to say, “Take care of your equipment, and it will take care of you.” Charter captain Brian Rice echoes those sentiments. Rice fishes the waters of New Jersey aboard his 2006 Contender 31, Jersey Devil, powered by twin Yamaha F250 outboards. He…

1. IN DISGUISE Bluefin USA’s Camo Performance Tees are made from 100 percent polyester with vented mesh under the arms and an advanced cooling system. The long-sleeved tees feature SPF 50 and anti-microbial properties. They wick moisture and dry quickly. Available in gray or light blue and in sizes XS to XXL, they cost $43 each. 2. COASTAL CASTER Daiwa’s new Coastal TWS 200 inshore bait caster features the company’s TWS long-cast system and eight corrosionresistant ball bearings. It also comes with high-strength gearing material, a 7.3-to-1 gear ratio, and a swept-handle design with custom EVA knobs to provide better cranking power. The new 200-size reel offers about 35 percent more line capacity than the previous 100 (165 yards of 14-pound-test mono) and includes Daiwa’s Ultimate Tournament Drag, with up…

Darkness still enveloped Los Cabos Marina as I met Barrett Howarth, vice president of Mag Bay Yachts, at the Picante Sportfishing docks on an early December morning. “Ready to go fishing?” he asked while carting bags of ice down the gangway to our boat. “You bet,” I replied. The Mag Bay 33 tugged at its dock lines. This particular 33 is the latest addition to the vaunted Picante fleet of fishing boats in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Even in the dark, the Mag Bay draws a lot of attention. One reason is its lineage. Howarth’s father, Mike Howarth, was a founding partner of Cabo Yachts. Barrett helped build Cabo boats from an early age. The father-son team started Mag Bay Yachts in 2014, developing the inaugural model, the 33, in…

NIFTY NOZZLE PISTOL-STYLE, PLASTIC garden-hose washdown nozzles work well, but they break easily. The handles eventually crack or the valves wear out. Rather than spend as much as $25 for a “ marine” nozzle every few months, try an Orbit hose shut-off fitting and a sweeper nozzle ($7 and $4, respectively). The compact bronze shut-off valve is easy to use, while the gold anodized-aluminum pressure nozzle creates a powerful stream to sweep away blood, slime and dirt. Rubberized collars prevent gelcoat chips. This valve-and-nozzle combo is less expensive and far more durable than any plastic marine-grade pistol nozzle. — Jim Hendricks MARINIZED BUCKET MANY BOATING ANGLERS use five-gallon buckets to stow cast nets, hang lures, hold dead bait and, in an emergency, bail water. Yet the regular wire handle can…

WHILE GRADY’S CURRENT Canyon 271 model enjoys wide appeal among anglers, the company has introduced a sister ship for 2016 that comes with a new forward-seating design. The FS model adds to family appeal with its port and starboard bow benches, atop 21-gallon insulated, overboard-draining fish boxes. The new bow seating features patented forward-facing bolstered and adjustable backrests that fold away, thus opening up the bow for fishing action. Grady also redesigned the anchor locker to include a horizontal windlass, conserving forward deck space. In addition, the company added a new headliner and standard head in the ventilated stand-up interior console area. This 271 still comes with the multiple attributes that first attracted fishermen to its sister model, such as lockable horizontal rod storage, a deluxe leaning post and rigging…

THE RED SNAPPER (Lutjanus campechanus) is the most sought-after reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico, though its range actually begins off New England. From the northeast Atlantic, it dives southward, around Florida and into the Gulf, where it’s most abundant. Caribbean red snapper — once thought to be similar but distinct — are now considered the same species by most biologists. Red snapper can live 30 years or more. They start to reproduce by age three, and sometimes even sooner. They spawn spring through fall with the females producing batches of tens to hundreds of thousands of eggs every few days. The larvae drift in the plankton for about three weeks, then settle to the bottom as half-inch miniatures of the adults. At that point, they’re extremely vulnerable in…

Some boats come with a more unusual pedigree than others. The story of the new Avenger AV-26 starts in the 1980s in south Louisiana; 35 years later, it’s about a researched and redesigned bay boat constructed in South Carolina. Venice Marina owners Bill and Mike Butler bought the Avenger molds from their previous builder. The 23- and 25-foot hulls became popular with Louisiana guides because the charter guys could fish them offshore and inshore. After negotiations with Carolina Composites, builders of Pioneer and Bulls Bay boats, the Butlers sold Avenger to the South Carolina company. The new 26 inaugurates a line that should soon include a 24 and a 22. I laid eyes on the new hull in mid-December at a remote boat ramp near Georgetown, South Carolina. The normally…

When Humminbird introduced side-imaging sonar for recreational boats more than 10 years ago, no one knew where the technology could take us. Today’s imaging, or scanning, sonar, available from a half-dozen electronics brands, can ping to the side, downward or literally all around the boat with photolike quality. The technology expansion drove prices down, too. Imaging sonar now comes on units that cost as little as $150. But just how does imaging sonar work? Why is it monochromatic? And can it help an angler find fish? SIMPLE BUT DIFFERENT Most anglers understand how traditional sonar works. A transducer — mounted on the transom, in the hull or through the hull — emits sound waves using one or more ceramic elements that are usually round in shape. Some elements send and…

EDGEWATER POWER BOATS says its new 262CC features an all-new deep-V hull design, comes with the company’s most ergonomic deck design to date, and is built with EdgeWater’s singlepiece-infusion construction technology. With SPI, vinylester resin is vacuuminfused into the grid structures and hull laminate in one step. Resin molecules in the grid harden simultaneously, creating a one-piece bond. The new 262CC’s bow wraparound seating unit integrates forward-facing backrests and lockable rod storage. The forward-entry console opens to reveal a well-appointed head compartment and storage. The newly designed leaning post can be configured many different ways for fishing or on-water entertaining, with a premium cooler, grill, sink, cutting board and storage. EdgeWater wrapped the 262’s helm with its ClearView windshield, which eliminates the need for vision-impairing aluminum tubing. A starboard-side dive…