InTheBite

2019 ICAST Wrap Up: InTheBite Editor’s Choice

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Check out our Editor’s Choice of the latest new products at the annual ICAST show. Each year we attend the show to stay informed on the latest news, trends and equipment in the fishing industry. You’ll see most of the new products start to hit the shelves this fall and early 2020.

Live at the 2019 ICAST in Orlando, Florida – John Drouet shares with us the new product line of Diamond Fishing Products and maker of Hi-Catch monofilament fishing line. Diamond Fishing Products is dedicated to providing Fishermen and Women with the highest quality materials engineered to exceed the demands of fishing.

Eyewear – Costa Del Mar, Inc.
Product: WaterWoman

Squidnation – 

Footwear -Xtratuf

Clarion Marine Systems

Live at the 2019 ICAST – Steve Martin shares the latest and greatest coming from FishRazr Teasers.

Bubba – Fishing Net

Shimano – 2019 SpeedMaster 12 LDII & 16 LDII

Decorative Concepts – Supreme Canvas Line

Bionic Bait

 

Live at 2019 ICAST – Mike Milford, Owner of PlayAction and Braid Products, shares the newest products with a shoulder harness and HD rod belts.

Gerber Gear – Saltwater Fishing Tools & Knives

Bote – Inflatable Chair

SubSafe – Because nobody likes a soggy sub sandwich!

Luna Sea – Cushit Rod Butt and Floater

 

IGFA Names 2019 Tommy Gifford Award Winners 


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IGFA Announces 2019 Tommy Gifford Award Winners
Honoring the Top Captains, Guides and Crew in Angling History

 DANIA BEACH, Fla. – June 28, 2019 – The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) today announced its 2019 Tommy Gifford Award winners in recognition of their significant contributions to recreational angling as captains, guides or crew.

This year’s recipients include big-game angling pioneer Captain Peter Bristow; renowned billfish champion Captain Bubba Carter;  Australian charter legend and adventurer Captain John Cross;  famed Florida Keys inshore guide Captain Billy Knowles; New Zealand angling great and swordfish pioneer Captain Bruce Smith; and IGFA World Record and light tackle extraordinaire Captain R.T. Trosset. These recreational angling greats will be honored at the IGFA Tommy Gifford Awards Ceremony during the 60th annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on October 31, 2019, at the iconic Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“Named for Tommy Gifford, one of the greatest saltwater charter captains of all time, this prestigious award recognizes incredible personal achievements and innovative contributions to the development of our sport,” said IGFA President Nehl Horton. “For many recreational anglers, charter captains and crews are the key to the angling experience as they open up a world of opportunities not always available to the average angler.”

The 2019 recipients were selected by the IGFA Legendary Captains & Crew Committee, a distinguished panel of internationally renowned captains and mates chaired by Captain Skip Smith. Previous winners include Jose Wejebe, Allen and Buddy Merritt, Ron Hamlin, Charles Perry, Ralph Delph, Laurie Wright, Jimmie Albright, Bouncer Smith, Steve Lassley and more.

“On behalf of the entire Legendary Captains & Crew Committee, it is such an honor to be able to recognize these captains, guides and crew members from around the world every year,” said LC&C Chairman Skip Smith. “We need to keep this history alive and honor the contributions these greats have made to our sport.”

 Captain Peter Bristow

Born in Brisbane, Queensland, in July 1938, Peter Bristow has long been a famous figure in local and international game fishing circles. In 1968, he moved to Cairns, Australia, to begin work on big game fishing vessels. The following year, he built the Avalon, a 38-foot sportfishing boat and operated out of Cairns for 23 years.  He is credited as being one of the early pioneers that established Cairns, Australia, as the world’s epicenter for giant black marlin. In 1996, Peter turned his sights to blue marlin in the Atlantic and began a successful charter operation in Madeira, Portugal, fishing on the Katherine B that continues today.

Captain Bubba Carter

South Carolina native Bubba Carter first fished offshore at the age of six and received his captains license two days after turning 18.  He has been a prominent figure in destinations including Cairns, St. Thomas, Isla Mujeres, Venezuela and Costa Rica.  He has released over 20,000 billfish, caught 11 over 1,000 pounds and has several IGFA World Records to his credit.  Today, Carter is based out of Los Suenos, Costa Rica, where he captains the Tijereta.

Captain John Cross

Born in Australia in 1954, John Cross moved to Cairns and established a charter operation with his brother.  He is credited with pioneering the popper fishery for giant trevally on the Great Barrier Reef.   Cross relocated to Papua New Guinea in 1991 and began exploring its inshore and offshore waters.  He later served as the President of the Game Fishing Association of Papua New Guinea from 1996-1998, where he brought the club into the modern age.

Captain Billy Knowles

Billy Knowles is a fourth-generation captain and one of the best-known names in the Florida Keys.  He received his captain’s license in 1961 and the list of notable people he has fished includes the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Grace Kelly, President George H.W. Bush, President Herbert Hoover and Ted Williams.  Knowles has dozens of tournament victories to his credit including the Gold Cup Invitational Tarpon Tournament, Don Hawley Tarpon Tournament, Spring Fly Bonefish Tournament and Fall All-Tackle Bonefish Tournament.  He still is actively guiding clients in the Florida Keys at the age of 78.

Captain Bruce Smith

Bruce Smith came to the Bay of Islands in New Zealand in 1977 with the idea of working for a few weeks as a deck hand, but never left.  Smith learned his craft under the mentorship of Tommy Gifford Awardee Snooks Fuller on the Lady Doreen, which he later went on to captain himself.  He is well-known as an accomplished billfish captain in New Zealand’s waters and helped pioneer its swordfish fishery.  He later became the President of the prestigious Bay of Islands Swordfish Club.

Captain R.T. Trosset

R.T. Trosset has been guiding anglers to scores IGFA World Record catches in Key West, Florida, for over four decades.  He excels in fishing with conventional and fly tackle and is a master at catching everything from tarpon to tuna.  His client list is impressive and not only consists of notable IGFA record holders such as Dotty Ballantyne and Gene DuVal, but also sports figures including Andy Mill, Don Shula and Dick Butkus.  During the height of his career, he was booked as many as 285 days a year and he still guides anglers to “the fish of their lifetime” 130 days a year.

The namesake of the award, Tommy Gifford (1896-1970) is considered one of the most innovative blue water anglers who ever lived, and one of the greatest charter skippers to guide anglers to the major game fishes of the sea. Over the course of his 50-year career, he developed an encyclopedic knowledge of game fish and techniques to catch them, and he served as guide and consultant to some of the most famous names in saltwater angling, including Ernest Hemingway, Michael Lerner, Charlie Lehman and Van Campen Heilner. He never lost his zest for the sea, or his awe at the creatures beneath the waves. Raymond Camp wrote, “Big game angling has a brief history, but Tommy Gifford’s name is sharply etched on every page.”

Fish Finders Then and Now

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Fish finders – Old school to new.

This column first appeared in our June 2019 Issue Volume 18 Edition 4 of InTheBite The Professionals’ Sportfishing Magazine.

by Captain Scott “Fraz” Murie

A lot has changed since I got into the business of fishing. Electronics have become the most important tool you can have on board your boat. When considering all of the abilities of modern electronics, I sometimes think of back “in the day” – if we had a Loran and a Raytheon 735A fathometer, and a booster on our CB radio, we had it going on.

The fathometer was a paper graph machine that scrolled and was marked by a stylus needle. The stylus drawing showed the contour of the bottom and any fish or bait as it scrolled. Actually, it was a pretty amazing machine at the time. Our Loran was operated using microwave towers that transmitted signals from shore, so your range was limited and bad weather decreased its accuracy. When we would take our boat to Mexico or the Bahamas, or other faraway places, you could forget it because our Loran was useless. It was all navigating by charts, parallel rules and dividers.

Today that’s all changed. You can take a boat anywhere now and never be out of touch. You can even see at night! Our satellite systems and technology are pinpoint accurate. That brings me to the latest and greatest game changing fish finder – the new Furuno Omni Scanner.

This is a full color scanner. It scans 360 degrees in 0.54 seconds. Think about that! That is almost two full 360-degree scans per second. This scanner is a game changer when it comes to finding fish, bait, or structure. With this tool fishermen can actually identify the species of fish under the boat. They are able to mark and track a single fish, enabling the anglers to present a bait directly to the targeted fish.

This scanner has become so popular here in the Northern Gulf that I know of at least a dozen boats that had them installed during the off season – previously only a hand full of boats had them. The sonar takes the guess work out of the question, “Is there any fish or bait or structure around the boat?” It reads out several hundred yards from the boat. For instance, you might be heading south but you see something on your sonar screen that is 300 yards to the west. So, you go over there and you get covered up. The point is, you would never have made the turn to the west without the sonar. It is truly a game changer as far as finding and tracking fish.

These scanners are expensive – with a typical price tag of between 100k and 150k depending on the installation. But if you are throwing down 20k, 40k or 60k a weekend in tournaments, it’s a no brainer.  A lot of boats without the scanner are having second thoughts about betting against the sonar boats.  You can’t hardly blame them. Also, there is nothing automatic about this machine. Like anything else, you have to learn how to use it. When using it properly you are constantly panning in and out, up and down – your head is literally in the sonar all the time. It takes a lot of time to get dialed in on this machine. But once you do get it dialed in, you won’t want to go fishing without it.

Technology is an amazing thing. You need it now days to stay in the game.

 – That’s my two-minute warning. Fraz

InTheBite Dock Talk: White’s Tackle

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White’s Tackle is a full service tackle store located in Ft. Pierce and Stuart Florida. The staff are knowledgeable anglers who’ve fished the globe learning the secrets from the best captains and crews, and will be glad to pass them on to you. For over 90 years White’s Tackle has been outfitting inshore and offshore anglers from all over with the best tackle and service imaginable. If you have any questions feel free to call the Fort Pierce Store at 772-461-6909 or the Stuart Store 772-266-4010 or send an email to: info@whitestackle.com

InTheBite Dock Talk: Grand Slam Sportfishing Supply

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Have you ever wanted to know the most popular lures used around the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico and the Mid-Atlantic? Take a minute and listen in to Grand Slam Sportfishing Supply owner Jim McGrath as he showcases the best lures for 2019. Lures include the recent World Cup and the Mid-Atlantic winner. Don’t wait and order yours today!

Fishing Stories: Kona Bigeye Bonanza

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ITB-Digital contributor Michael Marks of Hawaii was nice enough to write out an account of an epic, unexpected run in with a pack of ravenous bigeye.  Check it out… Thanks for the story Michael and keep em coming!

By Michael Marks

The anticipation had been building for a few weeks as a plan was hatched, and the moving parts all started to come together. The crew was solid and consisted of Captain Cyrus Widhalm, part owner of Honey – a beautiful custom 40-foot Buddy Davis, co-owner of Honey Mark Rodrigues, deckhand extraordinaire Nick Watson, owner of the tournament winning El Jobean, Larry Peardon, Brian Cibulka, owner of Relentless and yours truly.

The 4:30 wake up and raw anticipation that comes with the pre-dawn loading up of the boat for a 2-day-overnight trip down to South Point had peaked at about 6 am….and slowly given way to a lot of blue water and zero action.

The opelu at the secret submerged bait buoy were essentially unattainable. They were everywhere, but getting decimated by predators as soon as they bit. An hour and change of work turned into two measly baits.

We resorted to running south for a bit and jumped into ono lane. The run proved to be scenic and beautiful as we skirted alongside the prehistoric looking cliff filled shoreline, but the onos refused to play ball as well. Four hours and not a touch.

As we continued to push south, Captain Cyrus made the call to head outside to “B” buoy. There were some skiffs around, scattered birds and little tunas breaking water occasionally. The general liveliness of the area gave us renewed hope.

We busted out the small gear, rustled up a 4-5-pound aku (skipjack) for bait, bridled it up along with an opelu and sent them back out for a swim. The fish finder showed some serious signs of life. Consistent stacks of medium sized marks down deep that looked like potential tuna, and some big solo marks that looked the part of marlin.

We worked the area. Hard. And after a few hours, and a number of tricky tactics to get the opelu down deep and face to face with the tuna when we marked them, we had nothing to show for it.

The excitement we had first thing in the morning pretty much left us. Frosty IPAs and an assortment of other adult beverages were the only things driving the positivity at this point. All of the other skiffs that were dropping bait at the buoy for tunas seemed to be striking out as well, but Captain Cyrus was convinced that there was just too darn much life underneath us for nothing to happen. Finally, after a number of hours turning fruitless laps around the buoy, he finally proved to be right!

Out of nowhere, a blue marlin showed up directly behind the boat. I mean directly in the props, lit up bright blue and trying to put his bill in the exhaust pipe. Captain and deck hand Nick quietly slid down from the bridge trying not to spook the fish and brought the baits right to it. It turned, ate the port side bait, and then spit it back at us as soon as he felt any pressure, and promptly left. SHIT!  Now we had proof there were hungry fish around, but it definitely stung to see one just feet behind the transom and not get bit. [Read more…]