Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2016 i Sport Fishing

FISHING WITH LIVE baits quickly becomes a hassle if an angler doesn’t have the right tools. That’s why growing numbers of fishermen today turn to spinning reels with dual drags to get the job done. A secondary drag applies single-digit pounds of pressure to create tension-controlled free-spool, similar to a conventional reel. There is one key difference: Spinning reels won’t backlash. Shimano introduced the Triton Baitrunner Plus saltwater reel in 1988, setting the standard for free-spool spinners. But today many top manufacturers also produce their own models at reasonable prices (between $100 and $200), including Penn’s Spinfisher SSV Live Liner, Shimano’s Thunnus CI4, Fin-Nor’s Bait Teaser, Okuma’s Trio Baitfeeder and Daiwa’s Opus Plus Bite ’N’ Run. Shimano still produces Baitrunners too, with the Baitrunner OC introduced in 2013. “By flipping…

1 SPINNING IN A SUPERIOR POSITION “Maybe this falls under the heading of ‘If you can’t lick ’em, join ’em,’” says renowned Key West skipper R.T. Trosset. “I spent years telling novices that a spinning reel should be fished with the reel below, not above, the rod. Then, a while back, just goofing around, I decided to try fishing a spinner the wrong way, and guess what? It works great. Suddenly, as a righty, I’m reeling with the optimal hand, just as with a conventional reel!” Trosset says he feels this technique gives him more control as well. “Now, instead of correcting my anglers, I actually encourage them to hold the rod so the spinning reel’s on top. Of course, some guys who think they’re real experts are too proud…

A 22-foot bay boat ranks high on my list of favorite inshore-fishing platforms. By happy coincidence, that’s what I own. But my appreciation for this particular conveyance goes beyond mere emotion. This boat size and style offer efficiencies I don’t always find on larger or smaller models. When I boarded Wellcraft’s new tournament-edition 221 Fisherman, I instantly saw several key amenities: loads of storage and fish-box space and three livewells, two of which hold 34 gallons each (with fill and drain controls and timers). This vessel is the smaller of two bay boats the company introduced in late 2015, after a five-year lull under new ownership. The 221 floated calmly at the Sebastian Yacht Club docks on Florida’s sunny central east coast. Capt. Glyn Austin and I had lucked into…

STRIPER SAYS the new 270 CC takes its shape and lines from the brand standard introduced four years ago with the launch of the company’s popular 22-footers, which included such features as aggressive bow flair, deep freeboard and a tall gunwale cap. The 270 is built with Striper’s one-piece Fibercore hand-laid composite stringer system and V Trac hull design. A 9-foot beam on the 270 offers a stable and wide-open cockpit for fishing, twin 34-gallon in-deck fish boxes, and two 12-gallon aerated livewells in the aft corners. A fiberglass hardtop comes standard and sports a rocket launcher and spreader lights. Seating includes forward padded benches, a two-person leaning post with drop-down seats at the helm, optional fold-down seats in the cockpit, and a stowable transom bench. Rigged for a maximum…

1. TIME WILL TELL Garmin’s next-generation quatix 3 GPS smartwatch comes with fishing and cruising capabilities. The quatix 3 streams NMEA 2000 data from compatible onboard Garmin marine electronics so anglers can constantly monitor speed, temperature, depth and more. Quatix wearers also receive updated tide data via a smartphone connection. An anchor alarm warns users of drift, and a log function helps anglers keep track of what they catch. Quatix boasts a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides up to 20 hours of use in GPS mode and six weeks in watch mode. The watch offers multisport functions for golf, swimming, running, activity tracking and more. Price is $599.99. 2. THAT’S A WRAP Costa’s new Rafael frames are made from a resilient bio-based resin material sourced from the castor plant, a…

INSHORE FISHING TOURNAMENTS flourished like mushrooms in a bog prior to the 2008 economic downturn. Smiling pro anglers posed for the TV cameras, sporting colorful polyester jerseys just like every other ESPN hero. Boatbuilders cashed in too. A new vessel trend exploded: the tournament-edition bay boat. Then, disaster: Banks failed, the market bottomed. We remember the story, and we’ve all clawed our way back, slowly. “The demand [for tournament bay boats] has started to bounce back,” says Charlie Johnson, director of marketing for Maverick Boat Co. “If it will ever come back to the pre-recession days is hard to tell. What’s for certain is that there will always be that group of hardcore anglers that requires the best tool. … For many of those anglers, a tournament-edition-style boat is that…

Light-emitting diodes have spawned a revolution in marine lighting. Compact, efficient, long-lasting and bright, marine LEDs enhance safety at night and allow boating anglers to add illumination just about anywhere it’s needed. You’ll find marine LEDs in navigation, spreader, search, underwater, cabin, courtesy, livewell and accent lights from a host of brands, including Aqualuma, Hella, Imtra, Lumitec, Lumishore, OceanLED, Rigid, Taco Marine and many others. The range of products can prove mind-boggling. LEDs draw little power. For example, an old-school 50-watt Jabsco Halogen incandescent spreader light draws 4 amps at 12 volts and produces 9,900 candlepower. By comparison, the 12-watt Lumitec Caprera LED spreader draws just 1.3 amps at 12 volts and produces 1,000 lumens, which roughly translates to 12,570 candlepower. As a result, boating anglers can now worry less…

Leaving Rudee Inlet well past noon on a late-May day, I couldn’t wait to target some of the baddest bull redfish on the planet. Charles Southall idled out of the slow zone, then powered north past the last straggling jetty rocks. His 24 Albemarle took the pesky swells soundly, making use of the length and beam to handle the snot. I was in good company, fishing with members of the Peninsula Salt Water Sport Fisherman’s Association (pswsfa.com), an active group of recreational anglers. Southall, Ken Neill and Stan Simmerman were my guides to finding and hooking the giant red drum that guard the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Spots east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel attract huge drum, both black and red, and cobia in the summer among scattered shoals. Over…

Fishing from a kayak miles offshore on the central Sea of Cortez on a dead-calm morning offers a world of extraordinary sights: As you float on an endless mirror reflecting steep, cactus-covered desert slopes, rocky cliffs, and a large early-morning moon shimmering above, every ripple catches the eye; every tiny baitfish jumping out of the water flashes silver; huge manta rays move slowly, only their wingtips quivering above the surface; and, farther out, the gleam of an early sun reflects off the sides of leaping porpoises. The Cortez is a world of sounds as well. Moving silently, with no hum of outboard engines, we could actually hear individual baitfish flipping, the whoosh of sea turtles taking a breath, and even the splash of a marlin 100 yards away. I looked…

“Don’t f--- this up for us, Chris,” Carmine Caruso jokingly warned me with his best Jersey inflection, as he pulled the line from the left outrigger to check a bait. I was riding along on Caruso’s 70-foot Viking, Pipe Dreamer, in late January, while his team competed in the 53rd Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament out of West Palm Beach, Florida. Even though Caruso had cautioned me in jest, his words testified to the pressure his crew endures during a tournament workday. There are no cubicles, no calendar alerts for Mike Machon and Geoff Flynt, the mates on Pipe Dreamer. They trade a suit and tie for a bib and boots. It’s not a nine-to-fiver gig. Sleep seems to be the only break they get. Being a mate is backbreaking…

The tournament director’s voice crackled over the VHF: “You can go now.” With that, a fleet of more than 50 center-consoles streaked from the jetty mouth, outboards barking and white water flying as each captain pinned the throttles en route to his chosen fishing area. The 2016 Stock Island Village Marina King Mackerel Tournament in Key West, Florida, had finally started, reduced to a single day of fishing due to January gale-force winds that had buffeted the Keys for three days prior. I braced for acceleration aboard the Under Armour fishing team’s new Yellowfin Yachts Carbon 39, powered by four Mercury 350 hp Verado outboards and captained by Arik Bergerman. “Jim, we’re going to hang back and let the field thin out,” said Bergerman. “But don’t worry, we’re going to…

MAKO ACCEPTED top-notch angler and captain input for the design of its new 334 CC, now the brand’s flagship vessel at 33 feet 4 inches. The 334 sports a ring-deck design, a port tuna door, loads of storage and nooks for tackle, and a max horsepower option of 1,050 for triple-outboard configurations. Mako says the new center-console features a steep 24-degree deep-V hull with a notched transom and high-speed, raw-water pickup with a sea chest. Other features include twin 34-gallon livewells, twin 72-gallon aft fish boxes with macerators, and forward cushioned seating with a cooler. The helm is equipped with Mercury’s Joystick Piloting, Garmin electronics and a Fusion stereo. The 334 is available in two models, including the Sportfish Special Edition, which comes with a recessed 73-gallon coffin box, a…