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CONTENTS

F E AT U R E S

V O L . 4 0 _ N O . 4 _ J U N E / J U LY 2 0 2 1

C H AS I N G G I A N TS : T H E WO R L D ’ S TO P B I G F I S H D EST I N AT I O N S Your best shot at the blue or black marlin of a lifetime is likely here By Sam White

P R O M I S ES , S EC O N D C H A N C ES A N D LETTING GO A ﬁsherman’s journey in realizing the difference between the catch of a lifetime and its real signiﬁcance By Capt. Kenton Geer

JULY 2021

A LU R E- M A K E R ’ S O DYSS E Y The journey from part time to world class is never an easy one By Capt. Joe Byrum

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B LU E F I N S O F FA L L Nova Scotia’s historical ﬁshery that almost didn’t make a comeback By Capt. Andy Moyes RODERICK JONGSCHAAP

POWER. PERFORMANCE. MANEUVERABILITY. The new Ö½ L|Ò |³ ƓƑƑƑ 5ƚƗ` hÒ | ¬¯¢¬½ ³ ¢ | |Ǒ %¹ǫ³ Ö | ¢¯ h ¬¢Ç|¯ ½¬ ¯hx|Ǒ Q | ƒƓǡtÉ x|¯ L|Ò |³ ƓƑƑƑ | |ǫ³ ¢½Ö¬½¹ h³ s|| s¢¢³¹|x ¹¢ ¢¯| Ö h ƓǌƑƑƑ ¬ǌ Ç Ö ¢½¹ h É t¢ ¬¯¢ ³|³ x½¯hs ¹ÉǑ %¹³ ¬¯¢Æ| htt| |¯hÖ ¢ t h¯ht¹|Ò ³Ö t³ǌ |Èt|

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CONTENTS

D E PA R T M E N T S

V O L . 4 0 _ N O . 4 _ J U N E / J U LY 2 0 2 1

ON THE COVER A big black marlin takes to the air off the coast of Panama.

81 RUN & GUN Advances and recent splashes

PHOTO BY Hannes Ribbner

82 SHIP’S SYSTEMS

12 EDITOR’S LETTER

86 B O AT S O F I N T E R E S T Bayliss 62

16 FEEDBACK

20 HOT SHOTS 23 BEFORE THE STRIKE Big-game happenings on and off the water

90 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY 92 THE FINE PRINT

38 C O N S E R V AT I O N

96 BOTTOM LINE

42 OPINION 44 FIELD NOTES 46 RIGGER’S CORNER

92 98 MARLIN MARKETPLACE

23 P L AY E R S 28 GEAR

102 C H A R T E R B O AT S / RESORTS

32 B L U E W AT E R C U R R E N T S

105 BROKERAGE 122 FROM THE BRIDGE

FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS Go to marlinmag.com/cs or email MRLcustserv @cdsfulfillment.com.

Marlin (ISSN 0749-2006), USPS 738-350, June/July 2021, Volume 40, Issue 4, is published seven times per year (February, March, April/May, June/July, August/September, October and November/December) by Bonnier Corporation, 480 N. Orlando Ave., Suite 236, Winter Park, FL 32789. Periodicals postage paid at Winter Park, and additional mailing offices. Copyright 2021 by Bonnier Corp. All rights reserved. Reprinting in whole or part is forbidden except by permission of Bonnier Corp. Mailing List: We make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you would prefer that we don’t include your name, please write us at the Harlan, IA address. POSTMASTER: Send address changes and all UAA to CFS, nonpostal and military facilities to Marlin, P.O. Box 6364, Harlan, IA 51593-1864. Subscription Rates: $26.97 for one year for US addresses, $44.97 for one year for Canadian addresses, and $62.97 for one year all other international addresses. Canada Post Publication agreement No. 40612608. Canada Return Mail: IMEX, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2

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Editor’s Letter

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It’s one of those age-old questions in marlin fishing: Would you rather catch a bunch, or do you want a shot at a really big one? In most of the world’s big-fish destinations, you’re basically fishing for that one bite. And while there’s definitely something to be said for putting up big numbers in places like the Dominican Republic and Central America, if you’re looking for that extra-large marlin of a lifetime, you’re going to have to put in some time and effort to make it happen. Paying your big-fish dues, so to speak. In researching the “Chasing Giants” feature in this issue, it was interesting to note that many of those hotspots have consistently produced good fishing for years, and even decades. Places such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the Challenger and Argus banks off Bermuda, Cape Verde, and Kona, Hawaii, seem to have good numbers of big marlin, season after season. As the world slowly reopens for international travel, any of these belong on your must-see list. Closer to home, we are fortunate to have several respectable fisheries right here in the US, namely the Gulf of Mexico, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and the canyons of the Northeast. Any one of these is capable of producing some damn big blues. Maintaining access to those fisheries is going to be one of the key points to watch as we move forward though. By now you may have heard about the 30 by 30 initiative, which is an ambitious international plan to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. In the US, there is currently a bill in the Senate, the Thirty by Thirty Resolution to Save Nature, with the goal of protecting 30 percent of our terrestrial and aquatic resources in the same time frame. Leading environmental scientists see this as a minimum step in mitigating climate change as a carbon-sequestration measure, since healthy forests, lakes, rivers and oceans act as carbon sinks, removing the element from our atmosphere. The potential danger, though, is in the wanton establishment of Marine Protected Areas, and the subsequent levels of take or no take that are allowed within them. When used sensibly, MPAs and their restrictions—such as banning commercial longlining in known billfish-spawning areas—can produce excellent results. Just look at the rebound of the swordfish fishery in the eastern United States as one of those success stories. But it’s all too easy to say that MPAs are a hands-off sanctuary where even recreational catch-and-release surface trolling is not allowed. Internationally, proponents of this plan are pushing for a new multination treaty to protect marine biodiversity and create fully protected marine parks in international waters, which is also troubling. The American Sportfishing Association, among other groups, has expressed caution over the need to ensure that 30 by 30 policies do not result in arbitrary restrictions on public access. Beyond each nation’s exclusive economic zone, the oceans of the world should belong to no one, and to everyone. Negotiating the establishment of MPAs and the ensuing rules and enforcement is a minefield of controversy, one we should navigate with extreme caution.

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY 800-4-SEATOW seatow.com/marlin Sam White Editor-in-Chief

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS RANDY VANCE EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FISHING AND MARINE CAPT. MIKE PIERDINOCK CONSERVATION ANDREW LAFFERTY ELECTRONICS CAPT. ERIC BRUSH SHIP’S SYSTEMS RALEIGH P. WATSON THE FINE PRINT CHRIS KELLY BOTTOM LINE CAPT. SKIP SMITH FROM THE BRIDGE

CONTRIBUTORS Pepper Ailor, Capt. Karl Anderson, John Ashley, Capt. Rich Barrett, Capt. Joe Byrum, Austin Coit, Will Drost, Kelly Dalling Fallon, Jan Fogt, Pat Ford, Peter Frederiksen, Michelle Gaylord, Richard Gibson, Capt. Cory Gillespie, Capt. Brad Goodrich, Harry Hindmarsh, Deborah Hood, Scott Kerrigan, Carol Lynne, Steve Momot, Bubba NaQuin, Capt. Robert “Fly” Navarro, Chris Rabil, Cameron J. Rhodes, Hannes Ribbner, Jessica Haydahl Richardson, Capt. Tom Southward, Tom Spencer, Elliott Stark, Capt. Ricky Wheeler

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On February 28, 2021, the big-game-fishing world lost one of its most hardcore members with the passing of Josh Stafford at the age of 41. Josh was a fixture in the Morehead City, North Carolina, fishing community, and his company, Head Sea Lures, has gained popularity in destinations and billfish tournaments all over the globe. Josh was an artist, a craftsman, a waterman in all respects, and one of the best and most hardworking guys to ever step foot in a cockpit. I was lucky to spend a lot of time with Josh, fishing with him on Capt. Jeff Garner’s Yellowfin, where he was a mentor who helped form my love and learning in marlin fishing at an early age. And while saying goodbye is never easy, it’s just another reminder to tell your friends and fishing partners that you love them because you never know when it’s going to be your last trip across the bar. Capt. Joe Byrum Via email C A P T. F R A N K Y P E T T O L I N A Residents of Ocean City, Maryland, and anglers around the world are mourning the loss of a true giant in the fishing community after the death of longtime Ocean City Marlin Club president Capt. Franky Pettolina. Franky was the owner of Pettolina Marine Surveying, captain of the charter boat Last Call and a loyal brother of Alpha Phi Epsilon fraternity. He was an adoring son to Frank and Maddie Pettolina, loving husband to his wife, Jennifer, and devoted friend to legions of fishermen, metalheads and average Joes from all over. I have known Franky personally for more than 30 years and worked with him professionally for the past 10, and he was a very dear friend. We became buddies immediately upon meeting each other in the summer of 1990 on the docks at Bahia Marina in Ocean City. Through the years, he would tell me stories of his fishing adventures to Florida, Mexico, the Bahamas, Costa Rica and his favorite, Venezuela, but his home was always in Ocean City. He loved the Ocean City Marlin Club and JULY 2021

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he loved his charter boat, but he loved his friends and family the most. Franky truly was a one-of-a-kind soul. He would give a perfect stranger the shirt off his back, and then joke about how big it was going to be on them. He was one of the best friends who many others and I will ever know, and he will be greatly missed. Scott Lenox Via email THE DOCTOR IS IN I have been a fan of your magazine for quite a long time, but this is the first time I felt compelled to write. I really enjoyed the article “At the Helm with Doc Watson” in the April/ May issue. Weighing priorities in life can sometimes get complicated, and reading about how Watson balances his work as a doctor and running his own beautiful sport-fisher really rang a bell. I am also a doctor, and I run my own boat as an owner/operator. My father got me hooked on marlin fishing at age 9, catching my first blue marlin on Brothers Pride. Watching my father balance his time between work, family and fishing served as a great outline for myself. During summers and weekends, I mated for him, learning the basics as his boats grew over time; eventually, I started helping him run and maintain boats, giving me enough hours to get my 100-ton license. After 10 years of college, I joined my father in his orthodontic practice, where I still work full time. After he retired from boat ownership in the early 2000s, I started my journey with an old 36-foot Hatteras, then made the switch to custom boats, including a Ricky Gillikin, Blackwell, and, similar to Watson, I also owned a Winter, Hull No. 1, for a few years. I am not able to get out there as much as I would like, but when I do, it serves as a great break. As you mentioned in the article, there aren’t a tremendous number of owner/ operators out there, but we love sport fishing as much as anyone else on the water. Dr. Neal Klar Via email

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JOE BYRUM/JAYBLES PHOTOGRAPHY (TOP), COURTESY HOOKED ON OC

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Hot Shots

BLACK ON BAIT Few sights are more jaw-dropping than watching a large black marlin pounce on a frisky live bonito. Fortunately for us, photographer Hannes Ribbner had his finger on the shutter as this nice black erupted from the calm waters off Panama’s Tropic Star Lodge, the bridled bait still attached to the hook. “This fish went crazy—jump after jump after jump— and we were able to release it after about 15 minutes,” he says.

LOCATION Ribbner was fishing the ultra-productive Zane Grey Reef.

TECH SPECS CAMERA: Canon 1DX MkII

LENS: Canon 100-400mm

ISO: 320 APERTURE: f/4.5 SPEED: 1/3200 sec

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THE GEAR THAT GETS YOU THERE APPAREL, SUNGLASSES AND MORE AT SALTLIFE.COM

Before Strike

HARRY HINDMARSH

the

Players

CHARLES PERRY

Growing up on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Charles Perry had it all—surfing, fishing and chasing girls—until Uncle Sam came calling and he was sent to war in Vietnam. Afterward, he visited Australia, a trip that launched one of the most extensive fishing careers in the sport. Along the way, he has wired and/or weighed 28 certified 1,000-pluspound black marlin, and released countless more over the mark in later years, fishing with Capt. Peter B. Wright. Perry was also part of the Chunda team with Stewart Campbell and Capt. Bark Garnsey, traveling the globe in search of world records. He was presented with the IGFA’s Tommy Gifford Award in 2011 as one of the sport’s legendary captains and crews, and currently sits on the board that approves future award recipients. JULY 2021

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Before the Strike

Players

This black marlin bill is just one of Charles Perry’s many mementos from trophy catches and decades of worldwide travel, fishing and exploration.

When did you get to Australia, and what was the fishing like back then? I first went to Australia in 1972 to visit a friend and to surf. I fell in love with the people and the countryside. I wanted to stay and decided that fishing was the best way to live there. Fishing on the

Linden Bank. Lizard Island was only 120 miles away. Other boats were scattered up and down the reefs until someone found the fish, and then we all moved in together. As a fleet, you were covering 120 miles. Every day, it was something new. When did you first meet Capt. Peter B. Wright, and what was the biggest black you caught with him? The first time I met Peter, I was in bed with his female roommate. He came home, introduced himself, and we immediately started talking fishing. I couldn’t believe they were roommates, and I was worried that I had ruined my chance to fish with him, but as it turned out, it was the best thing that ever

“I GUESS I’M TOO OLD-SCHOOL, BUT I DO NOT CARE FOR THIS NEW SONAR STUFF. I KNOW TECHNOLOGY IS GOING TO CHANGE THINGS, BUT IT’S NOT FOR ME.” reef was totally different than what it is today. I’m sorry it couldn’t stay like it was for more people to experience. You used to be able to anchor behind or in front of the reefs like Jenny Louise Shoal or

happened. That was in 1973, and by 1974, he wanted me to be his number-one wireman. The first year we fished together, we had only 69 days on the water, but we caught 136 black marlin. We had JULY 2021

several over 1,200 pounds, but I think the biggest was over 1,300 pounds. My personal best was a 1,417 that was the Australian record— Peter broke it 10 days later with a 1,442. What did you most enjoy about fishing with the late Stewart Campbell? Honestly, I enjoyed all of it. His dedication and total focus on catching world records was really special to be a part of, which is why he holds, or had held, so many records. He would pass on so many other species when the bite was good to not take time away from hunting and catching marlin. MARLINMAG.COM

You’re widely regarded as one of the best wiremen in the sport. What’s the hardest part about leadering a 1,000-pound marlin? You have to have confidence working the wire and trust in whoever is running the boat, because if you get in a bind, you need a captain who will give you some relief. Back then, we used double-twisted wire with cable on the end, which was something that wasn’t going to break. You needed to know how to not get caught up in it. Any close calls? You’re talking to the president of the Underwater Wireman’s Club! Yes, I’ve been pulled in three times. We figured

HARRY HINDMARSH

How did you make the transition from charter fishing in North Carolina to traveling internationally? Vietnam. I got drafted in the Army after high school, and they shipped me off to Southeast Asia. While I didn’t enjoy my time there, I did like the traveling component. I knew I wanted to travel more, and the only way I could do it was through fishing so I could make a living.

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Before the Strike

Players

At home in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Perry reminisces about a career that has led him on some incredible fishing adventures. He continues to travel and fish as often as possible today.

Of all the places you’ve fished in the world, what are some of your favorites? Without a doubt, my favorite place to fish in the world is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The eddies of the Gulf Stream that turn counterclockwise and break off the Labrador Current spin down the coast and hold tons of bait. The white marlin stay in those eddies, and it’s just phenomenal. The Great Barrier Reef, Cape Verde and Madeira are all great places to fish, but they’re very seasonal. In the Outer Banks, you have your choice of bluefin and

yellowfin tuna, blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish, cobia and red drum during various times of the year. That kind of variety is hard to beat. You fished with Capt. Bark Garnsey for 14 years. What’s the key to that kind of longevity? The right owner putting together the right crew. With Bark, we really fit together well. I had a ton of experience wiring big fish and also leadering in a hurry when we were world-record fishing because we were killing these giant fish. Is it true that you once pedaled a unicycle a thousand miles up the coast in Australia? Yep. There’s no two ways about it—I was crazy back then. It started when JULY 2021

someone stole my bike. My roommate at the time had a unicycle that nobody could figure out how to ride. I taught myself how to do it, and I rode that thing everywhere. Are there any modern innovations you wish you’d had access to back then? I guess I’m too old-school, but I do not care for this new sonar stuff. I know technology is going to change things, but it’s not for me. It’s somewhat sad that this new technology eliminates the in-person, live signs that make you a good fishermen. If Barky and I had had that technology, it would have eliminated all the conversations we’d had about what we were going to do next. We didn’t need it handed to us; we liked finding the fish on our own. MARLINMAG.COM

What advice would you give to the next generation of deckhands coming up through the ranks? It starts with a seriously good work ethic, and you need to get really good at mastering the craft. You need experience, and do it enough to have confidence in not only fishing, but also managing the cockpit. And you also need to have good people and communication skills. That is so overlooked today. Favorite fishing memory? Without a doubt, it was catching a 522-pound blue marlin with my mother. That stood out to me more than any other fish. The most exciting fish aren’t always the granders; they are the fish that give us a challenge. —Harry Hindmarsh

HARRY HINDMARSH

out later that the boat I was on at the time had lower gunwales than I was used to working. When you mix that with the pull of big blacks, it was the perfect storm.

Before the Strike

Gear

SUMMER

PHOTOS BY JON WHITTLE

SPLASH, SHIMMY, POP, SMOKE AND DIVE: SPICE UP YOUR SUMMERTIME TROLLING SPREAD WITH THESE CHOICES FROM SOME OF THE TOP

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(a) PAKULA LURES Australian lure-maker Peter Pakula has taken his bestselling lures—the Pakula Sprocket is shown; many others are also available—and added 3D-printed heads with venturi jets as well as realistic fish-printed skirts. Air keeling in the heads means that the lures ride in a lifelike orientation in any sea condition, while the skirts also contain Pakula’s patented UV, Lumo and CAT additives. The lures are available in a number of different baitfish patterns, including tinker mackerel, ballyhoo, skipjack, yellowfin tuna and more. pakula.com

(c) MAKAIRA PULLING LURES Originally designed for Giorgio Assolari on Mystic Blue in Cape Verde as a bridge teaser, the No Name from Makaira is based on a lure known as Big Mars, with a tapered nose to make it easier to clear from the spread. This one is a large keel-weighted lure, and works best on the corner and short rigger positions, as well as a teaser. makairapullinglures.com

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Before the Strike

Gear

(e) LOBO LURES The Skipjack Hybrid is engineered for many different applications: Fish it by itself, or as part of a daisy chain or spreader bar for added splash and noise. The conical skirt seat means that it swims well with bait, and there are several skirting options available from traditional to Mylar. As with all Lobo Lures, the Skipjack series is designed and built in the US and fished by anglers around the world. lobolures.com

(f) FATHOM OFFSHORE The Calico Jack Slant from Fathom is one of the most versatile lures in its arsenal, and it’s now available in the tinker mackerel color scheme, one of the favorite food sources for blue and white marlin, among many other pelagic species. The 14-inch lure’s tapered nose and keel-weighted design give it an alluring shimmy that’s sure to attract attention; fish it from any position in the spread. fathomoffshore.com

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(d) GT LURES Frustrated with chugger heads on the market today, Greg Thummel at GT Lures set out to create the Whistler, a six-hole jet using hand-poured resin rather than injection-molded plastic. There are two sizes—the Standard is shown, and the smaller Lil’ Whistler is also available—and the custom-dyed hair is hand-tied in the US. They’ll smoke and chug all day from 4 to 10-plus knots at the end of a teaser chain, fished solo, or over a bait from the outriggers. gtlures.com

(g) ALAN WILLIAMS CUSTOM LURES The newest in the lineup from the custom North Carolina lure manufacturer, the Frat Boy is something a little different. It has a smaller size and very aggressive swimming and popping action, thanks to the fully cupped 3-inch head. With a skirted length of 12 inches and weighing 5.7 ounces, it swims well from the riggers or from shotgun position. Each lure is made-to-order, so custom colors and skirt combinations are no problem. alanwilliamscustomlures.com

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Bluewater Currents

TEAM GALATI GOES WIRETO-WIRE IN COSTA RICA The 2021 event also decided the winners from last season With nearly a half-million dollars on the line going into the third and final leg of the 2021 Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown, the pressure was on each team to bring their A game.

Team Galati

This year, 28 of the 39 participating teams were fishing two tournaments in one: Those teams participated in the 2020 Triple Crown and, since the third

leg was canceled due to COVID-19, they were also fishing to determine the top three places for Leg Three as well as the 2020 Series Champion Team, in addition

See who and what’s out there.

M94D

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Before the Strike

350 additional sails and 22 marlin were released on Day Two. Going into the third and final day, Team Galati had already tallied 13,600 points over three legs and secured a 1,700-point lead over Fish Tank for the 2021 Series Championship. No surprise here: Team Galati finished in first place for Leg Three, with a final count of

54 sails and two marlin for 6,400 points, followed by Eight Eights with a three-day total of 25 sails and five marlin for 5,000 points, and Dragin Fly rounding out the top three with 38 sailfish and two marlin for 4,800 points. Each day, the tournament added the final scores for that day to the tally for the third leg of the 2020 Series, as well as

Top Angler Maria Magalhaes

to the winner of Leg Three for 2021 and 2021 Series Champions. The stakes were incredibly high and the tension was palpable in the humid Costa Rican air. Outage had finished the second leg of the 2020 series in the lead with 8,400 points, just 400 points ahead of Tarheel for Series Champion. Team Galati was in third overall with 7,500 points. For the 2021 Series Championship, Fish Tank was in first after the second leg with 9,700 points, followed by Team Galati with 9,100 points and Grand Slam with 9,000 points. It was anyone’s game to win or lose at this point. The event kicked off with the third round of the popular Ladies Only Tournament, a one-day shootout held prior to the start of each leg. D.A. Sea topped the leaderboard after the three individual tournaments with 5,400 points, followed by Uno Mas in second with 4,500 points, and in third with 4,400 points was Max Bet. Kelly Weber of Max Bet was the top angler, scoring 2,200 of her team’s total points, releasing 12 sailfish and two marlin over the three legs. In a telling sign of things to come, Team Galati released two doubleheaders in the last seven minutes of Day One to earn the daily with 2,400 points, followed by Pura Vida with 2,100 points and Dealer’s Choice with 1,900 points. A total of 311 sails and 18 marlin were released on Day One—not a red-hot, wide-open bite but definitely enough to keep things competitive for the fleet. Day Two started off with a flurry of marlin, with nine of the 500-point fish released in the first hour of fishing. By the call for lines out at 4 p.m., Team Galati once again found themselves at the top of the leaderboard with 4,500 points, followed by Tarheel with 3,700, besting Eight Eights on time. A total of

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Before the Strike

Bluewater Currents

the tally for the 2020 Series Championship. After Day One, Team Galati was in first for the leg with their 2,400 points and was already 100 points ahead of Outage in the Series Championship. After Day Two, they pulled ahead even further with a total of 12,000 points, over Tarheel in second with 11,700 points, followed by Outage in third with 10,700 points. At the end of the tournament on Day Three, Team Galati earned 6,400 points for the leg and finished first over Dragin Fly in second with 4,800 points, and Tarheel in third with 4,700 points. Team Galati amassed a total of 13,900 points for the 2020 Signature Triple Crown, outpacing Tarheel’s 12,700 points, and Outage’s 12,000 points. It was an incredible display of fishing performance by one of the sport’s most competitive teams, and a well-deserved victory. But the drama doesn’t end there. Fishing with Brooks Smith aboard Uno Mas, Maria Magalhaes was named the

top overall angler for the 2021 series, as well as the top lady angler. Magalhaes released 18 sailfish and five marlin during this year’s series, which marked the first time in the event’s history that a female has won the overall angler title.

NATIVE SON TOPS SAILFISH CHALLENGE Multiple inlets mean a wider boundary The second leg of the Quest for the Crest series yielded good fishing and tight competition this year, with 193 sailfish released by the 64-boat fleet and a tournament record payout of $255,340. The three-inlet format allowed boats to fish in a wider boundary, which worked

well for several teams, including Weez in the Keys. They fished south toward their home waters off Miami and released six sailfish, enough to secure them first place on Day One and take home the dailies for a $62,235 opening payday. The team ultimately finished in second place overall and also won the charity jackpot, which supports ongoing relief efforts in the

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COURTESY JJNBC, COURTESY SAILFISH CHALLENGE (OPPOSITE)

Bahamas, for a grand total of $130,995. Rounding out the top three was The Edge with eight sailfish releases. The Texasbased team had a surge on Day Two to bring home $29,720. However, it was Native Son who hooked up to a last-minute doubleheader just shy of the 4 p.m. call for lines out on Saturday, which sent Capt. Art Sapp and his crew over the top to earn the title of 2021 Sailfish Challenge Champions. Their 13 releases won them $255,340, the highest earnings ever for a first-place team in the Sailfish Challenge. Sapp proved that it’s the captain rather than the boat that makes the difference in success on the water. On the first day, the team fished aboard their 39-foot SeaVee, and switched it up the following day to the owner’s larger sport-fisher due to the change in weather. The debate over which boat is better obviously comes down to personal preference, but Sapp and company showed that skill is what earns you a spot in the winner’s circle.

Team Jichi

RECORDS FALL IN SOUTH FLORIDA Cool weather and hot fishing With a rare grand slam—blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish—the Jichi team put on a clinic of how to win a tournament during the 2021 Jimmy Johnson National

Billfish Championship, which was held March 2-6, 2021. Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Championship Fishing Week features a week of competitive fishing across South Florida, consisting of the National Billfish Championship and the one-day Celebrity Pro-Am. A highlight of the South Florida billfish tournament season, this week of events has something for everyone, as top

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Before the Strike

Bluewater Currents

anglers join together for what is always a good time with guaranteed prize money. With fishing options available from Jupiter to Islamorada, the South Florida fishing community came together for a safe and responsible tournament featuring socially distant events throughout the week and a tournament-record-breaking 751 releases by the 76 teams in two days

of fishing from four official locations: Ocean Reef Club, Miami Beach Marina, Bahia Mar and Sailfish Marina. The guaranteed payout for the Billfish Championship is a hybrid—annually guaranteed at $1 million, with additional cash based on boat entries; this year, an additional $145,000 was paid out. Big winners this year were owner and captain Luis

Isaias, along with anglers Albert Castro, Chris Gallaraga, Cap Hinkley, Jess Kunkel, Victor Paneda, Orlando Puente, Ricky Querejeta, Alex Vasquez and Manual Vidal, fishing aboard the 46-foot Jarrett Bay Jichi. They scored 26 billfish releases, including a grand slam, to bring home a total of $266,500, and entrance into Jimmy Johnson’s prestigious Ring of Honor. In second place with 24 releases was another familiar name: Capt. Art Sapp’s Native Son. They won $203,000 for their efforts in the tournament; hellREYzer was third: Owner Rey Acosta’s team tallied 19 releases, good for $73,750.

TOURNAMENT QUICK BITES PESCADORA BILLFISH CHAMPIONSHIP Quepos, Costa Rica February 18-20 The Agitator Babes team won this year’s ladies tournament with 5,400 points, fishing aboard Agitator. Billfish Bitches on Outage were second with 4,200 points, and Power to the V, fishing aboard Vaquero, was third with 3,200 points. For the tournament, 26 teams released 471 billfish for an average of 18 per team.

THE MASTERS ANGLING TOURNAMENT Los Sueños, Costa Rica February 28-March 4

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Angler Chase Offield put together three days of consistent fishing to be named the Masters Champion, with a total of 1,175 points. Frank Bongiorno was second with 910 points, and Chris Lazzara was third with 835 points. Anglers fight their fish from a dead boat and scores are based on fight time, among other unique tournament rules.

SAILFISH SLAM March 26-27 Quepos, Costa Rica Hog Wild won the inaugural Sailfish Slam, a one-day shootout hosted by Marina Pez Vela, with 14 releases and 2,800 points. Caliente and Pura Vida were second and third, respectively, each with seven sailfish releases and 1,400 points.

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Before the Strike

Conservation

BY KESLEY BANKS, PH.D.

GULF OASES The deployment of artificial reefs is often a contentious subject, but in the Gulf of Mexico, these man-made structures are considered ocean oases, supporting a variety of resident marine life and even migratory species such as tuna and marlin. For anglers, these structures are go-to spots and provide an exciting fishing experience. Scientists also recognize the importance of these habitats, and are curious about how the structures might affect the migration and distribution of a variety of fish species. WORLD’S LARGEST ARTIFICIAL-REEF COMPLEX The ninth-largest body of water in the world, the Gulf of Mexico is also home to the largest artificial-reef complex.

Offshore oil and gas exploration began in the late 1940s off Louisiana with the installation of the first oil and gas platform, and by 1983, more than 4,000 had been installed throughout the GOM. These platforms are some of the most productive habitats, providing vertical relief that historically had been scarce, especially in the western Gulf, which predominantly consists of flat, natural plains of clay, mud and sand. Structures—such as ships and concrete bridge components, along with these platforms—provide a habitat network throughout much of the northern Gulf. However, as many nearshore platforms are reaching the end of their production lifetime, the GOM will continue to see these platforms decrease in the coming years, expanding them to deeper waters. JULY 2021

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IDLE IRON In the 1970s, legislation was introduced to address the growing oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf. Commonly called the Idle Iron Act, this plug-and-abandonment policy requires inactive platforms to be dismantled and responsibly disposed within one year of their termination to mitigate risks to both the environment and navigation safety. Severe weather has toppled and severely damaged platforms and associated infrastructure, leaving the structures weakened and at risk of leaks from wells that could cause potential damage to the ecosystem and negatively impact saltwater anglers in the long term. In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf of Mexico, destroying 115 platforms and damaging 52 more along

KIP EVANS/ALAMY

Man-made structures might provide vital habitat for highly migratory species

+ A B O U T T H E AU T H O R Dr. Kesley Banks is a postdoctoral researcher with the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.

with 183 pipelines. Coupled with the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010, enforcement of the Idle Iron legislation and platform removal was accelerated. Between 2010 and 2015, 813 platforms and structures were removed, and outcry from both the angling and scientific communities led to the National Artificial Reef Plan, which was introduced to recognize these structures’ importance, and the pressure to remove idle structures was reduced. Incorporating many of the remaining structures into state-run reefing programs will help retain this habitat in the future and solve issues related to environmental risks and liability. Angler groups were among the first to realize the importance of such structures,

patterns. Residency around platforms varies by species from tight to loose association, and prey species have been shown to have a tighter association and longer residency period around these structures than the predatory fish. Yellowfin tuna have been observed to

Yellowfin tuna have been observed to spend a wide range of time at the floaters. were instrumental in slowing the Gulf’s platform removal and can also be integral in garnering attention for other fisheryrelated issues. After all, anglers are often a source of unequaled information regarding the distribution and movement of fishery resources. PLATFORMS AND MIGRATIONS Although most anglers fishing on artificial reefs are targeting resident species such as grouper and snapper, these structures are also important to migratory fish such as tuna and billfish. The use of oil and gas infrastructure as migration stepping stones provides a place for fish to feed before making the next leg of their journey, or act as a meeting point to increase the chance of encountering other individuals. Recent research focuses on the interactions of pelagic species and these platforms, and how these structures influence behavior, diet and movement JULY 2021

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spend a wide range of time at the floaters. Some hang around from hours to months, and some demonstrate residency to the same floater for multiple years. By making direct movements from one floater to another, this indicates that they were not wandering the open ocean or coming

Conservation

upon the floater by happenstance, but rather, these fish might know the locations of these structures, using them as stop-offs during their movements. To date, research has focused mostly on the impact of artificial reefs in the commercial fisheries for migratory species. Recent technological advances now allow vessels to communicate in advance with fishery-deployed artificial reefs to determine which structure is holding increased quantities of fish, and has been the concern of many anglers and scientists as catches are increasing with less effort. This could mean populations may be vulnerable to overfishing, even though the GOM’s pelagic longlines are set away from platforms because they are adrift in currents and must avoid entanglement. Assuming commercial-fishing methods do not change, research has shown that it is unlikely that these species

Artificial light from platforms and structures in the Gulf attracts prey and increases visibility for tuna and billfish, allowing for enhanced foraging.

have increased vulnerability around the floaters. However, proposals have been submitted to shift commercialfishing methods from longlines to green-sticking, or even to a standardized troll-based approach, which would allow commercial fishing closer to platforms, possibly increasing the vulnerability of the species that frequent them. The shift of oil and gas exploration

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from coastal waters to deeper offshore waters means interactions with pelagic species are likely to increase. The understanding and implications behind migratory-species interactions with artificial reefs is still largely uncertain, but new advances in technology and improved location accuracy of satellite and electronic tags allow for more-detailed migration and behavioral patterns to be uncovered. The Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation, along with anglers throughout the Gulf of Mexico, are partnering to deploy new and improved satellite tags to further understand the connection between these artificial reefs and highly migratory species.

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Before the Strike

Opinion + BIG-GAME MATES DRAFT THEIR FIRST-STRING PLAYERS

W H AT ’ S YO U R P R E F E R R E D B A I T F O R G I A N T M A R L I N ?

JA M E S N A N T Z CREWMAN FOR HIRE POMPANO BEACH, FLORIDA

Giant marlin always get the blood pumping, and anyone who fishes for them wants a grander; it’s why we do it. I’ve been very lucky to fish some of the best big-fish destinations and learn from, and see, some of the best crewmen in action. My favorite bait for a giant blue or black marlin is a circle-hook-rigged tuna—yellowfin, blackfin or bonito. It’s pretty simple why: Because that’s what they eat! I’m not saying that you can’t catch them on other baits, but I am saying that I haven’t seen too many big marlin turn down a properly presented tuna.

+ H AV E A Q U E S T I O N ?

JA K E F LY N N CREWMAN FOR HIRE FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA

Different fishing styles across the globe naturally call for different baits and lures to get the attention of any large prowling marlin. However, the tuna fish always seems to end up with a home in the spread or pitch tube. Readily available in almost all big-game destinations, tunas are fairly durable, which makes them the best bait for big marlin in my mind. The bites that tunas produce only add to their value. Whether it’s pulled in the shortrigger position while rounding the corner at the No. 10 Ribbon, or being pitched to a blue switching from a teaser, I promise it will be a bite you won’t forget.

Whenever I’m asked which bait is the best for big marlin, I tend to think natural baits—dead or alive. After seeing many spreads from Bermuda to Australia, the most memorable fish always seem to appear behind a tuna or mackerel. I can’t help but think that big bait equals big fish, however, elephants do eat peanuts, and I’ve seen some nice fish behind a simple 15-inch Spanish mackerel. As for my favorite, a nice tuna of any species will do just fine. Don’t let the bait’s size intimidate you. It’s a big ocean; you just have to get out there.

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GARRETT PENLEY TRADITION CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA

In Australia, the best bait for big fish is what they call a mack tuna, but it’s basically a big bonito. When prepped correctly, they can last a full day—or more. If we find a spot where they’re thick, I capitalize on it and catch as many as possible, because the big marlin—especially the blacks—rarely turn them down. This is a hardy bait with lots of color, but even when they turn gray, they are still very likely to get piled on, as long as they aren’t soft. I think these baits produce a more aggressive bite, because once the marlin figures out it’s a tuna, it wastes no time eating it.

(FROM LEFT): COURTESY NICK BOVELL, COURTESY JAKE FLYNN, COURTESY JAMES NANTZ, COURTESY GARRETT PENLEY

NICK BOVELL CREWMAN FOR HIRE TRINIDAD, WEST INDIES

Before the Strike

Field Notes

THE MARLIN UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE You get out of it what you put into it

I have spent most of my life in the southern United States—most of my early years near the ocean. I have also admired the sport-fishing boats and dreamed of being out there. One day, I kept telling myself, one day. I created visions in my mind of lush islands, screaming turbos and hourslong fights with big marlin. Having moved to Tennessee some 37 years ago, those dreams began to further distance themselves in my mind as life’s reality took over. I had tried several times in the past to find some friends and put together a trip somewhere—anywhere—to

go offshore for a few days. Unfortunately, there weren’t too many takers. One day came and went, but then in the airport on one of my work trips, I purchased a copy of Marlin magazine. My goal was to escape reality in those pages for a few hours, and somehow rekindle my dreams. I wasn’t too far into the magazine when I saw an ad stating that Marlin University was headed to Costa Rica. I would love to do this, I thought, but not by myself. I returned home with renewed enthusiasm, and talked up the idea with some JULY 2021

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friends again. Still no interest. As life does sometimes, it lets you know when it’s time to look at the world differently. It was at that moment, I decided I was going to Marlin U, even if I had to go by myself, so I reached out to inquire. I explained my lack of billfishing experience but was completely assured of what Marlin U is all about. They were amazing in making me feel welcome, and after explaining the format and informing me that many folks attend alone, I was officially signed up for my first Marlin U experience. I was going to Guatemala.

HANNES RIBBNER, MARLIN UNIVERSITY (OPPOSITE)

BY PHILLIP KILE

+ + A B O U T T H E AU T H O R Dedicated to advancing his skills, Phillip Kile insists Marlin University is one of the best ways to get a real-world, well-rounded fishing education.

CA SA V I EJA LODG E, MAY 20 19 There’s no question about how intimidated I was on the boat that first morning. Sam White, Marlin’s editor-in-chief, was the instructor, and one of my teammates was attending his 12th-ish Marlin U. As Sam walked us through dead-bait circlehook techniques, I listened intently, and before long, I had my first bite. I was nervous. I could hear Sam in my ear: “Free-spool, count to five, slowly move the drag lever to strike, reel steadily to see if the fish is there.” I felt like I did everything as he was saying it—well, until that move-the-lever-to-strike thing. I kind of went all in and moved the lever past strike, all the way to full. And in just a few seconds, I saw this beautiful Pacific sailfish jump right behind the boat. In that same instant, the line broke and came flying back at me. The fish was gone. After everyone realized what I had done, I thought, Maybe this is not for me. However, it was a true teaching moment. Sam calmly explained what I had done, and more importantly, what I should have done. Ken, my fishing partner, also came over and told me to shake it off, and

BREAKING DOWN MARLIN UNIVERSITY EASE

INSTRUCTORS

EDUCATION

Marlin U books only premier locations, and top boats and crews, at the best times to fish. Accommodations, fishing, food and lodging is handled—all you do is pick a class, sign up and buy a plane ticket.

They are industry professionals, and I cannot say enough about them. They take a genuine interest in every person, are there to help us develop as anglers, tell amazing stories of their adventures, and are our biggest fans.

Whether you are a complete novice or the savviest fisherman, each instructor works with you to fine-tune your skills based on your experience level.

FISHING

While Marlin U strives for “all billfish, all the time,” opportunities exist for many other pelagic species. Dorado, tuna and wahoo are just a few that frequent the same waters.

ACCOMMODATIONS

From resorts with private chefs to full-service lodges to even a potential trip on a mothership at the Great Barrier Reef, the digs and food are always top-notch.

with encouragement, noted that we still had three and a half days to go. The next bite, Sam was right there again, talking me through the bite and the hookup, step by step. And this time, I landed the fish—my first sailfish. By the end of the day, I was gaining confidence and asking questions as fast as I could think of them. I have to credit the first mate also. On the ride back in, he came down from the bridge and talked me through hooking the fish again too. The next day, I was on a different boat with a different instructor. He had heard of my struggles the day before and made a point to specifically talk me through the bite once again, and in less than 24 hours on the water, I was thinking, Why did I not do this sooner? Third day: another boat, another instructor, more handson learning. Not only did each instructor take a similar approach with me, but they did it with everyone on the boat, helping each student work through their specific issues based on their level of experience. By the end of the week, I had even wired a few sailfish—what a rush! MY ANGLING FU T URE Since that first trip, I have attended five Marlin University classes, most recently to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge on Isla Parida in the Gulf of Chiriquí in It’s all about the learning experiences at Marlin University. Whether it’s your first class or your 10th, the education is ever-present.

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GOAL

You get out of it what you put into it. You can learn all you want to, ask as many questions as you would like, show interest in tying knots, rigging for the fishery or anything in between; you set your own no-pressure learning pace.

Panama, to fish on the famed Hannibal Bank—and it didn’t disappoint. As I always do on the plane ride home from Marlin U, I sank deep into thought about my experiences. This trip was unique in that it offered a different perspective into billfishing; but really, they all have. Thanks to my prior Marlin U trips—Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala, Scrub Island in the BVI to fish the North Drop after the August moon, and Los Sueños Resort and Marina in Costa Rica—I now have a network of fellow, like-minded anglers and professionals all over the country. The instructors have been outstanding in helping me get started on my own with my new-tome offshore boat, and I talk to several of the students I’ve met along the way on a regular basis. The first time, I started off just wanting to learn the basics and catch fish. Now, I get deeper and deeper into it with each class. Marlin U is an incredible opportunity for everyone. If you want to experience billfishing at its finest, I highly recommend trying it. And don’t worry if you’re going alone or don’t know anyone; you will leave with a host of new friends, not to mention great memories. I hope my thoughts have reignited your passion for big-game fishing, because in my mind, it’s been nothing but a win-win for me. And I’m pretty sure it will be for you too. That first experience even helped me name my new boat: Full Drag.

Before the Strike

Rigger’s Corner

NOTHING’S BULLETPROOF Big-marlin dreams can come true by going the extra mile

Whenever we discuss big-marlin gear, we are talking about 130-pound-class tackle. The importance of attention to detail exists in all tackle setups, especially when tournament fishing, but when you are faced with the fish of a lifetime—the one that appears in all your dreams— confidence in your tackle becomes your first concern. Before you even begin to set up your tackle for the season, you need to be sure you are prepared to use the best products available. Clients travel immense distances to have an opportunity to land their grander, and in order to provide that to them, they must stay connected. Although no tackle is completely bulletproof, you need to be sure all the T’s have

been crossed, the I’s are dotted, and that everything humanly possible is considered when it comes to your connection. LINE, KNOTS AND HANGERS At the beginning of the season, I fill my reels with 130-pound-test Marlin Braid Orange Spot Dacron for backing. This high-quality Dacron is IGFA-rated and has a heavy wax coating on it to ensure it lasts through the rigors of heavy drag and the ins and outs of the rod guides. It also features a hollow core, which allows for a knotless top shot; anytime a knot can be avoided, especially with a backing-to-top-shot connection, do it. The final 200 yards on the reel is a top shot of 130-pound Amilan-T II IGFA JULY 2021

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pre-test game line. This line is available only through Melton Tackle and has superior abrasion resistance, limited stretch, and high knot strength—all important characteristics necessary for giant black marlin and the exorbitant amount of heat put on them. This line, in my opinion, is practically indestructible. I also like to use what Aussies call a peg mark—also known as a hanger— made from 300-pound hollow-core braid that’s similar to the loop you make for a wind-on leader. The exception here is that you take your main line and run it through the core to a desired position, leaving said loop to hang on the outrigger pin. Doing so will keep the main line free of chafe by eliminating the pressure

B Y C A P T. G A R R E T T P E N L E Y

applied by pinning it in the clip, where it can be compromised by sawing back and forth in the sea state. Each rod is assigned a bait or lure for different positions in the spread: one at 20 arm lengths, one at 30, and one at 50. Once the loop is slid into position, I will serve it—or whip it—with 30-pound rigging floss to prevent it from sliding. By doing it this way, the main line never comes in contact with the clip, ensuring that every bit of your 80 pounds of drag is solid, with no weak spots. I am also a big fan of long splices. Most make theirs only 12 feet, but I prefer to make mine 20 feet. This provides just a little bit more insurance for when you have a lot of line out and you’re down to the backing. My favorite knot to tie for heavy tackle is an Australian braid. This knot is a better alternative to a traditional Bimini twist to create a small but strong loop at the end of the main line for my leader connection. After completing the braid, I whip it with wax floss, serving each end to ensure that it goes through the guides smoothly. I typically make the braid about 9 feet long so all I have left to do is loop-toloop my double line to the Dacron loop, which is then pulled through an Aussie ball-bearing swivel because I don’t use wind-on leaders. This way, there isn’t a cat’s paw or any sort of knot that connects to the swivel, and the double line is as strong as it can possibly be. Once the two are connected, I whip over that connection with wax floss for added strength and a nonharming bushing of sorts for the swivel when it hits the rod tip. MIND YOUR GUIDES AND CRIMPS; SHARPEN YO U R HOO KS The proper crimping method is vital whenever you intend to apply serious pressure to big fish. Whenever I’m using single-sleeve aluminum crimps, I feel it’s of vital importance to melt the end of the mono and mushroom the tip of the tag end so that if the crimp job wasn’t

Filing hooks is a lost art, Penley says, so take the time to correctly learn how (top). Whenever using aluminum sleeves, melt the tag end so it won’t slip through the crimp (bottom).

is quickly compromised, and you can say bye-bye to your client’s dream fish. Another thing I’m really big on is making distance marks on the main line to get a better idea of how far away we are from the double line. This keeps the entire crew informed of the situation and ready for the next move. I will make a mark on the main line with a permanent marker at 150 feet from the double line with three dash marks approximately a half-inch long (each mark indicating 50 feet), two marks at 100 feet, and one at 50 feet. It’s nice to be able to accurately communicate with the captain when these marks hit the rod tip, or have an answer if he asks, “How far?”

100 percent, there’s no way it could slip through. And it just gives added security to your gear. Chafe tubing is also critical for all small-loop connections, especially where you crimp it to make the hook loop. Having sharp hooks not only helps to ensure more hookups, but it also ensures that the hook is sharp enough to bury—and stay put—in a burly fish. Unfortunately, it seems that filing hooks is a lost art these days, mostly because hook manufacturers sell hooks that are pre-sharpened, or that stainless-steel hooks cannot be sharpened with a simple bastard file. After I have taken the time to sharpen my hooks, I will paint the barb tips with a black permanent marker to prevent them from rusting. Making sure all your rod’s roller guides are greased up and spinning freely is also something people tend to overlook and take for granted. Keep in mind that whenever a fish makes a big run under heavy drag, that line can get burned up in the roller guide if it’s seized up. If the rollers aren’t functioning properly, the line

L ET I T OU T After a long fight, or a big day with lots of bites, I like to drop my lines back off the rod tip as we run home. Let out the line at minimum to the Dacron-to-mono connection point and levelwind it all back on, making sure to feel the top shot with your fingers as it gets back on the reel—doing this will put your mind at ease knowing you’re good to go for the next day. This will also take any unwanted spin out of the line that tends to happen while trolling. Knowing your gear is up to par and looks nice and neat not only makes your anglers feel confident in the operation they chose to chase their dream fish with, but it also will help you—and your captain —sleep better at night. Overall, if you ever have any doubt in your mind that your gear is even the slightest bit off-par, you are much better off going ahead and making it right. You never know what sea monster could jump on the end of that line. The ocean is limitless in that any day could be that day. The point here is this: Don’t half-ass anything, ever. If you don’t have time to do it right, you sure as heck don’t have time to do it twice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Garrett Penley has been big-game fishing his entire life. Choosing to make it his career when he was just 14, he worked as a mate for his father in Los Sueños, Costa Rica, where he completed 15 seasons. He has spent five seasons in Australia, six in the Dominican Republic, and has been part of $1.4 million in tournament winnings. He is also a USCG-licensed captain.

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YOUR BEST SHOT AT THE BLUE OR BLACK MARLIN OF A LIFETIME IS LIKELY HERE

By Sam White

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JON WHITTLE/MARLIN

Cape Verde is a wellknown hotspot for big blues, producing consistently good fishing season after season.

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SINCE HUMANS first learned to fish, catch-

ing the largest of a specific species has been the standard benchmark to measure success. With that simple goal in mind, we embark on a journey to quantify the world’s very best destinations in terms of their potential to produce the largest blue and black marlin. Since the late 1960s, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been the world’s premier destination for black marlin (right). Fish over the 1,000-pound mark are landed or released there each season.

for the marlin fishery on the reef, stretching hundreds of miles from Lizard Island in the north and winding down the coast south to Fraser Island. A glance at the IGFA world records shows fish over 1,000 pounds in the men’s 20-, 30-, 50- and 80-pound-test categories, as well as the women’s 50- and 80-pound marks. Simply put, it’s the most consistent location in the world for big black marlin. If you’re a heavy-tackle enthusiast, hit the reef from September through December, and be ready for a sea monster in the spread.

AUSTRALIA Numerous IGFA world records; 894 blacks over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch from the east coast of Australia CLAIMS TO FAME:

When Americans George Bransford and Richard Obach teamed up to land the first 1,000-pound black marlin—1,064 pounds, to be exact—off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in September 1966, the news reverberated like a sonic boom throughout the worldwide big-game fishing community, and this new destination was front and center. The seaside community of Cairns became the epicenter JULY 2021

THE AZORES CLAIMS TO FAME: Two IGFA world records for blue

marlin over 1,000 pounds; additional records for men’s 4- and 12-pound-test and women’s 16-pound 50

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KELLY DALLING FALLON, SARIONUNES/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (OPPOSITE)

To help accomplish this task, we used several important key indicators. The first is the list of IGFA world records—useful because it points to the largest fish in several categories of line classes, as well as women’s and men’s records. The drawback is that some of the records are quite old and might represent fisheries that are no longer viable. The next was the list of winners of the annual Blue Marlin World Cup, an around-the-world tournament held each year on July 4, where teams fish for eight hours in their respective time zones anywhere on the planet. This is significant because if you want a shot at a double-extra-large blue marlin, you have to spend your day in places where big fish are found in good numbers. The third metric is Grander Watch (granderwatch.com), a website that chronicles and highlights the achievement of catching blue and black marlin weighing more than 1,000 pounds. Of the three, this is perhaps the most useful in determining where to fish for that trophy of a lifetime, although it’s important to note that not all fish over 1,000 pounds are necessarily weighed in order to be reported; many are released. Here are our top choices, presented in alphabetical order.

classes; 14 blue marlin over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch

The Azores

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Just 15 nautical miles south of Horta on the island of Faial in the Azores, the Condor Bank rises sharply to the surface. It’s a natural-bait magnet, and the big blue marlin are not far behind. The average size of the marlin is much of the allure here, with 400- to 500-pound fish in abundance; each season, blues of 800 or more pounds are also encountered with amazing frequency. The prime fishing season, from August through October, coincides with relatively calm sea conditions as well. The Azores record is 1,310 pounds, and it’s also home to the IGFA men’s 80-pound-test record of 1,190 pounds, as well as the men’s 50-pound

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fish—a 1,146-pounder—among a slew of men’s and women’s line-class records. Along with Madeira, the Azores is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, and the European influence on the culture of the islands is another notable attraction.

B E RMUDA Eight World Cup wins, including a three-year stretch from 2003 to 2005; two of those World Cup winners were fish weighing over 1,000 pounds; 19 blue marlin over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch CLAIMS TO FAME:

The Challenger Bank off Bermuda has produced scores of huge fish, including several World Cup winners (below). Kona, Hawaii, is home to the IGFA all-tackle worldrecord Pacific blue marlin (opposite).

An idyllic island outpost in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 600 miles east of North Carolina, Bermuda conjures images of pink sand beaches and those iconic Bermuda shorts, but marlin fishermen think in terms of size—Bermuda has it in spades. With eight World Cup wins, it’s second only to Hawaii as the destination with the

most victories, producing two marlin over 1,000 pounds for the annual Fourth of July tournament, including the largest in the event’s history when an 1,195-pounder was caught there in 1993 by angler Don Hunt. It’s also home to the Bermuda Triple Crown, a series of top-shelf tournaments that take place throughout the month of July that highlight the outstanding action on the Challenger and Argus banks just offshore southwest of the Bermuda capital of Hamilton. The marinas, restaurants and accommodations are world-class as well.

B RA ZI L CLAIMS TO FAME: The IGFA all-tackle Atlantic blue

marlin world record; eight additional blue marlin over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch When Paulo Amorim headed out for a day of marlin fishing off Vitoria, Brazil, on February 29, 1992, aboard Duda Mares, he had no idea he would cement

his nation’s legacy as a big-marlin destination. It was on that day that he landed the men’s all-tackle IGFA world-record Atlantic blue marlin: a 1,402pound behemoth. Today, most of the sport-fishing action centers on Cabo Frio, east of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, and Canavieiras, up the coast to the north of Rio, which is home to several well-known charter operations. Canavieiras is just 17 miles from the Royal Charlotte Bank, which runs 55 miles to the east. When the southerly current slams into the northern edge, it creates an explosion of cold, nutrient-rich water. Blue marlin can be caught there year-round, but the height of the season is generally from October through March.

C APE VE RDE Five World Cup wins, including one over 1,000 pounds; 25 blue marlin over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch, including five landed by a single angler during his career

CLAIMS TO FAME:

Wild and untamed, Cape Verde is comprised of numerous islands off the western coast of Africa that cover hundreds of square miles of prime blue marlin real estate. The fish here are both large and plentiful, as evidenced by the region’s five World Cup wins, including the 2020 fish of 964 pounds. From the capital of Mindelo on the island of São Vicente, fishermen can spread out to Santo Antão to the northwest and São Nicolau back to the southeast, among many other hotspots. The season gets underway in earnest around March; it can be windy and rough, but it’s possible to fish in the lee of the islands on occasion as well.

THE GULF OF MEXICO record blue marlin over 1,000 pounds TOM SPENCER (LEFT), COURTESY IGFA/IGFA.ORG (TOP), BALATE DORIN/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (BOTTOM)

Nine World Cup wins; the IGFA all-tackle world-record Pacific blue marlin; 1,000-plus-pound blues IGFA records for men’s 30- and 50-pound-test classes; additional records in the women’s 20- and 130-pound classes; 166 marlin over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch from throughout the Hawaiian Islands, 99 of those from Kona

CLAIMS TO FAME:

When President Eisenhower signed the proclamation naming Hawaii as the 50th US state on August 21, 1959, it was already home to a small but growing postwar charter fleet, whose anglers were encountering some truly monstrous blue marlin from time to time, fishing with live bait and then lures as the knowledge and technology adapted to the new technique. In 1954, Capt. George Parker landed a 1,002-pound blue marlin out of Kona on a homemade lure—it was the first blue over 1,000 pounds and smashed the IGFA world record at the time. Years later, angler Jay de Beaubien caught a blue weighing 1,376 pounds fishing aboard No Problem with Capt. Bobby Brown in 1982, a fish that remains the men’s IGFA all-tackle world record for the species to this day. More recently, Capt. Marlin Parker won the 2019 Big Island Marlin Tournament with a 1,035.5-pound blue, further proof that giant blues still abound in the waters throughout the Hawaiian Islands. In fact, there have been more Pacific blue marlin over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch from Hawaii than any other destination on the planet.

MADE IRA Six World Cup wins, including three back-to-back wins from 1995 through 1997; IGFA world records in the men’s 20- and 30-pound-test divisions and women’s 8-, 12-, 20-, 30- and 80-pound divisions; 58 blue marlin over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch

CLAIMS TO FAME:

CLAIMS TO FAME: Two World Cup wins; three state-

With bait-attracting oil and natural-gas platforms scattered from Venice in the northern Gulf to the waters off Texas, the Gulf of Mexico is home to arguably the most consistent big-marlin fishery in the United States. A glance at the state records shows that big fish abound: The Florida mark is a 1,046-pounder from Destin, and Louisiana’s marlin is 1,018 pounds, weighed in Venice. The Mississippi record is 1,054 pounds, caught during the 2002 Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic in Biloxi by Barry Carr aboard Sea Wolff. The final two states are near misses to the 1,000-pound club: The Texas record is 972 pounds, and the Alabama state-record blue marlin was landed in 2020 by angler Ginger Myers and weighed 851 pounds. This is also a fishery that’s significantly impacted by game-changing technology—boats are bigger and faster, with much longer range than ever before, while the combination of sonar and the widespread use of live bait has undoubtedly made specifically targeting large blue marlin much more commonplace. JULY 2021

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It doesn’t happen every year, due in part to the cyclical nature of many of the world’s big-marlin destinations, but when it’s on, Madeira can be crazy

Madeira

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for huge blues. This archipelago consists of four primary islands located off the northwestern coast of Africa, and is an autonomous region of Portugal. In the late 1990s, it produced back-to-back wins in the World Cup, as well as three world records, notably an 872-pound blue for Stewart Campbell, which set the IGFA men’s 30-pound-test record. In 2018, Gary Carter landed an 806-pound fish in Madeira to earn the 20-pound record, just one of many held by him and his wife, Sherrell. The fishing is close to

HONORABLE MENTIONS These destinations didn’t quite make the cut but are still memorable enough to be included in this list.

AUSTRALIA’S WEST COAST While the land Down Under is documented as the world’s best black marlin destination, it was not until 2018 that the

FRENCH POLYNESIA An overseas collectivity of France comprised of more than 100 islands in the South Pacific, French Polynesia includes such memorable destinations as Tahiti, Bora Bora, and the Tuamotu archipelago, all of which are astride some interesting bottom structure and fringed by lush coral atolls. Numerous large blue marlin have been reported to Grander Watch over the years, including a 1,474-pounder in 2015 and a 1,301-pound fish in 2011. Most recently, a blue marlin weighing 1,106 pounds was caught in January 2021. Many feel that these waters could produce the next all-tackle world-record Pacific blue marlin.

shore and in flat-calm sea conditions and beautiful weather, which are always welcome.

MAURITIUS CLAIMS TO FAME: IGFA men’s 80-pound-test world

record; 52 more over 1,000 pounds reported to Grander Watch Perhaps not as well-known as many of the other destinations on this list, the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius might fly under the radar, but it certainly produces some giant fish. The season begins in November and runs through April most years. According to Grander Watch, the Mauritius national-record blue marlin weighed 1,430 pounds and was caught by angler Louis Simonis

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The Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius is gaining a reputation for producing big blue marlin (above), while North Carolina’s Oregon Inlet is well-known for legendary catches, including the state record (opposite), which was landed in 2008.

COURTESY IGFA/IGFA.ORG (LEFT), RICHARD GIBSON (ABOVE), HARRY R. HINDMARSH (OPPOSITE)

PERU Home to the IGFA’s alltackle black marlin world record at 1,560 pounds, as well as the women’s all-tackle record of 1,525 pounds for Mrs. Charles Hughes (above), Peru has produced some memorable catches, although both records are quite dated (1953 and 1954, respectively). However, a new resort and marina development, Marina Coast Peru, is now well underway, just 25 miles north of Cabo Blanco and its historic fishing grounds. Time will tell if there could be a return to those glory days of old.

nation celebrated its first blue marlin over 1,000 pounds. That event took place at the wild and woolly western coastal town of Exmouth on the country’s western coast, when Capt. Eddy Lawler weighed a fish of 1,089 pounds. Exmouth is home to a wide number of incredible offshore fisheries, including, it seems, big blue marlin.

on Challenger I in 1984. Two others in excess of 1,300 pounds have also been weighed there: a 1,348-pound blue in 1987 and a 1,355-pounder in 1988. In 2007, it produced the men’s 80-pound-test world record: a 1,237-pounder for multiple-world-record-holder Stephen Kreupl. Black marlin abound there as well.

NORTH CAROLINA State record over 1,000 pounds; one World Cup win; eight additional blues reported to Grander Watch

CLAIMS TO FAME:

Capt. Harry Baum put the Old North State on the big-marlin map in 1974 when his angler, Jack Herrington, caught the state’s first grander: a

fish weighing 1,142 pounds, on Jo Boy, fishing out of Oregon Inlet. Since then, there have been at least eight additional blue marlin in excess of 1,000 pounds, including the state record: a 1,228-pounder caught for the win in the 2008 Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament by Trey Irvine aboard Mimi, captained by Mike King. It also produced a World Cup winner in 1999 when Robert Gollahon caught a 763-pound blue on Southern Exposure. Late summer and early fall are prime times off the Carolina coast from Morehead City to Oregon Inlet, with teams tempting big blues on artificial lures and heavy tackle in popular tournaments such as the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament and the aforementioned Pirate’s Cove event.

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PROMISES, SECOND CHANCES AND LETTING GO A fisherman’s journey of realizing the difference between the catch of a lifetime and its real significance

RODERICK JONGSCHAAP

B Y C A P T. K E N T O N G E E R

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are: a direct connection to nature and a direct line to our soul. A panfish captured on a stick and a piece of string can be as equally meaningful to a fisherman as landing a 1,000-pound marlin on a $2,500 state-of-the-art outfit. Every fisherman has a journey with individual goals to support that journey. We might enjoy parts of the adventure with others by our sides, but the most memorable moments are often shared alone. It’s the fish of a lifetime we release despite knowing we will never see it again. It’s the King of the Pond we JULY 2021

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spend years trying to capture, and in the moment we finally do, we quickly let it go to continue its reign. Here is where people often confuse the size of a fish with its true meaning and significance. And that is how I found my entire fishing life flashing before me, all because of a promise.

R EMEMBER ING SCA R BACK I believe that a blue marlin of unworldly proportions is put on this planet to humble even the largest of egos. Scarback took up a short residence on Hawaii’s Cross Seamount but retains a permanent

JOE BYRUM/JAYBLES PHOTOGRAPHY; MAP: FREEVECTORMAPS.COM

there’s anything I’ve learned from listening to a lifetime of fish stories, it’s that the best ones are often unbelievable yet totally true. I have also learned that, at times, what we leave behind is often more important than what we take with us. The fish you’re trying to catch really has little do with the amount of enjoyment that comes from its capture. In fact, the physical catch itself often isn’t nearly as important—or as exciting—as the journey that led you to that moment. The finest novelist couldn’t describe most of the greatest moments of a fisherman’s career—not because elegant enough words don’t exist to paint the picture, but because fishing in its purest form is a feeling, one you can’t fake and one that can’t be taken away from you. Nor is it an action. Rather, it’s a mindset, a way of life—a primal vibration stored deep inside the human spirit that rises to the surface whenever our hands touch the rod at just the right moment. It is rarely completely understood by anyone other than the participants. The term “fishing” is often confused by outsiders as being a hobby. An onlooker might view the cumbersome equipment found on a gameboat as nothing more than a wiggling stick one dances above a country stream. But in reality, the apparatus are extensions of who we

Vicious Cycle (left) heads to the Cross Seamount. Located some 157 nm south-southwest of Honolulu, Cross is the shallowest of the Geologists Seamounts, its plateau rising 2,200 fathoms from the Pacific seafloor.

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residence in my mind. I would see her in all her glory for two trips in a row. This freak of nature was adorned with two giant scars across her back, looking as if she’d had a run-in with a boat and won. Every ounce of my soul wanted to say otherwise, but no part of me believes that a rod and reel could catch this wickedly awesome beast. My first encounter with Scarback was impressive, and perhaps the most humbling of all my fishing experiences. We were working a huge pile of bigeyes— likely some 80 tons’ worth—that refused

to bite. While it’s not unusual for fish not to bite, it is extremely rare to find such a big pile that doesn’t have a single willing participant. No matter how I drove on the school or what technique we used, they refused. We could see tuna swimming all around the boat, but they let the chum drift by—untouched. Growing tired of the tuna charades, I decided to leave them in search of others. The funny part was that even though I wanted to leave them, they now refused to leave me. The school was following me everywhere I went. We call this JULY 2021

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“floating” or “walking the pile,” meaning that the tuna get locked onto your boat like they innately do to flotsam. It’s their natural desire and attraction to be around structure, and they followed me like a loyal dog. An hour later, the tuna decided to throw the switch. Just as I took the first bite of my lunch, the danglers started to explode with a nice class of fish. Sixtyto 90-pound bigeyes were committed to hanging themselves on the 12-inch rubber squid suspended from the metal dangler bars, with total disregard for anything else. The tuna battled for the lures, none of which were more than 4 feet from the boat. The second we yanked a fish over the rail, another tuna would engulf the squid when it hit the water again. It was a sight, but it was nothing compared with what I was about to witness. When I first saw the ominous black figure, I immediately said to the crew, “Great, whales—here we go again....” But as the shadow grew, so did my disbelief. Holy Mary, that’s a marlin, I thought. “Look! Look, look!” I screamed aloud, unable to articulate anything more intelligible. The creature had everyone’s attention as it effortlessly inhaled a 90-pound tuna hanging on the back dangler just inches from the boat. The fish broke the 900-pound mono leader with

JOE BYRUM/JAYBLES PHOTOGRAPHY (2), ANDREW TITMUS/ALAMY (TOP RIGHT)

The back deck of Vicious Cycle is a whirlwind of activity when the bite is on (opposite). Capt. Kenton Geer (left) dials in his sounder in anticipation of a big day at the seamounts. Bigeye tuna grace the Honolulu auction floor (above).

little more than a slight ping. The tuna suddenly skyrocketed around the boat. An even-more-awkward stillness followed; we continued motoring slowly down-sea. I just stood on the back deck, mouth open, trying to comprehend what the hell I had just seen. The fish was so radically big, I wouldn’t want to attach a number to it. Then I made a rookie mistake: “Boys,” I said, “you will never see that again—never ever, ever, ever!” And just as I finished that sentence, the danglers unexpectedly erupted again. It seemed that the tuna had returned to feed, and we started catching them like nothing had ever happened. No part of me expected the tuna to return, and I didn’t think I’d ever see that marlin again. But, just as I pulled in a 60-pounder, I watched that magnificent fish come up and grab an 80-pounder so close to me that I reached out and tried to touch its massive dorsal fin. The vessel shook like an earthquake as tunas bounced off the propeller blades, and my heart shuddered twice as hard. The beast ate another hooked tuna. The first time, she revealed herself from the depths to show us how unbelievably powerful she was. Then, she showed us how calculated she could be: slowly and purposefully coming from behind. The tuna may have been in a panic, but she was not. And with a slight flick of her head, she gracefully swam off with that 80-pound tuna hanging out of her mouth like a dog with a bone. As the biggest fish I’d ever seen

disappeared, I thought how strange it was that I was really happy knowing some fish just aren’t meant to be caught; she was one of those fish. I wondered if even the most optimistic dreamers had ever thought they’d actually see one that big someday. I certainly did not.

JUST A NOTHER DAY I took watch around noon as we approached the fishing grounds. I’d held the wheel through the night and slept away the early morning. The first thing I noticed when I awoke was that the lures weren’t in the water, despite the sun being up for hours. I grumbled something like: “What? Are you guys all rich now, just out here yachting?” The crew looked at me with confused smiles as I grabbed a couple of my standard rigged jets, but the lures looked as haggard as the women I generally take home after last call. Well, that’s not going to work, I thought, I’m way too sober to be seen with these things hanging around the boat. Another search of my bag produced two pretty ladies. One was a brand-new chrome jet head that shone like the top of the Chrysler Building, and the other a triple-skirted black-headed bullet that Jonah Marks gifted to me before going to Australia. Cowering from the heavy spray, I ran out on the deck barefooted and hurriedly set the lures. Disgusted, I found myself soaked from head to toe, running back into the cabin to towel off and go about my daily onboard yoga routine. Twenty-five JULY 2021

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minutes passed when I found myself in a distorted downward-facing dog staring at the spread. Something is going to eat that bullet, I thought, as it dish-ragged down the Pacific swells. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind did I witness the most mind-blowing head-and-shoulders marlin bite—and to this day, the only one I’ve ever watched upside down. The overly committed bite was absolutely radical; her initial run was legendary as the old Penn Senator screamed, throwing a 6-foot cloud of dried salt around it. Every time I thought that the fish was done jumping, she jumped again, and again. It was breathtaking. The water exploded around her like she was setting depth charges, thrusting her massive head out of the water, seemingly running

I JUST STOOD ON THE BACK DECK, MOUTH OPEN, TRYING TO COMPREHEND WHAT THE HELL I JUST SAW. THE FISH WAS SO RADICALLY BIG, I WOULDN’T WANT TO ATTACH A NUMBER TO IT.

“IN THAT MOMENT, A PROMISE WAS MADE, AND I WAS DESTINED, NOT ONLY AS A FATHER BUT AS A MAN OF MY WORD, TO KEEP IT.” “No gaff,” I answered. “No kill, no keep?” they asked in unison. “No, boys, it’s too big to keep,” I said, putting my foot down. As an outsider looking in, you’d think I was totally insane. And my crew’s faces showed it. The universe has a funny way of testing us sometimes. I could only laugh: Of course the next marlin I caught would be this one.

A PROMISE Just days prior to this experience, my eldest son, Kanyon, and I were talking. As the conversation progressed from one topic to another, he eventually uttered the words: “You should let big marlin go, Dad, so I catch them someday.” I stood contemplating this request: Was it even possible that the ocean’s big marlin were destined for extinction as my son approached his best fishing years? While I seriously doubted it, I said what any devoted father would: “How ’bout this, buddy? I’ll let the next big marlin I catch go, just for you.” “Great idea, Dad!” he exclaimed. In that moment, a promise was made, and I was destined, not only as a father but as a man of my word, to keep it. I grabbed the leviathan’s giant baseball-bat-like bill, remembering the promise I made to my son. I struggled to hold on as she pinned my body to the

The quality time the author and his 9-year-old son, Kanyon (above, left), spend together reinforces a father-son bond that is necessary to withstand any inherent challenges that arise whenever Geer must be at sea providing for his family.

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covering board: my ribs compressed, my diaphragm aching, and my breathing labored. I mentally noted that a journey of nearly 20 years took two hours and 14 minutes to complete. I had envisioned this moment countless times: while jogging, standing in line at the bank, staring out airplane windows, even while making love. But none of my dreams could prepare me for how it would feel to reach the climax of my marlin-fishing career. There was no conflict, sadness or remorse. Before the promise, there were never any questions—not a single doubt about killing the beast before me. My greatest fantasies included my children, who would be there to celebrate in some sort of tribal family ritual. I would share her flesh with my friends, drink beers at the dock with her bill slung proudly over my shoulder. It was supposed to be the greatest day of my life, but that’s not how it felt at all. Sometimes there is something

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on her giant pectoral fins, and even the turbulent seas seemed tranquil compared with her chaotic fight display. I cranked on the smoking reel for as long as I could before it became obvious that if I didn’t drive on this fish, we were going to get spooled. It was an endless standoff. Despite turning and chasing the fish, we were going full noise and couldn’t get an inch of string back on the reel. I stared out my driver’s-side window at the monofilament-to-Dacron splice for what seemed like forever (the GoPro would later reveal that “forever” was 13 minutes), watching a splice that would not move; even though the boat was belching soot and giving it everything it had, the fish insisted on swimming up-sea. My crew did an awesome job, from cranking like champions to wiring and handling the fish boatside. She was a big, absolutely gorgeous fish. Beautifully proportioned—every bit a thousand pounds—and massively thick all the way to her tail. She’s a proper one, all right—even perfect—and the biggest blue marlin I’ve ever caught on rod and reel. It wouldn’t be hard to argue that her snooter would have looked awesome on my desk at home, but I told the boys to put the gaffs away. “No gaff?” one of them asked.

more powerful in knowing you could do something but make a conscious decision not to, more power in letting it be rather than killing it. That power was a promise.

EMOTIONA L A FTER M ATH A N D LETTING GO So, I let the big fish go, patting her giant head, telling her she’d better thank a little boy named Kanyon. Strangely, the old soul seemed to acknowledge my suggestion with a giant slap of her tail as I tipped my lucky hat’s tired visor in a prolonged nod, as if to say in a slow, Southern drawl, “Well, thank ya, ma’am,” as she swam away. Again, I found myself with the same strange feeling that some fish weren’t meant to be captured. Even though this was supposed to be my turn—my moment—it was bigger than that. Even though I was supposed to take her life, fulfill my bloodlust, balloon my ego and quell my desire, I didn’t. It just wasn’t my

time to join the past legends on that old Grander Wall in downtown Kailua-Kona. I emotionally shook off the previous 20 years of want, and it began to feel oddly warm and fuzzy. What had changed? For most of my career, I’ve measured my self-worth by what the scale read. How many tons of tuna could I put on the auction floor? Or how many pounds of marlin could I string up by its tail? An endless quest of fish has afforded, and continues to afford, me loads of fun, and at times, a lot of money. But I never went fishing for the money; I went for the indescribable feeling that is fishing. I went to connect with nature in the only way I know how. I’ve lived life as a square peg in a world full of circular holes, often uncomfortable and socially awkward, so I went to sea to fill a void that seemed patchable only with salt water. I fished, because no matter how hard things ever got onshore, I knew that there was a place past the JULY 2021

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horizon reserved just for me. It takes many years of experience and vast amounts of pride swallowing, but when you are finally able to grasp that these beloved creatures are truly more beautiful in their own environment— wild and free—doing what they were put on Earth to do, that is the moment when you honestly discover the meaning of the word “love,” the meaning of a promise kept. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Capt. Kenton Geer is a working commercial fisherman based out of Kona, Hawaii, targeting tuna aboard his 49-foot Pelican Bay, Vicious Cycle. He is also the author of Vicious Cycle: Whiskey, Women and Water, a memoir. His professional experience in both the private and charter sector has resulted in many top-place tournament finishes.

A LURE-MAKER’ ODYSSE The journey from part time to world class is never an easy one

STORY AND PHOTOS B Y C A P T. J O E B Y R U M

JULY 2021

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A LURE-MAKER’S ODYSSEY

n our sport, no piece of gear is probably scrutinized, inquired about, second-guessed or glorified more than the lure. “What did you catch ’em on?” and “What color?” might be two of the most frequently asked questions in the industry, from firsttime charter guests to seasoned, professional skippers. But even with all the hours spent staring at shelves full of lures (and all the dollars we spend on them), the lure-maker—and the process in which these performance-driven pieces of art are created—is often taken for granted. The path to creating something a fisherman will trust to tantalize a giant blue marlin—should he be fortunate enough to cross paths with one—can be a rocky road. And similar to fighting that fish of a lifetime, the hours of pain and stress involved in lure-making are rewarding—if you can stick it out.

FROM HUMBLE B EG IN NIN G S

Nick Durham grew up in Sydney, Australia, but began his big-game-fishing obsession in Tonga, where his mom was working with AusAid during one of his school holidays. At about 15 years old, he hitched a ride on one of the local tuna hand-lining skiffs to get his first taste of bluewater fishing for offshore species and then caught his first billfish —a sailfish—around the same time. Once his family was back home in Sydney, Durham’s dad called in a favor with an old friend to introduce him to the Sydney Game Fishing Club in hopes of finding some crews to

nurture his love of fishing. As luck would have it, Glenn and Karen Wright were one of the first people whom Durham met and offered for him to come out with them on their boat, at the time a 32-foot Cresta named Tantrum. Fishing with the Wrights ended up being the perfect boot camp for Durham to learn the ins and outs of big-game fishing, with their program being focused mostly on billfish, tuna and sharks. They pulled lures often and targeted blue marlin more than most fishing teams in the area at that time. The Tantrum team also spent significant time fishing light tackle for blues, which in turn led to some of those JULY 2021

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expensive lures being lost. This important fact, as well as Durham being introduced to the Hawaiian-style trolling lures, is what really got him interested in making lures of his own. “I still remember the first day I saw a Hawaiian-made tube lure running,” Durham recalls. “I was blown away by the rooster-tailing action and all the cool things that tubes do. I had no idea a lure could do that, and of course it soon got eaten by a blue marlin on the long corner.” He started a lure collection of his own and came across Jim Rizzuto’s Luremaking series of books as a how-to guide to start making them himself. As he began to try to craft his

own creations, he’d also have the good fortune of a family friend with a hobby of clockmaking. He taught Durham how to use a metal lathe and assisted him with turning his first lure: a tube made out of wood that would become the master for his first mold. Durham pays homage to the shape that inspired him with the tube shape that’s a part of his logo today. As the passion grew, the need for a workshop became apparent, so his dad offered the back garden shed, and together they dug a 20-yard trench from the house to facilitate a power supply. This spawned what would soon be the first home of Tantrum Lures. Working at a local JULY 2021

Tantrum lures are designed to be reliable performers in the spread. Founder Nick Durham (opposite) adjusts a lure’s hook-set before deployment. Hawaiian-style trolling lures are one part art, one part black magic (above).

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supermarket part time while finishing high school, Durham saved his money to buy a lathe of his own and began to experiment with making his own designs. During this period of figuring out the process with various successes and failures, he reached out to a few other lure-makers to get some insight, and found that many weren’t too keen on offering any help. But through an internet forum, he was able to strike up a friendship with legendary captain and lure-maker Bart Miller, who proved to be an invaluable resource. Durham and Miller began an email exchange, with Miller answering questions and offering advice to steer him in the right

A LURE-MAKER’S ODYSSEY

direction and solve some of the problems he was encountering along the way. Durham credits him with nurturing his growth as a lure-maker and helping to flatten the learning curve during a critical time. As Durham achieved success in the shop, he also began to produce it on the water. His lures were finding their targets with blue marlin catches behind Tantrum. Around age 18, he had the opportunity to wire his first 500-pound blue marlin caught on his gear, the Large Bandit that’s still one of his most popular shapes. BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS

Almost all success stories have their share of struggles

“ALONG THE J O U R N E Y, THERE’S SO MUCH BLOOD, S W E AT A N D T E A R S T H AT G O I N TO I T, IN THE END, I GUESS IT’S THE SETBACKS AND FAILURES T H AT R E A L LY M A K E Y O U .”

in the beginning and growing phases, and Tantrum Lures was no exception. As Durham made more lures and word got out about his success locally, he began to get orders, selling his first lure at age 19. Since he didn’t get started with the intention of this becoming a full-fledged business, Durham says that he was often overwhelmed with trying to produce the quality of lures that he demanded at the pace required to fulfill the orders that were starting to flood in. He says that he probably woke up the neighbors a few nights when imperfect lures came out of the mold and were hurtled against the shed wall as penance. He found his footing but realized that he might have to make changes to get the consistency that he coveted from his products. This led him to switch up his process from the traditional polyester resin to a polyurethane resin that would enable each lure to come out of the mold as an almost-finished product. Not only would this move speed up production, but the lack of sanding and polishing would make each completed head design identical in shape and maximize the consistency of their performance as well. But completely flipping the process of an already successful project is no easy task. Changing from polyester to polyurethane could be compared to a boatbuilder JULY 2021

switching from cold-molded wood hulls to straight fiberglass. Durham freely admits that this stage of Tantrum was among his most difficult periods as a lure-maker, and that giving up on the change certainly entered his mind. Not only did the switch require a significant financial sacrifice in equipment, but the nuances of the Sydney climate also created its own set of problems. There was no one to ask for advice, so meeting his goal was simply a matter of trial and error—a lot of it. “There were all kinds of stuff-ups, weird frosting on the surface of the heads, or resin not properly curing —problems where you wonder if it’s really worth it,”

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Durham says about that time. “But then I came out the other side. Along the journey, there’s so much blood, sweat and tears that go into it, in the end, I guess it’s the setbacks and failures that really make you.” With time, effort and a lot of lure heads that ended up in the trash, Durham got the process dialed in. It took about a year of successes and failures before he started to consistently get the product he was looking for. He found solutions to one problem at a time until each Bandit and Plunger came out just like the last, and the blemish pile shrank to the rare cosmetic imperfection. Now Tantrum could be more streamlined

and efficient, as well as guarantee that if you happen to lose your magic Tantrum, it could be replaced with no loss in performance. Durham had finally made it to the other side, and Tantrum was starting to become more than just a part-time business. T HE M ODER N DAYS

In 2017, Durham decided to leave his full-time job in marketing and put his full attention into Tantrum Lures. He thought his corporate hiatus might be just a yearlong trial run, but after a season

of testing in Kona, Hawaii, while fishing with Jason Holtz on Pursuit, the switch was permanent. Fishing in the birthplace of modern lure-fishing and in the perfect proving grounds for his creations, his lures were an immediate success. Legendary Kona skipper Chip Van Mols was another mentor to Durham in the marlin fishing game, and his meticulous rigging style matched Durham’s detail-oriented approach. Van Mols offered his input on the Tantrum shapes, which Durham gladly took

into account when tweaking and modifying his products. He credits Van Mols’ honest feedback as one of his biggest influences in making refinements and improvements to the Tantrum line; the experienced captain became an early Tantrum ambassador and adviser, as he remains today. Other Kona captains took notice as well, with Tantrums soon becoming a staple in one of the most hardcore lure fisheries in the world. Falling in love with the climate and year-round blue marlin lure fishery, Durham

A labor of love: From handcrafting the inserts (opposite) to working on new head shapes and styles (below), each lure receives a personal touch. Durham credits the late Capt. Bart Miller for his help in getting started as a lure-maker.

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Just one of several tournamentwinning fish that fell for a Tantrum (right). Durham continues research and development amid Hawaii’s calm seas and blue marlin as frequently as possible (below).

and his wife, Alex, decided to make the full-time move to the Big Island of Hawaii in November 2019. He trained a friend back in Sydney to take over production of his lures in Australia, while he focused on his custom shop in Kona, simultaneously doing daily research and development while fishing on Pursuit. Alex’s involvement in Tantrum also can’t go unmentioned: She takes

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a large role with Tantrum in everything from business dealings to pouring lures when her husband is away fishing. She’s also no stranger to big fish; she once held the women’s 130-pound record Pacific blue marlin of 958 pounds, caught with Durham and Van Mols in 2013. Durham takes pride in the fact that his lures are built for functionality on the water. He’s focused on making the

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Hawaiian-style lure more user-friendly to both novices and professionals to run with regularity. “Pulling these types of lures is known as an art form, and it’s often a bit of a lottery if your new lure is going to run the way you want,” he says. “I think what I’ve done is built a product that you can rely on to do what you want it to do right out of the gate.” His products are created for practical

application, and they have the track record to back that up. It’s a brand that started because of demand and has continued due to the productivity of the products. Durham personally fishes his lures behind Pursuit out of Kona more than 200 days per year, as well as gathering input from his pro staff and top captains around the world running Tantrums. You can guarantee that almost

Notable Accomplishments Despite being in business full time for just a handful of years, Tantrum lures have racked up some notable achievements. Among many others, these include: Tying the Kona record for most blue marlin releases in a single day, going 7-for-7 on Pursuit, 2018. Setting the record for the most blue marlin releases in Port Stephens, Australia, going 8-for-8 in the Port Stephens Billfish Shootout on Cookie, 2018. Sweeping the podium in the Kiama Blowhole Big Fish Classic with blue marlin weighing 393, 427 and 500 pounds on Doghouse, 2019. Most blue marlin captures by a Kona captain in a single year (200) by Chuck Wigzell, Hooked Up and EZ Pickens, 2019. First place in the Kona Luremakers Challenge, 2017. Countless other tournament wins and blue marlin captures over 500 pounds.

every day a Tantrum is being pulled through the water somewhere. Recently, Durham expanded his product line to include a trolling hook that he designed and is produced by Fudo. This is just another example of his seeing a need in the marlin trolling world and trying to improve on what’s currently available— a benefit of being a lure and tackle manufacturer who uses and relies on the success of his own products in the context of a professional crewman. These hooks have already made an impact on the marlin fishing world, with rave reviews from those who have been using them so far. He’s also created a line of Strobez skirts and will soon release a full line of rubber skirts to more completely meet the needs of trolling lure-fishermen. All of these products are based on realworld testing from some of the best big-game fishermen who want to maximize the quality of the gear they pull. JULY 2021

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Durham’s foray into lure-making has been a wild and winding road. Through hard work and perseverance, he’s become known as one of the best and most detailoriented lure-makers in the game today. With his already successful line of lures and his new additions of skirts and trolling hooks, Tantrum hopes to guide anglers all over the world to bigger fish and more achievements in the coming years. This dedication to billfishing success is the reason that captains everywhere have confidence when they throw a Tantrum over the transom. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Capt. Joe Byrum is a North Carolina native based out of Kona, Hawaii, working as a photographer, filmmaker, writer and crewman aboard the 37-foot Merritt Benchmark. Byrum is an international traveler, frequenting the best billfish destinations around the planet.

BLUEFINS of

FALL

Nova Scotia’s historical fishery that almost didn’t make a comeback

By CAPT. ANDY MOYES

JULY 2021

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BRIAN SKERRY

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When the first European settlers arrived in Nova Scotia, Canada, from Scotland on board the ship Hector in early fall 1773, they were likely amazed at the similarities in the two landscapes. Even though they were an ocean apart by some 2,700 miles, the near-same plateaus plummeted to rocky coastlines as the green rolling hills and tree-covered highlands met them with open arms, as did the residents of Pictou.

The waters of the northwest Atlantic Ocean, Northumberland Straights in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Gulf’s sub-basin, St. George’s Bay, were teeming with sea life. Lobsters, mackerel, herring, and ground fish such as cod and haddock were in huge supply, and while these are the fish that supported the residents’ lives, true giants were swimming among them.

It wasn’t until the early 1930s that recreational sport fishing for giant bluefin tuna in Nova Scotia was explored. Primarily using primitive tackle and techniques compared with today’s standards, the methods were effective. When anglers from around the world caught wind of the incredible fishery, they came in droves. Both men and women took part in this quest to catch the biggest tuna ever seen, with many fish topping the coveted 1,000-pound mark. Anglers were anxious to put their skills and tackle to the ultimate test, and legendary names such as Michael Lerner and Tommy Gifford were just a couple of the many who traveled to Nova Scotia in 1935 to attempt to tame these car-size fish with rod and reel. Giant tuna located in an idyllic land, with some of the nicest people in the world living there—what more could you ask for? It was nothing short of spectacular: Weigh-ins of huge fish hung on scales JULY 2021

while spectators watched for hours in amazement likely sparked the first tuna tournaments in Nova Scotia, one of them held in the southwest rural French Acadian community of Wedgeport, which was once called the “Sport Tuna Fishing Capital of the World.” The International Tuna Cup Match was organized by S. Kip Farrington Jr., a fisherman who visited two years prior to the event’s inception in 1937. By 1939, 28 countries were having a go at Nova Scotia’s bluefins on the grounds of Tusket River and the Tuna Rip, as well as the Hell Hole, where boats would steam 12 hours for a chance to land the fish of a lifetime at the intersection of Browns and Georges banks. While the bluefin tournament fishing in Wedgeport continued to surge, perhaps no year prior could have beat 1949’s numbers, when 72 Cup-caught bluefins totaled just over 30,000 pounds. But as the cyclical nature of fishing took 74

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©TAN YILMAZ/GETTYIMAGES (ABOVE), ©SCOTT KERRIGAN/WWW.AQUAPAPARAZZI.COM

HISTOR ICA L PR IME TIME

I T WASN ’ T UNTIL TH E EAR LY 1930 S T HAT RECREATIONAL SP ORT FISHING FO R G I A N T BLUEF IN TUNA IN NOVA SC O TI A WAS EX PLO RED.

its turn, the Cup was disbanded in 1979. By 2004, the tournament was revamped as the Wedgeport Tuna Tournament & Festival: a weeklong happening devised to not only bring spectators and participants to the region, but also to connect— and reconnect—the fishing community there. And in 2019, the tournament produced 14 bluefins captured by a fleet of 16, the heaviest weighed by IGFA world-record-bluefin holder Camille Jacquard on Provider VII at 684 pounds.

Charming, unspoiled vistas like this fishing community west of Cavendish on Prince Edward Island are common along the beautiful Nova Scotian coastline.

GOOD N EWS TR AV ELS…SLOW LY Although recreational sport fishing for these giants didn’t really get started in the Gulf of St. Lawrence or St. George’s Bay until 1967, it was Glen Gibson, a pipefitter from Nova Scotia, who likely caught the Gulf region’s first rod-and-reel bluefin in 1970. The 1,064.5-pounder, caught on November 19, was submitted to the IGFA, where it was approved, and it JULY 2021

stood as the all-tackle record until it was retired in 1976 by none other than Camille Jacquard with an 1,129-pounder—a fish that was almost immediately replaced by an 1,191-pound bluefin landed by Leo LeCouter just nine days later. As the decades came and went, the tackle aptly evolved, and the captains and crews became more in tune with how to successfully catch these prodigious fish. Captains from the United States brought in new techniques, along with the advent of daisy chains, spreader bars, outriggers, advanced depth-sounder technology, newly developed line types, and contemporary reels with superior drags and rod components that could better handle the daily stresses that these big fish forced on them. All of this trade growth was now utilized to put giant bluefin anglers one step closer to landing the biggest tuna to ever swim in Nova Scotian waters. People were having fun with this fresh hobby, and

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GULF OF MAINE GE

WILKINSON BASIN GEORGES BANK

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ANGLERS WERE CATCHING T UNAS HAN D OVER FIST IN TH E ’ 70 S AN D ’80 S ; TAC K LE CLASS RECORDS WERE BEING B RO K E N, T H E N B RO K E N AG A I N, AN D AGAI N .

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the bluefin fishery became a real phenomenon in sport-fishing history because of it. More bluefin history was made on October 26, 1979, when angler Ken Fraser was fishing with Port Hood’s Capt. Eric Samson on Lady and Misty out of the Strait of Canso’s Aulds Cove. Fraser landed the largest bluefin tuna ever taken on IGFA-rated tackle. The fish tipped the scales at 1,496 pounds and still holds the all-tackle record today, setting the bar for record anglers worldwide, and to this day, this benchmark is the one to beat. Anglers were catching tunas hand over fist in the ’70s and ’80s; tackle-class records were being broken, then broken again, and again. This so-called tuna boom went on for years, and Nova Scotia had been put on the recreational-fishing map for another round in its fishing life. But nothing lasts forever, and just as the pendulum started to swing back toward Mother Nature’s direction, the doldrums set in.

R ED GOLD From 1987 to 1995, for reasons unknown, it seemed that the tuna just stopped coming to the area. Many speculated as to why, but no one could pinpoint what exactly had happened. Perhaps the overfishing of herring and ground fish? Overfishing of mackerel? Was climate change to blame, or was JULY 2021

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COURTESY IGFA (OPPOSITE TOP), ©SCOTT KERRIGAN/WWW.AQUAPAPARAZZI.COM; MAP: FREEVECTORMAPS.COM

NEW BRUNSWICK

it just the fact that for decades too many fish had been killed? Myself and others believe that the fish didn’t leave these waters at all. We hypothesize that the slow boats, who were so accustomed to fishing close to shore, didn’t bother to explore or even change their techniques with the times. I believe the fish moved from their regular feeding grounds out to areas such as the Fisherman’s Bank, the Ridge and then to the northern end of Cape Louis—areas that are found farther from shore. Out of harm’s way, perhaps? Possibly, but nonetheless, for several years, the tuna fishery seemed to have dried up. By 2007, Canada’s changing tuna-management standards essentially shut down recreational sport fishing after ICCAT (which Canada joined in 1974) implemented measures to reduce total allowable catch tonnage, shorten seasons, and carry out “equal distribution of quota per licensed vessel.” With no sport fishing in play, the only tuna that were being caught on rod and reel were now bycatch for those who possessed a shark permit. And then a time of change occurred, as more and more concerned citizens wondered why this part of the world was off-limits to a sport that gives so much back to a fishery. If fish aren’t being harvested and quotas aren’t being met, the TAC tonnage is given away to other countries so that the quota gets filled. This is what happened to Nova Scotia and is the primary reason there is such a limited quota today. Even though it seemed that the days of recreational sport fishing were gone, and the fishermen who wanted to fill their dance cards with bluefins had faded off, the tuna did return. And when they did, it was in great numbers. Now, with no charters, the local fishermen still had their commercial-tuna fishery, and money was there to be made from 1987 to 2008. The Japanese fish markets were bullish on bluefins, and buyers were traveling to Nova Scotia just to get their hands on as much of this red gold as humanly possible. The demand was in Japan, but the supply was in Nova Scotia. Men with briefcases full of cash were paying big money to ship bluefin tuna to Japan, and it soon became a game of dollars. Fishermen had quotas of a certain tonnage per area and province, and they were hell-bent on filling it as fast as they could. Fishermen using hand-line gear, as well as rod and reel, had only a two-day window to catch and fill two tags. If you didn’t fill your tags in those two days, you lost the unused tag. This type of derby fishing was a bit chaotic at best, but the quotas were filled quickly. In just one day, there would be 100 boats fishing the Fisherman’s Bank and 100 tunas would be landed. With that said, you can be sure no one was looking to fill their tags with a small fish, and with only giants on their minds, the fishermen were producing tags with an average fish dress weight

of 700 pounds. Monsters. One day I personally witnessed 25 fish come into Ballantynes Cove, and 18 of them were over 1,000 pounds. This is what sport-fishing anglers dream about, and the commercial tuna fishermen realized it also.

THE MODER N FISHERY A N D A LOOK A HE A D When University of New Hampshire’s Dr. Molly Lutcavage expressed interest in studying Nova Scotia’s bluefin migratory patterns in 2004, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans agreed, but a lack of manpower to carry out the study caused the program to be delayed. In the meantime, Prince Edward Island’s commercial fleet pushed to introduce a catch-and-release fishery, realizing the positive effect that potential recreational dollars could have on their livelihoods as well as public education. Leaning on such a fishery not only would allow the fisherman to be better positioned

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Ken Fraser made history with this 1,496-pound bluefin (left) he captured on October 26, 1979, while fishing with Capt. Eric Samson out of Aulds Cove.

©SCOTT KERRIGAN/WWW.AQUAPAPARAZZI.COM, BRIAN SKERRY (OPPOSITE)

in the economy, but to also show the minimal mortality these fish are subject to, even amid a major push from environmental groups to label bluefins as endangered and to boycott them. In 2009, the fishing community presented a proposal to Canada’s DFO for consideration of a pilot program to reintroduce catch-and-release sport fishing to the PEI and Gulf of Nova Scotia regions. As a result, I was fortunate to be on board one of the three boats fishing out of Ballantynes Cove during that test season, and it was a huge success. Lutcavage’s study eventually came to fruition, and ever-changing rules and guidelines—most recently in regard to main-line ratings, fight times and electronic monitoring systems—are put in place each season to protect the fishery and are aimed mostly at releasing the giants in the best condition possible. The guidelines also include spaghetti and satellite tagging when it’s safe to do so, providing great insight into the lives of these fish. But, even more importantly, the giant bluefin fishing tradition is still alive and well. Nova Scotia is not a place to go if you are interested in catching big numbers of fish. It is but a special place—one that has a unique air about it. From the history of the settlers and the land, to the magnificent fish that anglers dream about, and to the incredible people who call this place home, the place reeks of fishing, and is so much more than just a destination for a fishing trip—it’s one that everyone needs to see before they die. Surnames such as Boyd, MacInnis, MacGillivray, MacDougal and Gavin are just a few of the giantbluefin charter operators who have given back so much more to this fishery, and now that it has grown into a worldwide, once-in-a-lifetime destination again, it has maintained its image as the only place to see bluefin tuna in such a hypnotic setting. The biomass of herring and mackerel that comes here to spawn is the lifeblood of these tuna stocks. When the commercial herring fishery starts up, the tuna show up in droves. They know the sounds of the boat engines and the clanging of the chains used for net weights. It’s like ringing the dinner bell, and tuna all over the world are known to be drawn to commercial-fishing boats for a free handout. They are just that smart. The bluefin fishery in Nova Scotia happens in shallow water and very close to land, and these fish have no problem getting in the skinny water to catch their prey. As crews, boats, gear and techniques once again evolve, anglers have been able to minimize the mortality rate of these fish by catching them faster without breaking off gear nearly as much as in the past. Changing techniques from primarily trolling to more chumming, live-baiting and, ultimately, kite-fishing, and the combination of the introduction of fluorocarbon leader material, circle hooks, braided main line, blueprinted reels and

rods that can take a beating, along with better electronics technology to find the fish and bait variety, have transformed a fishery that was once—in some opinions—on the brink. Crews also learned how to chase fish properly and use their gear correctly with just the right amount of drag to make the fight less stressful on the fish, while at the same time making better anglers out of their charter clients. The giant bluefin of Nova Scotia support both business and conservancy, making this angling pastime not only a huge part of the local annual revenue, but also a viable instrument for research, development and management for the fishery. Much groundwork has been done in Nova Scotia for years, partly at the hands of those who cherish this sport the most, and it is them who we have the most to thank for it. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Capt. Andy Moyes is a world-traveled and industry-renowned professional sport fisherman based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and his versatile experience is well-regarded by many of his colleagues. He is also the owner of Moyes Big Game Lures. His lures are responsible for multiple tournament-winning and 1,000-pound fish.

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Many commercial fishermen (above) pull double duty in Nova Scotia’s recreational sector to put charter clients from around the world on their dream bluefin tuna (opposite).

Run Gun &

RAISE THE STAKES Photo by Pepper Ailor

In tournament fishing, it’s important to get off to a good start and keep the pressure on throughout the event—have a bad day or even a slow start, and it’s often nearly impossible to recover. Max Bet, a 66-foot Spencer owned by Matt and Kelly Weber, returns to port at sunset after the first day of Leg Two of the 2021 Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown. They released 13 sailfish, including their final fish of the day right at lines out, to secure a top-10 finish for Day One. By the end of the event, they finished in third place , and teammate Anthony Weber was also named the top angler for the tournament.

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A B O U T T H E AU T H O R Capt. Eric Brush is president of Sportfish Outfitters in Jupiter, Florida.

Ship’s Systems

MAINTAINING A SPARKLING ENGINE ROOM Your boat’s health begins from the inside out B Y C A P T. E R I C B R U S H

friendly (and smell-good) cleaner Simple Green and some rags will usually do the trick for the initial cleaning of the mechanical components and surfaces themselves, but it’s important to go the extra mile—and that includes the ceiling. If you’re keen on keeping your engine room in perfect condition, know that it is not, and should not be, a “working space.” When the occasion arises where you must do extensive engine repairs, replace a component, or even conduct an oil change, it’s important to protect the surfaces. Even a small filter or zinc change can wreak havoc on your hard work, so be sure to prep the area for what you’re doing. Cardboard, plastic or tape works best to keep tools from damaging the painted surfaces, and a chamois dedicated JULY 2021

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to the engine room or wet towels will quell greasy paw prints from taking hold, so clean-as-you-go is usually less daunting when it comes tidying up the job. BE A PROBLEM-SOLVER When scheduled maintenance tasks need to be done, create a process to simplify and minimize the mess. Find a bin or tray that fits under each of your filters when changing them to keep excess oil or water from getting out of control. Even customizing a container to catch each filter’s drippings will take less time than it takes to clean up even the smallest of messes. So unless you enjoy being cramped up in a small space for hours, it helps if you figure out the most time-efficient way to minimize that time.

COURTESY TITAN CUSTOM YACHTS

Staying one step ahead is the primary goal when it comes to keeping a clean engine room. It’s said that you can tell a lot about a captain by the way his engine room is kept, so when your reputation is on the line, remember, there’s always a guy standing on the dock who’s ready to jump on the minute you step off. So, let’s dive in headfirst with tips to not only keep your engine room clean, but your pump room and machinery spaces fresh as well. Instead of going on about the best cleaners on the market or what products to use, I’d also like to introduce some tricks the pros have up their sleeves to leave it not just clean, but sparkling. Mark removers such as 3M’s Sharpshooter, degreasers such as Spray Nine, or even the environmentally

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Keep a stack of oil-absorb pads in the engine room, and slide one under each space you’re working in; keep a set of spare sea-strainer baskets to avoid cleaning them in place—simply drop the clean one in, remove the dirty one from the space and clean it off the boat, storing it for the next time. And should you need to change, for example, a generator raw-water impeller on the fly, it might even be easier to remove the entire pump assembly, put on your spare and remove the old one to be rebuilt later, reserving it now for a spare. The less time you spend putting your dirty hands on everything, the better. BATH TIME It’s perfectly fine to give your engine room a full bath when it’s needed and when you have some downtime, but unless a serious issue has caused a huge mess, making a habit of wiping down your engine room

Even a small saltwater leak could become a bigger issue down the line. with a light cleaner/degreaser regularly is usually enough. However, you should commit a time to remove the dust layer or any salt residue with a good rinse and chamois, at minimum, a few times per year, depending on use. Some boat soap or a light degreaser, a soft scrub brush, some terry-cloth rags and a hose fitted with a snorkel goes a long

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way; the hose snorkel will keep the water flowing instead of spraying. Evacuation pumps do most of the job when it comes to removing standing water in the bilges and engine beds, but following up with a wet/dry vacuum and a final chamois ensures that no water is left standing on your precious Awlgrip paint finish. Don’t neglect the ceiling. A polymer sealant applied with a microfiber cloth is a great alternative for protecting that mirrorlike ceiling. Engine-room ceilings don’t normally see the sun, so generally speaking, it should maintain its shine for most of its life, and usually a good wiping with glass cleaner and paper towels will keep it reflecting the fruits of your labor. When you’re all finished, be sure to crank up the fans. By the next morning, all is dry. While it might seem scary to get in there and really wash the space, doing it

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CHRIS RABIL

every so often is fine—you just need to be careful, and be cognizant of the electricalrelated items such as batteries, battery chargers and alternators, and even turbos and sensors and the like. It’s always a good idea to talk with your mechanic and get a feel for which things can accept water and which cannot. TRACK IT Theoretically, especially with new engines, there should be no oil leaks. One way to keep tabs on the health of your engines is to install oil-absorb pads on the floor of the engine beds, fuel-transfer locations, transmission couplers, steering systems and under any other spots that might have leak potential. The engine-room sole is definitely one area that can get away from you, so making sure you contain leaks at the source will keep the bilge cleaner because oil and hynautic fluids will always find the

Watch all your equipment and systems for leaks. Even the smallest leak can cause big problems.

lowest spot to rest. Should a spill occur that you are unable to clean up immediately, laying a few pads in the bilge will contain it best—just be sure they aren’t inhibiting the operation of float switches or bilge pumps. Don’t just wash away your problems: Before you clean, do a thorough inspection, especially of the hard-to-reach areas —just because you don’t see it, doesn’t

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mean it’s less important. Soot or exhaust dust could indicate a small exhaust leak or even an imbalanced air-flow situation, so ignoring something that could easily be addressed isn’t prudent. Also, be sure to look out for salt residue. Saltwater intrusion in the engine-room space is a sure sign of something wrong, and even a small saltwater leak could become a bigger issue down the line. If your job as captain is to maintain your boss’s investment, then keeping it happy and healthy is a sure way to keep your reputation spotless, especially when the vessel goes to survey. And nothing’s more satisfying that watching a surveyor scratching his head and the boat owner receiving that glowing A-plus report.

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Boats of Interest

BAYLISS BOATWORKS 62 BY CHRIS RABIL

Building a custom Bayliss is undoubtedly a dream. Delivered in November 2020, Seven is the fourth 62 to slide out of the barn at the facility, and other than sharing a jig, each one is completely different. She also hallmarks the second convertible to be built by a previous Bayliss owner—the first being Hull No. 8, a 68-footer. This owner is hands-on; he knows—and more importantly, trusts—the process. Named for his seven sons, Seven not only has space for the whole family, but it also possesses the ability to chase fish in virtually any big-game destination.

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COURTESY BAYLISS BOATWORKS/AUSTIN COIT (2), COURTESY BAYLISS BOATWORKS/ELIZABETH NEAL (OPPOSITE BOTTOM)

You ask; Seven answers

+ Check out an extended photo gallery of Seven at marlinmag.com/ bayliss-boatworks-62-seven.

When I asked builder John Bayliss what makes Seven so special, he mused: “This boat is like the proverbial snowball you see off in the distance during a long run home, and before you know it, she’s walking past you at a 40-plus-knot cruise. It certainly makes those runs a little nicer knowing that a quick but comfortable cruising speed is a real option.” And after my sea trial, I believe him. DESIGN AND INTERIOR Stepping into the salon, you find what seems to be a simple layout, featuring an L-shaped sofa, an additional sofa to starboard and the galley forward. But, in fact, this salon is anything but simplistic. The sofas house immense storage for both rods and tackle, with the L-shaped sofa containing what appear to be bait trays, but in this instance were used to stack and neatly contain dredges. The coffee table is constructed with an ingenious hinge system that allows the Mappa burl top to rise and pivot toward the sofa for additional dining; the dinette is located forward. The galley features beautiful white Brazilian Calcutta quartzite, and beneath the countertops, dual Sub-Zero refrigeration/freezer drawers. For early risers, a direct-plumbed coffee maker located in the upper cabinets next to the Viking convection microwave is welcome. Seven is designed as a three-stateroom, two-head

LOA: 62'9"

BEAM: 18'3"

DRAFT: 5'4"

GEAR/RATIO: TWIN DISC/2.25:1

DISPL: 98,000 LB.

PROPELLERS: VEEM

layout, with an additional tackle room located behind the first door on the starboard side of the companionway. Among the impeccable teak cabinetry, travel gear, terminal tackle, and rods and reels are housed with enough room for two mates to work comfortably. Counter space and two additional Sub-Zero freezers can also be found here. Two staterooms feature double-bunk layouts, and the master, located forward, features dual teak nightstands and a Mappa burl-accented headboard. The handcrafted nightstands are fitted with internal phone chargers that are completely invisible to the naked eye, and in front of the bed sits a dresser and what looks to be an ordinary mirror between two teak hanging lockers. However, Bayliss upped the wow factor by including a Séura mirrored television in disguise, visible only when it’s turned on. Fancy. One of the less-discussed

FUEL: 1,750 GAL.

WATER: 275 GAL.

HULL PAINT: IMRON, COOL BLUE

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areas that caught my attention was the day head. Not only is it huge, but it features unique Azul Macubas quartzite countertops and a full-size linen closet. About as large as a standard master head, I initially wondered, Why? But I quickly reminded myself of all the times folks have knocked elbows trying to dress in dark bunkrooms, or disturbed others who would rise later. You can easily shower, change, and get ready for the day without disturbing your bunkmate or inflicting damage to your not-so-funny funny bone. HELM AND TOWER As you climb onto the open flybridge, you’ll notice that the helm is oriented to the port side with a set of Release Marine Trillion helm chairs. The bridge offers lounge seating on the starboard side, with rod storage underneath and a spacious forward-facing seat in front of the console. Beneath this seat is a wide

POWER: TWIN MTU 12V M96L 1,960 HP

CLIMATE CONTROL: DOMETIC

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Boats of Interest

freezer great for provisions or extra bait, and to the starboard forward corner, there’s a refrigerated drink box as well as a finished hatch to house the freshwater washdown. The helm sports an all-star lineup of the best of the best when it comes to electronics today: triple Garmin 8622 MFDs, a Furuno radar, a Furuno Omni sonar and a Simrad autopilot. In the hardtop, a motorized drop-down box houses an additional Garmin display and the autopilot. A centrally located shaft-revolution counter is installed to ensure that your prop speed is in perfect synchronization on the troll. As you gain altitude by ascending the custom-designed and -installed Palm Beach tower, you’ll find a control box with single-lever controls as well as an additional Garmin display located in front of a single, centered saddle seat.

COCKPIT The cockpit was designed to be simple and yet house all of your needs; I found it to be spacious and efficient. A transom fish box was designed to also work as a livewell, depending on your current geography. On this winter day in South Florida, a rocket launcher—which can be swapped out with a fighting chair—was located in the center of the cockpit. The lazarette accommodates a fourpump sea-chest system for the livewells and optional tuna tubes, and a deck cutout was placed and permanently caulked into place to serve as future access for any major gyrostabilizer service, eliminating the need to excise the deck. The starboard mezzanine step contains a large Eskimoplumbed icebox with enough product to pack the rear fish box. Just forward of the icebox is a tackle center with a Sub-Zero Wolf grill located on top. Dual freezers

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take up residence in the mezzanine, as does an additional refrigerated drink box. And if you’re looking to turn up the music, look no further than the flip-up armrest. No space went to waste on this build, and in an effort to help kick plastic, a chilled and filtered water dispenser was installed to keep those reusable cups topped off and the crew hydrated. ENGINE ROOM AND PERFORMANCE The engine-room entry is located in the center of the mezzanine. Descending the ladder, you are immediately met by a soundproof, watertight sub door.

COURTESY BAYLISS BOATWORKS/ELIZABETH NEAL, CHRIS RABIL (OPPOSITE),

Prior to entering the engine room, you have access to the fuel valves, FCI 1,850-gallon-per-day watermaker and Dometic Eskimo ice maker; the Seakeeper 18 and Furuno omnidirectional transducer are located aft. As you pass into the engine room, the twin MTU 12V M96Ls are the star of the show. Custom slide-out storage— located both forward and aft—can also be used for housing a full tool set, which the builder has organized with customcut foam inserts. Two 25 kW Northern Lights generators sit aft on either side of the engine room, and in an effort to reduce maintenance of equipment requiring raw-water cooling, Bayliss developed a proprietary system that converts all mechanical-component cooling to fresh water, eliminating growth associated with raw water. Our sea trial took place off Jupiter,

Florida, in a 10-knot southerly wind, with a 2- to 3-foot sea state. Seven had no problem getting up and going, running at a comfortable “slow cruise” turning 1,750 rpm at a 70 percent load, producing a speed of 33 knots and burning 110 gph. When pushed up to 80 percent, she’s turning 2,150 and burning 140 gph at 41 knots; wide-open throttle saw 46.5 knots at 200 gph. As veteran captain Craig Baldwin pulled back the throttles, he took the

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opportunity to show me how to dial in the propeller speed at troll to produce the cleanest wake possible. Baldwin can make this beauty dance, spinning her effortlessly on her axis. Even as she screams in reverse with nearly as much horsepower as a freight locomotive, this 62 is relaxed and quiet, a true testament to the quality construction. No shaking, rattling or clanging can be heard from the cockpit— just the sound of Baldwin’s voice telling you to keep up and reel faster.

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Small Craft Advisory

SPENCER YACHTS 48, BID TIME An experienced owner and master boatbuilder team up

Tim Phillips has owned an enviable string of Spencer Yachts in the past, having built two 60-footers and two 70-footers with the North Carolina boatbuilder. So when it came to designing a new outboard-powered 48, he knew right where to turn. And while the latest Bid Time was planned as a gameboat to accompany a mothership on worldwide fishing adventures, a family tragedy necessitated a change of plans, and Phillips has nothing but praise for the builder: “We talked a lot about what we wanted in this boat, and Paul [Spencer] and his team delivered, just as they have done for us with our other boats. It’s really been a pleasure working with them over the years.”

Home-ported in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Bid Time is equally adept trolling for sails off the East Coast as she is venturing to the Bahamas for blue marlin and tuna off West End, or heading south, fishing through the Florida Keys and Key West, where the owners have a vacation home. One important criteria for the new boat was the famed Spencer ride. “We needed a boat that rides extremely well, and this one sure does,” Phillips says. “We recently ran 120 nautical miles from Key West to Pulley Ridge to go bottomfishing, and it was 3- to 5-foot seas when we left. Not many other outboard boats would have even left the dock, but we had zero problems and a soft ride all the JULY 2021

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way out there and back. The boat rides like a 60-footer and runs great.” Quad Yamaha 425 hp outboards combined with Spencer’s first stepped-hull bottom give the boat outstanding performance, with a top end of more than 50 miles per hour. The outboards also have excellent shallow-draft capability as well. The ability to fish in a variety of situations was also important, and that starts with the boat’s cockpit. In a word, it’s huge, nearly as large as that of a 60-footer. The teak deck and covering boards echo that big-boat feel, as does the rocket launcher and truly massive indeck fish boxes. “We needed big kill boxes that were well-insulated for long-range

COURTESY AH360/STEVE MOMOT (5)

BY SAM WHITE

trips, and these have no problem keeping ice for days,” Phillips reports. A third consideration: live-bait capacity. The team at Spencer Yachts designed the boat’s livewell systems to suit the owner’s needs for separate storage of pilchards and goggle-eyes, perfect for kite-fishing in the Keys. Electric outlets in the cockpit also make deep-dropping a snap. Entering the command deck past the split-level mezzanine, the centerline helm has ample room for a pair of Garmin multifunction displays and joystick control for the engines; additional electronics are in the gap tower high above. Entry to the spacious salon is located to port of the helm, where you’re greeted by glowing, satin-finished teak and ample luxury reminiscent of a much larger vessel. Bid Time sleeps four comfortably, while the Quick gyrostabilizer smooths things out while underway or at anchor— one large centerline hatch lifts for access

We needed a boat that rides extremely well, and this one sure does. to the below-deck spaces housing the gyro, fuel filters and other systems. “We doubled the size of the gyro to make sure we were well-stabilized, and it works great keeping it really smooth,” Phillips says. “This boat is very big for 48 feet— most other outboards this size would fit inside this one.” Rod and tackle storage was another key point—no sense in switching gears if

you can’t lay your hands on the correct rods, reels and tackle in a hurry. Bid Time can store 50 or more different outfits, so things are ready to go should the plans change from trolling to bottomfishing or from kite-fishing to deep-dropping. But all that doesn’t do much good if you don’t have the range to get to the fish, which was a final check mark on the owner’s wish list. With 860 gallons available, that’s not an issue. “On our last trip, we ran 330 nautical miles and had the fuel to run 100 more if we needed to,” Phillips says. “It just makes sense when we’re building the boat to have plenty of fuel capacity.” Of Bid Time, Paul Spencer says: “It’s always fun to work with an experienced, knowledgeable owner who really gets into his fishing and understands what he wants in a boat. It’s our job to deliver those expectations.” The result is a stunning beauty that not just meets, but exceeds, those expectations in every respect.

Clockwise from top left: The teak cockpit and covering boards give Bid Time a big-boat feel, while quad Yamaha 425 hp outboards provide the power; the satin-finished teak in the salon continues the theme of understated elegance below; a large cockpit hatch lifts for access to the Quick gyrostabilizer, fuel filters and other equipment; the lower helm station with teak pod, engine controls and a pair of Garmin multifunction displays.

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A B O U T T H E AU T H O R Raleigh Watson is of counsel with Miller Law, PLLC, a maritime law firm in Jupiter, Florida. He is also an avid angler.

The Fine Print

BUYING, DELIVERING AND USING FOREIGN-BUILT BOATS The differences are substantial and should be understood

We have many clients who engage us to assist them with the purchase of new, foreign-built boats for use in the United States. There are more boats built overseas than most people realize, and while purchasing a foreign-built vessel can certainly be a viable option, there are several things to consider prior to entering into an agreement and having the vessel delivered to the US. DOMESTIC VERSUS FOREIGN There are substantial building differences between a domestic- and foreign-built boat, especially if the owner plans to use it in the waters of the United States. We commonly see issues arise between the parties after the vessel has already been fully constructed. Thus, clearly identifying the terms of the

contract becomes even more critical with any foreign-built vessels. It is important to determine where legal delivery of the vessel will occur, who is arranging and paying for shipping, and who will be responsible for payment of duty in the event it will be paid. From an inexperienced buyer’s standpoint, ideally the vessel is legally delivered in the US, the builder arranges shipping, and shipping costs as well as import duty are included in the initial purchase price negotiated between the parties. This leaves the responsibility of shipping with the party more equipped to handle it and allows the buyer to inspect the vessel in person prior to taking title. It also allows the builder to ensure that the vessel is ready for delivery both cosmetically and mechanically after it is removed from the ship. JULY 2021

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SHIPPING VESSELS OVERSEAS Overseas shipping comes with its own inherent risks. Most builders have experience with arranging transport of their boats to the US, but sometimes the buyer is forced to coordinate shipment. There are numerous vessel-transport companies and freight forwarders, many of which are trustworthy and reputable. However, it is crucial to ensure that the vessel is properly insured for its shipment overseas. Owners must understand that vessels transported on ships are treated as cargo in the eyes of the law. Thus, the builder’s policy will not cover the vessel if it is still owned by the builder once the loading process onto a ship has begun, nor does a vessel’s marine insurance policy provide coverage if title has already transferred to the buyer prior to shipment. As a

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result, the party responsible for shipment must secure appropriate liability coverage on the vessel prior to departure. USAGE OF VESSEL IN U.S. WATERS American owners should also consider how foreign-built vessels can be used in the United States, especially if they plan to run charters. Specifically, foreign-built boats are unable to obtain a coastwise endorsement from the US Coast Guard. Generally, coastwise trade involves the transportation of passengers and goods in US waters, and without such an endorsement, a vessel is unable to run time and voyage charters. A standard OUPV six-pack charter on a typical sportfishing vessel typically falls under the definition of a time and voyage charter, so it is important for buyers to analyze their options before purchasing any foreign-built vessel.

Foreign-built boats are unable to obtain a coastwise endorsement from the US Coast Guard. MARAD WAIVER The Passenger Vessel Services Act contains language authorizing the Maritime Administration, known as MARAD, to waive the US build requirement and allow vessels to hold a coastwise endorsement if certain conditions are

met. These waivers can be performed if, among other requirements, the vessel is owned by a US citizen or entity, the vessel is at least three years old, it is intended to carry passengers only, and will carry no more than 12 passengers when in service. The waiver will be granted if MARAD determines it will not negatively impact US-based builders or the coastal-trade business of any party using domesticbuilt vessels. This waiver can be a useful option for owners if they wish to run charters on a foreign-built vessel, but it is not available to newly constructed boats. There is an ever-growing list of high-quality foreign-based vessel manufacturers. Purchasing foreign-built boats is a legitimate option for buyers in certain scenarios, but it is important for prospective owners to be familiar with common contractual roadblocks and understand vessel limitations, if any, in US waters.

1030 Coral Way | Singer Island, Fl 33404 | Inquire for Pricing Details

Waterfront Dream House! This Custom Built home has unobstructed water views and 231 ft of open water and dockage. A very rare ﬁnd, this property offers direct intracoastal views and protective dockage. Just minutes to the inlet and on your way to the Bahamas and Island adventures. The interior is a must see and features the highest quality of ﬁnishings.

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Bottom Line

FISHING AND TAXES Consulting a trusted adviser can help

Most professional golfers enjoy fishing for pleasure, and professional fisherman golf for pleasure—go figure. Many years ago, I provided asset and liability management for a handful of professional golfers, which led to an interview with ESPN’s golf radio show where we discussed tax issues. Athletes, like boat owners, usually have a group of professionals—lawyers, CPAs and CFOs—who they rely on to provide tax advice, very similar to my firm that handles all of these issues for affluent families. But what about all those golf caddies or the boat captains and mates? They do the vast majority of the work, but who helps them? They don’t have the resources to assemble a team of highly compensated advisers, nor do they necessarily need

all of those services, but they do need a trustworthy tax adviser.

CONTRACTOR VERSUS EMPLOYEE STATUS Most crewmembers are either independent contractors or employees of a company. An independent contractor is paid, and it’s their responsibility to report their earnings, pay taxes, Social Security and unemployment tax, as well as establishing their own retirement plan. Typically, if you are an employee of a company, you are paid a salary with a company check, and the company will deduct the basic requirements, taxes, Social Security and 401(k) contributions (if you’re fortunate enough to have a plan). As an independent contractor, there JULY 2021

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are options you can utilize to set up your own company so that you can have the same benefits, or maybe even a few more than you would working for a company. The most popular and easiest to establish is a limited liability company, known as an LLC. There are several benefits: Arguably the most effective is the ability to pass through profits and losses to your personal-level tax bracket. Within the LLC, you can deduct—or partially deduct—many items that you need to run the business, such as meals when traveling or at home when discussing fishing trips, travel, auto expenses related to work, home-office expenses, supplies, cellphone, insurance premiums, even your sunglasses; the list could potentially go on forever. With an LLC, you are

B Y C H R I S K E L LY

+ A B O U T T H E AU T H O R Chris Kelly is the founder and CEO of Barclay Breland Family Office, a registered investment adviser. Learn more at fishingandfinances.com.

required to pay self-employment tax to cover your Social Security and Medicare. When you work for a corporation, the process is a little different. The company typically takes out taxes, Social Security and Medicare in each pay period. You can still write off many of the same items, but you will have to submit an itemized deduction to the IRS. Another issue of being an independent contractor versus a company employee is the tax-deferred benefits in establishing a retirement plan. As an independent contractor, you can choose from several types of IRAs. These options are probably best discussed with either your tax adviser or financial adviser. The most popular plan we see is the Simplified Employee Pension IRA. If you have a sole proprietor LLC and earn $100,000, you can contribute $25,000 to your retirement plan. Other popular ones are

As an independent contractor, you can choose from several types of IRAs. the Keough plan and SIMPLE plan. Being an LLC has many tax benefits that can help you save for retirement.

ADDITIONAL RETIREMENT PLANS When you are an employee, many times you can participate in the 401(k) plan, and often there is a company match. For

example, the $100,000-salary employee can contribute up to $19,500. Now if the company provides a 3 percent match, for example, your employer will add $585. That’s free money. Lastly, nearly everyone can establish a traditional IRA or Roth IRA. I’ve compared traditional versus Roth for years to determine which one is better, and my conclusion is that it depends on the markets at a specific time. So, whether you are trying to determine which side of the green to hit with your approach shot or rigging a ballyhoo for the next bite, you should seek out the advice of a trusted tax professional. Note: Barclay Breland Family Office does not provide legal or tax advice. Consult your attorney or tax professional, as appropriate, to consider the analysis in light of your particular legal or tax situation.

White Marlin Capital of the World

WELCOME TO A MODERN MASTERPIECE this extraordinary contemporary meticulously designed 6050 sq. ft. home, salt water pool, and private dock on 1 acre of land. This incredible residence is situated on an acre of waterfront located on the bay, in the White Marlin Capital of the World! This is luxury living for the most sophisticated buyer, close to world class marinas, airports, dining, and shopping. Seller will accept Bitcoin and Ethereum(as well as cash and mortgage)as a form of payment to purchase this stunningly beautiful property. 12933 Old Bridge Road Ocean City, MD 21842 Offered at $3,900,000

WHITE MARLIN MANOR ESTATE this location is unique with both bay and oceanfront access. This amazing custom build 10,800 sq. ft. Southern Living Style Coastal home 6 bedrooms, 7 full baths, 2 half baths, 2 gas ﬁreplaces, etched glass elevator gourmet kitchen with heated tile ﬂoor, 7 Sub Zeros, commercial ice machine, 12,000 lb boat lift, and 7 Ft. MLW at Dock. This property is a Fisherman’s paradise. 9750 Martha’s Landing Road Ocean City, MD 21842 Offered at $12,900,000

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888-972-7147

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NEW VIKING SHOWCASE TRADES CONSIDERED! GO FISHING OR CRUISING TODAY! CALL FOR AVAILABILITY

CALL FOR AVAILABILITY

IN STOCK!

stock photo

80’ Viking Enclosed Skybridge Call for availability on 80’ Convertible!

72’ Viking Enclosed Bridge Call for availability on 72’ Convertible

68’ Viking Convertible

CALL FOR AVAILABILITY

62’ Viking Convertible

58’ Viking Convertible

54’ Viking Convertible

CALL FOR AVAILABILITY

AVAILABLE NOW!

54’ Viking Sport Tower

48’ Viking Convertible

46’ Viking Billfish Convertible

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IN STOCK!

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44’ Viking Convertible Call for availability on 44’ Open

38’ Viking Billfish - IN STOCK!

38’ Viking Billfish Open & Hardtop Call for availability

CALL 561.331.5200 |

HMY.COM

INDUSTRY LEADER IN VIKING YACHT & CUSTOM SPORTFISH SALES

“Black Shadow” 81’ 2007 Sea Force IX Call Dave Meyer: 561.722.1047

“Speculator” 80’ 2005 Merritt Call Dave Berard, Sr: 772.341.3669

“Epic” 78’ 2000 Buddy Davis Call Mike Scalisi: 954.650.3706

“C Bandit” 75’ 2008 Titan Call Brian Weaver: 561.308.0939

“Lady Gemini” 65’ 1991 Monterey Call Scott Levin: 772.263.1208

“Guajiro” 64’ 2000 Sunny Briggs Call Dave Meyer: 561.722.1047

Not for sale or charter to US residents while in US waters.

“Genesis” 60’ 2002 Weaver Call Glenn Clyatt: 786.258.2434

“Pocoton” 45’ 1971 Rybovich Call Dave Meyer: 561.722.1047

“Jenny Pie” 42’ 1973 Merritt Call Jason Norcross: 561.722.6858

“Libertad” 40’ 1983 G&S Call Scott Levin: 772.263.1208

“Game Plan” 37’ 2002 Gamefisherman Call Luke Davis: 561.310.7450

“Skipjack” 32’ 2012 Brooks Carolina Custom Call Glenn Clyatt: 786.258.2434

HMY.COM

INDUSTRY LEADER IN VIKING YACHT & CUSTOM SPORTFISH SALES Gyro Stabilized!

“Bella Donna Di” 92’ 2016 Viking Call Dave Berard, Sr: 772.341.3669 Gyro Stabilized!

Gyro Stabilized!

“Rite Angler” 82’ 2010 Viking Call Pat Kelly: 561.723.9300

Gyro Stabilized!

“Gray Ghost” 80’ 2018 Viking Call Pat Kelly: 561.723.9300

Gyro Stabilized!

“Osh-It” 76’ 2014 Viking Call Scott Levin: 772.263.1208

“Three’s Enough” 72’ 2020 Viking Call Brian Komer: 305.304.1015

“Ditch Digger” 72’ 2017 Viking Call Steve Moynihan: 561.722.9629

“Mirage” 70’ 2012 Viking Call Steve Moynihan: 561.722.9629

“Let It Ride” 68’ 2006 Viking Call Brandon O’Connor: 561.723.4737

62’ 2016 Viking Call Steve Moynihan: 561.722.9629

Gyro Stabilized!

sistership photo

52’ 2005 Viking Call George Ivey: 904.476.7831

“La Barca” 48’ 2021 Viking Call Forrest Robertson: 561.281.2122

“Salt Shaker II”48’ 2019 Viking ST Call Rob Spano: 561.262.3683

HMY is the Leader in Custom & Production Sportfish Sales! HMY sells more than 250 Sportfish each year; 100 of those being Viking Yachts!

HMY.COM

FE ATURED

LISTINGS

PROWESS \\\ 2000/2013 78’ GARLINGTON

\\\ 2011 70’ VIKING

EL CAZADOR \\\ 2003 65’ VIKING

SEAN FENNIMAN 772.260.1628 sean.fenniman@alliedmarine.com

COLE WATKINS 863.514.3752 cole.watkins@alliedmarine.com

SEAN FENNIMAN 772.260.1628 sean.fenniman@alliedmarine.com

\\\ 1988 65’ DONZI Z65 SPORTFISH

UNFORGETTABLE \\\ 2008 64’ HATTERAS

UNBELIEVABLE \\\ 1996 60’ JIM SMITH CUSTOM

SEAN FENNIMAN 772.260.1628 sean.fenniman@alliedmarine.com

DEAN ALBANESE 401.413.8899 dean.albanese@alliedmarine.com

COLE WATKINS 863.514.3752 cole.watkins@alliedmarine.com

NICE & EASY \\\ 2012 57’ BERTRAM

PREDATOR \\\ 2003 57’ SPENCER YACHTS

ONE MORE DAY \\\ 2004 57’ BERTRAM

TOM JENKINS 772.201.1800 tom.jenkins@alliedmarine.com

SEAN FENNIMAN 772.260.1628 sean.fenniman@alliedmarine.com

ISLANDER \\\ 2006 56’ VIKING

SHEARWATER \\\ 1988 55’ WHITICAR

BAIT WASTER \\\ 1996 54’ DONZI ROSCIOLI

PAUL DENTON 386.295.4668 paul.denton@alliedmarine.com

SEAN FENNIMAN 772.260.1628 sean.fenniman@alliedmarine.com

COLE WATKINS 863.514.3752 cole.watkins@alliedmarine.com

E XCLUSIVE DE ALER

ALLIEDMARINE.C OM

AUTHORIZED DE ALER

\\\

SALES@ALLIEDMARINE.C OM

\\\

954.462.5557

FE ATURED

LISTINGS

AHHJUSTMENT \\\ 2006 53’ JARRETT BAY

BACK ‘N DOWN \\\ 1989 53’ MONTEREY

BIG HIT \\\ 2004 52’ OCEAN YACHTS

SEAN FENNIMAN 772.260.1628 sean.fenniman@alliedmarine.com

RORRO \\\ 2007 48’ VIKING

GOOSE \\\ 1984 46’ MERRITT BOAT WORKS

CHIEF \\\ 2005 45’ GAMEFISHERMAN

COLE WATKINS 863.514.3752 cole.watkins@alliedmarine.com

SEAN FENNIMAN 772.260.1628 sean.fenniman@alliedmarine.com

REVOLUTION \\\ 2019 40’ INTREPID

\\\ 2008 38’ JUPITER

RICOCHET \\\ 2018 38’ WINTER CUSTOM

SCOTT WEILAND 904.477.8600 scott.weiland@ferrettigroup.com

COLE WATKINS 863.514.3752 cole.watkins@alliedmarine.com

REEL FUN \\\ 2015 36’ INVINCIBLE

\\\ 2015 36’ YELLOWFIN

SWEET STUFF \\\ 1971 31’ BERTRAM

SEAN FENNIMAN 772.260.1628 sean.fenniman@alliedmarine.com

COLE WATKINS 863.514.3752 cole.watkins@alliedmarine.com

COLTIN RADABAUGH 772.485.5059 coltin.radabaugh@alliedmarine.com

E XCLUSIVE DE ALER

ALLIEDMARINE.C OM

AUTHORIZED DE ALER

\\\

SALES@ALLIEDMARINE.C OM

\\\

954.462.5557

NEW LISTING - 72’ MERRITT

BUILD SLOT AVAILIBLE - IN PROCESS

72’ Merritt 2004 MTU 16V2000’s with low hours. 4 stateroom 3 head layout. Sleeps 9. Excellent condition - Easy to see at Merritt’s boat yard. Call GREG

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ONLY OPEN BRIDGE 86’ ON THE MARKET

ONLY ENCLOSED BRIDGE 86’ ON THE MARKET

86’ Merritt 2013 PRICE REDUCED - MTU M94 2600 HP. New teak decks. New 38kw generators. All running gear serviced. Original owner. Fresh and ready to go! Call ROY

86’ Merritt Enclosed Bridge 2011 MTU 16V2000 M93 2400 HP. Lightly used with only 550 hours. 4 stateroom, 5 head layout. Ultimate comfort and style. Call GREG

Roy Merritt 954-943-6250 | Bob Murray 954-303-7718 | Brad Hunt 954-802-2962

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Excellent condition! Zero hours on current engine rebuilds and zero timed. MTU 16V2000 M91 1975 HP. All new interior soft goods. Electronics upgraded. Call ROY

Original owner. MTU 16V2000 M93 2400 HP. Low hours. Tournament rigged. Mezzanine with A/C. Jack Hopewell Tower. Call ROY

NEW TO MARKET

63’ Merritt 1990 CAT 3412 1050 HP. Continually updated. New teak deck and full mezzanine. Call KARL

43’ Merritt 1974 New Cummings Engines, ZF gears, generator, fuel tanks, teak deck, outriggers, Garmen electronics (2020), fresh bottom job, new props. Call BRAD

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46 BILLFISH I N -S TO C K

N EW VI K I N G M O D E L S I N S TO C K 44 O

48 C

68 EB

82 CPMY

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54 C

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GALATIYACHTS.COM

SINCE 1970

BUYING OR SELLING - WE’RE YOUR SPORTFISH SPECIALISTS H U N D R E D S O F A D D I T I O N A L L I S T I N G S AVA I L A B L E

2017 Viking 80 SB | $7,595,000 | Carmine Jr 941.725.0587 2020 Viking 80 C | $7,995,000 | Michael 941.725.2782

2010 Donzi 80 C | $3,299,000 Nick 941.720.1321

2019 Viking 72 C | $6,295,000 Nick 941.720.1321

2018 Viking 72 EB | $5,995,000 | Michael 941.725.2782 2017 Viking 72 EB | $5,395,000 | Stan 850.596.1645

2002 Viking 65 EB | $800,000 | Steve 619.405.5044 2000 Viking 65 EB | $795,000 | Jordan 409.939.5524 2001 Viking 65 EB | $795,000 | Steve 619.405.5044

2007 Viking 64 C | $1,175,000 Tony 941.527.1273

2001 Buddy Davis 61 SF | $1,530,000 Judy 561.312.4125

2001 Hatteras 60 SF | $629,000 Carmine Jr 941.725.0587

2013 Spencer 57 C | $1,959,000 Tony 941.527.1273

2004 Viking 56 C | $1,150,000 | Jason 941.518.1171 2006 Viking 56 C | $1,165,000 | Tony 941.527.1273

2019 HCB 53 | $1,195,000 Carmine Jr 941.725.0587

2012 Viking 50 C | $1,125,000 Randy 713.816.2165

2020 Viking 48 C | $2,099,000 | Tracy 619.259.6901 2017 Viking 48 C | $1,800,000 | Steve 619.405.5044

2008 Cabo 45 Exp | $499,000 Roger 850.234.0295

2019 Fountain 43 NX | $699,000 Carmine Jr 941.725.0587

2017 Viking 37 BF | $879,000 Nick 941.720.1321

2018 Boston Whaler 345 Conquest $599,900 | Anthony 727.515.9973

2020 Yellowfin 42 | $779,900 | Zack 386.383.7634 2019 Yellowfin 42 | $799,000 | Andrew 508.364.2010 2015 Yellowfin 42 | $699,000 | Carmine Jr 941.725.0587

2014 Bahama 41 CC | $599,000 Chris 813.503.8398

1994 Knight & Carver 78 Custom $2,385,000 | Steve 619.405.5044

2008 Viking 74 C | $2,295,000 Carmine Jr 941.725.0587

2016 Viking 70 C | $4,195,000 Stan 850.596.1645

2017 Viking 66 C | $3,995,000 | Artie 850.259.7807 2016 Viking 66 C | $3,995,000 | Carmine Jr 941.725.0587 2014 Viking 66 EB | $3,400,000 | Jim 850.259.3246

2012 Hatteras 63GT | $2,625,000 Carmine Jr 941.725.0587

2015 Viking 62 C | $3,275,000 | Tony 941.527.1273 2016 Viking 62 C | $3,595,000 | Randy 713.816.2165 2019 Viking 62 C | $4,595,000 | Nick 941.720.1321

2021 Viking 58 C | $4,195,000 | Carmine Jr 941.725.0587 2000 Viking 58 C | $485,000 | Stan 850.596.1645

2008 Riviera 58 C| $675,000 Paul 760.880.3370

2015 Viking 52 ST | $1,649,000 | Jim 850.259.3246 2015 Viking 52 O | $1,595,000 | Jim 850.259.3246

S E E K I N G N E W L I ST I N G S - CA L L TO D AY 8 0 0. 3 9 1 .6 6 9 1

SPENCER 48 EXPRESS 2021 – BID TIME. PipeWelders GAP Tower. Four (4) Yahama XTO Offshore V8 Outboard Engines. Quick Gyro X19. Kohler Diesel Generator. Two (2) Insulated Fish Boxes In Deck. Transom Fish Box. Garmin electronics. Mezzanine With Single Refrigerated Box and Single Freezer Box. Cabin With 2 Single Berths And Queen Berth In Living Area. Single Head and Shower. Perfect for Fishing And Travel.

57 SPENCER 2012 – TRANQUILO. MAN 2018 I6 Engines. Seakeeper C7 Gyro. Trillion Fighting And Helm Chairs. FLIR Night Vision. New Garmin Electronics And Day Head Added in 2018. Teak Interior. Sleeps 4. Many Additional Updates in 2018. Well Known Tournament Winning Vessel.

77' JARRETT BAY 2013 – MAMA WHO. This Sportﬁsh Is Available As Her Owner’s New Spencer Is Under Construction. Cold Molded, MTU 16-V2000 M94 Engines, 30 kt Cruise @ 2000 RPM. 2- Cummins Gens, Spot Zero, 2-Dometic Ice Makers. Cherry Interior, 4 SR & 4 Heads. Paul Spencer, cell 252-202-2628 or ofﬁce 252-423-1686.

Daniel Spencer • Cheryl Brittingham • Daniel “Backlash” Davis • Devin Silas • Adam McKeon • Jimmy Garner • Jimmy Werling • Capt. Brian Phillips

Ofﬁce: (252) 423-1686 Fax: (772) 343-9055 WANCHESE, NC TREASURE COAST, FL

Email: sales@spenceryachtsbrokerage.com PALM BEACH, FL PORT ARANSAS, TX

www.spenceryachtsinc.com

Jimmy Fields • Jeff James • Steve Hedrick • Erik Anderson • Joel McLeod • Colton Cunningham • Dave Fields Ronnie Fields • Charley Pereira • Scott Fawcett • Terry Layton • David Shockley • Chris Workmon • James Parker

Call Colton Cunningham

57' ISLAND BOATWORKS 1986 “Chief”

44' GILLIKIN EXPRESS 2005 “The Streaker”

40’ CABO EXPRESS 2007 “Two Daze Off ”

50' CUSTOM CAROLINA 1977 “Salvation”

60' SPORTSMAN CUSTOM CAROLINA 1990 “Floridian”

32' CENTURY 2019 “Work Less Play More”

43' G&S SPORTFISH 1988 “Hebe”

57' CUSTOM CAROLINA DIXON 2004 “Megabite”

41’ RONIN CUSTOM VIKING 2017 “Dona Lucy”

(561) 748-2002 |

68' WEAVER BOATWORKS 2008 “Mechanical Man”

60' HATTERAS CONVERTIBLE 2003 “Dede V”

1-866-NEW-YACHT

Every day is a tournament. Let us compete for you! Palm Beach, FL • Ocean City, MD • Outer Banks, NC

We Are Here To Serve You With Six Locations: South Jersey Yacht Sales And Service Center Somers Point, NJ (609) 927-1175

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Arnold’s Yacht Basin Point Pleasant, NJ 732-899-9666

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Canyon Club Marina Cape May, NJ 609-884-1600

SouthJerseyYachtSales.com

3DOP %HDFK 2IÀFH North Palm Beach, FL 732-899-9666

65’ MARK WILLIS 1996 CAT power & many upgrades over the years. Incredible interior 63’ MARK WILLIS 2001 Low hours on CATs. Mezzanine, too many customizations to list! volume. Superior offshore performer! Call Bill Snyder: 561-371-4161 One of the most beautiful sportfishing boats ever built! Call Bill Snyder: 561-371-4161

63’ RYBOVICH 2000 1,000 hour service just completed. MTU power provides 32 knot cruise. Recent 62’ TITAN 2019 Company demo with MAN power. All the latest & greatest equipment & mezzanine & deck by Michael Rybovich, new electronics & more! Call Bill Snyder 561-371-4161 an incredible ride! Call Cory Gillespie: 954-695-3505

62’ TOURNAMENT FISHERMAN - Exciting new concept for the serious fisherman! 61’ GARLINGTON 2000 MANY RECENT UPGRADES including: mezzanine, electronics, sonar, generator & watermaker. Completely turn-key! Call Cory Gillespie: 954-695-3505 Call Bill Snyder: 561-371-4161 for details.

50’ GAMEFISHERMAN EXP. The ultimate custom express fisherman! CAT power, produces speeds 42’ RYBOVICH 1958 Meticulously maintained by her fastidious owner! DON’T MISS to 40 knots along with the famous Gamefisherman ride! Call Bill Snyder 561-371-4161 THIS COMPLETELY RESTORED CLASSIC! Call Bill Snyder: 561-371-4161

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Specializing in Sportfish Yachts D! L SO T S JU

1998 70’ HUCKINS - 3 stateroom, 3 head layout ǁŝƚŚ ƐĞƉĂƌĂƚĞ ĐƌĞǁ ƋƵĂƌƚĞƌƐ ĂŶĚ ĚĂǇ ŚĞĂĚ ŽŶ ĚĞĐŬ dĞĂŬ ŝŶƚĞƌŝŽƌ d ϯϰϭϮ ϭϮϱϬ,W Ϯϰs ďŽǁ ƚŚƌƵƐƚĞƌ

2015 70’ VIKING - 4 stateroom, 5 head layout. ^ĞĂŬĞĞƉĞƌ ĞƋƵŝƉƉĞĚ Ddh D $ϯ ϮϲϬϬ ,W ǁŝƚŚ ůŽǁ ŚŽƵƌƐ 'ĂƌŵŝŶ ĞůĞĐƚƌŽŶŝĐƐ

1993 65’ MERRITT - 3 stateroom, 3 head layout. :ŝŐ ďƵŝůƚ ĐŽůĚ ŵŽůĚĞĚ Ddh ϭϮsϮϬϬϬ ϭϱϱϬ,W ZĞƉŽǁĞƌĞĚ ŝŶ ϮϬϬϳ ďǇ DĞƌƌŝƩ

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2004 65’ HATTERAS - 4 stateroom, 4 head layout. d ϯϬ Ɛ ϭϭϱϬ,W ϭϮ EĂƵƟĐĂ ƚĞŶĚĞƌ ǁŝƚŚ zĂŵĂŚĂ ϰϬ,W &Ƶůů ƌĞĮƚ ĚŽŶĞ Ăƚ :ĂƌƌĞƩ ĂǇ ŝŶ ϮϬϭ$

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2006 61’ BILLY HOLTON ϯ ƐƚĂƚĞƌŽŽŵ Ϯ ŚĞĂĚ layout. Cherry veneer interior. CAT C-30’s with low ŚŽƵƌƐ &Ƶůů ŚƵůů ĂŶĚ ƚŽƉƐŝĚĞ ƌĞƉĂŝŶƚ ŝŶ ϮϬϭ

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2018 53’ HCB SUENOS - Seakeeper-equipped. Gap ƚŽǁĞƌ YƵĂĚ zĂŵĂŚĂ ϯϱϬ,W ǁŝƚŚ ůŽǁ ŚŽƵƌƐ 'ĂƌŵŝŶ ĞůĞĐƚƌŽŶŝĐƐ ƵƐƚŽŵ ƐƚĞƌĞŽ ƐǇƐƚĞŵ

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www.downeyyachts.com • @downeyyachts • info@downeyyachts.com (561) 842-3225• 207 #1 E Blue Heron Blvd, Riviera Beach, FL 33404

Fox Yacht Sales huge brokerage inventory

68' Viking 2008 2000HP MTU's, new Furuno touchscreens with 24" screen and CH 300 side scan sonar, new curtains and upholstery, (2) 29KW gens

52' Viking Convertible 2002 1300 MAN's, Complete paint from Viking in 2014, 1400 gal fuel, updated electronics, refrigerated ﬁsh box, updated helm and ﬁghting chairs, water

50’ Viking Convertible 2009 1360 MAN's w all services, 15" Furuno w 25kW radar, 17" Garmin CHIRP, thruster, Eskimo, water maker, extra fuel, extra nice.

47' Riviera Convertible 2004 C12 CATS 2600hrs, updated Garmin electronics, SAT TV, new curtains, new riggers, captain maintained and very nice.

42’ Riviera Flybridge 2005 CAT C-9's w fresh service, Garmin 7212's, SAT TV, FLIR, new riggers, new enclosure, tons of updates and very nice. $329,000 Call Chris Fox

39' Bertram Convertible 2007 CAT C-7's with 900 original hours, one owner, captain maintained, Garmin and Furuno electronics, new curtains. $299,000 Call Peter Young

37’ Freeman CAT VH 2016 Twin Yamaha 350's, 1mpg at 37 knots, 540 gallons fuel, cofﬁn box, tuna tubes, Simrad electronics, ethereal blue hull. $589,000 Call Peter Young

35' Everglades 355T Trip Yamaha 300's with 325hrs warranty to 2/23, 16" Garmins, Fusion amped sound system, bow thruster, trailer, much more. $339,000 Call Chris Fox

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35 Mazatlan, Rockport, TX 78382 361-729-3150

1900 Shipyard Dr., Seabrook, TX 77586 409-739-4817

58’ Jarrett Bay 2004 - “Starﬂite”

48’ Viking 2020 - “El Bendidos”

• Twin MTU 12V-2000 at 1,480 hp ea. • 3 Stateroom 2 Head Layout • New Paint & Teak Cockpit

• Twin MAN V8-CRM at 1,200 hp ea. • Engine Warranties thru 4,000 hrs • Awlgrip Kingston Grey Topcoat

• Recent Reﬁt + Updated • High Gloss Interior • New Mezzanine Seating

• Seakeeper 9 Gyro • Complete AME Electronics • Palm Beach Tower and Hard Top

CONTACT CLARK SNEED csneed@bwys.com 919.669.1304 JULY 2021

121 MARLINMAG.COM

From the Bridge

THE BIG TEASE Finding the perfect teaser reel

There are many different choices for teaser reels on the market today—from the old red Elec-Tra-Mate and pancakestyle reels to the Miya Epoch brand. I remember the days when an old Penn Senator 6/0 was hanging off many bridge rails. Then a few guys started using the fancy gold reels, such as the Penn Internationals and Shimano Tiagras that they hand-cranked whenever the lines were cleared. For me, the biggest problem came when we started switch-baiting for marlin and sailfish. To tease in the fish, we would hand-line the teaser, stopping to be sure the billfish was still there, and then handlining as fast as we could to keep the marlin or sailfish from getting a good grip on the teaser. It is also one thing to tease small blue marlin— they can get a good grip on the teaser but usually don’t have a huge Brazilliano inside their mouth either. When a large marlin gets a really good grip on the teaser, you need to be able to let go. Taking proper wraps during the tease is just as important as when you wire one from the cockpit. If the fish disappears, you have a handful of mono while keeping an eye on the other bridge teaser and/or cockpit teasers. If the fish piles on the other bridge teaser, do you dump

the mono in your hands and start to hand-line the other teaser? Might there still be one on that teaser? Also, did you turn the steering wheel on the first bite and now you want to turn the other way to give the billfish some cleaner water to make the switch? How nice it would be to just push the button on an electric teaser reel and have it reel in the teaser fast enough to tease the fish, especially since hand-lining 100 feet of

believe in pushing a button and letting the reel tease in the fish. Plus, all of the electric teaser reels that I had seen being used were too slow. Most marlin would have eaten the bait off the end of the teaser or chewed on the teaser so many times that they would have been spooked off. Keep in mind that a billfish has chased plenty of live baitfish over the course of their lives and never had their face beaten so badly as trying to

IN THE PAST, I DID NOT BELIEVE IN PUSHING A BUTTON AND LETTING THE REEL TEASE IN THE FISH. 300- to 400-pound-test mono left quite a few captains with scars on the backs of their hands. That’s why you need to push the button and have a teaser reel that can really reel it in—fast! In the past, I did not JULY 2021

122

eat a teaser again and again. On the seamounts of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, you often can be teasing a marlin on one teaser and have two more trying to eat the other one. That is when you need to be able to reach over and MARLINMAG.COM

push the button, but it really would be nice to have a reel that would wind at a faster speed than what most other teaser reels can retrieve. You need to clear that other teaser immediately. When I found the new Shimano BeastMaster electric reels, I hooked them up and went to the seamounts. They have a line counter, so when you push the button to clear the teaser, they stop right where you wanted them to. But the most impressive part was the speed at which they pull in the big softhead lures we use for our bridge teasers. I could hand-line one, and when I needed to get the other one out of the way, I just pushed the lever, and the other teaser was cleared quickly. Recently, I was invited to Lindgren-Pitman to see their new bridge teaser reels. I will say that this reel setup is pretty incredible. It will let out the teaser with a touch of the screen, not to mention the retrieval speed and power is unmatched, again all with the touch of the screen. Most all of us use LPs for our dredge reels and know how powerful and reliable these products are. Someone will get the first one soon and then you will get to experience it for yourself. It just might be the best teaser reel I’ve ever seen.

RICHARD GIBSON

B Y C A P T. S K I P S M I T H

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