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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InTheBite Editors’ Top Story Picks for 2020

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As we say goodbye to 2020 and look to 2021 with hope and excitement for new things to come, we can’t do this without looking back at the significant stories of the year. Our editors curated the top five stories that had a significant impact for us and our readers. These are the features that motivated, educated and took us away to wide open waters for the time we were reading. We hope you enjoy.

1. How the New Texas State Record Came to Be

820 bluefin tuna hanging from Pelican Rest scale in texas

In a very direct sense, the pending new Texas state record bluefin tuna was a victim of the coronavirus.

Whether or not fish can actually catch this disease, who the hell knows, but the trip that resulted in greasing the biggest bluefin in the history of the Lone Star State was the result of being cooped up in the house awaiting the virus to run its course. Captain Robert Nichols, who runs the Rock Mama, a 55’ Hatteras based out of Galveston, Texas was gracious enough to tell us all about this fish of a lifetime.

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2. Two-Minute Warning: Pay Scale

two guys exchanging moneySo many times, I’m asked about how much a captain should get paid. Sometimes, I’m asked by the captain and sometimes I’m asked by the owners. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason on what a captain should or shouldn’t make.

Back in the day, there was an unwritten rule that a captain should make a grand per foot. I don’t know who came up with that…but it was ignorant.

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3. The 2019 Captains of the Year

The InTheBiteCaptain of the Year Cup presented by Hatteras is the world’s foremost competition for professional sportfishermen. The world’s only quantifiable metric for comparing the tournament success of captains, winning an InTheBite Captain of the Year Award is a major achievement. The Cup is composed of five divisions that span the sportfishing world: East Coast, Florida, Gulf Coast, Hawaii and International.

We look back on the 2019 winners who pushed past challenges, beat the odds and showed us what it takes to be the best.

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4. Steering You Straight: The Scoop on Steering

What type of steering system do you have? While most sportfish crew would answer hydraulic, there are many variables today that differentiate the design, components and operation of a vessel’s steering system. Learning about your boat’s system can assist when it comes time for maintenance, ordering repair parts and performing bleeding (more about this later).

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5. Four Captains, 20 Tips for Better Live Bait Fishing

Live bait is both the best bait and the worst bait. Nothing entices a fish to bite better than a wriggling and writhing forage fish dangling from the hook. Nothing gives anglers more trouble than catching, keeping and rigging livies. That’s right, you can’t live with live bait, and you can’t win without.

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Learning the Ropes: Passing Knowledge Down to the Next Generation

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mate on boat tower

By Dale Wills

Most of today’s captains earned their shot at the helm only after spending years working under the watchful eyes of veteran skippers. Each of those mentors had certain techniques and practices that were passed down to the younger generation, things that formed the foundation of their careers as professional mariners. So what are some of the individual practices, habits and distinctions that are being passed down by the veteran captains today to the future captains of tomorrow? [Read more…]

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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Blue Marlin Fishing Chronicles—Captain Mike Lemon

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fishing off back of boatDescribing fishing as long periods of boredom followed by frantic seconds of action was probably first written by a blue marlin fisherman. Who in their right mind enjoys riding around the deep blue ocean for hours on end, happy with just one encounter of the ocean’s apex predator—the blue marlin? Imagine yourself in the cockpit of a sportfisher looking aft at a boat wake and prop wash; lures and teasers bubbling for hours with no encounters. It’s boring!

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Angler’s Approach to a Successful Blue Marlin Release on Fly

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man fishing on fly

Casting the fly to the blue marlin.

Nick Smith is one of the world’s foremost billfish fly anglers. Here’s his rundown of what to expect and how to handle what happens between hook up and successful release of a blue marlin on the fly. The following assumes 20-pound class tippet (things change with lower test class tippets). This description begins with the strike, once the fish has taken the fly.

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Slant vs. Cupped Head

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Slant Heads Vs. Cupped Heads: Action Makes the Difference
Tech Talk By Capt. Bart Miller of Black Bart Lures From InTheBite Vault

As far back as I can remember, lure designs were very basic: bullet-shaped heads and slant heads. Slant heads fell into two categories, one being a tube-shaped head with a slant nose; the other being a cylinder-shaped, tapered head with a dished out nose. The dished-out shape was [Read more…]

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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In Sportfishing, Attitude is Everything

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By Captain Scott “Fraz” Murie

Have you ever been around someone whose attitude is always negative or whiny?

You see this type of person in the morning and say, “Good morning, how are you?” Their response is usually, “Good morning, my belly hurts, my arm hurts, my head hurts, etc…” Then for the rest of the day you hear him pouting and whining about someone who was mean to them or they wanted to go marling fishing but their boss wants to go grouper fishing.

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