Author: Capt. Ali Hussainy

Upcoming Debut of Local Knowledge Why would the team at BD Outdoors want to get into a traditional medium like TV? For us the answer was simple, FUN! We are all adventure junkies who love to fish and share our experiences with others. Our new show, Local Knowledge will give us the opportunity to explore new corners of the world as well as get to know our own backyards a little better. The show will debut on Destination America HD on January 17th at 7am(EST). Our team has been blessed with great partners that believe in our vision and will allow…

As the summer heats up in August, the striped marlin begin to show along the Southern California coast. That means it’s time to dust off those rusty marlin lures, check everything out and re-rig as necessary. There are a few things I look for when it comes time to rig up marlin gear. First, check the leader material for chafing, yellowing, kinks, knicks or any other signs of wear. Make sure to look under the skirt, too. If you find any issues at all, throw the lures in the re-rig pile. The second thing I look at are the connections.…

2015 Cat Cay Tuna Tournament For the second year in a row the folks at Costa sunglasses have brought back the legendary Cat Cay Tuna Tournament. This year was extra special as it was the 50th anniversary of the historic event. Last years event marked the end of a 23-year hiatus for the tourney. The legendary “Tuna Alley” and Cat Cay Tuna Tournament have a rich history and are considered by many to have been birthplace of modern sportfishing. The sheer size and power of these fish demanded that anglers invent new tools and tactics to win these hard fought…

Urban Armour Gear We here at BD Outdoors live to work hard and play harder. Since we always need to be “connected”, protecting our mobile devices is always a priority on the water or in the field. Enter UAG products. They contacted us a few weeks back and asked if we would like to take their products for a spin. All of their products pass “Mil Spec” for drop testing and are built to really protect your gear. At first glance, the gear was well packaged, well made and pretty much bomb proof. We tried out the “Maverick” case for…

Bowtech Prodigy I discovered the sport of bow hunting about 6 years ago. Since then I have become eaten up with it and have had two different bows. The first was a 2009 Bowtech Destroyer and a 2013 Bowtech Experience. Both of these bows have been “new generation” bows at the time of their release. It seems to me about every 2-5 years bow manufacturers come up with some kind of appreciable tech upgrade. The Destroyer was known for a being a very solid and accurate bow while the Experience won me over with its super smooth draw cycle and…

Fight Rights CCA Coming California We all remember the railroading that anglers took in the recent MLPA process. There were many reasons why the California angling community suffered this terrible loss, but one reason stands above all others. After being very involved in the fight against the MLPA, the biggest reason “we” lost in my mind still burns very clear, apathy. ap·a·thy noun 1. lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern. “widespread apathy among students” synonyms: indifference, lack of interest, lack of enthusiasm, lack of concern,unconcern, uninterestedness, unresponsiveness, impassivity, dispassion,lethargy, languor, ennui; rareacedia “widespread apathy among the voters” The above definition…

Minox Binocular Review Marine We received a pair of Minox BN 7×50 DC Binoculars from our friends at Pelagic Outfitters to play with. Like most serious fishermen and hunters, we here at BDO know that optics are not the place to “cheap out”. From gyro binoculars on the boat to a quality scope on your deer rifle, quality optics equal full freezers in our book. As soon as you take them out of the box, you can tell this is a quality pair of binoculars. Comfortable ergonomics, a rubberized coating and an overall solid feel gave me a great initial…

Thresher sharks prowl nearshore waters as they migrate up and down the coast. Using their distinctive, long, whip-like tail, they stun small baitfish to make them an easy meal. They range in size from 30-pounds to as much as 500-pounds. Threshers make an excellent gamefish with their hard pulling fight and explosive jumps. 1. Where to look – Thresher sharks tend to run in coastal waters from 50 to 600 feet deep. 2. What to look for – Schools of smaller baitfish such as anchovy and sardine are their favorite prey. Find the bait = find the T-shark. 3. Gear…

In the summer of 2012 Costa Sunglasses began work on a documentary titled “Bluefin on the Line” that chronicled the rich history of giant bluefin tuna fishing in the Bahamas. The documentary focused on the Bahamas’ legendary Tuna Alley and the men who chased these behemoths there. Tuna alley is a 20+ mile long stretch of water spanning the length of the Bahamian islands of Cat Cay and Bimini. Just 50 miles off the coast of Miami, Tuna Alley is located just a short distance off the islands where the shallow flats meet the deep water where bluefin typically roam.…

My group of buddies is made up of hardcore fishermen, but we almost all share another “problem” and that’s duck hunting. When winter rolls around here in SoCal we all trade our board shorts and fishing boats for waders and duck blinds. Just like fishing, when we hunt we want to make sure we have the right tools for the job. As any duck hunter knows, you seem to end up with a ton of stuff crammed into a blind bag, just “in case”. This is exactly why the WF13 from Tenzing caught my eye. I’m a gear freak. I…

Mexico Fishing FMM On Tuesday, October 10th the Port of San Diego and Sport Fishing Association of California held a meeting in San Diego to view and make comments on the new FMM process the Mexican Immigration Department has designed. In attendance were marina representatives, fishing boat owners, yachting event coordinators, the Port Tenants Association and recreational fishermen. The purpose was to get feedback from these parties to present to the Mexican Government before the official roll out on October 17, 2013. On Thursday, October 3rd the Mexican Navy began kicking both big boats and little boats out of the…

There are a few universal thoughts regarding boats in our minds, they can never be too fast, too big, have too many rod holders or have too many cup holders. This is where Boat Outfitters comes in yet again. They make this handy little two-drink holder (with koozies of course) with a cool storage box in the center. The unit comes with suction cups already attached and ready to slap on your favorite smooth surface. You can also remove the screws holding the suction cups and quickly mount this permanently. Unlike those flimsy flip down cup holders you get from…

Truck Fishing Rod Holder Here at BD, we have a lot of gizmos and gadgets come across our desks. Some are cool, most are well, not so cool. Every once in a while a really unique new product shows up and the Pick Up Truck Fishing Rod Holder from Boat Outfitters is one of those. We fish, pretty much, year round and chase everything that swims in our local waters. We keep our boat in a slip, which means we are always swapping the gear on the boat from bass stuff to cod gear to offshore gear and so on.…

Daytime Swordfish Rig I’m not exactly sure when it first happened, but a few years back I became obsessed with catching xiphius gladius, aka the broadbill swordfish. I’m not really sure what the attraction was. Maybe it was the mythological status among West Coast anglers, or maybe it was presenting bait to several “tanker”-class fish only to have them ignored. Whatever it was, I’ve got “purple fever”. Daytime Swordfishing Techniques and Rigging Several years ago I began saving any magazine article, forum discussion or any other tidbit I could gather related to catching swordfish. During this time I was fortunate…

At this year’s Miami International Boat Show there was a new technology that had the outboard manufacturers and their boat building partners buzzing. Yamaha was the first to market with this new tech they have dubbed the “Helm Master” system. No doubt borrowing from the “pod drive” systems on larger yachts, the team at Yamaha has developed a similar system to allow very precise boat handling with the use of a small joystick mounted on the dash. The Helm Master system allows the captain to move, slide and spin the boat with a push or twist of the joystick controller.…

Old man winter has left us for another nine or so months, which means one thing to most fishermen in SoCal and other parts of the world. Time to get ready for spring fishing and the start of our inshore and offshore seasons. Here are five quick tips to get you ready to roll and avoid problems during the season. 1. Check your batteries – Most boats still use lead acid batteries. Before you do anything else on the boat, make sure your batteries are in good shape. Trying to start a boat with low water can permanently damage the…

I get to fish in some killer spots but lately I’ve been looking for more unique adventures. For several years my good buddy Derek Redwine (Redwine on the BD forums) has told me tales of hunting alligators around central Florida and shown me pictures. While I always found it cool, I couldn’t get myself to make a trip across the country to land a gator. Finally, after a little prodding from Derek, I agreed to come out the next time he drew a tag with one major caveat — we would have to make it a combo trip and squeeze…

Fishing California Kelp Paddies – Fish Kelp Paddys In the first part of this series, I explained how to use the tools available to you to find kelp paddies off the Southern California coast. If you have not already read that portion, make sure to go back and check it out (click HERE to read part 1). I explained how to use sea-surface water temperature charts and chlorophyll imaging to locate current breaks in fishy water. Now it’s time to discuss how to make the most of each opportunity when you come up on some free-floating kelp paddies. Finding the paddies…

A Different Type Of Baja Fishing I have been traveling up and down the Baja Peninsula since I was in my late teens. In the last 20 years I have seen a lot of change, but one thing remains constant — you’ll always find great people and great fishing in Mexico. These trips usually entail towing a small boat to places like San Quintin, Mulege or Loreto. As we got older, we did more and more fly-down and yacht trips. My favorite trips, however, have always been the ones we did ourselves — from our own boats. About seven years…

Stryker Opening Installing a new T-top is one of the easiest fixes you can make to give your boat a new look and more functionality. The BD Skiff, a 20-foot center console, needed a new T-top so we did some research and it led us right to Stryker. Stryker packaging The first thing you notice right from the start is the quality of the packaging. The aluminum components are sensitive to scratching and bending. Stryker uses heavy-grade, reinforced cardboard boxes and each piece is individually wrapped and strapped down for shipping. bottom top package Stryker tops are built to last.…

Let’s learn how to fish a kelp paddy in Southern California. Every spring the waters off the coast of Southern California come alive as game fish move in from the south. Yellowtail ride the first wave of this migration into the area in mid-March to early April, moving up the Baja coast while staying tight to the beach. These fish are not normally found offshore. The second wave of yellowtail typically shows up in late April and May. These fish will begin to slip offshore in search of prey in the now warming waters. Later in the summer and fall…

I’ve listened to stories of legendary hunts in remote locations for years with a passing interest. I’ve been fishing since I could walk and hunting birds for almost as long, but for some reason big-game hunting just didn’t offer the same draw to me. Once I tried elk meat, however, I began paying closer attention. I’ve never been a big fan of venison, but I can’t get enough elk — from steaks to burgers to chili — I love it all. After a few years of debate, I decided that in early 2011, I would go on an elk hunt…