InTheBite

Dredge Pulling Tricks from the Pros

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angler with dredge

Photo courtesy Pepper Ailor

By Ric Burnley

The first time I saw a marlin dredge I had two thoughts. First: that looks ridiculous. Second: that looks awesome! At first, 40 rigged mullet dangling from a web-work of bars and leader looks like a cluster FUBAR waiting to happen. Put the dredge in the water, and dozens of swirling and flashing baits look like a school of bait on the run. Fish cannot resist.

Many anglers had the same experience when they first saw a dredge. We caught up with five pros to find out how they use dredges now, and how they plan to use them in the future.

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Offshore for All

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fishing with physical impairments

Photo courtesy Pepper Ailor

By Winslow Taylor

There are few pastimes in life that can go from zero to one hundred in the blink of an eye. Big game fishing is one of those activities. Saltwater fishing, especially of the offshore variety, requires not only specialized equipment (think boat, rods, tackle, gear, emergency equipment, etc.) but also a degree of coordination, stamina, and focus.

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Strange Creatures Come Out at Night

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juvenile billfish

Juvenile blue marlin caught off of Charleston by Capt. Richard Brackett

By Captain Kevin Deerman

It’s always been amazing to me to see what kind of creatures show up in the lights around the boat at night when tuna fishing off the Texas coast. Over the years, we’ve encountered many different types of fish. These nocturnal visitors are welcome entertainment for the crew on the long nights in the Gulf of Mexico. We are always on the lookout for flying fish to use for live bait.

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Mag Bay Marvel

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striped marlin feeding on bait ball in mag bay

Photo courtesy Gary Graham

A long-time west coast secret, the incredible fishery that is Mexico’s Magdalena Bay is attracting ever increasing international attention. With ever more traveling operations exploring the fishery, we’ve turned to Baja expert and longtime Mag Bay angler Gary Graham to provide a full report on the fishery, how to get there and what to expect.

By Gary Graham

Located on the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula – approximately 800 miles south of the California border – Magdalena Bay is protected by five barrier islands. Spanning some 131 miles, with most of its shore lined with mangroves, this is the largest bay on the West Coast of the peninsula. An extraordinary habitat, the plankton-rich environment attracts sardine and shrimp with other baitfish which in turn attracts a diversity of sea life. The astonishing offshore fishery stretches approximately 100 miles out in front of Magdalena Bay, from the Thetis Bank north of Cabo San Lázaro, down to below Punta Tosca at the southern end of Santa Margarita Island.

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The Art of Negotiating a Raise

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captain and crew talking at dock

By Jan Fogt

After talking to owners and captains about the best way to ask for a raise, we came away with this startling conclusion: most captains rely on their boss’s goodwill to provide cost of living and merit raises even though such raises usually are negotiated upfront in the business world.

Considering the majority of big game captains today manage hard assets costing well over a million dollars we think being a licensed sportfishing captain should be considered a professional occupation. Yet few captains and owners see the owner-crew relationship quite that way.

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A Classic 49-Year-Old Ribside Whaler is Given New Life

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the new boat after the refit

By Captain Stephen Rhodes

Having myself owned a classic 13-foot Boston Whaler as a teenager, since becoming a father it has been my dream to restore a Whaler for my own sons as they enter their teenage years. Our offshore boat is a custom 35 Henriques Express, Legacy. Like many other offshore fishermen, I wanted an inshore boat for flats fishing, tubing, water skiing and other adventures that are not feasible on a twin diesel sportfisherman. Beyond the fishing and boating applications, I knew from experience the many lessons that restoring a boat can impart to the boys.

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What it Really Takes to be a Captain

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Sport fishing captain at work By Dave Ferrell

Taking the helm of a sportfishing boat, traveling the world’s oceans in pursuit of billfish, represents a “dream job” for a whole lot of people…many of which have never spent much time offshore. The image of a tanned captain, beard wagging in the sea breeze, steering the boat over the horizon with nothing but freedom and fishing on the calendar for the days ahead, fuels a lot of daydreams in corporate boardrooms all across America. It’s like being a quarterback for the Dolphins (Give me a break, I’m from Florida!)…you just can’t imagine having a bad day at the office!

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Tournament Kite Fishing for Sailfish—The X-Factor

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By Captain Nick Gonzalez

Kite fishing has been met by a number of innovations over the last 10 years. Electric kite reels have gotten faster, more reliable, and easier to use. To compliment these kite reels and increase efficiency, light, high-speed conventional reels with smooth drags and high gear ratios came into the market. A number of different rod manufacturers began making excellent rods with soft tips and moderate backbones that are ideal for kite fishing. In addition, circle hooks became mainstream and a number of different manufacturers make chemically sharpened circle hooks that are tournament legal and very affordable.

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The Best Billfish Lure

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The moment we live for

The moment we live for

By Nick Smith

It occurred to me that this billfishing-with-lures thing we do is a lot like what I’ve done most of my life in the automobile business. It’s about attracting customers and eventually closing the deal. The oldest marketing adage in the book is AIDA. It was coined by some marketing genius way back in the late 1800s. It stands for: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.

Isn’t that exactly what we’re trying to do with our spread of teasers or lures? These hunks of plastic and rubber have to accomplish AIDA and do it consistently for us to have success with the billfish that we pursue so fervently.

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