Indholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2019 i Marlin

• While there’s no question I love fishing here in the United States, the allure of international travel runs as strong and deep as the Gulf Stream on a bluebird day. The anticipation of the unknown, combined with the fact that blue marlin seem to love those exotic tropical locales nearly as much as we do, is a powerful, nearly intoxicating combination. Think about it: How many times do you repack your gear prior to a trip, making sure not to overlook a critical piece of the puzzle, or lie awake at night in anticipation of what’s to come the next day. Happens to me all the time, and it’s part of the beauty of marlin fishing—the passion that fuels the fire. In this issue, we celebrate that spirit by…

Players BILL ROYSTER • In 1991, Bill Royster took a six-month sabbatical, which ended up stretching into three years. He fished his way down the Pacific coast to Costa Rica, where he released an 800-pound blue marlin off Herradura Bay, as well as hundreds of sailfish. During the trip, he fell in love with the natural beauty of the Central American nation as well as its friendly people. As the owner of general engineering and development companies in California, he turned his attention to building what would eventually become the Los Sueños Resort and Marina. Since the turn of the millennium, the resort has become one of the world’s top destinations for those with billfish on the brain. When he’s not at work, Royster enjoys spending time aboard his 80-foot…

• A record 475 participants converged on the southernmost point of the United States in mid-April to battle fellow Viking-devoted competitors in two days of great fishing. “The Key West Challenge has been a success every year,” Viking Yachts President and CEO Pat Healey says, “but this time around, the energy level, excitement and fishing were at an all-time high.” The weather was nothing short of beautiful on Day One of the event, and just seven minutes after lines in, Blue Angel was on the board with its first sailfish release. By noon, 22 sails had been released, and by day’s end, Gypsea and Mr. Grinch—the daily winners—were duking it out, separated by just one fish. The bite followed the same tide-turning trends on Day Two. Angler Sarah Hall released…

• On his daughter, Marlynn’s (pronounced mar-lin) 2018 spring break trip to Los Sueños, Costa Rica, Trent Glaub began a quest he didn’t even know he was on. Fishing aboard Dreamwork, the family of three each landed their first Pacific sailfish. Having not been on a charter boat in 20 years, Glaub remembered the standard procedure of charter fishing’s hook-and-hand—the hard way. The next day, on Go Fish, Glaub hooked his first of nine IGFA-landed billfish: a black marlin. Thinking it was another large jack they’d been catching and ready to hand the rod to his then-7-year-old daughter, he heard the words from the bridge that changed it all: “No! Marlin negro!” BLACK MARLIN, MARCH 20, 2018 LOS SUEÑOS, COSTA RICA After releasing a few sails earlier in the day,…

“YOU’RE GOING…WHERE?” THAT’S THE USUAL REACTION WHEN I EXPLAIN THAT I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO FISH NOT ONLY A BEAUTIFULLY EXOTIC DESTINATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, BUT ALSO ONE THAT HAS RECEIVED ALMOST ZERO EXPOSURE. ONLY A HANDFUL OF WELL-TRAVELED ANGLERS AND CAPTAINS HAVE EVEN HEARD OF THE ANDAMAN SEA, MUCH LESS WITNESSED THE NEARLY UNLIMITED POTENTIAL IT HOLDS. THE PHRASE “UNDISCOVERED HOT SPOT” GETS THROWN AROUND A LOT IN THE MEDIA THESE DAYS, BUT THIS REMOTE CORNER OF THE INDIAN OCEAN RIGHTLY DESERVES IT. Fifteen and a half hours is a long time for self-contemplation. That’s the flight time from New York City to Hong Kong, just the second leg of a multi-day journey from Florida to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. In New…

• Hull No. 60 from Jarrett Bay Boatworks, the 84-footer known as Reel Development, will offer several unique custom features. The vessel will have a 4,000-gallon fuel capacity for excellent range to distant fishing destinations while the sweeping mezzanine overhang gives way to a massive 265-square-foot cockpit, complete with two 125-gallon pressurized livewells. Twin MTU diesels rated at 2,600 hp each will power this build; two 38-kW Northern Lights generators and a pair of Seakeeper 16 gyrostabilizers will provide comfort and stability at sea. The interior features rod storage in a single large pullout drawer under the dinette seating platform, as well as a full, upright Sub-Zero unit in the galley-forward pantry in addition to the standard drawer-style Sub-Zeros in the galley. Satin-finished cherry veneers will be seen throughout the…

• Hull and engine surveys are an essential part of every vessel transaction, and the complexity of surveys generally increases with the size of the vessel. We have recently seen a string of transactions resulting in disputes related to mishandled survey deficiencies. A survey deficiency could be anything from a nonfunctioning bilge pump to evidence of rot to a simple lack of certain safety gear. Disputes often arise from the timing and quality of work done to correct such deficiencies, or from the value agreed upon to cover repairs. There are certain things parties can do to avoid such a scenario. SURVEYS ARE RARELY PERFECT One thing all boaters should know is that a perfect hull survey essentially never happens. I have personally never seen a flawless survey, even on…

What’s your favorite kind of fishing? Marlin first, then sailfish. Both on dead bait. When did you catch your first billfish? I was fishing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 1974 and caught a striped marlin. I was down there with some friends, renting a boat. This was before the Cabo marina was even built. We had a great time and it was a wonderful week. I didn’t catch my first blue marlin until 1991 when I got to Costa Rica, though—plus we were releasing 10 to 15 sailfish a day, even back then. I thought I’d arrived in fishing heaven. How has Los Sueños impacted the worldwide fishing community? When I first came to Costa Rica, there was no infrastructure for boats. Fortunately, I had an 80-foot long-range boat…

• With the tremendous numbers of bluefin tuna from the Gulf of Mexico to Maine, our recreational and commercial hook-and-line quota can quickly be reached each year, resulting in early season closures, adding to the frustration of U.S. fishermen. Closures in the recreational trophy bluefin tuna category—greater than 73 inches, curved fork length—typically occur in New England waters each year in July or August, although smaller fish are available the rest of the season. This is to the disadvantage of many anglers, especially north of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where great numbers of bluefin are found during the fall months, leaving anglers in the Northeast frustrated at missed opportunities for a trophy-size catch. Recreational fishermen with Highly Migratory Species Angling or HMS Charter/Headboat permits who fish recreationally also experience early season…

• If there is one thing I’ve learned from the live-bait guys in South Florida, it’s the importance of keeping your bait healthy. No matter what species you are fishing for, or what method you use, the bait is what will make or break your day. And if you want to catch a winning fish off a Gulf of Mexico drilling rig, then you’d better be sure your ducks are in a row. From the rig you choose to fish to the way you handle the bait, your finicky 800-pounder sure knows if it’s worth the calories spent on chasing it. We sometimes travel hundreds of miles in search of the best conditions, so you should know where you are going before you leave the slip. Offshore-conditions-reporting services and a…

The Marlin team flew from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York aboard Cathay Pacific Airways to Hong Kong, then to Bankok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. After a brief overnight stay at the comfortable Suvarnabhumiville Airport Hotel, we headed across the city to Don Mueang International Airport for the onehour domestic flight to Ranong. (We flew Air Asia.) Alternatively you can fly into Phuket, Thailand, and connect to Ranong via private van, or fly to Yangon in Myanmar, then fly direct to Kawthaung. A 15-minute bus transfer deposits you at the border crossing, where you check out of Thailand and board a long-tail skiff (right) to cross the Kra Buri River into Myanmar. Burmese customs officials will meet you at the boat on the mooring, where you surrender your passports…

• You’ve seen shaded sonar maps in chart plotters before—Furuno and Simrad have had them since 2008. But certainly not with the detail coming out today in offerings from Navionics’ Platinum and Garmin’s BlueChart series. Several years ago, plotter manufacturers enabled their systems to match GPS data to sonar points, assigning an exact spot on the globe to each sonar reading. You know that from your ability to tap a sonar target and put a waypoint on your chart. The next thing cartographers and electronics makers did was enable the systems to record that data in a continuous stream and upload it to the chart maker’s systems. Once in their systems, they’d incorporate your readings into charts you could download. Suddenly, you could read contours to as little as 1…

I remember the first Paul Mann boat I ever laid eyes on: She effortlessly skated by me, seemingly in slow motion. There was just something about her sweeping stem, that perfectly placed house, those teardrop-shaped windows and that unforgettable, not-too-much Carolina flare that I couldn’t get enough of. And every single one rolling out of Manns Harbor, North Carolina, just keeps getting better. The new Full Time is no exception; as a matter of fact, she may be the rule. Working alongside esteemed naval architect Robert Ullberg on their fifth collaboration, builder Paul Mann ensured the owner’s dreams were brought to life, with all the criterion Mann boats are known for: toughness, speed, handling and performance. Full Time is designed for family travel, taking just 32 months, start to finish.…

PERFECT TIMING Harry Hindmarsh captured this image aboard his 48-foot Viking, Brain Storm. “I usually drive and shoot from the helm, but for this sail, my son, Hunter, took the wheel so I could snap a few from the cockpit.” Angler and Brain Storm co-owner Stephen Smith released this fish on a day that began with tuna and mahi but ended with white marlin and sailfish. LOCATION Hindmarsh and Smith were fishing the tip of the Norfolk Canyon off Virginia Beach, Virginia, on a squally, overcast day.…

CAPT. IGOR ASSAD ZOOM DAGARANA FISHING TEAM RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL For the past few years, we have tried to unravel the many mysteries behind our marlin fisheries by charting each bite, noting factors such as wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, sea state, and water temperature, to name a few. Without a doubt, we have found the periods around a crescent moon are the best time to fish for Brazilian blues. During these times, we observed an abundance of food on the surface—between zero and 100 meters—and also that the fish were showing themselves more in an active feeding response, which translates to more bites and caught fish. CAPT. TIM DEAN CALYPSO CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA The Great Barrier Reef is long, but not very wide, with deep, narrow channels separating…

In the early 1600s, adventurous men took to the seas from their homelands in Europe, sailing across the Pacific Ocean—which encompasses more than 30 percent of the earth’s surface—in vessels with no charts and no knowledge of what to expect along the way. Unbeknownst to these early explorers, passing by the scattered islands and wave-enduring atolls that make up the Tuamotu island group was the fact that these natural treasures would remain the world’s most pristine oceanic islands and coral reefs for more than 300 years after their discovery. In looking back at those early voyages, it doesn’t take much angler imagination to wonder what amazing schools of fish and how many huge marlin were passed over by those explorers. The largest marlin in the world—the blues and blacks of…

With so many big-game fishing locales dotting the planet, the blue marlin destination list is long. For sport-fishing operations willing to take the journey with anglers looking to bag their first granders, without a doubt, Bermuda should be somewhere near the top of that list. This beautiful, peaceful island is nestled in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean roughly 600 miles from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the closest point of North America, essentially placing this subtropical paradise in the middle of nowhere. Relatively small in overall size at only about 21 miles long and roughly a mile wide, Bermuda is an archipelago made up of approximately 181 islands, islets and rocks—the seven largest connected by various bridges and causeways, making up the majority of the inhabited area. Bermuda is…

HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED THAT FANTASTIC FISHING SPOTS ARE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET TO? IT’S EASY TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE MORE REMOTE A LOCATION IS, THE LESS FISHING PRESSURE IT RECEIVES. A PRIME EXAMPLE: MAGDALENA BAY, ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF MEXICO’S STORIED BAJA PENINSULA. ITS RELATIVE INACCESSIBILITY HAS ALLOWED IT TO REMAIN ONE OF THOSE RARE PLACES THAT TIME HAS VIRTUALLY FORGOTTEN. Mag Bay is about the size of San Francisco Bay, and the largest villages in the area are Puerto San Carlos—population: 5,500—and Lopez Mateos, which are a bit rustic to say the least. These are commercial fishing villages, where local knowledge is passed down from father to son. Close to 100 miles of mangrove-lined channels and shoreline encircle the area, and where the mangroves stop, the desert…

• One of the most anticipated new designs for 2020 is a 50-footer from Bertram Yachts, which will join the 35 and 61 Convertible models already in production at the company’s Tampa, Florida, facility. The iconic builder is crafting an all-new express design in both open and sport top configurations with attractive two-stateroom/two-head layouts. The master stateroom with en suite head is all the way forward, with a guest stateroom and day head to port, opposite a U-shaped lounge. A spacious 178-square-foot cockpit with mezzanine seating will offer plenty of room for a team of anglers and deckhands, while the boat’s 1,236-gallon fuel capacity and 4-foot-2-inch draft give it excellent range and shallow-water capabilities. A Seakeeper 9 gyrostabilizer also is included as part of the standard equipment package. Although Caterpillar…

Offshore fishermen share a common trait: They go with what they know. The new Gamefisherman 50 Express is a prime example. Her owner decided to downsize from a larger, custom-built convertible and move forward with a more simplified platform that was a better fit for his needs. Based in Stuart, Florida, Gamefisherman has been in operation since 1985, designing and building beautiful open and convertible rigs ranging from 26 to 50 feet. By eliminating the flybridge, the express style provides a centralized command station, allowing the helmsman to be closer to the cockpit action. This not only keeps the operator in the game, but reduces the need for a full crew. The build required a great deal of thought to make sure the captain could perform double duty. Overhead, within…