Innholdsfortegnelse for July - August 2016 i Sport Fishing

“NEW” NEVER GROWS BORING. “New” always piques our interest. I’ll even go so far as to say that “new” spawns hope and optimism. The more new product introductions, the better the feel-good index for the American economy. For those reasons and many more, we at Sport Fishing love the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) each July. At the show we see new tackle and gear, new electronics, new accessories, and new paddlecraft. To share the anticipation, we’ve compiled this inside look at 13 products we expect to see July 12-15 in Orlando, Florida. XTRATUF WHAT’S HOT: Commander THE BUZZ: XtraTuf’s new Commander features a nonmarking slip-resistant chevron outsole and a silhouette that makes it about 13 percent lighter than the traditional 12-inch Legacy. The Commander can also be…

“The largest swell we’ve had in years is supposed to start hitting the coast tomorrow.” Not exactly what one wants to hear at the start of a long-awaited fishing trip. Tomorrow was just when I was scheduled to fly into Golfito, in southern Costa Rica, to fish those waters for several days. The news came from Gregg Mufson, the owner of Zancudo Resort, located on the eastern side of the vast Golfo Dulce. I was dining at a restaurant in the capital, San Jose, joined by Mufson and three longtime fishing friends, John Bretza (with Okuma), Adrian Gray (with the International Game Fish Association) and Paul Michele (with Navionics). All of us would be flying out early the next morning — and would be on the Pacific, fishing, a few…

MANY ANGLERS HANG their boat-buying decisions on a price tag. If it fits the budget, they write the check. But price is not the only determinant of value, and value goes a long way toward satisfaction. To explore just a few of the options for boats under $80,000 — a fair middle-of-the-road figure in today’s market — I picked five boats from a variety of manufacturers. There are certainly many others that fall under this mark, particularly in the bay-boat genre. But this sampling should offer some idea of the features aboard such boats. The Cobia and the Sea Chaser offer twin-outboard power options; all other models feature single-outboard power. All fall into the 23- to 26-foot range. I asked the boatbuilders to explain what makes their model a good…

WHALER HAS DRAMATICALLY expanded its Outrage family in the past year, introducing the 330, the 280 and, most recently, the 250. The 250, a highly popular size for many anglers, offers fishing features such as a large in-deck fish box with an overboard drain, dedicated five-gallon bucket storage, gunwale-mounted rod holders, an optional outrigger-ready hardtop with more rod holders, and a standard deluxe leaning post with a bait-prep area, tackle-storage drawers and a pressurized 30-gallon livewell. For families, the 250 comes with high gunwales and safety handrails, spacious seating — including a twoperson lounge forward and an aft bench — a swim platform with a telescoping ladder, and optional sunshades. The 250 can carry a single Mercury 350 XXL Verado four-stroke or twin Mercury outboards up to a max horsepower…

Twenty-two miles astern of the charter boat Shake N Bake, the hamlet of Ilwaco, Washington, had long ago disappeared over the horizon, tucked inside the mouth of the mighty Columbia River. Just ahead we could see the demarcation line where blue-gray nearshore waters meet the Pacific Ocean’s indigo blue. This is Albacore Alley. As if on cue, about a mile to starboard we barely made out seabirds wheeling and diving into a melee of churning water — a sure sign that tuna were feeding there. Seven eager anglers were all pointing to the obvious, but our skipper, Mike Colbach, had already seen the birds and set an intercept course. Deckhand Clark Van Essen had two trolling rods ready to deploy with traditional cedar plugs on the business end. The skipper…

ZANCUDOLODGE.COM FISHING: Zancudo’s boats include two 32-foot Contenders with Raymarine electronics, tuna tubes and carbon-fiber outriggers, as well as two Twin Vee catamarans. The lodge’s skippers can accommodate all styles of fishing, offshore and nearshore. The resort offers all tackle needed, though if you want to bring some of your favorite jigs, it’s worth noting that we caught fish both on metal speed jigs and on lead head with soft plastics. ACCOMMODATIONS: The lodge, which bills itself as a boutique resort, boasts 16 rooms and suites. I stayed in a suite and will say that it truly impressed me as unusually spacious, luxurious and modern. In fact, I haven’t experienced better accommodations in any Central American fishing resort. BESIDES FISHING: There’s plenty to do here, including world-class surfing at Playa…

As I helped Capt. Ryan Buel load gear and ice aboard the test boat, I silently questioned whether he had brought the wrong Cobia model. It seemed too spacious for a 26-footer. Yet a check of the badge confirmed that this was the new Cobia 261CC. We had not left the dock, and I was already impressed. That trend continued as we spun the 261CC around in the tight quarters of the launch ramp in Boynton Beach, Florida, and exited the nearby inlet. Propelled by twin Yamaha F150 four-cylinder outboards, the boat sped smoothly across the two-foot chop of the Atlantic at 35 mph. The 261CC rides like a bigger boat. I could feel its solid construction as it plied the seas with neither rattles nor creaks. The deep-V hull…

THE NEW RS1 bay boat features a stepped-hull design to improve fuel efficiency and speed. Blue Wave also used lightweight Kevlar in the build to add strength. The open deck layout includes two livewells: one 20-gallon well under the forward console seat, sporting a clear acrylic window for monitoring baits, and one 30-gallon well in the aft deck, between flip-up transom seats that hide tackle trays. The acrylic center-console dash comes standard with a Wet Sounds Bluetooth Stealth six-speaker sound bar and stereo. These components, along with nav lights, livewells, bilge pumps and accessory lighting, are driven by C-Zone’s fully integrated digital network interface, allowing touchscreen systems control. The foredeck features twin rod lockers, an anchor hold, and insulated storage areas that drain overboard. The step up to the platform…

The opening lyrics in Bob Dylan’s classic tune “The Times They Are A-Changin’” told us to acknowledge that the waters around us were quickly rising. And while Dylan was surely referring to the sociopolitical climate of the day, those words still ring true in the physical sense as well. Climate change and global warming — or whatever phrase you use for our planet’s current ecological ailments — have generated much debate for the last several decades. These topics just seem to make some people, well, hot and bothered. Some choose to reject the notion that we’re seeing fairly, if not very, rapid changes in climate, but unfortunately, the data say otherwise. And this phenomenon we’re witnessing is directly linked to, if not driven by, what’s going on in the earth’s…

Not many of us own a Super Bowl ring or belong to baseball’s Hall of Fame. It’s also unlikely that we’ve won a pro golf championship or starred in a TV series. Nonetheless, many saltwater anglers passionately follow their favorite sports teams and idolize stars of stage and screen. It’s also human nature to be curious about how celebs share our love of saltwater fishing. In that spirit, I contacted a number of well-known personalities recognized as genuinely serious about the sport. I like the fact that on the water, it becomes a level playing field, because fish don’t care who you are. — Jimmy Johnson JIMMY JOHNSON, FOOTBALL COACH, BROADCASTER I recently met Johnson at his Big Chill restaurant in Key Largo. We talked about how he coached the Miami…

BY NOW, WE’VE all heard about CHIRP sonar. I’ve written plenty about CHIRP. In introducing it, I’ve spelled out the acronym as “Compressed High-Intensity Radar Pulse.” A quick Google search indicates more than 375,000 references to this definition. After all, CHIRP is a handy abbreviation that also cleverly mimics the sonar sound the technology creates, right? Not quite. Let me help clear the air and explain — by way of an expert — what chirp is and what it isn’t. (Notice the lowercase “chirp.”) Some months ago, I was talking to Ken Rolt, chief scientist for Airmar Technology, makers of sophisticated transducers and sensors for the marine industry for more than 30 years. We were discussing chirp sonar when Rolt injected a wry comment, something to the effect of “You…

Boating anglers face intriguing choices today when it comes to the popular 200 hp four-stroke outboard category. In the past, all 200 hp four-strokes used six-cylinder powerheads. Now, however, Mercury, Suzuki and Yamaha offer four-cylinder 200s, while keeping similarly rated sixcylinder motors in their lineups. (Honda offers just one 200, a V-6.) This creates a perplexing question for boating anglers shopping for an engine in this power range, be it for a new boat or for re-powering an older one: Which should you choose, the four- or six-cylinder model? Outboard industry experts say the answer depends on a number of major factors related to the type of boat, its usage and the angler’s expectations. “You need to look at the application demands,” says Lawrence Teeling, product category manager for Mercury…