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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The Fine Art of Live Baiting

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man live baiting fish

Captain Wade Richardson’s long time mate Herbie deploys this bite-sized treat. Perfect for a black, a blue, sailfish, dorado, roosterfish or cubera.

By Elliott Stark

Live baiting is founded on a very simple biological concept. Since the very first time two fish swam in the ocean, the big ones have been trying to eat the little ones. In spite of the simplicity of the precept, live bait fishermen represent one of fishing’s most secret of societies. Fine tuning their presentations, crafting marlin bites that are as intimate as they are spectacular, the captains who have perfected the fine art of live baiting have long been viewed as secretive and mysterious.

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Child’s Play: An Expert’s Approach to Fishing with Kids

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fin gaddy with his two sons on the qualifier

Fin Gaddy with his twin sons on the Qualifier. Photo courtesy Fin Gaddy

Photos and Story by Scott Kerrigan

For those passionate about fishing, ensuring that your kids enjoy time on the water is a very important—some might say life-altering—consideration. For those who make a living as charter or private boat captains, creating a kid-friendly fishing environment is that much more important. The difference between creating a lifelong angler and a kid that will never fish again can be something as simple as making sure that the tackle and the target species are age-appropriate.

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The Art of Negotiating a Raise

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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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The Best and Worst Fish of My Life

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Captain Ricky Wheeler and mate Stephen Bowen

By Keith Bowen

During the 2017 WMO, I fished with Capt. Ricky Wheeler on the Exile 65 Paul Mann out of The Canyon Club Marina in Cape May, NJ. After a classic crashing teaser bite, a plug was pitched on an 80W standup combo and it was ‘game on’ with a decent sized Blue Marlin. I quickly got in my Smitty Built harness and got ready for a fight. Between fishing in Costa Rica and New Jersey, I had caught about 20 Blue Marlin in the past but after one jump, it was clear this was my biggest to date. Everyone was extremely excited during the controlled chaos as there had not yet been a blue weighed in and we were in the right Calcutta’s.

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Capt. Newt Cagle: Forever Grateful

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captain newt cagle at helm

By Capt. Jen Copeland

“Forever grateful.”

Aged just seventeen, Newt Cagle left his South Carolina home of Sullivan’s Island. On Captain John Mumford’s Hattitude, he was en route to all the usual new mate, cut-your-teeth destinations. The standard travel circuit seems to continually spit out the good new mates, and swallow up the bad: Florida, Mexico, Bahamas, Dominican Republic and St. Thomas. If you can survive the nighttime antics of this billfish boot camp, you’re usually good. If not, you’re on the first plane home – to grow up.

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Gallery: The 2020 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

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With comprehensive safety measures in place, the 61st annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show was underway. Despite anticipation that attendance would be down significantly, everyone we spoke to was thrilled about the turnout. If you weren’t able to make it to this year’s FLIBS be sure to check out some of the highlights from the industry’s leading manufacturers in the gallery below.

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Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Ill-Advised Savings Costing in the Long Run

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The intersection of sportfishing and money is an interesting one. It takes lots of money to buy a sportfisher, it costs a lot to keep it running. This boat name (NYSE stands for New York Stock Exchange) illustrates the case in point.

By Dave Ferrell

There’s no getting around it…boats cost a lot of money to operate and maintain. Keeping a large sportfisher, or even a small charter boat, up and running through an entire season is akin to walking a tight rope; where any little slip can cost thousands of dollars in repairs and lost fishing time spent in the yard. Some of these nagging problems can’t be avoided. All boats eventually experience issues of one kind or another and the more sophisticated and advanced the systems onboard, the more likely you are going to run into trouble if you aren’t staying on top of things. But let’s face it, even the best captains can’t keep a boat from breaking down.

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Returning to the Dominican Republic’s Casa de Campo

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Photo courtesy Casa de Campo

As more travel options start to open up, the Dominican Republic has likely been on the radar for many anglers and boaters. The Caribbean country is a well-known hotspot for sportfishing enthusiasts and casual vacation-goers alike with plenty of options for saltwater social distancing. Currently, U.S. citizens are able to travel to the tropical haven without the requirement of a negative COVID-19 test for entry.

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A Thorough Introduction to Billfish on the Fly

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Photos and text by Captain Dean Butler

Without a doubt, fly rodding for billfish is a great challenge for even long-term fly fishermen. Much of the recent interest in giving it a go arises from anglers, captains and crews from a conventional fishing tackle background. This factor adds another level to the challenge.

As familiar as you may be with the target species, there’s a whole new realm of tackle, technique and IGFA rules to get your head around. This article aims to ease the transition to fly fishing by providing a range of information about aspects of the sport. Beyond the hardware and recommended procedures, though, I encourage anglers to treat every encounter as a part of the learning process – live-action reference data for understanding billfish behavior and for honing new tactics to catch them with a fly.

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