Marlin March 2015

The general public greeted President Obama’s easing of travel restrictions to the island of Cuba with mixed emotions. Those with personal ties to the island, families who may have had properties seized and/or had relatives imprisoned after the Castro regime took power in 1960, have a very different perspective on these developments than most of us do. Many of them feel betrayed, believing our government has recognized a ruthless dictator and given his regime legitimacy in its final days. But others who lack such ties see opportunity, and no matter which viewpoint you share, change will come rapidly. Curious travelers in general, and fishermen in particular, are champing at the proverbial bit to visit Cuba. Many of us have long been curious about the island nation, but we have never…

Ireally can’t tell you how good it was to get back down to Australia this past November to run a Marlin U session on the Great Barrier Reef. We headed off in the middle of November and spent 10 days on the reef. The trip started with a four-hour, private coach ride up to Cooktown. Both the mothership and game boats were up on the Ribbon Reefs, and Cooktown is the closest port. The ride up was surprisingly quick as most drives are in places where you’ve never been before. A forbiddingly dry, yet ruggedly beautiful landscape whizzed by the windows, and I was grateful for the air conditioning. After a great night at the Sovereign Resort and Hotel in Cooktown, we got on the boats the next morning and…

KUDOS CAN’T SAY THIS ENOUGH as Marlin is more than just an excellent fishing magazine — definitely in the elite category with consistently awesome content and pictures since the first copy I picked up in Montreal in 1995! Great editorial team! Always looking forward to the next copy. Capt. Mike Tan, Bluesails Sportfishing, Kuala Rompin, Malaysia GOOD TIMING The article “Panama’s Tuna Coast Marlin Hangouts” by Tony Peña [November 2014] was perfectly timed and spot on. On Oct. 29, 2014, my crew and I brought my new 60-foot Viking, Aguja, from Golfito, Costa Rica, to Panama City, Panama. We found blue water and good conditions in 4,000 feet of water depth, less than 10 miles off the Tuna Coast. We put out some black and purple and black and green…

Angler Bill Gooch promoted the idea of a tournament observer program in 1999 by creating a training program covering the essentials every observer should be required to know while observing in a biggame tournament. Given the official name of Certified Observer Program and becoming known as “COP” as it evolved and grew, the program was used initially to train observers for Gooch’s Red, White and Blue Tournament in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Taught by Gooch and Virginia Beach captains Bob Stephens, Don White and Bill Hellman, the COP training program was soon embraced by several other tournament directors. Jimmy Loveland of the Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Rick Alvarez of the La Guaira Shootout Tournament in Venezuela strongly supported the program and adopted the COP format…

The Billfish Foundation awarded top captains and anglers at the 2015 Tag and Release Award Ceremony during the Miami International Boat Show in February. Representing the three major oceans and record tagging effort in many fishing hot spots, the winners are composed of both veterans and newcomers who put forth a great amount of effort to furthering billfish conservation and who have risen to the top ranks in sport fishing. The Billfish Foundation’s tag and release program, which began in 1990, currently has over 215,000 records from all over the world and continues to contribute to much of what is known about billfish migrations and basic life histories. The annual Tag and Release Competition recognizes the captains, mates and anglers (including youth and ladies) who tag and release the most…

Bluefin tuna garner substantial attention from sushi lovers and the mainstream media, but they also provide tremendous thrills for anglers. From the tried-and-true fishing grounds in the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the growing popularity of the Nova Scotia fishery, trophy bluefin tuna are one of those lifetime fish that anglers, including myself, lie awake at night dreaming of catching. Thankfully, management decisions and recent scientific findings might actually give Atlantic bluefin tuna a brighter future than in the past. The finalization of Amendment 7 during the fall of 2014 will provide benefits, both direct and indirect, for the sport-fishing community. Being intricately involved in the process both as a member of the Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel and in my previous post at The Billfish Foundation, these developments…