An angler on an overnight tuna and swordfish charter out of Narragansett, Rhode Island, caught the largest mahi-mahi the state has ever seen in late August. Fishing with Maridee Charters, angler Karl Mohr, of New York, battled the 37.56-pound, 59-inch dolphinfish to the gaff.

“We were pumped. I’ve never seen one that big,” said AJ Dangelo, who was running the deck for his father, Capt. Andy Dangelo. “It’s not typical to see mahi in our area over 10 pounds. You see a few big ones every year, but nothing that big.”

Juvenile mahi move into the waters off New England with warm Gulf Stream currents in summer. They congregate around “high flyers,” which are tall buoys with radar reflectors to help lobstermen find their pots. The mahi are a popular plan-B target when the tuna fishing is slow.

Doubled Up on Big Mahi

During Mohr’s trip, Capt. Dangelo had taken them about 85 miles offshore to an area known as Fishtails. They were trolling over about 700 feet of water, right on the north edge of Block Canyon.

AJ said Capt. Andy was pushing to see how close he could pull his spread to the buoys when they doubled up on mahi.

“The first one we got to the boat was a nice cow, maybe 15 pounds,” AJ said. “And I told the angler it was a good fish. I didn’t think the other one we had on was a mahi, because it wasn’t coming in like one.”

When AJ gaffed the second fish and brought it over the rail, he knew they had caught something special. The big mahi should replace a record that has stood for nearly 30 years. Although Rhode Island doesn’t officially recognize dolphinfish for state records, it does list a 32-pound, 4-ounce, 58.5-inch mahi caught in 1995 as a “Notable Catch.”

With this fish, AJ thinks he’s found a lucky combination for Meridee. Two years ago, Mohr caught a giant wahoo that would have been a record if they had documented it properly. The big wahoo and the record mahi both came on the same Sterling Tackle spreader bar—same lure, same angler.

Mohr’s wahoo weighed 91 pounds, “with the guts out,” AJ said. Also listed as a “Notable Catch,” the largest Rhode Island wahoo on record was caught in 1998 and weighed 80 pounds.

In case you’re curious about what an overnight trip out of Rhode Island looks like, AJ said they troll for yellowfin and big eye tuna during the day and spend the night swordfishing.

“It’s a blast,” he said. “They look like zombies when they get back to the dock. They’re all delirious. People try to get some sleep here and there, but everyone’s so excited that it’s hard to sleep.”

The post Huge Mahi Tops 30-Year-Old Record appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Offshore trollers can be separated into three categories: those who slow-troll, those who troll fast, and those who troll for wahoo. Comparatively speaking, that’s like driving your vehicle through a lunchtime Chick-fil-A parking lot, driving on an interstate, and driving in the Daytona 500.

High-speed trolling for wahoo is faster than ever, in part because of new lures, improved tackle, and faster, more-maneuverable boats. Anglers also have realized that they really can’t troll too fast for wahoo, which rank among the fastest fish in the ocean.

“I usually troll for wahoo at 14 to 17 knots,” says Capt. Cory Burlew (goddesscharters.com) of Deerfield Beach, Florida, who has fished for wahoo for 30 years. “When I first started, we did 8, 9, 10 knots. Thirteen knots was the big number in the late 1990s.”

“We troll from 12 knots up to 16 knots,” says Mark Henderson (fishlf.com), captain of the Liquid Fire Fishing Team out of Cape Carteret, North Carolina, who adds that wahoo can’t help but chase something whizzing by them. “They’re predatory. You get in their strike zone, it’s an instinctive reaction.”

Go-Fast Lures
Henderson, who competes in king mackerel and multispecies tournaments with his sons Joshua and Crockett, said at press time that the wahoo bite off North Carolina had been strong since fall. He commonly heard reports of fish from 50 to 60 pounds, as well as several over 100 pounds.

Henderson’s new boat, a SeaVee 390Z with four Mercury Verado 400 outboards, makes it child’s play for him to run 60 to 65 miles to fish for wahoo in 30 to 50 fathoms. He dials in the fish using his SiriusXM sea-surface ­temperature data to find breaks, where blackfin tuna, vermilion snapper and flying fish typically congregate—all prey species for wahoo.

“High-speed trolling covers so much ground, it’s becoming more and more popular,” Henderson says. “Yo-Zuri Bonita plugs are pretty popular. The Blue Water Candy Jag-A-Hoo is very popular here. It’s got a blade, so it creates a lot of flash. It’s a little heavier and a little bigger, so it stays a little more in the water. Purple-and-black, black-and-blue or red-and-black—those colors tend to entice strikes.”

Burlew, whose biggest wahoo weighed 110.4 pounds, does most of his high-speed wahoo trolling in the Bahamas and says he has always had luck with those same dark colors for big fish because the baits resemble bonito. He uses his own custom slant-head lures, which he plans to eventually bring to market.

“Most people use straight-running lures. I like slant heads because they run better and deliver more action,” he explains.

Burlew adds that many wahoo-­tournament anglers fish Black Bart Lures, such as the 12-inch San Sal Candy or Hawaiian Eyes. His lures are slightly smaller to better match what wahoo eat.

That’s also part of his tournament strategy. In the early days of high-speed wahoo trolling, when Burlew fished on Concrete Machine with Capt. Ron Schatman, the most wahoo won. Now, the biggest wahoo wins.

“The ones we use are the right size that the fish are feeding on,” says Burlew of his lures, which are 8 to 10 inches long. “Sometimes the smaller ones seem to catch more fish and bigger fish because wahoo feed on flying fish and small tuna. I feel like the big fish are lazy. They’d rather eat a small bait. It’s like walking by a buffet; are you going to pick up a french fry or a baked potato?”

High-Speed Tackle
Burlew and Henderson both usually troll five lines: one far behind the boat, one on each outrigger, and one at each corner. The latter four are staggered at different distances because sometimes wahoo prefer lures close to the boat, and sometimes they bite only the distant ones. Starting off with different colors helps the skippers determine what the fish want that day.

“I put out either three brights and two darks or three darks and two brights,” says Burlew, who fishes variations of the same color once he determines which is preferred. “The majority of the time, once you home in on a color, that’s when you get your multiples. Sometimes the fish like bright colors early in the morning. In dark-purple water, dark colors work best. Sometimes I use blue, black and white lures to imitate giant ocean ­flyers with white backs.”

A member of the Accurate pro staff, Henderson uses ATD TwinDrag 50-wide reels spooled with 50-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid copolymer line. He’ll top it with 50 feet of 100- or 120-pound Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon, and tie that to a small, stainless-steel ball-bearing snap swivel. Ten to 12 feet of wire goes from the swivel to the lure. “If we have to change lures, we’ll cut down the wire until it gets to 4 or 5 feet. We try to keep baits in the water.”

He pairs the reels with custom 6-foot, 50-pound-class rods with AFTCO guides and bent butts. His anglers fight wahoo either from a swiveling rod holder or an AFTCO stand-up belt.

One of the key innovations since the old days of high-speed trolling is braided line. Burlew says he used to troll either 100-pound wire line or 80-pound monofilament line for wahoo. Although he prefers the stretch, shock absorption, and forgiveness of mono, he says it’s hard to overlook the advantages of braid, which is what he primarily fishes today.

“We can fish the drags a little tighter, and the braid cuts through the water better, so we can fish a little bit lighter lead,” says Burlew, who uses 80- or 130-pound Shimano Tiagra reels because of their strong drags and line capacity. “With monofilament, the farther out it gets, the tighter the drag becomes or the line breaks. With braid, you have the same amount of drag with half a spool. If too much line goes out, it’s easier to gain it back.”

Cable Benefits
Another recent adaptation for Burlew is using cable instead of wire to ­connect a trolling weight to the main line and to the lure. “What that does is it enables you to go shorter [on the shock cord],” he says. “If a fish hits the lead, it won’t cut you off. I use heavier cable—900-pound—from the snap swivel to the lead, and thinner cable—400 to 480—for the shock cord.

“All of my shock cords are the same length: 35 to 40 feet. When I used wire, my shock cords were 100 feet. Make sure your snap snivels are good. I like 300- to 400-pound snap swivels so strong that it takes Superman to open them up. Wahoo hit so hard sometimes, they’ll almost spring it open.”

Read Next: Louisiana’s Wahoo Wonderland

That’s the nature of this prime gamefish; it can’t help but shift into high gear to chase down a lure that zips past. Moral: The faster you troll, the better the wahoo bite.

West Coast Wahoo
To target wahoo out of Southern California, many anglers book trips on multipassenger long-range boats to fish Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. “Most anglers head south on a seven- or eight-day trip or longer to reach the wahoo areas,” says Steve Carson, a Penn and Rapala pro staffer from Carlsbad, California. “In some warmer years, the wahoo have been a little closer. From 2014 through 2016, Oceanside (California) was ground zero for wahoo.”

Carson says the boats run about 450 miles to a series of volcanic islets, known as Alijos Rocks, and to an area known as the Ridge. Wahoo typically can be found there from July through December, but he adds that the best months to catch the fish are probably September and October.

When fishermen trolling lures hook wahoo from a long-range boat, other anglers cast lures or live bait to the school. Carson says most of these bigger boats troll for wahoo at 9 to 11 knots, “although certainly plenty of fish are caught at 7½ knots.”

About 40 years ago, anglers fished chrome-plated lead-head jigs with feathers that weighed 10 to 16 ounces, he says. In the late 1980s, what Carson calls the pregnant guppy-style plug became popular.

The trolling lures of choice today include the Braid Marauder and the Yo-Zuri Bonita. Carson trolls a black-and-purple Rapala X-Rap Magnum XR40. He rigs the lure with 2 feet of 175-pound cable leader, and fishes it on 80-pound monofilament line spooled to a Penn International 30 or 50. The big reels become necessary if you hook a large tuna or marlin.

Carson upgrades the VMC 4X Perma Steel hooks to 6X to handle wahoo that can range from 30 to 100 pounds. “Anything over 60 pounds is considered big. A fish of 70 pounds will usually win you the jackpot.”

Other popular deep-diving plugs include the Nomad DTX Minnow and Bomber CD 30—the bigger the better. “We get so few opportunities to be in the wahoo area, we don’t want a tuna to bite,” Carson says. “Ten- to 15-pound tuna are just like flies. They’ll drive you insane. Trolling those big plugs is a way to concentrate on the wahoo.”

Favorite colors include orange with a black back or dark purple with a black back, although Carson says, “it’s really more the wiggle than the color. Every boat has one lure that swims the way the fish like it.”

Captains troll lures in the prop wash of the long-range boats, which seem to attract wahoo rather than repel them. “You get to see a bite quite often. That’s really thrilling.”

The post Wahoo: Speeding Up Fast Tactics appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Top captains put a premium on precision when trolling, no matter what fish they target. They fuss over how their lures and baits look in the water, and they deploy each bait a specific distance behind their boats. They maintain their tackle in tiptop condition. They calibrate their reel drags, they test and perfect the knots they tie, and they demand the best line, leaders, hooks, crimps and swivels.

In other words, they leave nothing to chance when it comes to matters within their control. Of course, they can’t make the fish bite, but with their realistic trolling presentations, they significantly increase the odds of producing hookups. Here’s how three different trolling experts tackle the details.

Blue Marlin
Capt. Casey Hunt excels at ­trolling lures for blue marlin, but not just any lures. “I feel hands-down the best lure made for marlin fishing is an Andy Moyes lure because it swims like a baitfish,” says the Key West, Florida, freelance captain. “They’re perfectly balanced, and each one is designed for different speeds. I also love a Mold Craft Softhead. My biggest tournament wins have come on Softheads.”

Hunt’s favorite spread includes two Moyes 16-inch Plungers 200 feet behind the boat and two Moyes 12-inch J-Boy No. 6’s 100 feet back. Fifty feet behind the boat, Hunt trolls two Softhead 12½‑inch Senior Wide Ranges; each are 20 feet behind a squid-chain teaser (one green, one pink).

“Here’s the key,” Hunt adds. “Go no longer than three seconds without seeing the lure pop. Pop, smoke, pop, smoke — that’s just about perfect. I like to troll at around 8 knots but will change speeds according to the conditions.”

Hunt fishes the long and middle lines out of the outriggers. He runs the flat lines out of suction-cup clips attached to the transom. He favors black-and-purple lures, but he also uses pink-and-blue, black-and-orange, and black-and-green. He rigs the lures with a 10/0 stainless tuna-bend hook.

“I fish a swinging hook rigged with 600-pound cable. I like the hook still touching the lure skirt,” Hunt says. From the lure, he uses about 3 feet of 300-pound Momoi Xtra-Hard attached to a 500-pound Momoi swivel, then a 15-foot, 300-pound Xtra-Hard wind-on leader. He splices a 300-yard topshot of 100-pound Momoi to his 130-pound Momoi hollow-core-braid main line.

White Marlin
Jon Duffie of Ocean City, Maryland, has won and placed in numerous white marlin tournaments, fishing with family and friends on his boat Billfisher. The secrets to his team’s success include working efficiently and quickly. “The faster you can get the spread back out, and the less time you fight the fish, the better,” Duffie says. “We’re always numbers fishing.”

Duffie uses Shimano Talica 20 BFC reels and custom, 20-pound-class rods. He trolls small ballyhoo rigged with ⅛- to ⅜-ounce chin weights (the rougher the seas, the heavier the weight) on 7/0 Mustad circle hooks. He attaches the hooks to 6 feet of 60-pound Ande fluorocarbon leader tied to a 23-foot wind-on leader of clear, 80-pound Ande monofilament and a main line of 30-pound Ande Monster Yellow high‑viz mono.

He fishes two outrigger lines 100 to 200 feet behind the boat; sea conditions and how the fish react to the spread determine whether the lines run tighter or longer, or whether they’re ­staggered. Duffie also fishes two flat lines. The flat-line baits run just ahead of the two squid-chain teasers positioned 40 to 45 feet back. (Duffie attaches a hookless Ilander lure with a horse ballyhoo 3 feet behind the last squid.)

Each of his four anglers holds a rod virtually all day so they can beat the fish to the bait. “The fish are fast, and you don’t always see them coming,” says Duffie, who trolls at 7½ to 8 knots. “Having the rod in your hand, you can give a much smoother drop-back. I think it increases the hookup percentage.” Duffie also deploys two dredges 60 to 80 feet behind the boat, using either mullet with some Ilander lures for color, or perhaps ballyhoo or squid on the inside of a Squidnation dredge with mullet on the outside. When using the artificial squid, Duffie rigs dark-colored squid in the middle of the dredge and lighter squid toward the outside to give it the appearance of being a dense, tight ball of bait.

When he gets a marlin bite, he turns the boat in a circle to entice lingering schoolmates. “The best teaser you have when you’re hooked is that fish on your line,” Duffie says. “He’s thrashing, puking up whatever he has been eating, or he might be part of a school of fish. Your next bite is going to come when you pass the fish that you have on.”

Bluefin Tuna
Capt. Sean Canova of Unlimited Charters in Newport Beach, California (fishingchartersunlimited.com), has taken advantage of the recent appearance of 300-plus-pound Pacific bluefin tuna schooling 70 to 110 miles off the coast. Patience, he says, plays a critical role in his success.

Canova’s trips often last 30 to 36 hours — including a run to the fishing grounds of three to four hours. He won’t deploy a lure or bait until he marks tuna within 125 feet of the surface. “We’re looking for fish in that feeding zone,” says Canova, who runs three trips a week. “Being patient enough to get on the fish before you put out the bait, that’s the key. Most guys, once they’ve run 100 miles to get to the spot, they’re quick to get the baits out.

“I typically leave the dock at 5 p.m. and try to get a pre-dawn bite, right at gray light. Then it seems you get bit when the sun starts to go down. Between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. is kind of a magic time for us. It’s a long tedious task getting one bite. A lot of guys do four or five passes and then move on. At times, I’ve been on the fish for six to nine hours. The guys who don’t give up get the bite.”

Canova uses a single Boston Big Game Fishing Club fishing kite to troll either one soft-plastic Yummee ­flying fish or one flying fish that he buys ­frozen from a few local bait shops. “These bigger bluefin don’t eat truly trolled lures,” says Canova, who trolls the Yummees at 8 to 10 knots and the natural baits at 4 to 6 knots so they skip across the water’s surface. He rigs them with a single 12/0 to 14/0 offset hook.

To the lure or hook, he ties 10 to 12 feet of 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader connected to a 150-yard topshot of 150-pound Jerry Brown Hollow Spectra line. He typically uses a San Diego jam knot for that leader-to-braid connection, inserting the leader 2 to 3 feet into the hollow braid. He secures the two by overwrapping 30-pound braid about 2 inches toward the fluorocarbon and then back.

Canova uses the same connection to attach 350 to 400 yards of 100-pound Power Pro braid to the other end of the topshot. He ties that Power Pro section with a double uni-knot to the 200 to 250 yards of 80-pound braid spooled onto an Accurate 50-wide reel. When Canova deploys the kite, about 120 yards of line runs up to the kite, about 120 yards flows down, and about 100 yards of line trolls in the water.

Read Next: Mahi! Secret Strategies of Four Experts

Canova ties a 2-inch-wide, 8-inch-long piece of black ribbon to the kite line just above where it enters the water so he can see the line with binoculars. He sets the strike drags on his reels to 27 to 30 pounds, using a spring-loaded scale; any less drag and a bluefin can spool you.

Close attention to these kinds of minute details gives these captains an edge when trolling. Make that kind of focus a priority, and you’ll catch more fish on the move.

The post Trolling Secrets of the Pros appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

The coastal and canyon waters off Long Island’s south shore are, in fact, for a brief 10-week period each year, one of the most prolific blue marlin hot spots in the western north Atlantic. That’s not urban legend but documented fact.

So let’s head offshore to find out where, when and why Long Island may be the home of the next grander blue marlin.

Science Lesson

To better understand why blue marlin find these coastal waters so attractive, I went to one source who could explain the science of it all. Few experts are better qualified than Dr. Mitch Roffer, president of Roffer’s Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service (roffs​.com) and adjunct professor in the department of marine biology at the Florida Institute of Technology.

According to Roffer: “The key to finding big blue marlin is to locate the clockwise eddies that form along the northern side of the Gulf Stream and work their way inshore, getting trapped along the walls and drop-offs of the various northeast canyons that are prevalent in the New York Bight and New England areas.”

These pinch-off eddies effectively trap blue water and the migratory fish that are using the Gulf Stream to aid their seasonal migration movements. The best conditions for productive fishing action are where the combination of Gulf Stream and continental-shelf waters mixes to form blue-green water. This brings together baitfish from the continental shelf and migratory marlin that leave the Gulf Stream to feed. The best location to find this phenomenon is where the current pushes into structure in one specific location for three to seven days. This allows enough time for the ocean’s convergent forces to concentrate phytoplankton, then zooplankton, and then baitfish such as flyingfish, squid and anchovies.

“If the water’s too turbid, visual-feeding billfish will not be successful in finding their prey, and they won’t stay in the area,” says Roffer. “Water that’s too clear indicates there’s no substantial abundance of plankton or baitfish.”

For surface trolling, blue marlin prefer waters from 72 to 78 degrees F, he says. When water temps get above 78 degrees, the fish simply swim deeper in the water column near the thermocline. Favorite forage baits for marlin in the Northeast are squid, small mahi, tinker mackerel, skipjack and other small tunas (such as yellowfin, albacore and false albacore, which are called “little tunny” in the Northeast).

Time of the Season

Looking back at my detailed offshore fishing logs starting from 1980, the optimum 10-week period to target blue marlin in both near and offshore canyon waters is from the middle of July through the end of September, when the dreaded alphabet-storm season is in full swing.

One positive indicator that big blue marlin might be in town coincides with the arrival of dorado in Long Island’s offshore waters. The first mahi usually show up in shark fishermen’s chum slicks somewhere between July 4 and mid-July, when inshore shelf waters warm up to 73 degrees. I have taken dozens of dorado from lobster-pot buoys dotting the Hudson Canyon, the Dip, and Block Canyon, including the near-coastal weather buoys, that all sported fresh slash marks on their sides from being battered by big blue marlin.

Not coincidentally, many reports of monster marlin catches and sad tales about ones that got away take place the last two weeks of July. One eventful day back on July 20, 1986, put Long Island on the blue-marlin map and made everyone take notice.

Big-Game Hunters

Capt. Harry Clemenz of Montauk, New York, is no stranger to the offshore scene. He was one of the first canyon explorers in the early 1960s who discovered the prodigious blue-water fishery south of Long Island. Clemenz rocked the fishing world with an incredible New York state record that still stands today as the largest blue marlin caught off the East Coast of the continental U.S. The 1,174½-pound behemoth was bested by 19-year-old angler Bill Sweedler Jr., under Clemenz’s command, on July 20, 1986, after a five-hour slugfest. Now in his mid-80s and still a Montauk legend, “Clem” shared his blue marlin moment with me.

“I was running the 46-Bertram Tempo for Bill Sweedler Sr. back then. We set up this offshore trip around a favorable weather window,” Clemenz says. “At the last minute, Bill had to commit to a golf outing, but his two boys and a few friends were looking forward to the trip offshore to the Block Canyon Fish Tails, so we left Montauk in the dark and arrived at the 100-fathom line just before daybreak.

“We started trolling south of the Tails. I was working a 68-to-72-­degree temperature break near the 500-fathom Lobster Claw when a big blue came into our spread and approached a modified blue-and-white Hakuna Hawaiian lure. This lure was dancing on the third wave, attached to a Penn 80 on a flat-line clip, when the marlin struck it with a vengeance.

“There were a series of surface jumps, and then the big girl sounded in 2,500 feet of water,” says Clemenz. “Bill Jr. got in the chair and I ran the boat, trying to get some line back on the reel. It was a down-and-dirty fight, but after two hours, the rod suddenly snapped in half. At that point, I jumped down from the flybridge and stripped some line from the Penn 80 International before the marlin could go on another run.”

Acting decisively, Clemenz removed some Dacron from a Penn 130 outfit to make room for the 80-pound line that was already in the water. He connected the two lines with a blood knot, and now Sweedler was fighting the marlin on the 130 outfit. Three grueling hours later, they were able to get the blue up on the surface, and it started coming to the boat backward — it was tail-wrapped!

“Backing down toward the billfish, we were able to get a tail rope around the big girl, but then the fun started,” Clemenz says. “How were we going to get her on board for the ride back to Montauk?”

Fortunately, the Tempo had a tuna door in the stern. When they returned to the Montauk Marine Basin, the fish measured 15 feet, 4 inches in length with a 7-foot-9-inch girth. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute who examined the billfish determined it was a 30-year-old female. This fish of a lifetime put Montauk on the map as a prime spot for catching big blue marlin.

Always Be Ready

Clem’s story isn’t the only tale of big blues off Long Island; plenty of other oversize billfish have been tagged and released, or lost after heartbreaking battles. In July 2011, Dr. Lou Pastore of the Moriches Anglers Club had the good fortune of catching and releasing his sixth blue marlin while fishing Long Island’s offshore waters. His most recent catch, an estimated 850-pound female, was caught just south of the 100-fathom line near the Dip, the confluence of two canyons (Ryan and McMaster, recently named by the U.S. Geological Survey) ­positioned between the Hudson and Block canyons. The big blue hit a green Moriches Mauler lure and was angled boat-side on a 50W outfit in only two hours. It was tagged, revived and released.

Clem’s record blue surpassed a pair of 940-pounders caught off Long Island back in 1981 and 1984 respectively. Pete Fisher, an East Coast marlin fanatic from the mid-’80s, boated an 835-pounder in 1985 and an 800-pounder that was weighed at the Montauk scales a week before the Tempo’s catch.

But big blues are not limited to deep canyon waters, and will venture inshore to 20- and 30-fathom depths to seek their favorite forage. Last year, Capt. Nick Savene from Oceanside, New York, trolled up an estimated 550-pound blue marlin south of the wreck of the British tanker Coimbra. His angler fought and released the billfish in 180 feet of water south of Shinnecock, New York. Back in the late ’90s, Capt. Billy Martin and “Mako” Mike Townsend lost an even larger blue in only 17 fathoms, southeast of Fire Island, after a punishing nine-hour fight. The moral of these stories is that if you have 73-degree water off Long Island with an abundance of forage like dorado, skippies and other small baitfish in the area, a hungry marlin can make an appearance without warning. If you fish the Island’s fertile offshore waters and get the chance to tackle a big blue marlin, consider tagging and releasing it to fight another day.

Best of Both Worlds

Most big blue marlin caught in Long Island waters are hooked accidentally while fishermen troll for tuna. With seven species of tunas in the neighborhood (bluefin, yellowfin, ­albacore, bigeye, skipjack, Atlantic bonito and little tunny), someone is usually around and always hungry. This fact is a reason that many marlin are broken off by shocked tuna anglers.

If you scale down your tackle to catch 10- to 40-pound tuna, and a big blue comes calling, in all likelihood your small outfit will fail. If you run heavier tackle for that once-in-a-lifetime grander marlin, that takes some of the sport and enjoyment out of catching smaller tunas.

I have solved that problem by going with reels capable of heavy, 25- to 40-pound-strike drag settings, such as the Penn 30 and 50 VSX reels, and filling them with braided line. They are relatively lightweight, and hold impressive quantities of line (650 yards of 100-pound braid for the 30; 875 yards of 130-pound braid for the 50) that will come in handy if and when that big blue hits a lure. Attach the reel to a 6-foot (50- to 130-pound) stand-up stick of your preference and a heavy-duty harness-and-belt setup (like those made by Braid or AFTCO).

Many marlin specialists will eschew this “mouse tackle,” and go right to the big guns in the form of bent-butt 80Ws and 130s. If this heavy-duty gear is your preferred route, you’ll need a quality fighting chair and footrest, along with an adjustable bucket harness, all of which can set you back $8,000 or more.

When it comes to lures, usually bigger is better to attract big blues into your spread. Hawaiian swimmers such as Black Bart, Joe Yee, Melton and Polu Kai catch marlin with great consistency worldwide. You’ll need larger 11/0 and 12/0 hooks to rig these lures. Since all of the 800- to 1,000-pound blue marlin you’ll meet have significant mass and length, a 20-foot leader is a must, which will require your leader man to really have his act together when bringing any large billfish boat-side.

I’ve had a number of run-ins with blue marlin off Long Island during my charter operations. They are definitely here and ready to rumble.

About the Author

Capt. John N. Raguso runs MarCeeJay Sport Fishing (marceejay.com) out of Long Island, New York. He has published more than 3,000 articles since the mid-’80s on topics including saltwater fishing, boating, marine electronics, guns and ammo.

Long Island Blues

Long Island Blues

Long Island Blues

Long Island Blues

Long Island Blues

Long Island Blues

Long Island Blues

The post New York Blue Marlin Fishing appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

I characterize midsize conventionals as reels that hold at least 300 yards of 30-pound monofilament or braid, but aren’t so large that filling the spool with 30- to 50-pound braid would drain the bank account. Even with those ­parameters, midsize conventional reels are wide-ranging in the features they offer. Manufacturers incorporate specific characteristics such as tweaked gear ratios, different drag options, and distinct build materials to cater to fishermen.

Decide the reel that best fits your style of fishing and your target species, but consider the following factors before purchasing. The truth is that a trendy two-speed might be overkill for you. Then again, that same reel might cover all your blue-water-fishing needs.

Speed Kills

Fishermen and captains are hot for ­two-speed conventional reels because those reels offer unmatched versatility.

“I really like the Penn International 16 VS two‑speeds when fishing tournaments for kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, blackfin tuna and cobia,” says Capt. George Mitchell, a Penn pro staffer and veteran charter and tournament captain in southeast Florida. “We’ll have up to 16 reels on the boat, all spooled with fluorocarbon, ready for anything. With the drag strength, line capacity and quality materials, I’ve never had a reel failure.”

Two-speed reels differ from single-speeds in that they provide high-gear and low-gear cranking abilities. Two-speeds handle large fish that fight deep and circle, forcing the angler to power them to the surface. Reels with a single, higher-speed gear have trouble in this distinct scenario. The low gear ratio allows greater cranking leverage to handle the weight and strength of large species that fight this way, such as tuna.

Gear ratio plays a key factor when considering conventionals. The ratio explains how many times the spool rotates with just one complete handle turn. That number of rotations then translates to how many inches of line are cranked on the reel, with higher-diameter reels allowing more inches per turn.

“Using Accurate’s Boss BX 400N single speed as an example, its 6-to-1 gear ratio has to be fast enough to jig for species like tunas,” says Ben Secrest, vice president of sales and marketing at Accurate. “But on Accurate’s Boss Dauntless 600 two-speed, the 2.2-to-1 low gear allows max lifting power, while the 5-to-1 high gear allows an angler to gain line quickly.”

Though two-speeds offer ­flexibility, single speeds definitely have their place offshore. When using light lines under 40-pound-test, a low-gear two-speed might put too much pressure on the line; single-speed reels are an obvious alternative. And when matched with a rod that exhibits “slower” parabolic action, single-speeds are able to add heavy pressure to the fight.

“You want a light tip to cast baits, enough backbone to handle when a fish dives deep, but strong parabolic action to handle heavy loads,” says Secrest. “The rod dictates when to reel, so I’ll watch the tip and wind down on the fish. If you don’t jerk and pump, you can lull fish to sleep with a steady wind.”

Such a Drag

The popularity of lever-drag reels is evident on most dedicated offshore boats nowadays, even if those reels are the more-expensive option. An increasing number of anglers feel that star drags are difficult to adjust reliably during the fight and are tough to “lock down” if a fish is headed for structure.

Let’s consider how the two drag systems work.

“Lever drags are more durable than star drags because the drag is directly on the spool,” says Chris Littau, of Fin-Nor reels, “whereas star drags are on the drive gear and go through the gear system. Large lever drags can get higher drags than equivalent star drags.”

Some of the top reel ­manufacturers, like Alutecnos, don’t produce reels with star drags. “The Albacore 30 incorporates a carbon-composite drag washer,” says Mason Featherston, the U.S. manager for Italy-based Alutecnos. “Impressive tolerances and special lubricant grease keep the drag smooth. The numbers on the right side of the reel represent all the different drag pressures, while presets on the left side allow anglers to set exact drag settings.”

One big advantage of lever drags is that you can set the strike drag, then move the lever wherever needed, and always go back to the preset strike setting, Littau points out.

So where do star drags fit in?

Star drags shine in two key areas: free-lining live baits and casting lures. “The spool is very light, so casting is easiest,” says Robby Gant, product manager at Shimano. “Also, getting your bait to swim farther away from the boat with a light spool is key — less fatigue on your bait equals more bites.”

Off the West Coast, anglers fish different types of casting lures called “irons.” “These come in many shapes and sizes, but you can cast them a lot farther with star drags such as the Torium 30,” says Gant. “The key is the speed in which these reels retrieve. The Torium 30 is fast, 46 inches of line per crank, to properly ‘yo-yo’ for species like yellowtail.”

Quality Build

Build materials affect the weight and longevity of your reel. The main options available for the frame include machined aluminum, die-cast aluminum or graphite.

“The main advantages of a composite frame are lighter weight and corrosion resistance, which is fine for light to moderate use,” says Bill Liston, of Daiwa. “The biggest disadvantage is that they are less rigid than a metal frame under heavy pressure. Because a composite frame, such as graphite, doesn’t dissipate heat as easily as metal, heat generated by the drag can build up quicker and cause reduced drag performance.”

Most top-end conventional reels are built from high-grade aluminum. The metal frame has the advantage of rigidity, especially with a one-piece frame. “It is much more expensive to produce machined aluminum versus graphite,” says Brandon Cotton, marketing manager at Okuma. “Aluminum is the heaviest, yet the strongest, material to use. For Okuma’s Makaira series, we use quality aluminum materials, in ­addition to high-quality stainless steel for gearing and shafts.”

A one-piece metal frame helps conduct heat away from the drag and gearbox, and keeps the gear train in alignment for more-efficient cranking and less wear, says Liston. Daiwa’s Saltiga 60 features an aluminum one-piece frame and side plate, machined-aluminum spool and drag lever, and stainless helical cut gears. Inside the frame, components must be strong and resistant — no one likes opening up reels to tinker with broken parts and pieces.

Different reel companies utilize different materials to manufacture dependable interior parts: Shimano incorporates brass main and pinion gears into some of its reels; Alutecnos uses anodized steel for most of its moving parts. Arribe recently released its 1200: a lightweight, single-speed, lever drag. Incorporating lightweight titanium parts and aluminum gears, the 1200 reel handles most species with its aluminum frame, says Danny Uribe, of Arribe Fishing.

Though the reels differ in ­construction, each company wants to maximize the strength and longevity of its products. The quality and kind of build materials are just part of the equation when picking out your next midsize conventional reel.

One Size Fits Many

One Size Fits Many

One Size Fits Many

One Size Fits Many

One Size Fits Many

One Size Fits Many

One Size Fits Many

The post Picking a Conventional Fishing Reel appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

mpofday3

Day Three of the 15th Annual Offshore World Championship sport fishing tournament is re-writing up the record books. The overall tournament results at the end of Day Three totaled 2,307 sailfish, seven blue marlin and 63 dorado by the time “lines out” was called at the end of Day Three.

According to past tournament reports, the last world record for billfish tournament releases took place only three months ago.

“The 2014 Offshore World Championship hosted by Marina Pez Vela in Quepos, Costa Rica has beaten the world record of tournament billfish releases with 2,314 in just three days of fishing,” said Carter Takacs, Marina Operations Manager of Marina Pez Vela. “The last three day record was 2,170 releases set at the 2014 Los Suenos Signature Series Leg I, which was also set this year on the central Pacific coast of Costa Rica.”

On Day Three, the catch stats were 707 sailfish, one blue marlin and 18 dorado. The top team on Day Three was Waihau Bay Nationals aboard Frenzy with 22 sailfish for a total score of 4,400 points.

Overall Standings by End of Day Three

Top Teams

1st Place, 13,630.90 points, Luanda Sailfish Classic

2nd Place, 12,000 points, Torneio Marlin Azul do Rio de Janeiro

3rd Place, 11,800 points, 33rd Annual TTGFA Marlin Madness Tournament

Top Boat/Captain

Frenzy — Captain Jose Fernandez and Mate Marco Solano, 13,800 points

Dragin Fly — Captain James Smith and Mate Albert Ramos, 12,500 points

Gamefisher II — Junior Bustos Abarca and Mate Diego Lopez Castrillo, 11, 600 points

Top Three Anglers

Rafael Brigham, Billfish Kifofo Express, 7,400 points

Michael De Freitas, 33rd Annual TTGFA Marlin Madness Tournament, 5,400 points

Dario Marijan, Kup Prvaka-Vodice, 5,245.60 points

Heaviest Dorado

1st Place, 52.7 pound, Igor Franceschi, of Kup Prvaka-Vodice Team

Video Edited by Dan Grissom

The anglers of the tournament represent many nations as well as generations. Isaiah Aleong Baksh, a 13-year-old angler from Trinidad, has been fishing since he was three-years-old. He caught his first, 350-pound blue marlin at the age of 10. He is fishing on the Trinidad Tarpon Team along with his four friends.

“Of all the tournaments, this has been the best one,” Baksh said. “I’ve never seen so many fish before.”

The Offshore World Championship is not only bringing fish records to the Quepos coast, but economic impact to the Quepos community.

“Marina Pez Vela is very proud of hosting the 15th Annual of the OWC. This tournament is succeeding in positioning Costa Rica as a top of the line sport fishing destination, and also bringing economic benefits up to $2 million for the tourism-related value chain,” said Miguel Ramírez, Strategic Development Director at MPV. “The Quepos community is more than glad to have the best anglers of the world back.”

Marina Pez Vela has also recently joined with the Blue Carbon Program, and has initiated efforts to become the first Carbon Neutral Marina in the region. The Blue Carbon Program launched during the 2014 Offshore World Championship. The program was developed by The Costa Rican Fisheries Federation (FECOP), which is an association that promotes responsible fishing in Costa Rica and is made of organizations willing to protect, develop and encourage the sustainable use of the country’s fisheries.

One of FECOP’s primary focal points is billfish conservation. Besides the environmental impression such as their shaping of oceanic food chains, they are also important for tourism through sport fishing.

“Through many studies, an individual billfish has been estimated to be worth $3,000 each,” said Enrique Ramirez Guier, Executive Director FECOP. “One billfish drives money to so many services such as hotels, attractions and restaurants. There is a wide distribution of income coming from this kind of event.”

FECOP is taking the opportunity to align itself with the Offshore World Championship to inform through the tournament’s presence while at Marina Pez Vela.

“We wanted to create a relationship with Offshore World Championship to educate our initiatives to all the participating captains and mates,” Guier said. “It gives the sport fishing industry a relevance to promote the conservation of sport fishing species.”

FECOP hosted a dockside party for the captains, mates and anglers at Marina Pez Vela with complimentary food, drinks and entertainment to round out the day.

The tournament is sponsored by the Costa Rican Tourist Board (ICT) and Marina Pez Vela, along with Accurate, AFTCO, Costa del Mar, Eat Me Lures, Flor de Cana, Garmin, Geoffrey Smith Galleries, Guy Harvey, Hidden Bay Realty, IWS Scales, King Sailfish Mounts, Lazer Sharp Eagle Claw, Marlin, Maverick Sport Fishing Charters, Maverick Yachts, Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, Ocean LED, Parador Resort and Spa, Salt Water Sportsman, Shimano, Sport Fishing, Toyota Rent a Car, Tycoon Tackle, Vanmark Jewelry, and Yeti Coolers.

Follow all the action live on the official online scorekeeper site: http://owc14.catchstat.com/

The tournament fishing will continue throughout the week, ending on April 10. The Awards Gala at Marina Pez Vela will be April 11, which will honor the top teams, boats and anglers.

The post Offshore World Championship Anglers Set New World Record with 2,314 Billfish Releases in Three Days appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Fighting Chair

As I’ve mentioned in some of my other blogs, IGFA Angling Rules are easy to follow and not particularly onerous for anglers. However, a couple of our rules have been hotly contested over IGFA’s nearly 75 years of existence. And at the very top of the list are IGFA’s rules regarding the use of safety lines. Prior to IGFA’s January board meeting, IGFA’s rules related to safety lines said:

_ A safety line may be attached to the rod provided that it does not in any way assist the angler in fighting the fish, and A harness may be attached to the reel or rod, but not to the fighting chair._

As such, there was no provision for physically tethering the angler to the fighting chair or any other part of the boat, for that matter. During my 10 years at IGFA, I don’t know how many letters — several from famous captains, anglers and crew members — I’ve received wanting to change this rule. As per IGFA protocol, these requests were channeled up to the IGFA Angling Rules Committee for deliberation. However, until recently, the IGFA Rules Committee always chose not to change this rule because of concerns that anglers may use safety lines to transfer the burden of the fish from themselves to the boat.

Probably the most adamantly against any change to the rule was former IGFA board member, record holder and legendary angler, the late Stewart Campbell. Many thought it was strange that Campbell was so strongly set against changing this rule because he, himself was once pulled overboard while fighting a large blue marlin in Madeira. The whole episode was caught on camera and the video instantly went viral.

However, in late 2013, another request for a rule change was sent to the IGFA Rules Committee and, after serious deliberation, a motion was made and approved at the 2014 board meeting to change IGFA’s rules for safety lines to: A safety line may be attached to the rod, reel, or harness provided that it does not in any way assist the angler in fighting the fish.

The intent of this rule change is to allow the inherent safety associated with physically tethering the angler to the boat, but at the same time to not allow the safety line to go tight during the fight so that the strain of the fish is transferred from the angler to the boat thus assisting the angler in fighting the fish. Let’s face it: Lots can go wrong when you’re big-game fishing. Sportfisher cockpits are replete with hazards such as big, sharp hooks and knives, as well as the occasional marlin that jumps in for a visit. But at least now you don’t need to worry about being yanked overboard while fighting a monster fish.

The post IGFA Changes Long-Contested Rule appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Black arrows mark anglers in the video that are hooked tight to wahoo. Notice how each fishermen is dragged around the boat, following their fish? Mates do an even better job of coaching the angler, maneuvering the hooked line in and around other lines, and making the gaff shot when necessary. On long-range boats out of San Diego, California, there is no fighting chair. Anglers bring aboard heavy tackle and fighting belts to battle fish mano-a-mano.

The post VIDEO: Wahoo Fishing at Alijos Rocks appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Looking back, 2013 proved another great year of fishing for Tropic Star Lodge. Terri and Mike Andrews and their staff have worked extremely hard to maintain the very high standards set by the lodge for the last 50 years. I have been going there for 22 years, but I had not been for the last two years. I have spent a lot of time recently on shark research projects in Bermuda, Mexico and in the Bahamas which ate up my fishing time.

However the weekly catch reports and photos published by the fishing director, Albert Battoo, are like a carrot to TSL clients, most of whom are repeat customers. They know that Tropic Star Lodge is the best big-game fishing location in the western hemisphere, and they return time and time again, just like I do. They were back in force for the torneo and the start of the new season.

Sebastien Guilbard and I went from the Air Panama flight from Panama City landing at Piñas Bay straight to the dock, jumped on board the Miss Texas and were off to sea within minutes of arriving. Fellow torneo anglers from Canada — Mike Kelly, Dave McBain and Greg Speers — plus a cohort of other Canadian regulars also hit the calm seas for a warm-up day of spectacular offshore fishing.

The weather was beautiful, with cloud-capped mountains in the background. Birds and bait were everywhere. Offshore, we found a wonderful trash line with lots of big logs and of course mucho dorado! We caught four good ones before a 300-pound blue showed up on the left long, tracking it for what seemed like forever, then spurning a fresh dorado belly strip before turning away. It crashed the right-long lure 30 seconds later, and we had a couple of great jumps before the hook came out. Great start!

There were more big logs, and our skipper Gavilan found one with lots of juvenile bonito near it. We set up with live bait and promptly scored two more big dorado. I was tight on one dolphin when a blue marlin came up and chased the bait on the right rigger out of the water — what a sight! It seemed hesitant and then committed to the bite but dropped the bait shortly afterward. Gads! Who could resist such tempting morsel! In one hour we were zero for two!

Later that afternoon Gavilan spotted an area of foaming activity** —** tunas and dolphins again? No way! As we got closer, I could see it was a school of about a hundred blacktip sharks and a thousand or more jack crevalle tearing up a bait ball of cavajitas or green jacks. Bait balls in Panama are usually created by a yellowfin tuna/spotted dolphin combination. None of these species were involved, just sharks and jacks. Of course I did not have my dive gear or my underwater camera. Aaaaaaargh! It was the first time in dozens of expeditions to the eastern Pacific that I had seen this combination at work on baitfish. We stopped by the white water and watched them feast until they charged down the last bait.

The party broke up and the predators all went on their way 10 minutes later, leaving a wide slick of calm water where we’d watched the turmoil moments before. I am always learning something new in the ocean.

For our second day out, we got some live bonitos for bait at the Piñas Reef before heading offshore to the hundred-fathom line. Gavilan found us a blue in quick order, and Sebastien settled down to fight a 500-pound blue marlin that did not jump. We had leader in 20 minutes, sending the big girl on her way.

We then stayed with a school of spotted dolphin for most of the day, and caught a variety of dorado and skipjack as well as a the only sailfish we saw for the trip. Later that afternoon, we shadowed another lodge boat with angler Jim Nagy hooked up a 400-pound blue next to us. We stayed to watch the release. The marlin went ballistic on the leader. What a dramatic display by this acrobatic blue! I love capturing boat to boat action like this when such opportunities come along.

The two-day torneo began in earnest on Saturday, with nine private boats from Panama City making the trip down and eight lodge boats fishing. Unfortunately the water conditions had changed, the current slacked off and the bait fish were gone! Only four marlin were caught by the fleet all day, but two blues were caught by the team from Australia on the Australia with Capt Candelo. So they jumped into first place. Cayman team members Sebastien Guilbard, John Crimmins and myself, fished with captain Masso on the Spain and didn’t see a billfish all day.

The last day was wide open; anyone could win, but again, it was off to a slow start. We had drawn Australia with Candelo, who’d caught two blues the previous day. We quickly got live bonito on the reef and headed out to the hundred-fathom line. Here we saw some fast moving schools of skipjacks and not much else. Candela pulled lures for the first two hours and then ran another five miles to find a bigger school of skipjack and other boats working the area. There had been several marlin bites on lures but just one blue caught all morning.

Just a couple of minutes after noon, a 300-pound blue crashed the right rigger lure and danced its way across the wake before I could even lift my camera up to get the shot. I stood mesmerized. This is what it’s all about! The blue reversed direction and charged off to the right, grey-hounding all the way, and then ran out of gas. John did great work and we had the leader in the next 15 minutes, removing the hook and setting her free. We were on the board!

Out went the lures, and we had just got the pattern organized when a big fish slid up behind the right teaser. The dorsal looked like a periscope it was so tall. I fired out a small dead bonito, and the shadow sat there looking at it and then flipped its tail, dorsal up and bill out, mouth wide open and coming on the skipping bait as if in slow motion. The bow wave from the broad head pushed the bait aside and the marlin missed in a cloud of spray. My legs were shaking. This fish was over 700 pounds.

It came up a second time and got the bonito, and I came tight after a two-second drop-back. She pushed her head out, shaking, and went jet-skiing away across the surface. Then she went down for several minutes. I did not know how long this fight would last on 50# line so was ready for the long haul.

The big marlin popped back up and we spun around and chased her down, getting close right away. I could see her massive form gliding along with her pectorals spread wide, vivid electric-blue stripes down her body and massive tail weaving back and forth. She darted away with a couple of lazy sweeps of that blue tail but we got back over her and the leader was there right away and touched the rod tip. We had two releases in 30 minutes to propel us from the outhouse to second place.

She then took off again half out of the water going to the right leaving a boat wake behind her. I could not see her full length until we had her on the leader again, and Candelo said the marlin was 750 to 800 pounds. She was released, colors glowing, and dashed off like a jet ski on steroids with a final series of jumps. We had two and half hours left to fish but did not raise another billfish. The Australians survived our late charge to take top team and Cayman Islands came second, with the Panama City boat Pescalo placing third. An amazing statistic was that Candelo on “Australia” caught four of the seven marlin caught in the two day event. On the last day out of 20 recorded strikes from the fleet, three blue marlin were released.

Tropic Star Lodge has just celebrated its 50th anniversary and is looking forward to another half century of world-class big-game fishing action. If you’ve never been there, then you need to book soon. If you have been, you need to return soon. The marlin fishing is good year round with peaks January through March and again August through September. The average size of the blue marlin and black marlin is 300 pounds, but 500-pounders are common. The inshore fishing can be spectacular, and the hospitality, in my second home, is simply the best. Good luck and tight lines.

A 400-pound blue on the wire!

Get Ready … Get Set …!

Early Start

Tight-Wire Act

The Spectacular Coast of Panama

Explosive Power

Raging Blue

Ready for Release

The Cayman Island Team

The post Guy Harvey Reports: Tropic Star Lodge Tournament appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Black arrows mark anglers in the video that are hooked tight to wahoo. Notice how each fishermen is dragged around the boat, following their fish? Mates do an even better job of coaching the angler, maneuvering the hooked line in and around other lines, and making the gaff shot when necessary. On long-range boats out of San Diego, California, there is no fighting chair. Anglers bring aboard heavy tackle and fighting belts to battle fish mano-a-mano.

Our Long-Range Trip

Many great long-range fishing trips begin at San Diego’s Fisherman’s Landing. I wouldn’t say you have to be the best fisherman to go on one of these trips, but you do have to be dedicated. We boarded the Royal Star, a custom-built boat capable of handling 25-plus anglers.

One of the fishiest areas during our long-range trip was Alijos Rocks. Three main volcanic islets punch through the water’s surface in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We never got too close to the rocks, instead fishing the steep drop-offs from the rocks.

Though wahoo are a seasonal catch here, we hooked plenty in November. Giant yellowtail and yellowfin tuna are also common catches at the rocks.

We fished aboard the Royal Star, a 92-foot vessel with 12 air-conditioned staterooms for two, plus 5 heads and 4 showers. On this trip the boat was captained by Tim Ekstrom, a top navigator with decades of experience and part owner of the boat.

A prime spot to keep your tackle boxes and rods are the shelves located just forward of four livewells at the stern. This way, you can grab new tackle, different rods or re-rig close to the action. Missed opportunities arise when the bite’s “wide open” and you can’t find your gear.

Many fishermen believe the next world record yellowtail could come from these rocks. Yellowtail fight and look similar to amberjack found in the Atlantic Ocean. I have no problem admitting that yellowtails taste much better than AJs, but the jury is still out on which species fights harder.

Before the boat ever left San Diego Harbor, one important stop was for live bait — bait pens float in line, near the mouth of the bay. Bait is vitally important for long-range trips, with many anglers depending on high-quality offerings to tempt trophy gamefish. Baits are sometimes caught on-site (called “making bait”) at the various fishing locations.

Back at the rocks, the wahoo bite was on fire. Anglers hooked wahoo while trolling lures such as Braid Marauders or Yo-Zuri Bonita or casting lead-head skirts called wahoo bombs.

Tallies for yellowtail, yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna, skinnies (wahoo) and dodo (dorado) are kept for each angler to stay within Mexican fishing limits. At the left side of the board are numbers — those numbers each represent an angler on the boat. Mates place a tag with your individual number to the tail of each fish you keep. The board itself rests in a “grab” baitwell.

Marc Mills, of Shimano, brought aboard close to 100 rod-and-reel setups for anglers to use. Plus, he rigged some of the rods with Shimano wind-on leaders and a plethora of different Shimano metals. Some of the favorite rigs on the boat included the Talica II, Orca poppers, Stella SW, and Tranx.

While cruising between spots, Mills gave seminars to anglers interested in new Shimano products. Based out of Irvine, California, Shimano often tests their latest tackle for toughness on these long-range trips.

Heading toward Alijos Rocks, the Royal Star rendezvoused with the Royal Polaris. The Polaris was returning back to port from its own fishing trip and had left-over bait that we gladly took. Throughout the entire 11-day trip, we saw no more than a handful of boats on the water.

Besides fly-lining baits, wahoo bombs were one of the most effective presentations for wahoo. Anglers preferred casting gear over spinning gear by a far margin.

The most productive way to catch wahoo was by trolling Marauder-or Bonita-style plugs. Four anglers trolled lures at the same time while searching for wahoo schools.

The mates on long-range boats tend to be highly adept at getting fish in the boat, whether it’s gaffing a fish or untangling lines of anglers fighting fish.

When the wahoo action is hot, sometimes there’s not enough time to get the ‘hoos cooled down immediately. For a short while, wahoo can load up the deck.

Besides fish like wahoo and yellowtail, other species were caught bottom-fishing near the rocks such as this big eye. Mostly, they’re released back to the ocean unless they’re particularly tasty.

The ocean whitefish was a common catch on live bait when targeting yellowtail on the bottom.

Some anglers set up GoPro cameras to catch the fishing action when it’s happening.

The post Alijos Rocks Long-Range Fishing appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.