Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2016 i Sport Fishing

On a late July day last summer, two 14-yearold boys headed out of Florida’s Jupiter Inlet to run offshore and do some fishing. They never returned. By the time the U.S. Coast Guard called off the search one week later, the tragedy had become the focus of a nation. The boys were never found, but the Coast Guard spotted their boat, bottom up, drifting north in the Gulf Stream 67 miles out, south of Daytona Beach. Along with the sense of loss and anguish came accusations and anger at the boys’ parents for allowing them to head offshore alone in a 19-foot, single-outboard center-console. Stoking those fires were reports — never proven — that the two youngsters had intended to run to the Bahamas. The parents maintained that the boys…

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 a 1,500-yard spool of Spiderwire Stealth braid up to 100-pound-test! Send questions and images via email to fish facts@ sport fishingmag.com (include your hometown) or via post to Sport Fishing Fish Facts, 460 N. Orlando Ave., Suite 200, Winter Park, FL 32789. SPONSORED BY SF FISH FACTS EXPERTS NORTHEAST Mike Fahay, Sandy Hook Marine Lab, New Jersey SOUTHEAST Ray Waldner, Ph.D., Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida GULF OF MEXICO Bob Shipp,…

A whopping 234-pound, 2-ounce dogtooth tuna [A] is one of two pending all-tackle records for the species. (A 236-pounder is also awaiting review upon receipt of the complete application.) It was caught off Tanzania last December by Leopoldo Tomas Zapata Gazquez of Almeria, Spain, on a live rainbow runner. Jigging the North Atlantic off Norway last August paid off for Johann Kaaserer of Buttenwiesen, Germany, when he landed a 329-pound Atlantic halibut [B], now pending as the 30-pound line-class record, after a 45-minute battle. The catch nearly triples the current 30-pound record of 111 pounds, 5 ounces, also from Norway. Soaking a small tuna over Panama’s Hannibal Bank worked for Christian Hampl of Cartago, Costa Rica, last November, when he caught a pending 12-pound line-class record 22-pound, 13-ounce mullet snapper…

I have firsthand experience with onboard fire. Nearly 35 years ago, aboard my first boat, a rotting fuel hose leaked raw pre-mix into the motor pan of an aging twostroke outboard. I had no idea that the space under the cowl had become a bomb. With a flick of the ignition key, the fumes exploded, ejecting the hood and spewing flaming gas into the splashwell and aft cockpit. A lone fire extinguisher mounted aside the center console represented my only salvation. The ensuing moments sped by in a blur as I unbracketed the extinguisher, raced aft, pulled the pin and doused the flames. The charred deck lay caked in fire-suppressing powder, and the day of fishing was over, but I felt a shaky sense of relief at having averted a…

“FISHING THE ROCKSÓ has several meanings, which vary depending on the angler. “Rock piles” are made up of massive boulders that can form rock gardens, plentiful along Northeast beaches. In the Pacific, rock piles might be “boiler rocks,” the common term for rocky coastal headlands battered by waves; these are the formations that occur naturally near shorelines, attracting bottomfish galore. Artificial reef materials such as bridge rubble fall under the “rock” moniker too. And lastly, while coral heads within patch reefs in places like the Florida Keys are definitely not rocks, that doesn’t stop anglers from fishing them as though the reefs were made from stone. As it turns out, techniques for fishing the rocks vary for everyone. I sought out top tactics for fishing such stand-alone structure, tapping three…

FROM FLIP-FLOPS AND sandals to boat shoes and boots, the footwear options available to today’s fishermen are expansive. That’s “expansive,” not necessarily expensive! When it comes to shoes, anglers want no aches, no pains, no slipping on decks and no soggy feet. Unusual styles, features and color schemes can match the individual preference of just about any angler. Recognizable shoemakers such as Columbia, Rugged Shark, Simms and Sperry sell models that cover a whole slew of styles, while other quality companies like AFTCO, SoftScience, Salt Life, Shimano and Xtratuf manufacture specific, limited designs. In a paddlecraft, center-console or sport-fisher, enough salt water or rain in the cockpit can soak an angler from head to toe. No specific shoe is ideal for every situation, but most captains recommend wearing at least…

THE INDO-PACIFIC VERSION OF THE ATLANTIC’S KING MACKEREL IS THE NARROW-BARRED SPANISH MACKEREL, OFTEN SIMPLY LABELED “SPANIARD” BY AUSSIE ANGLERS, FOR WHOM THE SPECIES IS A PRIME TARGET. IT GROWS ABOUT AS LARGE AS THE KING: THE ALLTACKLE-RECORD SPANIARD WEIGHED 99 POUNDS (1982, SOUTH AFRICA) TO THE KING’S 93 POUNDS. BUT, AS EVIDENCED BY THIS PHOTO, NARROW-BARRED MACKS REGULARLY JUMP — OFTEN SPECTACULARLY — WHEN CHASING POPPERS. WELL NAMED, THESE FISH DISPLAY CHARACTERISTIC WAVY BARS THAT DISTINGUISH THEM FROM OTHER MACKERELS. AS THE WORM SQUIRMS Q We were fishing off Santa Barbara Island last weekend when I lucked into this beautiful California yellowtail. The fish had a number of disgusting parasites buried in its skin. I have not seen these before. What are they? Are they harmful? Peter J. Corselli…

1. COOL WEAR Huk calls its new NXTLVL Woven Shirt the “most technological buttondown.” The company uses a technology on the inside of the material that creates an endothermic reaction when it contacts moisture, such as sweat. The reaction generates a 10-degree temperature drop over a three-minute period. The shirts also feature branded buttons, snap-down pocket flaps, K.C. Scott signature artwork, sun protection and mesh venting. The NXTLVL Woven Shirt comes in short- or long-sleeved styles ($59.99 and $64.99), six colors, and sizes S to XXXL. 2. RIGGER REVIVAL Troll-Master, a Florida company that says it has serviced all major downrigger brands for more than 10 years, has introduced the Seahorse, a design inspired by Penn’s oncedominant Fathom-Master manual downriggers. Seahorse downriggers come in eight different configurations — with a…

To sport fishermen from the Northeast to Texas, it’s a cigar minnow. To scientists, it’s Decapterus punctatus, the round scad. To predators such as red snapper, it’s lunch. Among the most common and abundant of small scad species, cigar minnows are hardy baits, live or dead. They’re often available in both forms, including 5-pound frozen blocks sold widely at marinas and bait shops. Besides stringing them onto a hook, you can cut them up to use in a chunk line. While cigar minnows can grow to nearly a foot in length, they are typically about half that length or a bit more — right around the size of a stogie.…