Author: Charlie Levine

Calico bass, or kelp bass, range up and down the West Coast from Mexico’s Baja Peninsula all the way to the Columbia River in Oregon. While they are rare that far north, the Calico Bass species is most abundant in Southern California, thriving in the shallow waters along rocky structure and kelp beds. These slow-growing fish are aggressive feeders and a perfect cast in ideal conditions is almost always rewarded with a nice calico. But like any fishery, there are a few tricks and tips that will help you make every trip a successful outing. According to bass man Duane…

Fishing Boat Superstitions We all know that fishermen are change-adverse creatures with some major fishing boat superstitions. It seems like we all have a lucky hat, a lucky lure or a lucky spot. It makes perfect sense to me and I do it all the time. I never really read much into the little rituals fishermen take before heading out for a day on the water. But when you go out there with a non-angler, you can really see how silly it all is. A few weeks ago I was on a family vacation in Hilton Head, South Carolina. My…

For more than 20 years, photographer Scott Kerrigan has traveled the globe, capturing tack-sharp images of big-game fish. His images have graced magazine covers and national advertising campaigns, but few realize that this photographer began his career working in the cockpit on one of the best private boats fishing for blue marlin along the North Drop off of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. “I started taking pictures while working as a deckhand,” Scott says. “At first it was just out of the desire to bring home a few travel pics to show the family. With my day-to-day travels…

If you’ve ever spent any time catching tarpon on light tackle or fly, you no doubt have respect for this animal. You simply can’t find a better foe to pick a fight with on the flats. They own the back country. That’s why so many people call them the Silver King. Tarpon are the quintessential game fish. They’re crafty, strangely beautiful and their brute strength will break you down like a bully. These animals are revered and respected by anglers for many reasons, but mostly because they are always a challenge to catch, no matter how you plan on landing…

For Capt. Justin Fleck, who’s been working in the long-range fleet since the 1990s, a 400-pound yellowfin tuna was akin to something like Sasquatch. For years people heard about them and claimed to have seen them, but there was never any proof that they existed. That all changed in 2010 when a 405-pound yellowfin became the world record. Since that 405-pounder two years ago, there’s been four yellowfin caught weighing more than 400 pounds, but none of them can hold a candle to the 445-pound yellowfin caught aboard the Excel during a 16-day long-range trip in late November. “We didn’t…

Ft Lauderdale Boat Show 2012 The Fort Lauderdale International Boat show is the largest in-water boat show in the world, with more than 3 million square feet of displays. Ft Lauderdale Boat Show Hurricane Sandy The first couple of days at the show were mired by Hurricane Sandy, but the rain, wind and clouds did little to slow down traffic at the Viking display. Xcelerator center console The 36-foot Xcelerator center console built for NASCAR driver Greg Biffle was one of the most innovative new boats we saw at the show. Note the large monitor for the guys fishing in…

If you’re like me, there’s no doubt been a time in your life when you felt the need to do something to make a difference in the world, but then you talked yourself out of it. Maybe the problem seemed too big, the amount of work too daunting or you just couldn’t find the time. Well, a recent introduction to the ‘Stow It — Don’t Throw It’ project proved me wrong. Everyone is capable of enacting change. I was fishing with Capt. Johnnie Walker (baywalkercharters.com) in Sarasota, Florida, and I noticed that he had a really clever bin to collect…

It’s funny how things in life tend to go full circle. As anglers we start off simple, catching small fish from local ponds, rivers or beaches. My first fish was a little yellow perch on a small creek in Connecticut not far from the house I grew up in. I actually remember that fish. I tossed out a worm and got a big loop in the Penn spinning reel I was using (I still have the reel, it’s a Penn 722Z). I did what my father had taught me, I left the bail open and began pulling off line until…

In the sportfishing world, Guy Harvey is a true renaissance man. He can do it all. Over the last 20-plus years he has somehow found the time to grow his brand into one of the most recognizable in the industry, create countless works of art, complete important studies on a range of game fish, start several foundations, write books, film documentaries, attend fisheries meetings, fund fishing expeditions, raise his family and still find time to go fishing. How does he do it? “I work hard,” he says with a laugh. “It’s as simple as that.” One look at Guy’s track…

For all of the diehard marlin crews in California, the month of September means tournament time. The California Billfish Series consists of the top three striped marlin tournament in Southern California — the Zane Grey Invitational, Catalina Classic and the Avalon Billfish Classic. These are the biggest events on the West Coast, with the largest cash prizes available. They also attract some of the top crews around, but that doesn’t mean the weekend warriors can’t win. It just takes a dedicated crew, good tackle and a bit of know-how to finish in the money. A little luck doesn’t hurt either.…

Ever since I heard about a 72-pound white marlin landing $1.4 million in the White Marlin Open, I can’t stop thinking about chasing down whitey! Although they may be one of the smallest billfish, white marlin are certainly among the toughest to catch. First, white marlin love to show up when you’re trolling a big-fish spread. They’ll crush the left long-rigger bait, knocking it out of the rigger clip and maybe pull a few feet of line off before spitting the hook like a watermelon seed and move on to the left short and take a swipe at that bait.…

1 Every fishing trip to Cuba begins and ends with some time in Havana, a wonderful city with fine restaurants, hip-shaking music and colorful locals. 2 The locals are happy to let you take their photo for a few coins. Tipping goes a long way in Cuba as these people are paid very little by the government. 4 Want to ride in style? Many of the taxi cabs are pristine classics. We rode in a ’57 Chevy convertible and an old Dodge powered by a Russian diesel engine. There are also rickshaws, horse and carriages and local buses to get…

Traveling to Cuba is much easier than most people realize. Getting to the string of uninhabited islands knows as the Jardines de la Reina, however, is not. Spanish for “Gardens of the Queen” this chain of isles have not changed much since Christopher Columbus named them more than 500 years ago. The archipelago is made up of more than 600 cays and islands and the undisturbed flats run on for miles and miles, resembling the Florida Keys in both size and fishing action. The big difference between the two being the amount of people there. The Jardines represent one of…

If you’re like most of us, you take your smartphone with you everywhere you go — even those places that put it in harm’s way such as on the boat or at the beach. We all know that a drop in the water or a dust storm of sand could render that handy little computer useless, but the urge to update your status on Facebook is just too strong and the iPhone comes along for the ride. Today’s smartphones are much more than telephones. They take photos, allow you to check email, show GPS coordinates, play music, surf the net…

1 ICAST is the world’s largest sportfishing trade show with more than 9,000 representatives in attendance. It’s also the place where the top companies in the tackle world introduce their new rods, reels, line, lures and more. 1 The braided fishing line on the market just keeps getting better and better. The new products introduced by Tuf-Line feature high-tech materials to make the line softer and more supple while casting farther. 2 There are always plenty of cute smiling faces to help lure you into a booth at ICAST. 3 Not only does Mojo make some very nice fishing apparel,…

Ask and you shall receive. The folks at PENN listened to their customers and decided to bring back the big 14/0 Senator 117L. Growing up on the East Coast, I can vividly remember two of these big, black Senator’s bolted to the salon ceiling in my dad’s boat. They were loaded up with 130-pound black Dacron and only came out of the salon when we were going after some truly big fish. Our charters would always ask about the big reels when they came onboard. “What are those for?” they’d ask my dad. “Big fish,” he’d simply say. You knew…

The idea of spending two weeks with a bunch of fly-fishing dorks didn’t really sound all that appealing to me when I first glanced over the invite. But when I read back through the email, I realized that I had missed the most important part of the message… The invite was for a press trip to CUBA. I would happily spend two weeks with a bunch of half-rotten social pariahs to go on a trip to Cuba, so a group of fly-fishermen would be a walk in the park. I began to prepare for the trip, but it wasn’t without…

Grove Slam Dolphin Tournament Cinco de Mayo This year’s Grove Slam took place on Cinco de Mayo, so one team really got into the spirit. I think it helped them find the fish! Wash The washdown girls put down their buckets for a quick photo op. They definitely cleaned up some bloody decks. Tournaments The Grove Slam’s bikini-clad washdown crew didn’t have a hard time finding several boats to employ their services. Just about every team got their boat washed when they came back to the dock. Bacardi With Bacardi on as a major sponsor of the Grove Slam Dolphin…

Capt. John Gregory and his deckhand Jim Gigger were the only two on the boat when they hooked into a giant swordfish fishing off the North Cape area of New Zealand’s North Island. The team was fishing on Primetime, a 58-foot custom sport-fisher built for long offshore trips in the big seas that this area is known for. Gigger manned the rod while Captain John ran the boat. When the fish finally came into sight the crew new it was a big one. Primetime has been having a stellar season. Since February 20th, Primetime has tagged or landed eight swordfish…

PEI Custom Rods If you haven’t already registered for the Race to PEI Contest sponsored by www.BDoutdoors.com, you better do so now. The ante has just been raised. Not only will one lucky angler get to experience the best bluefin tuna fishery on Earth, they’ll also get to use the very best rods and reels available. Thanks to BD’s partners, including AFTCO, Salty Dawg Custom Rods, United Composites-USA, Seaguar, Costa del Mar and Okuma, we will be bringing three of the baddest custom fishing rods ever assembled on our journey to Prince Edward Island. Building a custom rod is a…

The new three-speed reel that Avet introduced at the 2012 Fred Hall Show is already causing quite a stir as anglers clamor to find out more about this innovative reel. The Avet forum on BD has been ablaze with questions as guys are dying to know when they can get one and why the company chose to put this new technology on an 80. Avet’s Scott Throop said it was mostly a timing thing. The company had been working on adding an 80 to the EX line of reels and had also been playing with incorporating a third gear. It…

2 Accurate had a full display of rods and reels, tools and clothing. The company has a few new models slated to hit the market later in the year that will definitely get a lot of attention. 4 Barrett Howarth was in need of a haircut, so he agreed to let his hair be used to raise money for www.saveCAfishing.org. Here, Doc Ski chops off a braid to help raise some dough for a very worthwhile cause. 6 Booth babes! The girls from Bass Soldiers were selling calendars… I think. 8 The Bite On girls knew the fishing talk and…

2012 Miami Boat Show Every inch of the Miami Beach Convention Center is packed to the gills with boating products and a sea of fiberglass. 4 Grady-White’s Freedom 285 (pictured) was available for testing while its sister ship, the Freedom 335 was unveiled at the show. The 335 is the largest dual-console boat on the market. The versatile design is great for family cruising as well as fishing. 6 The Miami Boat Show is the place to go to check out the newest in marine art. This stainless-steel tarpon sculpture by Nic Jooste really caught our eye. 8 The boat…

Over the years I’ve written a bunch of “Top 10” stories. Editors love them because they catch a reader’s eye. At Marlin we did a ton of these stories. We ran a Top 10 Lures of All Time article. That one was cool. I wrote a Top 10 Tournament Towns article and our PR guys loved it. They called each and every town I wrote about and got the article mentioned in local newspapers and what not. This isn’t one of those articles. I’ve been spoiled and fortunate enough to fish in some pretty amazing places, but I’m not here…