InTheBite

The Rise of the Multi-Boat Program

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Bad Company's pacific fleet on the water.

Bad Company‘s pacific fleet with its mothership.

By Dave Ferrell

Ever since the first purpose-built fishing boats hit the water, the men who piloted them stretched the limits of their vessels and their crews in search of bigger and more abundant catches. From commercial cod fishermen that branched out from Europe to the shores of the New World in search of cod to the intrepid whalers out of New England who sailed around the world to harvest oceanic goliaths for their valuable oil. Traveling long distances on the sea for months or years at a time has always been an expensive and risky business. Those facts haven’t changed to this day; the boats capable of sustaining crews and safely navigating great distances come with a large price tag.

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Ping Jockey- Trolling with Sonar

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(Photos/Pepper Ailor)

By Capt. Steve Katz

Watching a NASCAR race can be monotonous until a crash occurs. Many spectators tune in for hours in the hopes to see a few seconds of a death-defying wreck. You watch the race carefully for hours, scheduling restroom and food breaks in conjunction with commercials, or if watching live, a dash to the concessions. Normally, the moment you step away from the action you miss the big event. This same scenario takes place every day while sportfishing; long days at the helm or in the cockpit and a lot of open ocean can easily create a mind-numbing scenario for even the best crew.

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Center Point: Big Center Console Trailering Advice

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A Yamaha Pro Fishing yacht resting on land.

(Photo/Bill Platt)

By Adam Peeples

A center console that can be trailered is a big advantage for those looking to fish different geographical locations across the continent. And the relative logistical ease and low cost of moving a boat via trailer can be more appealing than making the journey over waterways. As a professional charter boat captain with two boats that reside on trailers, I am very familiar with the view of a center console in the rearview mirror and the variety of issues that may arise while towing a boat.

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Pay to Play: The Cost of Sportfishing

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boat cost

Owning a boat is undoubtedly expensive and that last check you sign before driving your new boat home is just the tip of the iceberg. Budgets are in the eye of the beholder as operating costs can vary greatly depending on how many days, weeks or months the boat will be in use and also how extensive your travel or tournament participation will be.

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A Refit Case Study: 2008 61’ Spencer, MJ’s

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refit

Purchasing a 2008 boat in need of updates has its advantages. During a 10-month search to find such a boat was exactly what Michael Yocco and his father Joe accomplished.

“Our approach was to find a boat within a certain budget which included the purchase price and any upgrades we wanted. Then ask ourselves if the cost of refitting a boat is worth it based on the value post-refit,” Yocco says.

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Assessing Modern Marine Propulsion

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marine propulsion

Photo Jarrett Bay/Luke Pearson

By Christopher Swanhart

It used to be there was only one choice for marine propulsion—wind. Steam power was next, then it was the internal combustion engine. Typically, this power has been delivered to the water via submerged propellers on inclined shafts. And even with the multitude of propulsion types available today, and the significant advances in systems efficiency, inclined shafts remain a constant on mid- to large-sized sportfishing vessels. Let’s take a look at why.

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Avoiding a Disaster While Offshore Boating

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offshore boating on a sportfisher

By Scott “Fraz” Murie

Safety—It’s not just a word, it’s an action. People in our profession sometimes get too comfortable in our routines and forget what could happen in a split second. It probably won’t, but what if it does? Offshore boating accidents can happen and unfortunately do happen.

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Garmin Introduces Surround View Camera System

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OLATHE, Kan., Sept. 7, 2021/Business Wire—Garmin® International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), the world’s largest and most innovative marine electronics manufacturer, today announced the Garmin Surround View Camera System, a breakthrough in video guidance for recreational boating and yachting. Utilizing six through-hull mounted cameras that act like multiple sets of eyes, Surround View provides a live 360-degree bird’s-eye view around the vessel to help captains quickly view their vessel’s perimeter during low-speed maneuvers, such as docking, from the helm.

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Keeping the Boss Happy: Advice from Veteran Captains and Owners

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By Jan Fogt

When it comes to pleasing the boss, all the usual applies. Like keeping the boat clean and well maintained, keeping meticulous maintenance records, reigning in any bad behavior on the part of the crew, being prepared for travel and trips, tournaments, etc. In other words, when it comes to the boat, the secret to longevity on the job would seem to be to keep the boss’s life as hassle free as possible while watching out for the bottom line. As most captains will attest, if you can manage all of the above while taking care of fishing, you’ve got a job for life.

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Fighting Big Fish from A Center Console

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Yellowfin boat floating in water

By Capt. Adam Peeples

When I head offshore for a day of fishing my wife, Cadence, almost always says, “I hope you catch a big one today!” Catching a big fish is probably every captain and angler’s goal on any given fishing trip. We obsess over gear, baits, weather, moon phase, lucky shirts and hats – the list goes on. One thing that often gets overlooked, however, is the actual battle of man versus fish.

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