InTheBite

InTheBite Dock Talk: Bye Bye Barnacle

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Ensure a trouble-free maintenance experience with Bye Bye Barnacle. The systems need to be flushed every 1 ½ months to avoid buildup of marine growth especially in warm waters and warmer climates. The flush unit is plumbed into the supply and return manifolds of the air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The flush unit is plumbed to on board fresh water system for filling and pumped overboard for draining contents overboard.

Check out this video tutorial on Bye Bye Barnacle by AugustWorks:

Bye Bye Barnacle is currently the only proven permanently installed flush unit on the market.

  • Save thousands on yearly flushes
  • Flushing takes mere hours, not all day
  • 1-year warranty on flush unit

InTheBite InTheSight: Cotton Mesa Trophy Whitetail Ranch

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Enjoy an InTheBite exclusive look into the World Class Cotton Mesa Trophy Whitetail Ranch in Corsicana, Texas.

A family run business for the past 33 years, owners Robert and Stephen Gegenheimer, have produced some of the top whitetail and exotics in the State of Texas. The ranch includes an 8000 square foot lodge that features six bedrooms all with private baths, cable TV and internet.

“If you like hunting and being treated like family, then Cotton Mesa Ranch needs to be on your list. Robert, his son Stephen, and the entire ranch staff are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. They go above and beyond to make sure your experience at Cotton Mesa is one you’ll never forget.”— InTheBite Publisher Dale Wills.

March Issue 2019: Hitting the Docks Now!

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Ready for a Spring Break? Check out the March issue of InTheBite, hitting the docks now!

 

 

Team Seraphim Wins 2019 Jimmy Johnson Billfish Championship

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KEY LARGO, Florida Keys — Team Seraphim of Ocean Reef, led by Captain Jerry Pohl of Miami, Florida, tallied 12 sailfish releases to take top honors at the two-day Billfish Championship, a main event of the Jimmy Johnson Fishing Championship Week that ended March 9 in the Florida Keys.

The Seraphim team earned $405,000 in overall prize money for the victory, as well as authentic, custom-designed Jimmy Johnson’s NBC Championship rings for each team member. [Read more…]

Old Salts Rule: Captain Sam Crutchfield

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Here’s the full Old Salt interview with Capt. Sam at the Fort Pierce Inlet.

Captain Sam Crutchfield – The Florida Sportsman

by Dale Wills

Singer, songwriter, newspaper columnist, book author, duck hunter and longtime captain – Sam Crutchfield can catch most anything that swims in fresh or salt water. Were that not enough, Capt. Sam is also proficient in Morse code and was bitten by an alligator while wade fishing for bass in a Florida lake. Captain Sam Crutchfield is an outdoorsman in every sense of the word. When speaking with Sam you could hear about most anything – a play by play story of a big blue off Walker’s Cay or about any number of adventures in Florida or the Caribbean. Today, at the age of 79, you can still find Capt. Sam at his local boat ramp fishing in the Indian River Lagoon and along the Treasure Coast beaches almost every morning. “You can never get a missed day of fishing back,” he says gently.

The Young Captain Sam

Born in 1939 in Polk County, Florida, Capt. Sam Crutchfield was hooked on fishing by the age of six. His father had a little boat and motor and would run out of Camp Mack on the Kissimmee River targeting big bass on shiners and artificials. His favorite holes were the Polk County phosphate pits, which according to Capt. Sam, “made the bass really big.” It was here that Sam caught his largest bass to date – a 17.2-pound whopper. Sam recalls how the incredible bass fishing during his youth has changed. “I remember the day they started dredging the Kissimmee to create the canal to Lake Okeechobee. It broke my heart, and it’s never been the same since.”

Captain Sam Crutchfield with his all-tackle 77-pound world record dolphin. It stood for more than decade.

After high school, Sam joined the Coast Guard. “I enrolled in Radio School with the plan to relocate to Fort Pierce to be on the Ft. Pierce inlet. Upon completing my training, I quickly realized Ft. Pierce did not have a radio position. I then selected Jacksonville Beach Coast Guard station to be my new home.” Back then, radio communication was Morse Code (which Captain Sam can still encode today).

Captain Sam’s two day on, two day off schedule in Jacksonville was ideal. “Hunting and fishing was easy with my schedule. In the fall, I would hunt ducks on the land currently developed as the TPC Sawgrass Golf Club in Ponte Vedra, Florida. It was one of the best flyways you could imagine. Widgeon, pintails and teal were so prevalent,” says Sam. “In the spring and summer, I would fish the Jacksonville pier in which I witnessed over a half-dozen fifty-pound kingfish caught.” Sam is careful to note that his biggest kingfish, caught off of Ft. Pierce, tipped the scale to 67-pounds.

A Career in Sportfishing

After his service in the Coast Guard, Capt. Sam finally moved to Ft. Pierce to attend Indian River Community College – and fish. During this time Sam started mating on charter boats. This was the beginning of a lifelong sportfishing career.

Crutchfield earned his captain’s license in 1966. “I started running a small 19’ inboard charter boat with a 70-hp named Lucky. We mostly fished the Ft. Pierce inlet and Indian River Lagoon for snook, tarpon, trout and redfish. I was lucky to be mentored by Capt. Rollin Matheson at the time. He was a big influence on me when I first started,” Sam recalls. “We used all conventional tackle with wire leader. I remember when the first spinning reels came out. Eagle Claw introduced ‘cat gut’ as a type of mono and the spinning reels were awful. They got their names ‘spinning’ because they would spin the line up in a mess.”

Crutchfield’s first charter boat, the Lucky.

A couple of years later, Crutchfield upgraded his boat, purchasing the Lucky Too, a 23’ T Craft with a 225-hp inboard Chrysler. The boat was equipped with two big live wells and two fishing chairs and could take a party of four fishing comfortably. Then, in 1973, he upgraded the boat again with a 30’ T Craft also called Lucky Too with a CAT 3160 diesel engine.

“My charter business progressed to mostly offshore fishing then.” In 1976, Sam purchased a 40’ Warren O’Neal-built boat out of North Carolina. The boat was originally built for sportfish legend Omie Tillet and is still in charter service today out of Oregon Inlet. During the late 70s and early 80s, Captain Sam built a steady charter business from Ft. Pierce which evolved into a world class operation booking clients in the summers to fish out of Walker’s Cay in the Bahamas.

During the fall, Sam was dialed into duck hunting around Lake Okeechobee and Louisiana – when he wasn’t charter fishing his local Ft. Pierce waters. Sam also mentioned he forged a great relationship with his dock partner and friend Chip Shafer during the height of his charter career. “Captain Chip’s friendship has meant a lot to me over the years, and we are still fishing buddies today,” says Capt. Sam.

In 1985, Capt. Sam retired from charter fishing, making the switch to private boats. His first private position was working for Charlie Campbell on the Escape, a 53’ Hatteras out of Stuart, Florida. “I had the opportunity to fish and help Charlie with his hunting ranch in Okeechobee. It was ideal, but short lived,” recalls Captain Sam.

Crutchfield’s largest blue marlin. Caught and released in Walker’s, it was a tank.

Around 1988, Capt. Sam switched gears again and accepted a new captain’s position on the 53’ Hatteras Lillian B. The new job allowed him to return to Walker’s Cay on a regular basis. The position evolved into working on a second family-owned boat, a 60’ Hatteras called Silver Streak. Captain Sam would split time on both boats. This lasted until the early 90s.

Captain Sam recalls many evenings sitting around the dock at Walker’s where he and so many others were, as Sam puts it, “living the good ole’ days but just didn’t know it.” The dock parties at Walker’s and Captain Sam’s love for music eventually paved the way for Captain Sam’s next career – in the music business.

In 1995, Sam finally traded the ship’s wheel for a microphone, jumping full time into his singing career. Captain Sam recalls how Walker’s Cay charter captain Billy Black and friends – and the nights of singing and playing guitar on the dock after fishing – influenced many of his songs. Most of his lyrics were conjured up in the shadow of the iconic Walker’s Cay scale. If you like fishing even a little bit, you can’t help but enjoy Crutchfield’s songs like Trollin, Ugly, The Mullet & The Mackerel & The Ballyhoo and Big Game Fishin’.

“I really enjoyed making music, but didn’t realize that once you start making albums, every year you need to come out with another and another. I decided to quit making music after 13 albums,” Captain Sam recalls. (If you are interested in buying one of Captain Sam Crutchfield’s CDs for the boat, give us a call at InTheBite).

A Lifetime on the Water

Captain Sam’s lifelong interest in fishing proved to be one of his best decisions. “Through the years there were good times, bad times, sad times, and most of all, the wonderful times when good folks got together on a fishing boat to share the fun and excitement of sportfishing,” he says. “Recently on a morning fishing trip a young fella yelled ‘Hey old man, have you fished here all your life?’ ‘Nope,’ I answered. ‘Not yet!’”

InTheBite Dock Talk: Explorer Satellite

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Satellite communications are perfect for offshore sportfishing when faced with no other alternative once away from land-based cellular/GSM networks.

Explorer Satellite keeps you equipped at sea, selling systems and service that work even in the most demanding weather and sea conditions.  Depending on the application, one or several solutions may make the most sense.

 

Learn more in this edition of Dock Talk with Explorer Satellite owner, Andy Cool –

The Best and Worst Fish of My Life

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By Keith Bowen

During the 2017 WMO, I fished with Capt. Ricky Wheeler on the ‘Exile 65’ Paul Mann out of The Canyon Club marina in Cape May, NJ. After a classic crashing teaser bite, a plug was pitched on a 80W standup combo and it was ‘game on’ with a decent sized Blue Marlin. I quickly got in my Smitty Built harness and got ready for a fight. Between fishing in Costa Rica and New Jersey, I had caught about 20 Blue Marlin in the past but after one jump, it was clear this was my biggest to date. Everyone was extremely excited during the controlled chaos as there had not yet been a blue weighed in and we were in the right Calcutta’s.  The fight lasted 58 minutes to get her boatside. After measuring her six times, the captain  agreed on her being a roughly 110” fish, 4” short of the minimum allowable length.  Although from a somewhat disappointed perspective, the crew spoke the rest of the day about what a great experience the Blue was for all us. Little did we know how much that experience would influence our future plans.  No Blue was weighed in that year – ouch but there are more tournament fish in the sea to catch in future years. With the experience of Capt Wheeler, I was lucky enough to catch and release enough fish and awarded with a 4th place finish for angler billfish points and receive a commemorative ring as well.

Captain Ricky Wheeler and mate Stephen Bowen

Fast forward and as 2018 rolled around, all of the 2017 anglers still agreed that we wanted to have the same ‘good luck mojo’ on the Exile 65. To boost our chances, Capt. Wheeler brought an extremely experienced mate from Trinidad to aid in our 2018 quest.  The mate, Matthew, had some tricks of his own with slightly different fishing techniques than I had seen in the past. Having caught hundreds of blue marlin, Matthew and his expertise were a welcome addition to the crew.

The 2018 WMO started a bit slower and like most boats, we had to work hard for our catches. On Friday, our third and final day of fishing, the captain and mate decided to change the spread based on their years of experience fishing in the conditions that we were seeing that day. On the port side, a medium sized plug was ready for pitch. On the starboard side, Matthew had stitched up a large pitch bait in case a BIG girl showed up.

At about 11:00, I went inside to make sandwiches for the crew, but was still keeping an eye out for an action through the window. I had just spread the mayonnaise on the rolls and I hear some commotion outside. As I looked up, I immediately saw the crew clearing the flatlines and Matthew going for the large pitch bait. I thought to myself, oh my gosh is this really happening ? As I exited the salon door and made my way to the cockpit, Matthew pitched her the bait and hooked up. In all my years of fishing, I had never seen a boil this large.  As she hammered the pitch bait, it appeared a small car was emerging from the water. I quickly spotted my trusted Smitty Built harness hanging on the bridge stairs and geared up for the enduring fight. After Matthew hooked the fish on the Tiagra 80W custom standup combo, he turned to me and asked if I was ready to have some fun. I gladly took the rod and made my  way to the corner of the cockpit to get situated for the fight. Without what seemed even making a swish of the tail, she swam away with ease at 28 lbs of drag.

Angler Keith Bowen

After about 15 secs, this fish decided to let us see what I was battling against as she jumped about 25 yds behind the boat. What we all saw was the most amazing sight we had ever seen. I had never been on a boat that hooked a fish that size let alone been the one fighting it. Understandingly, there was quite a loud commotion going on throughout the whole boat. I have to admit, for a short time I was wondering what the heck I had gotten myself into. There was some guessing as to how big she was as I could hear the guys talking behind me about what a monster fish this was. I could hear Matthew say “Ricky, that’s the one we wanted” followed by some high fives behind me. As Matthew has guided hundreds of anglers through the end game on large fish such as this, I was intently listening to his advice. Ricky was discussing the job each crew member had with gaffing as this was going to be a total team effort to land the fish and take her for a ride to the Ocean City Md scales.

Mate Stephen Bowen and angler Karl Gordinier

The first hour seemed to fly by as I would get one foot of line back and she would take two feet her way headed to the east. The crew were incredibly supportive and encouraging, making sure I was well fed and hydrated along the way. I must have drank a few gallons of water and Gatorade. It was kind of funny having my son telling me, “Come on dad, you can do it!” Although the shoe was on the other foot, it reminded me of being his Tee Ball coach, teaching and encouraging him all those years.

At about 2 hours into the fight, we were trying to get a reaction out of her to make her come up. Ricky ran up in front of the fish in an effort to get her to make a mistake. The captain and mate knew what side the hook was on so we tried to make her react and come up, which she eventually did. At about that time, I remember hearing Ricky say something about three hours. I thought to myself, there’s no way I’ve been on the rod for that long already.

After about three and half hours, she did make another jump about 40 yds off. Once again, we were all in awe at such a spectacular fish. We did have some boats in the tournament drive by us during the fight  so they could take a look at the action. We were all terrified that someone would get too close and cut her off as we were stretched out quite a bit. By now, we had her at full drag on the Tiagra 80W. I had heard of captains speaking about how hot the reel can get from friction in battles like this. While taking a break from reeling, I bumped my hand against the reel body and could not believe how hot it was. From that point on, I periodically poured bottles of water on the reel to keep it a bit cooler so the drag would stay more consistent. I have Tiagra reels on my own boat and now had a new appreciation for why it matters to use high quality reels when the pressure is on.

I hadn’t realized it but she was taking us a bit too close to being out of bounds so Captain Ricky was doing everything he could with the boat to help and stay legal. This was disheartening at times as I had to give up precious line that I fought to gain over the last few hours. However, I fully trusted the captain and mate so I did exactly as they instructed. Later that day, he let me know that we backed down on her for 7.5 miles which is why we had to have her at full drag towards the end.

After about 4.5 hours, I called up to the bridge for Captain Wheeler to come down. I was starting to see stars in my eyes.  I did everything I could to keep fighting and stay on my feet, but it only got more difficult with time.  Each second on my feet like an hour slowly ticking by. There wasn’t a bone in my body that wanted to quit, but I knew I couldn’t last forever.  My eyes closed for a split second, and the next thing I knew I was on my knees passed out in the cockpit, with the rod resting on the gunnel. Game over for a legal fish in the tournament. The crew grabbed me so I would not get pulled overboard as I was still clipped to the reel with the harness. We still had the fish on the line so one of the other crew took the rod so he could experience the fight. After a couple of minutes, he said ‘The heck with this’  and passed the rod to a third angler. This third angler was able to bring the fish up to where Matthew could grab the leader. Keep in mind that Matthew has been involved with landing many big fish. Even after what was about 5 hours now, the fish was still in total control and he could not get her up closer. I could hear Matthew telling Captain Wheeler that the fish was still fresh. I was thinking, how can that be possible ? I have been fishing with Captain Wheeler for years and it was at the point, that he made one of the most respected decisions I have ever seen. He cut the line to let her swim away and fight another day. I’m sure she was tired as well but why possibly kill such a beautiful fish from exhaustion just so we could get a boat side picture.

After I made my way into the salon, I could not believe how bad the cramping was in my legs. That fished certainly kicked my butt. Needless to say, it was the longest ride back in to the dock in my life. There was a Blue weighed in earlier in the week but our fish was certainly one to challenge that.

The Big Girl

 During that day and the following weeks, I went through a full range of emotions as I reminisced about my experience. I have to admit at first, I was really pissed at myself. Even though I didn’t willingly give in, my body did.  I eventually began to think about it as the ‘greatest and worst’ fishing experience of my life. The crew that caught the WMO Blue weighed won in excess of $900K. She was just a big girl and played the game smart!

A few days later, there was a large blue weighed in at a tournament in Pirate’s Cove. I had a few fishing buddies ask me if I saw that fish picture and we all wondered the same thing…………

The Young Guns of Sportfishing: Captain Chris Mowad

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by Charlie Levine

Raised in Pensacola, Florida, Chris Mowad, only ever wanted one job. “I was always an avid angler growing up, and the dad of one of my best friends was a private boat captain,” he says. “I thought that was the dream job.”

Chris started working on boats at 14 years old and just 13 years later, he’s running the Whoo Dat – a 58-foot Jarrett Bay owned by Keith Richardson. This is one operation that does not like to sit idly by. Mowad and company left the Gulf of Mexico in January and have been fishing in the Dominican Republic and St. Thomas ever since.

Mowad took the time for a phone call in St. Thomas just after the September moon and the bite’s been on. “We caught 23 in the last seven days,” he says of fishing on the North Drop. “We recently hired a new mate who fished the entire Gulf season and caught 11 fish. We doubled his whole season in a week. You can build a resume pretty quick spending time in hot spots, and the experience you gain is priceless.”

Mowad’s quick ascent to the captain’s chair began as a freelance captain and mate on a handful of boats. He also worked at Outcast Bait and Tackle, in Pensacola, from the ages of 17 to 21. It being a smaller shop, he had to know how to do a little bit of everything. Spool reels, rig lures, you name it. At 18, he got his six-pack license and started running more boats. “I met a lot of local guys who had private boats, and I worked as a captain-for-hire,” Mowad says. “That’s how I got a lot of experience. You learn a lot when you’re managing a different crew every weekend.”

While running the boat and finding fish is the more glamorous part of the job, Mowad is not afraid to get his hands dirty and do whatever it takes to make sure the boat is running properly. “I was always impressed by captains who maintained the boat themselves and if anything broke, they knew how to fix each system,” he says.

Capt. Myles Colley was one such captain that Chris Mowad looked up to. Colley, captain of the Born2Run, is from the same area as Mowad and also started running boats at a young age. “I wanted to kind of follow in his footsteps,” Mowad says. “The part I enjoy most now is that he’s gone from being a mentor to us being in competition, but we still have a good friendship.”

The Whoo Dat is the perfect platform for the kind of marlin fishing that keeps Mowad’s boss fired up. The 58-footer was built by Jarrett Bay in 2007 and when Richardson bought it in 2011, he installed a tuna tower, a second generator, new electronics and a fresh coat of paint. The 1,350-hp MTU 12V 2000s just rolled over 10,000 hours and keep the team on the bite. While the engines keep the team mobile, it’s really the owner of the boat, Keith Richardson, who keeps everyone on board fired up. “He keeps us all going,” Mowad says. “He wants to put up big numbers and is not afraid to fish extra hours. He’s really the hardest working guy I’ve ever worked for and a key part of our program. He’s willing to fish on a different schedule and follow the bite.”

Having the flexibility to move throughout the Caribbean, whether it’s fishing FADs in Casa de Campo, or pulling lures on the North Drop, gives Whoo Dat the ability to stay right on the marlin’s tail. Fishing out of St. Thomas this summer, Mowad and his crew were seeing 10 to 12 blue marlin a day during the peak moon phases in June, July, August and September. It’s been some of the best fishing there in a long time. Fishing alongside his mate of four years, Kevin Alexander, he says they’ve got a solid group of guys on the boat and camaraderie is high.

While they’ve been successful, Mowad is never afraid to ask for help from some of the more experienced skippers. “If you quit asking questions, you quit getting better,” he says. “There’s a group of guys here that have been really helpful.”

Mowad’s plan moving forward is to get boat work finished in October and November then head to Casa de Campo in December and fish there through next April. From the DR, the team is heading back to St. Thomas for the summer. The days can run together, but he’s certainly not complaining. “It wouldn’t be fair to say we work 24-hour days, but there are times it seems like it,” he says. “Keith doesn’t have a problem going for a 15-day stretch and the seas are rough the majority of the time. But you get to learn how maneuver the boat in rough water. If you can catch them when it’s rough, you’ll catch them when it’s calm.”

Charlie Levine is the publisher of FishTrack.com and the author of the book, “Sucked Dry: The Struggle is Reel,” available on Amazon.

Splash Report: 97′ Weaver “18 Reeler”

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Captains Rick Carney and Jed Galloway provide a backstage pass aboard Weaver’s latest build, the 97′ 18 Reeler. Impressively endowed, this sky bridge sportfisher is ready to embark on a globetrotting sportfishing tour. From the engine room to the sky bridge and into the crew quarters, this is a tour (and a boat) that you won’t want to miss.

Nominate an InTheBite Young Gun

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Know any up and comers? InTheBite is calling for nominations for our Young Guns features. To be eligible must be a full time sportfishing captain (private or charter) 33 years old or younger. Having a great story, running an interesting operation, or just being a good person who can catch fish will put a nomination in the running.

Email: info@inthebite.com

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