Author: Capt. Scott Goodwin

Conventional Fishing Reels If you’re like me, you probably end up respooling most of your conventional fishing reels at home by yourself. You really want to put some pressure on the fishing line when you are spooling up so the line goes on the reel tight, and that can be tough without an extra hand. To help spool my reels when I’m alone, I installed a fixed rod holder in my workroom to hold the rod and reel and that I’m spooling up. I place a wooden dowel in a vise to hold the spool of line. To apply tension…

Ballyhoo Rigging Eyeball Remover Removing a ballyhoo’s eyeballs is an essential step in many styles of offshore bait rigging and a finer point in others. You can use a number of different objects to help you quickly remove the ballyhoo’s eyes, but this simple tool is easy to make and will help you save some time when rigging baits. To get started, beg, borrow or buy an aluminum arrow from a buddy or the store. Take a hack saw to it and cut both ends. I like to cut mine down to about 16 inches long, give or take a…

Waxing your boat is just one of the many facets of maintaining and caring for your boat. Keeping all of the varying finishes waxed plays a much more important role than just keeping the boat’s fit and finish looking good. Placing a good coat of wax on your gelcoat or other surfaces protects the material from the harsh marine environment and the beating the boat takes from the sun’s UV rays. Waxed surfaces will maintain their color and won’t fade. Keeping the boat waxed also makes cleaning the blood and guts off easier. Waxing the boat causes water to bead…

Hook Keeper Fishing Tips Not all rods come with a hook eyelet down near the reel seat for you to secure your hook or lure when it’s not in the water. That leaves you with very few options. You can place the hook in one of the guides and reel in the slack, or hook it to the lower portion of the guide so you don’t damage the ceramic guide ring. You can also attach the hook to the reel itself, but that’s usually not a good idea. It might come out while the boat is running or snag a…

Anyone who has fished on a boat with outriggers is likely familiar with the drop-back they provide when a fish hits the bait or lure. The term drop-back refers to the slack in the line that is created the moment a fish pulls the line out of the clip in the rigger halyard until it comes tight to the fish. The line must fall from the clip in the outrigger, and this momentary slack enables the fish to get the bait further in its mouth and turn away before the line comes tight. Flat-line clips are not as common as…