Dania Beach, FL—The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) today announced its 2023 Tommy Gifford Award winners, an annually bestowed accolade that recognizes captains, guides or crew members who have made extraordinary contributions to recreational angling through innovation, leadership or outstanding accomplishments in their trade.
Hiring a Captain For Your Center Console?
By Adam Peeples
As a current owner or prospective owner of a high-performance center console, hiring a captain may not be something that has been a consideration for the term of your boat ownership. After all, one of the main benefits of owning a center console is the relative ease of operation of such a vessel in relation to a sportfishing yacht. The operational costs, maintenance and general upkeep of most center console fishing boats are a fraction of that of a modern sportfishing yacht. So why would hiring a captain be worth thinking about?
Good Captains and Great Captains
By John Crupi
Do you motivate and manage those around you? Do you inspire others to care and take pride in their work? Do you lead by example?
I believe one of my greatest accomplishments and rewards is seeing those that have worked under me move forward and thrive in what is becoming an increasingly competitive industry. I would never take credit for their achievements, but I hope that my leadership and mentorship played a role in their path to success.
Help Wanted: The Captain’s Complex Job Description
Photo courtesy: Simrad
By Elliott Stark
As much as we’d like to take credit for a great idea, longtime subscriber and boat owner Mr. Saeed Almaktoum provided the inspiration for this article. Saeed sent us a note suggesting such an editorial regarding role ambiguity after reading the 2019 Captain & Owner’s Guide.
“I have a background in the aviation business. If I leave one company to go to another, the standard operating procedures are the same—even from one country to the next. The expectations and the job description are almost identical. We have standard operating procedures and guidelines for every employee to know what is expected of them,” he says. “Strangely, when it comes to boating, a multimillion-dollar business, I could not find a guide that defined the expectations that a boat owner should have of his captain.”
A Mate’s Pay
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…]
Maria Magalhaes: Winning Top Angler the Second Year in a Row
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—An Industry Mover and Shaker
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.
Captain Brad Philipps Breaks Down the Guatemala Billfish
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.
The Pay Scale for Sportfishing Captains
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.
Captain Jack Morrow : Fishing Legend, Pioneer
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….
