Innehållsförteckning för April/May 2024 från Marlin

Situated between Orlando and Palm Beach is the quiet seaside community of Fort Pierce, a bit off the beaten path and certainly far from the hustle and bustle of southeastern Florida. It’s probably not what you’d expect for tournament-winning angler Tony Huerta, who has amassed an impressive string of victories while fishing from North Carolina to the Bahamas and many points in between on his 1995 58-foot Paul Mann known as Lo Que Sea. While working full time in real estate development and as a restaurant owner, he still manages to fish nearly 100 days per year. His place in Fort Pierce—Little Jim’s Bait and Tackle—is the perfect barefoot beach dive, with great food, live music, a marina on site and, of course, a full-service tackle shop. M How did…

Imagine this: You’re hooked up to a large fish in the heat of battle. Sweat is dripping from your brow, your shirt is drenched, the line is straight up and down and you’re tapping into your best angling techniques to keep the fish inching your way. It’s a give-and-take, with you getting a few good punches in and gaining line little by little. But then, the fish has other ideas and suddenly takes it all back. You start to wonder if you set your drag correctly this morning, if you have enough pressure on the fish, or if you just need to be patient and wait for the fish to make a mistake. A conundrum at best; at worst, one of you is wearing out, and it’s probably not the…

The very origins of our sport are built around fishermen who were willing to push boundaries and test the limits of their boats, their equipment and even themselves. The urge to go out farther to find bigger fish or different species—as well as explore the relative unknown—is a primal one. And while today’s technology in boats, electronics and forecasting has made fishing long distances from shore safer and more accessible than ever before, the ocean remains the great equalizer, and no trip offshore should be taken lightly. Two of the most prominent areas in the US beyond the standard day-trip range are in the Gulf of Mexico and on the East Coast, specifically from the mid-Atlantic on up through the Northeast. And while the fishing itself can vary widely between…

Boats in general are built as works of art with a purpose. Whether that objective is fishing, cruising or commercial, there are very few that are not designed to look pretty for what they are. We live in a society where things that are the most aesthetically pleasing get the most attention, and I see a lot of boats getting washed and waxed whether they are being used or not. Everyone wants their boats to stay clean and pretty, but most of all, they want the investment to remain valuable. BILGE-RAT STATUS Yes, I know, crawling around the bilges is no fun, and keeping them clean and perfect is far from a glamorous job, but this is where most boat problems typically begin. Failing to keep up with bilge inspections…

The year 2023 will be remembered as a great one for the US equity markets; the fear of inflation seemed to evaporate as we headed into the holiday season, a surprise to everyone. I’ve gotten calls lately from a lot of professionals in the fishing business asking, “Is it too late to get in the market and if not, how do I get started?” Let’s take a look at the first question—is it too late. I believe there are still several great opportunities available. Is the market overvalued? That’s a tough question to answer and it depends on who is asking the question. Are you a captain who has a 30-year horizon or a 5-year horizon? It also depends on your liquidity and the amount of risk you are willing…

COSTA RICA Already having an excellent season for sailfish, look for an outstanding blue marlin bite on the seamounts 80 or more miles offshore. The yellowfin tuna fishing is also very good this year. TAHITI Hop aboard a long-range mothership in Papeete and explore the remote atolls for some incredible action. The mind-blowing scenery and diving are just a bonus. ISLAMORADA The swordfish action continues—both day and night—in one of the top destinations in the Florida Keys. THE BAHAMAS Spring starts the tournament season off in the Abacos, with several top billfish events on the horizon. The weather can be sporty, though. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC The local FADs will hold good numbers of smaller blues plus some white marlin, perfect for light-tackle fishing. CAPE VERDE The early-season reports from this Atlantic…

Marina Alcudia basked beneath a sky of unbroken blue, a result of the high-pressure system that had established itself over the island of Majorca in the Mediterranean Sea. Yet, aside from an occasional boat owner carrying out routine maintenance, the place was deserted. Aside from a handful of local cafes and eateries, most of the island was in the depths of hibernation. And neither did I have any intention of visiting so early in the season until I received a phone call from Capt. Vince Riera, saying, “Drop whatever you are doing and get on a flight out here now.” A few days later I arrived at Palma. This was the opportunity we had been waiting for ever since we had first kicked around the idea of trying to catch…

This year, the Bermuda Triple Crown will celebrate 20 years of tournament fishing, along with every bit of the pulse-pounding adrenaline, passion, camaraderie and sheer enjoyment that comes with such a milestone. Along the way, there have been 1,000-plus-pound blue marlin weighed and lost, and millions of dollars in prize money awarded to the participants. The Triple Crown attracts the undisputed top names in the sport every year, the vast majority of whom spend the month of July chasing giant blues in the depths of these cerulean blue waters. The grand dame of the three-tournament series—the Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament—was founded in 1973. Once a small gathering for passionate Bermudian blue marlin fishermen, it became the cornerstone of the Triple Crown after the introduction of the Bermuda Big…

I heard the skateboarders before I saw them. The gentle roar of their wheels barreling across the boardwalk rang with a strange nostalgia. Admittedly, I’ve never been a skater—I’ve picked up bits of the culture and sport from movies, MTV and a few brief acquaintances, but I’ve never been part of that community. And yet hearing that familiar sound that evening felt like a powerful, welcoming and gritty confirmation that I had indeed returned to Ocean City, Maryland. A FISHING CAPITAL The last time I was in Ocean City, I had come to town to fish the MidAtlantic tournament. Other than a dinner or two and an errand outside of the marina, my whole experience there centered around fishing. This is probably a familiar version of events for many anglers who…

Forget about big crowds on the rip or at the fuel dock, or doing endless figure-8s around an undersea FAD for hours on end. If you’re looking for a high-end boutique tournament that’s held in one of the world’s most luxurious island resorts and fished in some of the Caribbean’s most famed hunting grounds for blue marlin, then you need to check out the Scrub Island Billfish Series. ¶ What makes this event so special? First and foremost is the fishing, which takes place on the North Drop. This roughly 12-mile stretch of undulating Caribbean seabed—where the east-to-west Puerto Rico Trench takes a 90-degree elbow to the north just above the Virgin Islands—quickly earned a reputation for offering the most consistent blue marlin fishing this side of the Panama Canal.…

From the graceful sweep of the sheer to the classic lines of the hull and bridge, a Garlington is instantly recognizable. Featuring classic, elegant exteriors, matched to contemporary interiors and state-of-the-art construction techniques, this is the ethos of all Garlington Yachts. The latest from the noted Florida boatbuilder is a 48-foot fly-bridge, a true gameboat with the same soft, dry ride as her larger sibling, the 61 flybridge. The new model brings the builder back full circle to where it all began with Richard Garlington’s first 48-footer, and is available as a dayboat without a rear bulkhead or with a traditional enclosed salon. The boat’s vacuum-infused composite-core hull and superstructure offer a lighter, stiffer package that produces a quiet, soft-riding hull with outstanding impact resistance and amazing performance. The new…

There are so many tournaments that think they need to say they donate the proceeds from their events to this or that charity—maybe it’s a cancer foundation or a conservation group or a veterans organization. There are some that are simply commercial business ventures and others that prefer to say nothing at all, but where does the money really go? Maybe they support the family that runs the tournament or the many families that are part of the event each year, and that’s perfectly fine as long as everyone knows it. One resounding truth is that tournaments have a very significant economic impact on the areas where they’re held, no matter if it’s Ocean City, Maryland, or South Padre Island, Texas, or Kona, Hawaii. This is often way more important…

ABOVE THE RIM Black marlin are well known for their aerial acrobatics, notes photographer Hannes Ribbner, especially at the boat, where they tend to launch themselves vertically rather than horizontally as blue marlin typically do. This fish, caught by Kelly Brashear while fishing out of Tropic Star Lodge, went ballistic and cleared the horizon several times prior to release. It’s just one more reason that marlin fishing is so highly addictive. LOCATION Zane Grey Reef, Panama TECH SPECS CAMERA: Canon 1DX Mark II LENS: Canon 16-35mm Mark III ISO: 160 APERTURE: f/2.8 SPEED: 1/3200 sec…

Fishing conditions proved favorable as the second leg of the Quest for the Crest Sailfish Series kicked off in late February. Sixty of the sport’s elite teams joined the three-inlet challenge, competing for their share of a $640,400 purse while also raising funds for The Billfish Foundation along the way. In addition to the substantial tournament purse, a Billfish Foundation-sponsored satellite tag was also awarded in the name of the tournament champions, contributing to the foundation’s ongoing research efforts. As the kickoff of the 21st annual Sailfish Challenge drew nearer, it was clear that a hot bite was indeed happening, although a shift in conditions just before the start had teams wondering if it would hold up or not. The action on Day One answered all questions and surpassed any…

Encounters with sharks—and subsequent issues with depredation—have been a part of sport fishing long before Hemingway’s fictional Santiago won his battle with a giant blue marlin, only to lose most of his prize at boatside as immortalized in his literary classic The Old Man and the Sea. But these events are becoming more frequent, to the point in certain fisheries where it’s nearly assured that you’ll lose at least a significant portion of your catch to sharks. It’s grown to the point where even these anecdotal encounters reported by fishermen have gotten the attention of the scientific and political communities. Simply put, anglers are demanding action. The Webster’s definition of depredation is “1: to lay waste, plunder, ravage. 2: to engage in plunder.” That’s certainly fitting to what’s currently happening…

On a breezy day in June, Viking 64—her right rigger full of flags—rounded the corner of the Intracoastal Waterway as the boat approached Toler’s Cove Marina in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The spartina grass on either side of the saltwater creek’s edge glowed fluorescent green in the afternoon sun, and the humid haze of a Lowcountry summer hung low and thick around the boat’s gleaming hull. Those driving across the nearby drawbridge might have assumed that the Viking Yacht Co.’s demonstrator team had placed in yet another tournament. Instead, the crew had just set an unofficial state record for blue marlin releases in a single day. Celebrating accordingly, the demo crew had just made history, a standard that Viking Yachts considers a fundamental component of company culture. The Viking demonstrator…

With more than 3,000 people from around the world casting their votes in two categories—amateur and professional—congratulations go to the two winners of the Marlin Photo Contest for January 2024. Winning in the highly competitive amateur division was 19-year-old Adair Bates from Corpus Christi, Texas. A student at Texas A&M University, Bates says she grew up outdoors and loves hunting and fishing. Along the way, she got into photography as a hobby in high school and now also enjoys capturing the action offshore and in the woods. Her image was taken at the Perdido oil rig off Texas while fishing on the 64-foot Viking Suzy Q, home-ported in Port Aransas. “It was the last trip on that boat before she was sold, and it was a great way to end…

When the Albemarle leadership team contacted Spencer Yachts’ Paul Spencer, they were seeking to build a new flagship, albeit something a little different for Albemarle. According to Spencer, “Albemarle’s mold, fiberglass and production capability—combined with Spencer’s styling and sport-fish knowledge—made the collaboration a perfect match.” And after spending a few hours on board and putting Hull No. 1 through her paces, I could not agree more. COCKPIT AND MEZZANINE Stepping aboard, the size of the teak cockpit for a 53-footer was impressive. At 160 square feet, the covering boards hit at midthigh, and with a massive transom fish box, my mind was telling me I was in a much larger boat. A Release Marine Trillion fighting chair with a six-rod rocket launcher stands as a beautiful centerpiece. Under each gunwale…