Inhaltsverzeichnis für February 2016 in Marlin

A heart-pounding, chaotic sailfish feeding frenzy is something few anglers get to experience. Tormented sardines scurried for their lives while remnant scales sparkled, falling like snowflakes to the depths, and the oil of those not so lucky gave a sheen to the sea’s surface. All while the looming pack of hungry sailfish anxiously waited their turn at the ever-dwindling baitball. Images of this deadly tango have appeared countless times on the pages of this magazine, but my experience being in the middle of one off Isla Mujeres, Mexico, is nearly indescribable. One by one, each sailfish ignited its chromatophores and flashed a combination of dark purples and electric blues, signaling its turn to enter the melee. A quick swipe of the bill disoriented the fleeing sardine, and the sail made…

OCT. 28 – NOV.1 , BAHIA DEL SOL , ELSALVADOR Some call it luck, others call it skill. Tranquilo might have a little bit of both, and it doesn’t look like this team is stopping anytime soon. On the heels of top finishes at the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament, Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore and Bisbee’s Black and Blue that won it more than $3 million, the Tranquilo crew continued its winning streak in El Salvador, where it took top honors in the Presidential Challenge of El Salvador. Tranquilo, a 57-foot Spencer based in Quepos, Costa Rica, jumped on the fleet early during the first day of the tournament with 21 sailfish releases. Team USA, aboard the Costa Rican charter boat Bushwacker with Capt. Skeet Warren, made a strong push on…

As I approach 30,000 lifetime billfish releases as a captain, I can’t help but look into the cockpit of Rum Line and wonder how many billfish my first mate, Nicolas Melendrez, has released. The number must be mind-blowing, so I did some investigating. He began fishing Guatemalan waters more than 20 years ago, in 1993, even before Fins and Feathers opened its doors, aboard Tim Choate’s Classic and was always on great boats. He even took a year off from the deck to run a boat but chose to return to the pit the following year, stating that being behind the wheel was a bit boring and he’d rather be in the action. I was able to account for 32,024 of Nico’s billfish releases — that’s not including the three…

The technology is available, and well, you might already have everything you need to do it. Today, Raymarine, Simrad, Garmin, Navionics and C-Map offer the power to record your own soundings and convert them into a highly detailed bottom chart with contours down to 1-foot increments. This ability is most valuable when getting to 1,000 feet requires passing through sometimes shallow Intracoastal Waterway areas or moving past poorly sounded reefs or shifting bars. But are 1-foot contours in 1,000 feet of water of dubious value? Say you’re trolling a plain that ranges from 1,000 feet to 1,020 feet over a distance of several hundred yards. On a standard chart, that incline might look gradual, but as you pass over it with your sonar locked on the bottom, it records every…

If there is something to be learned about the tenacity and longevity of Viking Yachts, one merely has to look at the ethic by which brothers Bill and Bob Healey began the company more than 50 years ago. “We’ll build a better boat each and every day.” It is the mantra with which CEO Patrick Healey has been able to take the iconic company to new heights. Proof positive is the latest to join Viking’s lineup — the 80C. EXTERIOR To be sure, there’s beauty in this beast, and it was quite obvious both to the eye and the senses as soon as her distinct profile came into view at Viking’s Riviera Beach, Florida, service center for my day aboard the 80C with Viking’s Capt. Ryan Higgins. She bears all…

editor@marlinmag.com GOOD VIBES Love the magazine, and this issue brought back memories. Your cover shot for the Fond Memories letter [Letters, November 2015] is a painting by John Carroll Doyle titled High Wire Act. It was commissioned by me on the birth of my first daughter, Jaime Kay — her name is on the transom. The then-editor Bill McLellan Jr. asked if he could use it for the cover shot [Marlin Volume 1, Number 3, 1982] ... the rest is history. In the ’80s, I fished on the charter boat Best Revenge out of Oregon Inlet, captained by Bull Tolson. I still fish there and have fished with Fin Gaddy [Players, November 2015] both in Isla and Oregon Inlet. Maxwell’s story on jig-built boats [“Birth of the Carolina Jig Boat,”…

+ BITE TRACKER Stay current with top bites from the best billfish destinations around the globe at marlinmag.com/travel. WHERE FEBRUARY Find yourself at a hot spot between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and you’re likely to find a fantastic billfish bite. The norm in Costa Rica or Guatemala can be 40 to 50 shots a day at sailfish, and it’s likely to happen in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, as well. Jump on great blue marlin action at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, or head Down Under to Port Stephens, Australia, for black and striped marlin. Our Marlin panel of experts weigh in on where you should head next.…

Billfish species (blue and white marlin, sailfish and spearfish) make significant contributions to Caribbean economies through commercial and recreational fisheries, and are also incidental bycatch species from large-scale tuna longline fisheries operating both within and beyond national jurisdictions. Because collective action by Caribbean nations is required to improve billfish management and conservation, 50 experts from more than 20 countries in the Caribbean region and the United States met on November 9, 2015, in Panama City, Panama, for the second Regional Workshop on Billfish Management and Conservation. The three-day workshop was co-sponsored by the World Bank Ocean Partnership, the Western Central Atlantic Fisheries Commission, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations during the 68th Conference of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. The primary objective of the workshop…

TWO UNCONTESTED SWORDFISH RECORDS CELEBRATE 30 YEARS February marks the 30-year anniversary of two historic light-tackle world records for swordfish set by Deborah and Jerry Dunaway aboard their legendary The Hooker with Capt. Skip Smith out of Tropic Star Lodge in Piñas Bay, Panama. On February 17, 1986, Deborah fought her swordfish for only 12 minutes before she set the women’s 16-pound-line-class record with a 174-pound swordfish. In the history of the International Game Fish Association, this is the only record submitted by a female angler for a swordfish caught on 16-pound tackle. A week later, on February 24, Jerry followed suit after a 1½-hour fight with a 109-pound swordfish to earn him the men’s 8-pound-line-class record. As was the case with Deborah’s record, Jerry’s catch is the only swordfish…

The smell of sawdust around a boatbuilder’s shop generally means one thing: There’s a new boat splashing soon. Around the country, both production and custom boatyards are in constant motion, with many builders filling orders for multiyear projects with owners who anxiously embark on the experience of seeing their build take shape. You’ll be amazed at how the boats on the following pages (listed in no particular order) continue to push the envelope in fishability, size, range and speed. BERTRAM 35 A classic is reborn! Bertram announced the construction of its new 35-footer during the 2015 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, and this Maine-built boat should splash in late spring 2016. Designed by Michael Peters Yacht Design, the infused solid-glass hull features Kevlar strake reinforcements and centerline. Weighing in at…

Boatbuilders continually evolve and use new technology, materials and construction techniques to meet the needs of their customers. When doing so, every once in a while there is a universal element all builders integrate into their boats that becomes the norm. Perhaps three of the biggest in the history of the sport-fishing boat — besides hull design — are the flying bridge, tuna tower and mezzanine. But now, a fourth is changing the game: gyro stabilization. If builders want to sell a new boat these days, they’d better darn sure plan on installing a gyro. NOT A NEW IDEA The first experimental gyros were developed in the late 1860s and into the early 1900s, with less than desirable results. Several large ships used the technology, including USS Henderson, a military…

SAILS AWAY! Richard Gibson captured this incredible photo of a Pacific sailfish in full flight. John Richardson, part of Team Picaflor, hooked the sail aboard Capt. Brad Philipps’ Decisive. They took advantage of the phenomenal sailfish bite and won the entire tourney. LOCATION Taken during the record-setting Presidential Challenge of Guatemala, in which the 12-boat fleet released 845 sails and four marlin in three days. TECH SPECS CAMERA: Canon EOS-1D X LENS: Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM ISO: 5,000 APERTURE: f/14.0 SPEED: 1/6,400 sec…

THE BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN ARE FASCINATING PLACES TO FISH, AND DURING ALL MY YEARS AS A PHOTOGRAPHER AND JOURNALIST I’VE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO VISIT MOST OF THEM. ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO, WHILE FISHING IN VANUATU, I MET A YOUNG AMERICAN CAPTAIN BY THE NAME OF CHRIS DONATO WHO, AT THE TIME, RAN THE 43-FOOT CABO SOUTHERN DESTINY. Donato had brought the Cabo across to Port Vila from Samoa to compare the two areas, with the idea of setting up a new charter business. We chatted about Samoa, and I told him of my one and only trip there a few years earlier. These remote Samoan islands certainly have huge game- fishing potential. Judging by his excitement during our conversation, I felt that’s where he’d…

“If I felt any better about this boat, I’d be triplets,” remarks Jarrett Bay president Randy Ramsey, his words flavored and seasoned with that most appealing and special North Carolinian cadence. “You see, this is the fourth boat we built for the Huddle family, and well, when you have established that kind of relationship, it’s not just about the job.” Indeed, Builder’s Choice, one of the latest to splash at the company’s sprawling 175-acre facility right off the Intracoastal Waterway, in Beaufort, North Carolina, is more than another beautiful custom build from Ramsey and his veteran crew of designers, fabricators, technicians, workers, support staff and all the others who have helped put Jarrett Bay in the rarified air of this particular sector of the industry. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY JARRETT BAY…