Web Exclusive
Made in Florida: Sandals & Belts Have you ever wondered what goes into manufacturing the long list of tackle, gear and accessories we use today? An... More... |
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Rigging Station
Swordfish Seducer With favorable weather patterns and calm sea conditions now prevailing, an increased number of midsize boaters... More... |
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Conservation
Help Us Fight Fisheries Closures For Immediate Release The South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) has now made major closures of snapper and grouper fisheries and has... Friday, 19 February 2010 More... |
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Fishing Reports
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Top Story
Guatemala Fishing 03-12-10
March 12th, 2010 Guatemala Fishing Report Boom to Bust These earthquakes are getting downright unnerving; the recent massive quake in Chile caused some serious concern...
Indian River, St. Lucie River 03-11-10
March 11th, 2010 March roared in with two cold fronts, high winds, and temperatures in the thirties for several nights, but our worst winter in years finally let up this past weekend....
Tampa Bay Area 03-11-10
March 11th, 2010 Finally it’s starting to warm-up and feel like spring… and the redfish and trout are gobbling up artificials with gusto! Schools of redfish are everywhere from...
Jacksonville & Amelia Island 03-10-10
March 10th, 2010 3/7 & 3/8 - Bottom Blues & Trout for a change. Sunday, did some R&D. Tried out my new anchor I've been waiting on for 5 weeks..... "getting one of these...
Manatee River, Tera Ceia Bay, Tampa Bay 03-10-10
March 10th, 2010 TAMPA BAY BRING US SOME WARM WEATHER! Winter is almost over! Lately, the cold fronts that have swept through Tampa Bay haven’t lasted long. They have brought some...
Press Releases
Topics
Top Story
Teams Fight to Stay on Top during the Sailfish Challenge and K-Rock Klassic
For Immediate Release Clearwater, Fla. (March 12, 2010) – The 2010 Sailfish Challenge tournament and the third leg of the 2009-2010 Sailfish Pro Series concluded February 21st in Fort Lauderdale,...
IMTRA Introduces NorSap 1700 and 1500 Series Chairs
Leading Marine Products Importer’s High-Quality Helmsman and Operator Chairs for the Commercial Market Provide Exceptional Comfort and Control New Bedford, Mass. – Imtra, the leading manufacturer...
Casa Vieja Lodge Father & Son Billfish Classic Tournaments
For Immediate Release May 28-31 & June 18-21, 2010 By Popular Demand Casa Vieja Lodge and Hook the Future Foundation are pleased to announce that we are bringing back the Father & Son Tournament!...
King Buster Tournament
For Immediate Release ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA - JUNE 10th, 11th, & 12th, 2010 The Kingbuster 400 is just around the corner! Fun, Great Prizes, Big fish…We’ve got it all! There are some...
StressFree® Free-Fall Anchor Winches Make North American Debut
For Immediate Release Thermoboat, Ltd. of Sydney BC, Canada has been chosen as the North American importer of Stress Free Anchor Winches. Made in Australia, Stress Free Anchor Winches offer anchor...
Pro's Tips
Wicked Winter Kings
Trick Serious Smokers…
As a southwest Florida guide and professional king mackerel tournament angler, catching success is always on the forefront of my agenda. Indeed, whether it’s daily chartering or competing against the best-of-the-best on the Southern Kingfish Association Tournament Trail (www.fishska.com), the task of turning big fish is always a tall one.
Bucktail Jigs… Oldies but Goodies!
March 8th, 2010
Recently, at the Frank Sargeant Outdoor Expo, a fan walked up and asked me what my “Top 5” confidence baits would be for fishing inshore. I thoughtfully considered his question for a moment… then confidently replied “A top water plug, 3” soft plastic paddle tail, ¼ ounce gold spoon, Mirro-dine twitch bait, and probably a small bucktail jig…
It’s Good To Be Cranky
When all else fails, throwing crankbaits under the right scenario often results in jolting strikes.
There’s no denying the fact that crankbaits are extremely versatile offerings with numerous fish-attracting attributes. While these long-standing artificials are a hit with bass anglers, these shallow diving lures also deserve a spot in every inshore angler’s tackle bag. Similar to their ability to effectively imitate a fleeing predator in freshwater, crankbaits evoke the image of a wounded baitfish in saltwater.
A Winter-time weapon the “Tube bait”
When water temps start plummeting during the “dead of winter”, inshore fishing can get very tough. Since fish are cold-blooded, their appetites are generally suppressed during colder periods… this creates quite a challenge for those of us who enjoy throwing artificial baits. In fact, it requires us to painfully slow down our presentations and choose bait profiles that appear natural and easy for game fish to catch. The tube bait has always been my “go-to” lure when confronted with these demanding conditions!
White Knuckle Nightmares
Rough Inlets Create Unexpected Uncertainties
If you’ve spent enough time on the water you’re well aware that conditions can change in a matter of minutes. Far too often small to mid-size boaters head out under picture perfect conditions only to return to an inlet that appears unsafe for even the largest of vessels.
Go GREEN
Increase Your Inshore Score With Underwater Dock Lights
In today’s day and age, going green is more important than ever. Do your part to help the environment and invest in a green underwater dock light! It is no secret that lights attract fish, as anglers have been illuminating Florida’s waterways for decades. Until the recent introduction of technologically advanced underwater dock lighting systems, anglers would typically mount a lantern or halogen light above the waterline.
Fall Dolphin Tips
As a native Floridian and professional fisherman for the most part of
my life, I have definitely caught my fair share of dolphin. In south
Florida, as a mate or captain on any offshore charter boat you quickly
realize one of the most popular questions that customers ask, “how’s
the dolphin fishing”? It seems as though everyone wants to go home with
a couple bags of fresh mahi fillets and you really can’t blame them.
Cast A Country Mile
Tips For Increasing Distance
You’ve been stalking a foraging pod of oversized redfish for the better part of the morning. The school has been just out of casting distance but the curious reds are starting to meander a bit closer as they tip and tail their way towards your skiff. You find it difficult to wait any longer and as your patience runs out, you cast what seems to be a perfect laser right off the bow.
Malfunction Junction
You just hit the dock after an exciting day on the water when you notice your two-piece rod won’t come apart. You’ve tried pulling it with force but the situation remains the same. What can you do to separate the stuck pieces?
Head Offshore In A Kayak
Get Rigged & Ready!
The ever-increasing popularity of kayak fishing has brought about a literal fleet of various kayaks to choose from. As the plastic armada draws in more and more anglers, major manufacturers could not help but take notice.
05 - Navigating With Your Mobile Phone
An Increasing Number of Applications Turn Your Mobile Phone into a Chartplotter
One of the most useful applications for a mobile phone is software to help with navigation. Whether you are on the water or on land, the addition of a GPS and a navigation program can turn your phone into a small chartplotter, giving you an onboard backup and a mobile navigation aid for the dinghy or on shore. For more information on adding a GPS, see Adding a GPS.
04 - Calculating Line Loss
The Longer You Run Cable, The More Signal You Lose. Here's a Way to Evaluate Line Loss.
When installing gear to amplify your mobile signal, so-called "line loss" - the signal you lose by running lines over long distances on your boat - is the enemy. Want to see how line loss works in action? Go to this line loss calculator.
Baitfish Profiles
Bull Minnows
Who say’s size matters?
If you’re a dedicated flounder pounder then there’s no need to tell you the beneficial attributes of a lively bull minnow, however, if you’ve been on the hunt for a trophy doormat and need an edge to come out on top, look to these thumb-size bruisers to keep you connected. A slow-retrieved bull minnow just may be your ticket to success. While far from glamorous when compared to a prickly pinfish or flashy finger mullet, there’s no denying the fact that bull minnows deserve ultimate consideration for die-hard inshore anglers—especially those who enjoy battling hefty flatfish.
Liquid Love On The Go
Whether transporting, storing or actively fishing, portable baitwells keep you hooked up.
It should come as no surprise that shore-bound anglers have a huge disadvantage when compared to their fellow brethren equipped with modern vessels. That’s not to say that as a shore-bound angler you can’t be successful—you just need to have a few tricks up your sleeve.
Breathe
Maximize Your Baitwell’s Efficiency
It was a steamy dawn along the mainland of Mexico as I boarded a rickety panga in hopes of battling the Pacific’s most powerful pelagics. We pushed the wooden skiff off the beach and battled the shorebreak en route to the local bait boat. We dumped two 5-gallon buckets of seawater into the front bulkhead and with the addition of a dozen frisky goggle-eye we were on our way.
Statewide Tips For Hitting The Live Bait Jackpot!
In today’s day and age, there are a plethora of artificial offerings that assist in enticing your favorite game fish. Vertical jigs, soft plastics, flies, topwater and trolling lures…and the list goes on and on. However, after all is said and done, live bait is still extremely hard to beat.
Lighten’ Up for Ballistic Baitfish
Around the state, countless backcountry anglers invest a great deal of time and money procuring their own live bait, yet I can’t tell you how many times I continue to see guys fishing small baitfish no longer than my index finger on tackle better suited for live-lining large blue runners.
Big Mack
It’s common knowledge that Spanish mackerel are highly regarded among inshore anglers for their great light tackle sporting attributes as well as tasty table fare. If you spend most of your time scouting inshore arenas then you may not be aware of their amazing ability to entice savage strikes from behemoth billfish.
Bust Your Bait: 7 Top Tips
Live bait is king! It doesn’t matter where around the peninsula you ply your craft, live bait certainly plays a key role in every angler’s success. Without question there is always a place and time for artificial baits, but day-in and day-out, NOTHING will out-produce a ‘livie’ frantically flipping for freedom. Even the most modern technology can’t duplicate the irresistible come-eat-me vibration omitted from a struggling baitfish. Tournament competitors will go as far as paying up to $10 for each offering; another testament to live bait's fish-catching ability.
Go Big or Don’t Go!
Survey the captains at your local charter dock, and I guarantee the majority will tell you that rigged-ballyhoo are without a doubt, the most popular, effective and versatile blue-water offering of all-time. These ‘go-to’ baits are popular with skippers around the world for one simple reason; they catch quality fish!
Pinfish Palaces
Catching all the bait you need is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
Mangrove snapper…gag, red and goliath grouper… seatrout… snook… redfish… tarpon of all sizes…cobia…flounder…these are just some of the many species that will, without a moment’s hesitation, pounce on a properly presented pinfish. This enticing member of the porgy family has become so popular in fact, that in some inshore regions shrimp, a staple of Florida’s shallow-water fisheries, have taken a back seat to “pins.”
Weedline Wonders
Prime baits are right where they are supposed to be.
With the exception of a few essential oceanic oases' including reefs, wrecks, ledges, pinnacles, and underwater seamounts, the open-ocean is a rather desert-like expanse of barren blue water. In this extreme saltwater environment, well-formed Sargassum weedlines harbor an extraordinary amount of marine creatures. These floating ecosystems are the basis of life and provide structure and sanctuary in a rather featureless topography.
Got Crabs? - Will you be ready when crab-crunchers appear within casting range?
Got Crabs? - Will you be ready when crab-crunchers appear within casting range?
If you regularly target permit, tarpon, bonefish, cobia, or redfish, you probably already know that silver-dollar size crabs make up a large portion of these great shallow-water game fishes diet. The crunchy crustaceans I am referring to are blue crabs and brown crabs, the latter of which are commonly referred to as ‘pass crabs’ because they are most often seen swimming in and out of local passes.
Bridling Gogs
Bridling Gogs – if you’re not doing it, brother you're missing the boat!
Of all the baitfish in the
world's seas, bigeye scad, commonly known as goggle-eyes to the South Florida
angling community, are likely the most effective live bait for South Florida's
most glamorous gamster - sailfish. These Olympian swimmers are unrivaled in
their ability to ‘hang in there’ for hours on end while either dangling from a
kite, or fished on a flat line. Our own editor, Captain Mike Genoun, jokingly comments,
“Once you put a goggle-eye in the zone; one of two things is going to happen.
It’s going to get slammed, or it’s going to get slammed!
Boat Reviews
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