InTheBite

Tournament Observers Looking for Captains and Mates

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The International Gamefish Tournament Observers (IGFTO) is a great organization that offers some fun and exciting opportunities to professional captains and mates. IGFTO President Capt. Steve Hargett describes what the tournament observer programs is all about.

While being an observer is fun for anyone, it is especially appealing to a captain or mate. By becoming an observer you can ride with some of the top tournament teams in sportfishing. This gives you the chance to pick up tips and learn techniques as you verify the fish they catch.  It is also quite a bit of fun.

For more information, or to join the IGFTO, please visit: https://www.igfto.org/

Wicked Catch! State Record Bluefin Landed in N.C.

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The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record for bluefin tuna that was caught on Saint Patrick’s Day by an angler aboard a Pirates Cove Marina boat.

The 877-pound bluefin was brought to shore aboard Capt. Dennis Endee’s A-Salt Weapon, after a 2 1/2 hour fight and then another 90 minutes to pull it on board, according to the Pirates Cove Facebook page.

The angler was Scott Chambers from Townsend, Del., a retired U.S. Army general. He caught the fish trolling bait on 130-pound line test on a Shimano 130 rod and reel.

It measured 113 inches curved fork length, tracing the contour of the body from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail, and had a girth of 79 inches.

The “trophy-size” fish was caught on the final day that bluefins more than 73 inches long could be kept in the Atlantic south of Great Egg Inlet, N.J.

The new mark shatters the previous state record of 805 pounds, set in 2011 by Corey Shultz of Waverly, Va. fishing aboard the Sea Breeze out of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center.

A bluefin weighing more than 1,000 pounds was hauled to the docks in Beaufort earlier this winter, but because that catch was sold to a dealer it was not eligible for the recreational-only N.C. Salt Water Tournament record.

Story courtesy via The Fishing Wire

#What The Hell is Happening?!! —The Strange World of Fishing Social Media

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#What The Hell is Happening—The Strange World of Fishing Social Media
By Elliott Stark

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old timer, it is time that someone says it. For the love of God some people in sportfishing have gone far too crazy with social media. The fishing industry is not the only place where things have gotten crazy, but there are those among us whose social media habits have more in common with the likes of Britney Spears than with conduct suitable for the once dignified pastime that is big game fishing.

Could you imagine a picture of Hemingway standing next to a marlin with smiley faces and hashtags posted on the photo? What would have happened if someone hash tagged a picture of Davie Crockett with one the bears he killed with hearts, polka dots and emojis? He might have stopped bear hunting and started beating the person responsible. Now, for some reason, it is acceptable for even the manliest of men to take selfies holding fish…. #beachday! Something has changed.

Change is not bad. People used to actually get dressed up in tuxedos to fly on airplanes. These days you’re lucky if the guy next to you is wearing pants. This grand cultural shift got us thinking. Social media in the electronic age have changed fishing in some pretty strange and unexpected ways. Here is a list of some of the weirdest, most profound examples of change.

The Coconut Telegraph from Hell

In the early days of sportfishing, captains who fished in remote areas made sure to help one another. Given the difficulty of getting to places and the isolation once there (think Costa Rica in 1983 or St. Thomas is the early 1970s), boats understood the risks of fishing in far off places. If someone broke down, ran aground, or hit something while running, it was their fellow captains who would lend a hand to make sure that people and equipment were safe. This was an unwritten rule.

Today captains still help one another. The sportfishing industry is very tightly knit and most travelling captains have networks of friends ready and willing to help out in time of need. With the advent of social media, however, something very fundamental has changed. The change is not necessarily for the best either.

These days when something bad happens involving a boat—running aground, striking something, sinking, etc.— the first reaction of many is to grab their camera. Taking either pictures or video footage, onlookers are all too happy to capture someone else’s really terrible day. Once they have the pictures, it’s boom—straight to social media. “Like” whores don’t care whose picture they take, they just want likes.

Once the photos or videos are uploaded, even if the original photo is published with a message such as “Good thing everyone is safe, accidents happen…” it’s only a matter of time before a flood of insults, jokes, and ill-informed comments rain down from all corners of the internet. People from all walks of life— even those who have never set foot on a boat will comment– chiming in on what they think happened or what so and so should have done. With social media, for better or worse, everyone is an expert. Anyone can post anything.

Instantaneous news of an epic bite is great. When people a continent away find out that you’ve had the best fishing day of your life, that is pretty cool. But when something goes sideways and someone posts a picture of it, however, you’d better have some thick skin. You better not try to hide from it, either.

The Creation of Fishing Carnies…

Perhaps the strangest thing of all to happen because of social media has been the creation of fishing carnies. The word carnie is used to describe people who work at carnivals. They travel from town to town and constantly promote whatever it is that they’re doing along the way. They holler and dance around, generally harassing anyone who passes their way. The combination of fishing, self-promotion and social media have created some really crazy things.

You know the type, there are probably five or six that pop up on your phone. They are the ones who claim to have invented fishing and post live videos of themselves line dancing after catching a sheepshead. They often make crazy faces and weird hand gestures and force whoever is fishing with them on that day to do the same. They are generally nice people, many are excellent fishermen too.

Even when you can understand the motivation behind their actions—everyone has to make a living and most all people like to be recognized for what they do—it can be hard to take someone seriously who puts 50 hashtags behind the five things they post each day. What the hell does #MariahCareyMahiMahi mean? This can be especially hard to handle when you have good friends who do it.

“Oh, no buddy! Please stop putting things like that on social media…” You know it’s a good one when your wife calls, “Look what so and so posted now!” Everyone knows that guy, or sometimes a few of them.

The Purpose of Fishing.

For some, the purpose of going fishing is now to post pictures and selfies rather than to catch fish. What has happened? A charter man in North Carolina described recently that some of his clients now want to catch a few fish and race back to the dock to be the first to post the pictures of their catch on Facebook. Rather than trying to convince the captain to stay out for an extra hour or two of fishing, some clients cut their trips short in order to put some pictures online. For some, it is not the gratification of catching the fish that matters but the recognition for how many likes they can get from the picture of the act. This seems like a strange way to spend $2,000 per day.

Who Are You Fishing For?

Captain Tim Palmer is staple of the fishing community in Stuart, Florida. When it comes to fishing, Palmer has done it– if it swims he can catch it. Palmer is noticeably absent from social media. “I like keeping my cards close to my chest. It’s the way of the times, but I have a hard time sharing every aspect of my life,” Palmer reflects. “But I understand it as a tool for charter guys and those who need to promote what they’re doing.”

“A lot of knowledge that we attain is attained the hard way,” Palmer says. Before the advent of the internet, the most direct way of learning something was by doing it (you couldn’t just watch an instructional video on YouTube). “I’ve never had a Facebook account and I never will.”

Why does Palmer not have a social media account to show off all of the fish he’s caught? This is a fair question. In his living room, there are photos of 600-pound swordfish, giant grouper, huge blue marlin, permit the size of manhole covers, and 60-pound king salmon. Why not show this for all the world to see? For Palmer, the answer is simple, “I don’t fish for other people’s gratification, I fish for my own.”

The Loss of Adventure

Another unintended side effect of the power of the internet has been the loss of some of the adventure. While it is great to have access to videos about literally anything—that can show you before you go—some of the mystery and mystique of mastering the unknown may have been lost along the way. Captain Billy Borer started fishing professionally in the mid-1970s. Originally from Rhode Island, Borer started fishing in Stuart, Florida in 1978.

“The only things we had back then were radio, telephone and face to face conversations. Things filtered down from other places, but it was a lot slower than today,” the captain recalls. “There were no cell phones, no GPS and not much of the technology that we have today. Knowledge spread by guys going further and further.”

While a jaunt to the Bahamas today is common place, before GPS and satellite weather, such trips were altogether different. “Trips were a big deal,” Borer recalls. Reports of great fishing in some far-off corner of the Caribbean would entice captains and owners into having a go at fishing the unknown. Borer recalls the first captains to go to St. Thomas, Cuba and other fisheries that are now standard trips. “Some guys would have the gumption and would go. They’d come back with stories. It was a lot more of an adventure than it is today.”

“It was hard to be the first guys to go places. Lots of planning, lots of ifs and buts… lots of 55-gallon drums,” Borer says. “To me some of it has been lost… it was really exciting.”

# Conclusion

Social media is not bad, but I’ll be damned if it’s not strange. Marketing and the spreading of news are wonderfully easy with social media. The power of social media is immense and it has literally transformed the way we interact with the world. That said, nobody likes a fishing carnie.

 

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From the Archives — The Case for Fishing: Guatemala

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This article first appeared in our January/February 2018 issue Volume 17 Edition 1 of InTheBite The Professionals’ Sportfishing Magazine.

The Case for Fishing: Guatemala

by Elliott Stark

“Marlin, left teasah!” The man behind the voice is Captain Chris Van Leeuwen. Van Leeuwen is well travelled fisherman, resourceful and full of stories. The fish, a blue of about 400 that would gobble the pitch bait 15-feet off of the transom, had apparently not been informed that Guatemala “is just a sailfish destination.”

Van Leeuwen is the owner/operator of the Allure II, a yellow-hulled 40-foot Capps, and a charming, boutique handle-all-the-variables resort known as the Sailfish Oasis. Van Leeuwen is laid back and full of perspective. Since leaving his native New Zealand, he has done it. Van Leeuwen ran a boat for Tim Choate’s operation in the Galapagos, before following Choate to Guatemala. Though he’s been in Guatemala since 2002, the world knows him as “Kiwi.” His mates, brothers Julio and Enio Morales, are highly skilled and adaptable in their ability to relate to clients. In other parts of the world, the lodge’s hospitality would take top billing. In Guatemala, however, nothing compares to the fishing.

The sailfish numbers in Guatemala make daily fishing report numbers sound like snapper fishing off of a chum bag. Raising 31, catching 16 out of 27 bites, could just as likely be catching 73 in a day or the groups that with some regularity catch 300-some odd fish in four days of fishing. The sailfishery here is astronomical. To label Guatemala as simply a sailfish destination, however, may miss the point. The following is a breakdown of the many reasons that constitute the Case for Fishing: Guatemala.

An Ocean Alive
The consistent, well-rounded fishery on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala results from waters teeming with bait. Deep currents interact with bottom topography, to send oxygenated, nutrient-rich water to the surface. These upwellings set the stage for clouds of ballyhoo, bonito all over the place, shoals of squid and generally lots of bait. The bait holds sailfish, blue marlin (with the occasional stripe and black mixed in), dorado and yellowfin tuna. Beyond the creatures taggable and gaffable, there are schools of spinner dolphins swimming with tuna and baleen whales feeding on bait, too.  If you’re in to that sort of thing, there are an awful lot of sea turtles floating around as well.

Marlin Fishing

Someone forgot to tell the blue marlin that Guatemala is a sailfish destination. On the second and third day of our trip, we raised six blues and saw a tank of a marlin free jumping. Captain Mike Sheeder turned loose a grand slam fishing near us—adding a blue and a black to a pile of sails. The marlin fishing near shore—eight to ten miles from the marina, is consistent. Unless someone is targeting marlin specifically, the fleet often runs past the marlin grounds to target sails. That said, blue marlin bites are consistent offshore as well, with a reasonable expectation to raise a few on any given three or four day trip.

Brad Philipps runs the Decisive, a 40-foot Gamefisherman. Philipps and his wife Cindy also operate the Billfish Inn in Puerto San Jose and a hotel in Antigua. “Imagine how many more marlin we’d catch if we were targeting them. Remember, any time we spend going backwards on sailfish, we’re not marlin fishing.” How much time might be spent going backwards? In any given year a Guatemala charter operator like Van Leeuwen or Philipps might fish anywhere between 150-200 days. Over the course of a season, depending on such things as the skill of their anglers (or, perhaps as accurately, how many of the anglers let the crew hook the fish for them), high lining captains may release anywhere between 1,600-2,200 sailfish. That’s quite a bit of time with the square side of the boat going forward.

A broad-shouldered blue marlin on the leader. Caught aboard the Allure ll in November.

Van Leeuwen’s spread is telling of the consistent presence of creatures with broad shoulders. He runs two swimming ballyhoo out of the riggers, squid chains from the bridge and hookless plugs from the cockpit. If a sail noses around a teaser, it’s fed a ballyhoo on a chugger head. If something in a blue or black suit shows itself, out goes the mackerel. In addition to the one that is ready, there will be two or three more mackerel in the cooler ready for rigging. In a good year when the marlin are around, their marlin release numbers are measured in dozens—all while not specifically targeting them.

The Shots

Learning how to hook fish from the riggers or feed them off of a teaser can be difficult in many places in the world. In other parts, you troll all day for two or three bites. If a fish does come up, everyone on the boat goes nuts. People jump around, teasers get crossed up, and baits are thrown around like a Chinese fire drill. The stressfulness of the situation is twofold: a. because you’re not likely to get many shots, you need to make the most of them, and; b. because you haven’t had many shots lately, it’s been hard to work up the chemistry for everyone on board to know what they’re supposed to be doing.

How then is a new boat owner or a new addition to the tournament team expected to be able to learn? After all, unless you’ve grown up on the charter docks of Manteo or Islamorada, consistently circle hooking billfish can take some repetition. Enter Guatemala— the land of opportunity.

As Capt. Kiwi puts it, “If you miss one in Guatemala, who cares? You’ll get another shot.” While the number of fish raised and released varies as with every type of fishing, the consistency of double digit days in Guatemala is the cornerstone of the fishery. It is the consistent presence of fish that allows for plenty of all of the necessary backlashing, whiffing, and bird-catching that it takes for a novice or intermediate rodsman to become a confident, competent angler.

Capt. Chris “Kiwi” Van Leeuwen is a pleasure to fish with.

The number of shots, in this line of reasoning, offers the following advantages: it decreases stress per opportunity; the repetition slows the process down (a first time angler who only sees a marlin every third trip—each time with the crew hollering like the boat is on fire—will believe that marlin swim 800-miles per hour); feeding fish from the teaser—and seeing the bite—will also help novice and intermediate anglers see the fish as they enter the spread, and; a stress-free environment in which anglers can alternatively miss fish and catch them on their own produces more technically competent anglers, but also more confident ones.

For a tournament fishing operation, a trip to Guatemala, or some other high volume fishery, is a way to hedge your bets. The charter tab becomes a team tune up before the high stakes, high pressure environment where a missed fish can swim away with tens of thousands of dollars. The experience works for everyone on board.

Mates get a chance to see how high volume operations work, the way lines are cleared and how to best manipulate fish on the teasers. Owners and anglers can get their shots on the reel, leaving with a great experience and increased confidence. Captains can come down and see how to run the boat to increase multiple hook up opportunities. For someone with the right body of experience, Van Leeuwen will even let the captain run the boat for the trip to get his team dialed in.

Lots of Fish and Calm Seas

While a sentence such as this is generally reserved for the opening line of obituaries, it actually applies to Guatemala. According to Van Leeuwen, about 80% of the time Guatemala is calm (not 2-3 or 3-4, but calm). Beyond the generally pleasant proposition this provides, a tranquil sea state also enables the prescribing of very specific fishing applications. Think kids, wife or prospective clients who can’t deal with rough weather.

Guatemala is a great place to introduce kids to the world of bluewater trolling. With short attention spans, the numbers are a great force to counter the I-pad. A calm ride is great for the kids and for that special lady, as nobody really likes to get bounced around. The March 2017 issue of InTheBite contains “Child’s Play: An Expert’s Approach to Fishing with Kids.” The setting for the article was the Rum Line with Captain Chris Sheeder, fishing in Guatemala.

Billfish on the Fly, Light Tackle

Because you generally don’t have to worry about whether you will catch sailfish or marlin in Guatemala, you can get fancy and try to catch them in special ways. Bring out the two-pound and the bug slinger! As it is illegal to kill billfish in Guatemala, there is no record fishing here but it is a great place to get accustomed to catching billfish on alternative tackle. Van Leeuwen, like most of the captains operating here, is accomplished in the art of targeting billfish on the fly.

Anglers wishing to target fish on the fly may do so to catch their first, target their biggest or to search for numbers. The approach involves teasing a fish up close to the boat, placing the boat in neutral and casting the fly in across the boat in front of the fish. The mate then snatches the teaser away and, if all goes according to plan, the fish eats the fly. As there are a number of steps to this process, it works best in high volume fisheries.

In order for it to work, the fish must be aggressive enough to follow the teaser to within casting distance. We switched to the fly for the last afternoon of our trip. When everything came together, Van Leeuwen found two blue marlin that were willing to show us the process. The first was a small one that nosed about, but didn’t eat the fly. The second was a good fish who treated the fly with all of the gentleness that you’d expect from a starving cat jumping on a pigeon. Two hours and 20 minutes later, the fish went nuts—jumping off into the sunset. It left us a video (available on www.inthebite.com) that starts with, “****, it’s huge!”

The Atmosphere—The Dock

There is one marina on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. All of the reports and astounding numbers you read about come from here. All the captains, all the boats, and all of fishing is centered in one location.

There is something quaint and charming about it. Captain Chris Van Leeuwen has been here for 15 years, Captain Brad Philipps arrived in 2000; Captains Chris Sheeder, Jason Brice, Mike Sheeder, David Salazar and others have all fished out of the same marina for years. Joining the retired Captain Ron Hamlin, these active captains are all among the leaders in most billfish caught. In terms of sportfishing history, this unassuming dock is steeped in tradition. Guatemala holds the record for sailfish releases in a day, on both conventional and fly tackle.

The stable of captains here is really incredible. Beyond simply the number of fish caught, it is the perspective and diversity of background that makes the marina here so interesting. Van Leeuwen hails from New Zealand, Philipps is a native of South Africa, the Sheeder brothers are Hawaiian, Brice is American. They are joined by Guatemalan captains, many of whom have grown up as mates. These are headlined by Eddie Baires, who cut his teeth with Ron Hamlin, and Kennedy Hernandez whose cockpit wizardry graced the Decisive for many years. The result is an amalgam of culture and perspective that makes a walk down the dock in itself is a great piece of fishing perspective.

Another charming aspect of the fishery in Guatemala is the relative lack of travelling boats. Compared to other of Central America’s premier destinations, the area is much the same as it was ten years ago. The lack of traveling boats is neither a good or bad thing, but it imparts a sense of intimacy and community to the dock and the men who make their livings fishing here.

It’s Really Fun

In a world that’s increasingly driven by plans made three months ahead of time and by actions that are the result of analyzing lists of pros and cons, the most compelling reason to fish Guatemala is perhaps the simplest. It’s really fun. The people are nice, the lodging is great, the food is good and the fish are more than gracious in their hospitality. There’s a reason it’s a bucket list destination that brings people back over and over. See for yourself.

One of the best things about consistent dorado and yellowfin? Boat lunches.

Russell Sinclair — 2017 Captain of the Year International Division Presentation

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Captains Russell Sinclair and Garrett Van Orman run the Wave Paver program. Their arrangement is an interesting one, consisting of a 61′ Garlington and a brand new 77′ Bayliss.  Sinclair handles the fishing side of the equation, Van Orman, the ship’s engineer, keeps everything running smoothly and functioning at peak performance.

Winning the 2017 IGY Marinas International Division of the Captain of the Year was a family affair. Owner Jr Davis hosted 100 friends and family for the presentation of the award. Check out the video of the award presentation, present March 24 at the Ocean Club Marina in Port Canaveral, Florida.

The 2018 Los Suenos Triple Crown is in the books

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Leg three featured 43 boats. For the third leg, the Gunsmoke (3800 points) out dueled the Geaux Fly (3700), catching the winning sailfish with 20 minutes of fishing remaining. The Geaux Fly’s second place finish was highlighted by a grandslam on day two– a black, two blues and a pair of sails. The Jaruco, the new 90′ Jarrett Bay, rounded out the top three with 2800 points.

Leg three also decided the Triple Crown winner for 2018. With all said and done, it was Tarheel (10,600 points) with Captain John Bayliss taking home top honors. The Agitator and Capt. Jon Duffie, 2016 and 2017 series champions, fell a sail and a marlin short of a third straight crown, with 10,100 points.  Geaux Fly wins third place honors in the series with 10,000 even.

InTheBite congratulates the winners. Please enjoy the following photos and videos from the 2018 Triple Crown.

Pictures by Pepper Ailor

 

Rest in Peace: Capt. Bart Miller — His Take on Lure Hook-Up

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Increase Your Lure Hook-Up %

Capt. Bart Miller

Is a single hook rig better than a double? Is my trolling speed too fast? Can tag lines improve my hook up percentage? These are just a few questions most of us immediately ask ourselves when we miss a marlin bite and our hook-up percentage is not what we think it should be.

Let’s begin with what is a good hook up average, when lure fishing for Blue Marlin. If you average 50% or better you should be writing this article. Catching 1 out of every 2 marlin bites with your lures is above average. The reality is most of you average closer to 33% on bites to catch ratio.

Here are some basic options to consider if you want to move up to 40%, or better with your hook-up ratio.

 

  1. Trolling speed and lure behavior. This is probably one of the most important factors—making sure your lures are running right. The biggest tip I can offer here is to keep your lures swimming smoothly, avoid letting them get out of control such as spinning or jumping out of the water. Skipping them just under or on the surface is good. Each lure will have different running characteristics but your mind set should be so that you are giving the marlin the best chance at attacking your lure spread as possible. If you find yourself trolling along in choppy water, find a speed which will keep the lures in the water—this usually means slowing down, or trolling a weighted slant or 90-degree head. On slick calm days you will have a wider range of trolling speeds as well as a larger variety of lure heads which will work.

  1. Finding the best hook rig. The latest trend is using single, semi-stiff hook rigs with a tuna bend hook. Matching your lure with the proper size hook and placement can make a significant improvement in your hook-up percentage. A good rule of thumb is to choose a hook size that is similar to the lure head—making sure the hook width is not larger than your lure head width. Position the hook so that it is as far back in the skirt as legally possible.

 

  1. Improve your lure spread. Choose lures that have a history of being successful in a particular area that you are fishing. Use colors for example- in the Bahamas, pink and blue is a productive combination. In the Carolinas blue and white is historically the locals color of choice, and in the Virgin Islands, black and purple is a favorite. Basically, you need to become familiar with what has worked in the different regions you are fishing. Be sure to ask around the dock, sometimes a particular lure will seem to out perform all others. If you are lucky enough to be “in the know”, you can benefit with more releases at the end of the day and a higher hook-up percentage.

After you gain enough experience you will become the expert and know of other ways to increase your own hook-up ratio. And as always- a little luck never hurts along the way.

Great fishing, Aloha, Capt. Bart Miller

 

Rest in Peace: Capt. Bart Miller — An InTheBite Archive

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Earlier this month sportfishing legend Capt. Bart “Black Bart” Miller passed away. Bart leaves behind a lure company bearing his name and a list of marlin fishing feats that will likely never be duplicated. Miller was a veritable legend in the sportfishing industry and his passing was met with sadness from the many whose lives he touched. InTheBite is proud to have published some of Miller’s perspective. Here, from the archives, is one such piece.  Rest in Peace Capt. Bart Miller.

There is a gofundme account set up to help Miller’s family with costs associated with his medical care. Should you wish to contribute, it would be greatly appreciated by those who feel his loss most directly. https://www.gofundme.com/captbartmiller

 Tech Talk

Color–does it matter?

By Captain Bart Miller

This age old question may never be answered scientifically, as it is far too subjective & intermingled with personal superstitions & general preference for one color versus another.

For example, nearly all men like the colors blue, black, white, purple, silver, green and gold. Is it any wonder that these very same colors are popular when choosing fishing lures and skirt combinations?

It is also apparent that fishing destinations have dominant color choices that are shared by the vast majority of captains & crew’s; Green in the canyons, blue & white in the Carolina’s, blue & pink in Hawaii, black & purple in the Bahamas, petrolero brown, silver, black & orange in Mexico etc…  Many of these color combinations, while proven in one area, can also work well away from home.

When I first started trolling in Hawaii, there weren’t a lot of choices. I used a white plastic outer skirt, and later, white strip skirts with either black or a rusty red rubber inner skirt. These base colors, while very plain, worked just fine; but no one seemingly trusts such a limited selection of color options these days.

Fishermen world wide have their special color favorites which become trusted standbys, each earning their place in the spread, whether in tournament competition or just out for a friendly troll. So it really boils down to what you truly trust and are comfortable trolling vs. some unknown combination that leaves you with a measure of negative feelings.

So did vast color options become the fashion because they are now so readily available or because they really make a difference? My first thought was that the action of the lure superceded color importance, and later I began to value the concept of incorporating the use of proven color combinations.

Years ago, I tried something I had never tried before. I called this combination the invisible man.  I poured a clear head with no color and no insert, then I skirted this clear head with clear skirts.  Once deployed into the water, you could see motion, but not shape or color. This no-color lure is once again a part of my arsenal today and proves the age-old adage that color really matters in the eye of the beholder.

Marlin are now believed to see certain colors where once they were considered to be colorblind. Two theories come to mind as being valid in determining your final color selection and they would be to “Match the Hatch” and to consider having the proverbial oddball combo in the spread.

In conclusion, my favorite colors would be Pearl shell heads because they match all skirt combos, and my favorite skirt combinations would be, black & pink, black & purple, blue & pink, black & rainbow, blue & white, and pink & red. Sometimes I go beyond that color palate but not very often!

Great fishing, Aloha

Captain Bart Miller

 

Learn to Free Spool Sailfish with a Golf Cart and Reel

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ShowTime! owner Fred Hardwick illustrates an innovative and successful way to learn to free spool sailfish. Hardwick’s use of a golf cart and a reel are not only cool, but provide a great way to simulate feeding a fish, while getting a feel for you tackle.

Hardwick preaches the value of “soft engagement” of the circle hook. Avoiding jerking or other sudden movements that can prevent the hook from consistently finding it place in the corner of the jaw is critical to maintaining a high hook up percentage. Hardwick and the ShowTime! crew have the tournament hardware to back up his lessons.