By Zachary Granat
Last year, on Sept. 6, 2021, Capt. Patrick Price passed away after a battle with COVID-19. This month, the MCAC Artificial Reef Fund honored him by sinking two artificial reefs off the coast of St. Lucie County.
Two boats, the 65-foot Spirit of Palm Beach—renamed the DayMaker—and the 98-foot Last One—renamed the Capt. Patrick Price Reef—are now underwater. After about six months of planning and a delay in February, the organizers settled on the days of May 15 and May 16.
New Lines
By Ric Burnley
A good mate is worth his weight in gold. From wiring a blue marlin to serving cocktails, the second in command on a professional sportfishing boat has many jobs to master and many people to please.
So, how do you quantify the value of excellence? How do you compensate a person for unwavering dedication, extensive technical knowledge, a crushing physical toil and a winning attitude? Paying a mate what he’s worth would quickly run most operations out of financial resources. With all the adventure, excitement, drama and sheer fun of professional fishing, at the end of the day, it all comes down to a wad of cash passed from the fisherman to his best friend on the water. [Read more…]
Photo courtesy © Los Sueños Resort & Marina | Pepper Ailor
“I had no idea I was going to win,” says Maria Magalhaes, who was named Top Angler Overall for the second year in a row at the 2022 Triple Crown Series. Magalhaes also took home Top Female Angler Overall.
Captain Jimmy Loveland. Courtesy Richard Gibson
By Carol M. Bareuther, RD
The first time I met Captain Jimmy Loveland was in the late 1980s. His brother Stewart, asked me to write a press release announcing the upcoming USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament (ABMT), better known as the ‘Boy Scout’ tournament for its chief beneficiary at the time. What I thought would be a short straightforward fact-finding interview with Jimmy as we sat at the head of ‘A’ Dock in Red Hook, St. Thomas, turned into a four-plus hour education on the tournament’s rules. Not IGFA rules.
New Gretna, New Jersey, December 14, 2021—Robert T. Healey Sr., the co-founder of the Viking Yacht Company who helped build the company into an industry leader and led the fight that repealed the Federal Luxury Tax on yachts in the early 1990s, passed away last week at the age of 92. “My father was a true leader, and his vision will always guide us,” said his son, Robert Healey Jr.
“He believed that the people around him – his family, friends and employees – lifted him to success and it was his obligation to leave the world a better place.” Bob Healey Sr. and his brother Bill established Viking Yachts in 1964, and the company went on to become the largest manufacturer of sport fishing yachts in the world. But that success may have never been achieved without the determination and perseverance of Bob Healey.
By Colleen Leidner
From growing up around a family-run construction business to commercial fishing up and down the East Coast, Steve Ellis knows a thing or two about running a business, specifically one centered around boats. It’s what led him to become the owner and operator of Dockside Petroleum Services, Inc.
Photo courtesy Mark B. Hatter
By Mark B. Hatter
“We know more about the moon than we know about the habits of billfish.”
Brad Philipps, captain, owner and operator of the charter boat Decisive and Guatemala Billfishing Adventures, introspectively remarked as we sipped whisky and smoked Cuban cigars on the rooftop of his Casa Philipps in Antigua, in January of 2020. It had been a VERY slow week, yet under the uncharacteristic circumstances, we raised and released more sailfish using fly tackle than any other boat in the fleet.
So, I am not so sure about Philipp’s moon and billfish remark.
By Scott “Fraz” Murray
So 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.
By Capt. Jeff Waxman
Capt. Jack Morrow came of age in Palm Beach, Florida during the heyday of Cat Cay and as sportfishing in the Caribbean came into its own. There are hallmarks among the cadre of Top Guns in our sport. It’s a bit like the fishing version of “masculine measurement.” It often goes a bit like this….
