Author: BD STAFF

The GEOBASS project is about four anglers’ relentless pursuit of off-the-hook fishing in out-of-the-way locales. They’ll be after exotic species in Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Africa and Papua New Guinea. Getting to the fish is half the battle – and much of the viewing fun. “If a fish has the word ‘bass’ anywhere in its name, we’re going to try and catch it, no matter where in the world it lives,” GEOBASS team member Robison said. “This is bass fishing like you’ve never seen it before,” said Al Perkinson, vice president of marketing for Costa. “These guys put themselves in incredible…

Fukushima Radiation Three years ago, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake (the fourth largest earthquake ever recorded) off the coast of Japan, generated a tsunami with forty five foot waves. Almost sixteen thousand lives were lost with over two thousand more still missing. In addition to the enormous loss of life, the tsunami waves overwhelmed the eighteen-foot break wall of the Fukushima Dai’Ichi Nuclear Power Plant. The resultant damage led to failures in the cooling of the nuclear fuel and subsequently hydrogen explosions which released the largest single contribution of radiation to the ocean ever observed (and we’ve observed many nuclear weapon…

Florida Keys Dolphin Championship The Florida Keys Dolphin Championship will take place this coming May 16-18. Anglers can chase dolphin from Key Largo to Key West and will be able to weigh their catch at five different sites up and down the Keys. Presented by Mercury and Sea Hunter Boats, the Championship will have over 100,000 dollars in cash and prizes up for grabs. The first place dolphin will be worth 15,000 dollars. If the largest dolphin is over 55 pounds and caught from a Sea Hunter boat, the winner could win a bonus 50,000 dollars. (See fine print for…

This April on the 23rd through the 27th 2014, Sea Hunter Boats brings you the second annual Key West Sailfish Championship. Teams will compete in two divisions; Pro and Non Pro. This is a boat tournament and will consist of three days of fishing between a captain’s meeting and awards party. This release only tournament will award one point for each released sailfish. Video validation for catches will be required for a fish to count. The tournament will also support two charities, the Jose Wejebe “Spanish Fly” Memorial Foundation and The Billfish Foundation. So get signed up now and then…

Artist Spotlight Johnny Widmer Q:Where do you live? A: I was born in the Cayman Islands and will always call it home, but over the last several years traveled and lived in several places around the United States. Q:What mediums do you work in? A: I work in acrylic and oil paints. Q:What is your favorite medium? A: I feel as if both mediums I work in are enjoyable. However, I keep finding myself wanting to use acrylics because of how versatile they can be. Through lots of experimentation, I have found that acrylic paints can be used in ways…

Want to travel to exotic locations and ride along with some of the best tournament billfish teams in the business? Then signup today to become an IGFA Observer! The IGFA will be holding an Observer Training Course at the Pacific Coast Sportfishing Festival on April 5th at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Newport Beach. The class will run from 9 am – 1 pm and will cover topics such as billfish identification, IGFA saltwater tournament rules, and Observer etiquette. Click here to download an application. For more information, call Jack Vitek at 954-924-4246 or by email at jvitek@igfa.org. Saturday, April…

Yellowtail Bite Disappear Again For the second full moon in a row, the yellowtail bite at the Coronado Islands has gone wide open for a couple days and then shut off completely. This time the fish bit best on Sunday and Monday, petered out on Tuesday and all but disappeared on Wednesday. There haven’t been any updates at the time of this writing on Thursday, but if the fish don’t bite again in the next couple days you may want to schedule your next trip to coincide with the April full moon on tax day. Prior to the bite shutting…

Albino Blue Marlin Caught Recently the crew of the Spanish Fly,Capt. Juan Carlos Fallas and mates Carlos Pollo Espinoza Jimenez and Roberto Chelato Salinas Hernandez were fishing with their clients, Bob and Karen Weaver when they were witness to an incredibly rare event. They caught and released a white-colored blue marlin out of Los Suenos, Costa Rica. Whether the ghost-like marlin was a true albino or the more common leucistic, the result is an amazing feat of survival for a white-colored animal to have survived to adulthood. There have been white sailfish documented before, but this may be one of…

Fred Hall Show Long Beach Convention Center Fred Hall Show Long Beach Convention Center was the home of the 2014 show. All types of boat, tackle, outfitters and food vendors gather to show off their latest and greatest products. Fred Hall Show Boat Hall Many boat dealers were on hand with their hottest models on display so that visitors could explore, touch and feel the boats in person. Fred Hall Show Cutwater Boats Cutwater Boats were on hand with several of their latest models of offshore cruisers. Fred Hall Show Shimano Booth Shimano had a huge display with a wide…

The IGFA or International Gamefish Association has long been the record keeper for world record fish. They have also set the standards considered to be the “rules” for the fair and sporting methods used to catch a fish. These standards have become the rules of most tournaments around the world and are widely accepted. They have general rules such as: only the angler can touch the rod and reel and no devices can be used to hinder the fish’s ability to fight. They also set technical standards to be followed, such as how long a double line and leader can…

Maui Jim has added Paul Hebert, Captain of the “Wicked Pissah” on National Geographic Channel’s hit TV show, WICKED TUNA, to its list of Ambassadors. Hebert will greet visitors with his fair share of “wicked-isms” and sign autographs in the Maui Jim/Dana Landing booth (#1009) at the Fred Hall Long Beach Boat Show this weekend. Visitors to the booth have the chance to win a fishing trip with Hebert. Maui Jim will showcase its full line of PolarizedPlus2® line of sunglasses for fishing and boating. The company is known for the development of advanced technologies for double and single gradient…

It is our pleasure to announce that BD Outdoors has named Michelle Gandola as Director of Marketing. Michelle will work directly under Ali Hussainy, President to help promote the many ventures BD has in store for the near future. Michelle comes to BD Outdoors after many years dedicated to the sportfishing industry. She worked as a cook and deckhand and then as operations manager for sportfishing vessels while going to college. After graduating college she took a brief hiatus from the industry to work in marketing and public relations for a large marketing firm. When Ken Franke took the role…

Two of Northern California’s most revered fishing brothers, Abe and Angelo Cuanang, are teaming up with Cousins Tackle Corp. — creating a “family affair” that will have salmon, striped bass, sturgeon, halibut, lingcod and other saltwater gamefish swimming for their lives. Through a new sponsorship agreement, Cousins Tackle will provide Abe and Angelo with a variety of premium-quality, American-made graphite and composite rods, each hand crafted in its Huntington Beach, California factory with actions fine-tuned for Northern California inshore fishing techniques. Whether it’s salmon mooching or downrigger trolling, fishing stripers outside the surf line, drifting for barndoor halibut or tackling…

The Top Stick Tour is proud to announce a new and exciting type of bass tournament for Summer 2014 — a “Crossover Tournament” designed to see not only which anglers have the best skills in both freshwater and saltwater. But also who can adapt their favorite “go-to” strategies for success when fishing out of their comfort zones. This unique event is scheduled for August 23-24, and will be held out of Dana Landing in Mission Bay (Day 1) and San Diego’s El Capitan Reservoir (Day 2). It will team up 45 of the best freshwater anglers and 45 of the…

The Bight is a saltwater fishing journal that blends long form journalism and rich, vivid photography to create an archival, coffee table style publication. “The Bight isn’t so much about how to fish, but why you fish,” says its editor, Brandon Hayward, of the 132-page journal that will be released at the Long Beach Fred Hall Show. Hayward is a Southern California angler who always seems to always be playing three or four hands at a time, thanks to writing and editing, running charters on his 23-foot Parker through his guide service www.onemancharters.com, and serving as publicist for the Sportfishing…

Spa Buena Vista Mornings promise. Not much in the world of sportfishing compares with the promise of a new dawn. Fishing in the waters of the East Cape offers an unlimited range of possibilities that make the promise of a new dawn even more exciting. Will today bring a speedy Wahoo, a big bull Dorado, a cow or super-cow tuna, or even the mystical Grander Blue marlin. Spa Buena Vista Pool Hanging in the pool is a refreshing way to unwind from the days fishing. You are just above the Tropic of Cancer which lies between Cabo and the East…

BD: Where do you live? Tabby Abbassi: I live in Jacksonville Beach, FL…I was also born here! Someday, I’d love to eventually move closer to Mosquito Lagoon. BD: What is you occupation? Tabby Abbassi: I am a Corporate Recruiter, but I would eventually like to work for the State of Florida/FWC…a field position that will allow me to be a part of a team that helps with the research and development and conservation efforts. I just recently joined the Fish Tagging Program and look forward to learning more about the migration patterns of the fish I love so much! BD:…

Lowrance, a world-leading brand in fishing electronics since 1957, confirmed today its continued No.1 position among America’s fishing-tournament professionals, following Lowrance Pro Team member Randy Howell’s first-ever Bassmaster® Classic championship, won on Lake Guntersville, Alabama last weekend. In total, nearly 70 percent of the 55 Classic competitor field used Lowrance fishfinder/chartplotters to outperform the competition and dominate the 44th annual world championship of bass fishing. In one of the most amazing competitions in Classic history, Howell, of Springville, Alabama leapt from 11th place and a full 9 pounds behind leader and fellow Lowrance Pro Edwin Evers on day two, to…

Jeppesen today has announced a special promotion that makes purchasing C-MAP by Jeppesen MAX-N cartography an even better decision for owners of compatible Simrad, Lowrance and B&G navigation systems. Throughout 2014, boaters worldwide who purchase MAX-N Wide or MAX-N Local charts will receive a registration voucher valued at $99 packaged with the chart, good for a one-year subscription to Insight Genesis™, Navico’s personal map-generation tool for Lowrance, Simrad NS and B&G Zeus series chartplotters. users who purchase MAX-N cartography benefit from Jeppesen’s global reputation for trusted data from official sources and ongoing commitment to deliver updates, enhancements and value added…

May the great debate begin. Right or wrong, a snowmobiler shoots a moose after a charge on video. Not for the meek. Photo Credit: LiveLeak video capture

Incredible footage of some gutsy spearfishermen, taking out big wahoo that are schooled up with a bunch of sharks. Awesome fish! They free dive down and spear the wahoo and then the float takes off through the sharks. Jacks ‘n hoos, sharks ‘n bulls from sucinimad on Vimeo. Photo Credit: Vimeo video capture

The Pacific Coast Sportfishing Festival will be taking place and the O.C. Fairgrounds on April 5th and 6th. The swordfishing experts of “Team Booby Trap” will be there giving an in-depth, two part seminar on swordfishing and how to apply it to southern California waters. Also check out all the latest tackle and boats as vendors show off their fishing and boating products. The Booby Trap fishing team hails from Texas, where Capt. Brett Holden and his team have been setting and breaking records for size and numbers of swordfish for years. In 2012, the Booby Trap team caught 172…

Keller Laros was doing a night dive in a swarm of manta rays, which is awesome in itself, when a dolphin swam up and “asked for help” with a hook and trailing monofilament. Keller spent the next few minutes working to cut the line free and remove the hook. The dolphin continued to maneuver to facilitate the removal. This is cool to watch. Photo Credit: YouTube video capture Dolphin Seeks Out Diver To Remove Hook

Normally fishing for saltwater bass in the Open Bay Bass Tournament in San Diego, CA, Dean Jamieson of Chula Vista was fishing the Lower Otay Reservoir this week when he captured the 15.5-pound largemouth bass. Large bass have become more common in the lake and is believed to be partly attributed to the regular stocking of bite size rainbow trout that have been pumped in by the CDFW. Anglers are now matching their lure presentations to “match the hatch” of fingerling trout that are stocked in the lake on a regular schedule. Congrats to Dean on his bass of a…