Destination Fish

Venture to this end of the road destination in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, and you'll find remote Punta Allen where the lure of a Super Grand Slam has everyone under the influence.

It felt like I was standing at the edge of the planet as Javier—who's been guiding these waters for decades—expertly poled us across another of Ascension Bay's seemingly endless flats. Without a cloud in sight and slick, pale blue water in every direction, the sky and sea met with such clarity that I found it nearly impossible to distinguish the horizon. Maybe Earth really is flat.

A belly full of fresh pike, a comfortable folding chair and the relatively warm sun on my face had my eyelids more than a little droopy. Before any snoring could erupt, Kurt hollered "Flag up! To the south! Get 'em!" My impromptu plan for a brief nap was quickly forgotten as I hustled to the distant ice hole. We all knew our chances were excellent that a huge northern pike was making the flag dance and line peel from the tip-up's spool. This was Saskatchewan's famous Tobin Lake and the pike bite was on!

Stalking Behemoth Bonefish in the Shadow of Hawaiian Volcanoes. Now That Would be Sick!

Most discussions concerning monster bonefish involve driving down I-95 until it turns into Overseas Highway. This is for good reason, as Florida Keys flats have provided numerous anglers with potential shots at IGFA world records and I feel obliged to give credit where credit is due. As a matter of fact, without the help of many world-class guides and anglers who've scoured Florida's flats in search of the mighty grey ghost, Hawaiian bonefishing wouldn't be what it is today. Heck, if Joe Brooks didn't hook that tailing bonefish many years ago with legendary Florida guide and bonefishing pioneer Jimmie Albright, this great game fish might still be considered subpar.

Tracking Trophy Tigerfish On South Africa's Zambezi River

It wasn't clear what woke me. Was it the melodic sound of the Lozi Tribe's women humming as they prepared fresh coffee in the pre-dawn hour, or the peaceful gurgling of the Zambezi River as it glided not more than three-feet from the door of my safari tent? In any case...I was awake. Opening the door, I grabbed the flask of coffee that had been quietly placed on my tent veranda a few minutes earlier. As the sun crept over the dense jungle, tendrils of steam swirled on the water's surface. I sipped my coffee—enjoying the solitude and time it offered me to reflect on the day ahead. It was the kind of calmness and tranquillity that I knew would be torn to shards at the first savage strike of an infamous tigerfish.

Stalking A Slam On The World Famous East Cape

I turned my head and observed a supercharged frigate bird circling and diving as we slow-trolled in the wash parallel to the bright, sandy beach. In my periphery I noticed a large pod of pompano nervously crashing the surface between our panga and the sandy shoreline. The winds were so calm and the water so still I could see every nook and cranny on the bottom nearly 30-feet below. Suddenly, I caught a quick glimpse of a silvery predator staring up between two enormous boulders. The hairs on my neck were standing straight up as I held a death grip on the 30-pound class boat rod. Although I was focused on the prize at stake, an enormous gray whale breached no more than 300-yards to the east, jumping, crashing, flopping and simultaneously diverting my attention.

Visit Costa Rica's Guanacaste Province for out-of-this-world inshore encounters.

The tide just turned and was pushing toward the open ocean as we made our way up the rugged Pacific coastline. I was told that the reef we were headed to rose to 50-feet below the surface. The pinnacle was one in a series of volcanic peaks that climb out of the depths remarkably close to shore. Most of the submerged terrain is fairly generic, but one thing's for sure; unlike most fishing charters on the open seas where you just have water to look at with the occasional flying fish, the inshore volcanic terrain off Costa Rica's Guanacaste Province exhibits incredible surface activity and offers prime habitat for a variety of forage and the countless predators that viciously feed on them.