InTheBite

New 2023 Tackle For Bluewater Crews

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InTheBite was on hand for the 2022 ICAST Tackle Show held July 19-22, 2022 in Orlando, Florida.  Here are a few of the new products some of you may want to upgrade for the upcoming season. 

Electric Reel

New for 2023 Miya Epoch Teaser reels include a variable speed dial and white in color. Pricing available soon.

Miya Epoch US-9 Teaser Reels

New for 2023 from Miya Epoch is the upgraded US-9 teaser reel. The traditional green case color has been replaced with white color and a new easy to access speed dial lets you moderate the retrieval speed. They will be available later this year.     

spinning fishing reel

The new line of PENN Authority reels just won Best of Category “Saltwater Reel” during the 2022 ICAST fishing tackle show

New PENN Authority Reels

The new line of PENN Authority reels just won Best of Category “Saltwater Reel” during the 2022 ICAST fishing tackle show.  

The PENN Authority boasts an impressive IPX8-rated sealed body and spool that allows the reel to be submerged 1-meter for 30 minutes, and stands up to the most extreme saltwater exposure, spray and wash without suffering water intrusion. Using the best materials on the market, the CNC Gear technology features a stainless-steel gear train and pinion gear and is designed to be better supported overall to allow for long-term durability. It is machined out of a solid piece of metal, ensuring exact alignment, smooth long-term performance, and maximizing torque when trying to get that last wind on a hard-fighting fish. The full metal body, side-plate, and rotor keep gears protected and eliminate flex in the reel’s frame, ensuring rigidity under the heaviest loads.

The Authority reel super spinner far surpasses the durability and performance required and comes into the market with sizes ranging from 2500–10500 making it the most durable best-in-class reel on the market. Four high-speed models are also available (2500-4500-6500-8500).

Available: September 2022

Price: $499.95 – 599.95

 

shimano spinning reel

The new Shimano Saragosa SW BFC Spinning Reel is purpose built for billfishing.

New for 2023 Shimano Saragosa SW BFC 

Purpose-built to serve the dedicated billfish angler, the Shimano Saragosa SW BFC Spinning Reel is the only spinning reel to reach for when big checks and trophy billfish are on the line. The Saragosa SW BFC is the spinning reel counterpart to the legendary Talica 20BFC in Shimano’s Billfish Concept lineup. The Saragosa BFC is built specifically for things like tossing live baits at billfish tailing down sea or cutting through bait balls on the surface. Featuring a lower and more gradual drag curve than the battle-tested Saragosa SW A, the Saragosa BFC is optimized for fighting sailfish, white marlin, and other billfish varieties on lighter, and more often monofilament line. By combining the 6.2:1 gear ratio with an enlarged spool, the Saragosa BFC achieves a blazing fast 56in of line retrieved per handle turn, which is exactly what billfish anglers need to stay tight when trying to keep up with some of the fastest swimming fish on earth. To ensure smooth and consistent drag performance during long battles, Shimano’s Rigid Support Drag enhances spool support by reducing play and deflection 

of the spool. Shimano technologies that anglers have come to depend to protect their reels from the elements such as X-Shield and X-Protect keep water away from key internal components to preserve smoothness and operational proficiency for many seasons out on the water. With the Saragosa SW BFC, anglers can target billfish with confidence in their spinning gear knowing they have the right tool that was expertly designed for the job.

MSRP $339.99

For more information check out the video from Shimano here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeWF3hOni9M

Plastic baitfishiplastic baitfish

FishRazr Dredge Baits

These dredge baits from FIshRazr caught our eye. The detail of a baitfish profile in both Bonito and Tinker Mackerel is sure to fool plenty of billfish. Check out their website for plenty of bluewater tackle options. https://fishrazr.com/

 

plastic bottle in water

Purpose made sunscreen for those who work in the sun.

High Performance Sunscreen

Here’s a new company who is specializing on protecting athletes and those of you who make a living in the sun. 

Watermans High-Performance Sunscreens are purpose-built for athletes and adventurers. If you live life in wind, water and waves, Watermans is the protection you need to Outlast the Day. We haven’t used it but if you want to give it a try check out their website: https://gowatermans.com/

diver down flag and postable air compressor

Battery powered with a 30′ hose and lasting up to 60′ minutes.

Blu3 Compact Battery Powered Dive System

This caught our eye as a small compact option for diving and as a good option for checking the bottom of your sportfish boat. 

Nomad is a battery powered dive system that delivers you compressed air from the surface through a hose as you breathe underwater to a maximum depth of 30 feet. Extremely compact and user-friendly, Nomad provides 45-60+ minutes of dive time per battery, depending on diver usage. 

MSRP: $2000-$3000

https://www.diveblu3.com/

 

 

 

This is the 2022 Best In Show overall product and a great story on how this product came to be. You’ll want to watch this video on the PacBak website. Its not just a cooler. https://pacbak.com/

A Traveling Mate’s Must-Have Tools

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tools for catching billfish

Photo courtesy Will Drost

By Ric Burnley

When I was young, my father gave me some great advice: “Let the tool do the work.” I was probably yanking on a hook with my pliers or trying to hack up bait with scissors when Dad gripped my wrist, looked in my eyes, and told me to stop fighting my tools. Since then, I’ve been a tool geek.

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The Art of Tackle Storage

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tackle storage

A pantry has been converted to rod storage on the 68-foot Viking, Whirlwind.

By Dale Wills

Adequate rod and reel tackle storage on a modern sportfishing boat is generally not the highest priority. Naturally, most soon-to-be boat owners look at other attributes such as engines, number of staterooms, salon layout, bridge configuration and cockpit space when deciding if a boat is right for them. But once a boat is delivered and a captain and/or crew is hired then all kinds of stuff begins to get loaded and stowed, including the all-important tackle.

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Expert Insight To Blue Marlin Fishing Hook Sets

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blue marlin

Photo: Joe Byrum

By Joe Byrum

When it comes to fishing for blue marlin with lures, the hook set can often be an overlooked part of the equation when things are going right and a heavily scrutinized element when they’re not going so well. Typically, when the latter comes into play a fish has just come off or you had a bite that didn’t translate into a hookup. The deliberation gets even heavier when these things occur in multiple instances during a short period of time. The truth is that some marlin aren’t going to be hooked no matter what we do.

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Superlines

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lines

Modern dredge fishing has evolved tremendously, with multi-tiered teasers complementing intricate pulley systems mounted to towering outriggers. Mono has been a reliable choice for dredge line and outrigger halyards for years and is still popular today, but woven superlines comprising ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers provide significant benefits including high strength, low tretch and resistance to flex-fatigue and abrasion. Here’s how superlines are in use for outrigger halyards, dredge leashes and bridge teasers on the 90-
foot Jarrett Bay, Jaruco.

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I Always Like A Red Head—Is Lure Color Important?

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rod hayes lure colors

Rod Hayes Lures

By Peter B Wright

How important is the color of a lure to a billfish, a tuna or any other large pelagic game fish?

For many fish, including everything from small bait fish to giant marlin and tuna, color vision can be hugely important.

Consider mahi-mahi. Almost certainly, they would never have developed their outstanding coloration if they were not also gifted with color vision. This is a part of what makes them, and other tropical fish often found in tanks and aquariums, so special.

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Tackle Tips: Quick Loader and D.R. Blue Marlin

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targeting blue marlin

Eight Eights — D.R. Blue Marlin

Based out of Singer Island, Florida, though rarely at her homeport, the 72-foot Viking Eight Eights is on a constant quest for billfish releases. “Our normal schedule is with the boat 21 days. Then we take 10 off and come back for another 21. Out of the 21 days we’ll probably fish anywhere from 15 to 18 days depending on weather and what’s going on,” says first mate Kyle O’Conner.

In 2020, captains fishing out of Cap Cana reported 91 days where they released five or more blue marlin and 15 days with 10 or more releases. “Last year we got to the Dominican Republic July 1 and in two and a half months we caught 100 blues. We had close to 500 billfish releases and 300 tags for the 2020 season,” O’Conner says.

Man-made FADs highlight this world-class Caribbean fishery, with plastic jugs and styrofoam insulation banded together with scrap seine netting and palm fronds, then strategically tethered to the seafloor in efforts to attract forage and predator fish. Targeted with 30-pound outfits, juvenile blue marlin swarming the warm waters of the D.R. are intelligent and accurate feeders, at times displaying finicky tendencies. Here’s how they are fooled on the Eight Eights:

Rod Blank: BlackFin
Rod Builder: Bill Buckland
Guides: FUJI SiC
Thread Wrap: Green/Orange diamond
Butt: AFTCO #1 unibutt
Reel: Shimano Tyrnos 30
Main Line: Berkley ProSpec 30 lb.
Leader: 100 lb. pink fluorocarbon
Hook: 9/0 circle hook
Bait: Baitmasters medium ballyhoo
Skirt: MoldCraft Junior Hooker
Rigging: EZ Swivel

ballyhoo for the quick reloader

Ricardo Núñez — Quick Loader

Whether it’s washing the boat or rigging ballyhoo, the best deckhands are fast and efficient in everything they do. Dredge fishing for billfish typically entails naked swimming ballyhoo pulled from the transom corners, but outrigger baits are often outfitted with a small lure head like a MoldCraft Junior Hooker or Squidnation Slammer to create a larger profile and also help ballyhoo track better in rough seas.

When fishing a chugger/ballyhoo combination, the use of Ringer Swivels to firmly mount and expose circle hooks is a widely popular method. Some mates use an open-eye rigging needle as a makeshift puller to bring the chugger head into place over the O-ring, but a more streamlined approach utilizes a quick reloader fashioned from a length of #19 wire leftover from dredge teaser pin rigs.

With a tiny clasp bent into the end, mates can hook the O-ring and force it out of the lure head to accommodate a circle hook. The simple device not only allows for easy storage and organization of multiple chugger heads, but more importantly enables mates to simplify the process of adding skirts to rigged ballyhoo.

Steve Kenealy was first mate on the 86-foot Merritt Reel Tight and spent countless hours rigging ballyhoo on the docks of Isla Mujeres, Mexico. “We first started using the quick reloader down there about two or three years ago. We can go through a pile of baits when the sails are snapping and this simple tip helps automate the rigging process. It’s a great little device that was introduced to us by a local mate named Ricardo Núñez.”

The best mates know that the more systematic they become in their daily tasks, the less energy is required. Like poking out the eyeballs of a ballyhoo, where you could do it one fish at a time or line up multiple fish on an arrow shaft, this quick loader makes performing a repetitive task easier than ever.

Useful Treasures: Vintage Lure Collectors Connect with Sportfishing’s Past

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lures

Photo: Joe Byrum

By Dave Ferrell

There’s no one triggering event that turns a big-game fisherman into a lure collector. That is, everyone gets into it in their own way. Certainly, just participating in the sport of big game marlin fishing makes you somewhat of a lure collector right from the get-go. Although the lures you seek may be more for catching than collecting, before long you’ll find all of your onboard storage filled to the brim with skirted lures and un-skirted heads that you’ve acquired from here and there.

You’ll develop favorites and soon have a stash that’s so important to you in one way or another that you’d never put them back in the spread…or only just during tournament time. Lures conjure memories of good times and can seemingly bring friends and experiences back to life. They connect us with each other, and with the most amazing fish in the sea; they are magical to most, and mythical to others.  

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How to Tie a Better Snell Knot

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snell knot

The earliest known inhabitants of the Pacific crafted eyeless hooks from bone and shell with impressive elegance and ingenuity. A variation of the primitive methods employed in lashing hooks to line, the snell knot is widely favored across global fisheries. Creative anglers keen on advancing their collection of skills continue to perfect the craft with the latest iterations preventing tackle failure at traditional breaking points.

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