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By Capt. Quinlyn Haddon

Tuna Town TO

had only been fishing a few years when I wound up taking a job in Venice, Louisiana. I had gotten the lead on a first mate position through a mutual friend of a captain who I had never met before. When I called the captain, I asked when he needed me. He told me, “yesterday.” So I went to the tackle shop, bought my first pair of slickers, and hit the road. The only thing I knew about Venice was that there was no cell phone service and no women. As I drove down the road south of New Orleans, I began to notice ships on both sides of the road simultaneously. I realized I had better call someone to let them know I was heading to a deadzone in the middle of nowhere, filled with lonely, salty men. I arrived at night and located my captain’s houseboat, where I would be staying. I made the jump across to the boat and opened the door without knocking—as I was instructed to do. A dozen men, drinking beer, went silent as they stared at me. I looked around the room at the welcoming party, and the walls that were lined with shelves of alcohol bottles and a deer head decorated with Mardi Gras beads and bras. They offered me a beer and I declined. After the 14-hour drive, I most definitely wanted a beer, however, this did not seem like the time and place to let my guard down. The captain showed me the boat docked out back, my bunk where I would be staying, and told me what time to set my alarm for the charter the following morning. I had no idea what to expect or what I had gotten myself into, but I quickly fell in love with the fishery and a week-long trip turned into a year and a half. The fishermen there were nothing but respectful and treated me like one of the guys. I had only been fishing for two years at the time and had a lot to learn. I spent evenings teaching myself how to tie snell knots and throw a cast net. When the locals would go out fun fishing and bring back coolers with hundreds of trout, they were more than happy to teach me how to fillet fish. The fishermen didn’t cut me any slack for being a woman, which I was grateful for. I worked just as hard as they did, earned respect, and learned everything I needed to become a competent fisherman. I was openly doubted every step of the way, until I was able to learn and prove myself, which I did. But I was told that if I made it to the fall, there was no way that a woman could handle shrimp-boat season. Shrimp-boat season involves pulling behind shrimp boats and then boarding them by jumping from the bow of your boat onto the tires that hang from the stern of the shrimp boat. Then you promptly scurry up before your bow has a chance to crush your feet. You then shovel bycatch into a bag or basket, get it back to your boat, and hopefully get yourself back on the boat before your crew hooks up to a big tuna and abandons you there for the fight. The goal is to not die, break your ankles or get murdered by the shrimp-boat crew in the process. I did make it to the fall, and I did survive shrimp-boat season, and it was some of my favorite fishing I’ve done, to this day. It wasn’t until I left that the ball-busting ceased and I received positive feedback, when a captain called to tell me I did a really great job and that I’d earned a place and should come back for the following season. I am so grateful Tuna Town was a stop on my journey to where I am now. I am indebted to the fishermen there who helped teach me things the right way, without mercy. Capt. Quinlyn Haddon, with Sweet e’nuf charters out of Marathon, Florida Keys, can be reached at (504) 920-6342. See CaptainQuinlyn.com and @captainquinlyn.

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When the bass are feeding up on baitfish in the winter, the natural bait ball presentation with multiple baits swimming together drives these bass absolutely crazy. It can make for a very fun day on the water. Setting up your “rig” is not complicated. Depending on how deep you are looking to fish, use 1/8-ounce jig heads for shallow water (10 feet or less) and ¼-ounce jig heads for anything deeper than 10 feet. Pick TYLER WOOLCOTT out some small 3- to 4-inch natural shad colored boot-tail swimbaits to attach to your jig heads and that’s all there is to it. inter can be a tricky time of year to go fishing, The winter months is typically the time when bass to feed up before but I want to tell you about a bait that might help you put some more fish in the boat. In fact, this lure is so good that they spawn. Whether you see it going on or not, they are eating a lot of bait somewhere on your some tournaments don’t allow body of water. You can throw anglers to use them anymore. this rig basically anywhere, I’m talking about the Alabama and if there are fish around, rig, which some people call they will bite it! I throw it the umbrella rig. around grass, rocks, docks, This device made its debut open water, points and on the bass fishing scene in ditches. 2011 and absolutely dominated the tournament fishing scene Gear for a few years before it was When throwing an A-rig, eventually outlawed by most it can get pretty heavy once professional fishing series for you add all the jig heads and basically being an unfair way swimbaits onto it. You’ll want to catch fish. The rig consists to use a big heavy rod with of a baitfish-style head where some strong line. A 13 Fishing you tie your line with multiple Muse Black 7’6” rod paired metal-wire arms that extend with a Concept A 6:8:1 reel is out where you attach jig heads a good fit. Spool this up with with a swimbaits. Most come 20-pound Seaguar Abraz-X standard with five metal arms line and you are good to go! and five jig heads. Good luck out there! Even though the Alabama rig is outlawed by most pro fishing leagues, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it when you are out fun Tyler Woolcott is a professional tournament angler and guide. fishing or even fishing smaller tournaments. It is a fish-catching machine! Check out his website at www.tylerwoolcottfishing.com.

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JANUARY 2024

NATIONAL 7

A GREAT LAKES FORMULA FOR

By Nick Carter

JUST ONE FISH

obi Pellerito’s goal in a day is just one fish, and with the surge in Great Lakes smallmouth fisheries, there’s a good chance he’ll find what he’s looking for: one giant smallie. “Big smallmouth is my jam,” he said. “It’s not like tournament fishing, where you’re looking for a limit. I’m out there looking for one big fish.” Pellerito theorized that three invasive species are responsible for Great Lakes smallmouth achieving grotesque proportions with weights in the 7- to 8-pound range. European round gobies and rusty crayfish from the Ohio River Basin have become important prey species since their invasion. European Zebra mussels are forage for another smallmouth favorite: perch, and these filter-feeders also create clear water, which is great for visual hunters like bass.

8 NATIONAL

JANUARY 2024

Pellerito bemoaned the destruction these invasives wreak but figures we might as well take advantage. THE FORMULA: The size of the Great Lakes system is incredible. From a home base in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, Pellerito has explored parts of it from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, downstream through lakes Michigan, St. Clair, Huron, Erie and over to the St. Lawrence River. Over this vast expanse, state fisheries reports tell him where the largest smallmouth are. “Once you’ve picked a fishery, there’s no substitute for time on the water,” he said. “Find the most desirable structure in the lake or in the part of the lake you’re fishing.” Smallmouth can be patterned seasonally. From there, Pellerito fishes long days to eliminate water. He looks for big points and transitions in bottom composition. He seeks out subtle structure like boulders or logs on barren flats. Bait presence is important, whether its gobies or crayfish in the rocks, perch in the grass or balls of suspended baitfish. THE FISHING: When he finds an area he likes, Pellerito covers water quickly with a crankbait. He likes a Megabass Deep-X 300, which dives 12 to 15 feet. “Covering water until you find where the fish are is important, then you slow down,” he said. “The biggest fish tend to be a step off from where the rest of them are.” Big smallmouth hold in “wolf packs” of two or three fish, and this can sometimes lead to days of more than “just one fish.” Recently, Pellerito boated an incredible 35-pound, 9-ounce five fish limit. Find one big fish, and it pays to pick that area apart. For this, Pellerito switches to classic drop shots or tubes. A standard tube crawls through the rocks like a goby or a crayfish. With the drop shot, Pellerito fishes a Megabass 3-inch Hazedong, which looks like a goby. It takes light line to draw strikes in clear water. Pellerito uses 15-foot leaders of 5- to 7-pound fluorocarbon with a main line of 8- to 10-pound braid. He’s experienced tremendous success with these tactics. This season, he boated 39 fish heavier than 6 pounds, 19 heavier than 7 pounds and two heavier than 8 pounds. To see more of Cobi Pellerito’s giant fish, see his Instagram @cobi.pellerito.

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KIDS CATCH FISH, FUN & PRIZES

at Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s Annual Kid’s Fishing Tournament

t. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. RESULTS Tristan Brin proudly brought his palm-sized white grunt By Weight 1st Christina Xu, 1145-gram Honeycomb Trunk Fish to the scales to have it officially 2nd Ahmori Colston, 740 grams, Mutton Snapper weighed. “I knew it was a big one,” 3rd Place Lynnea Steuerwald, 725 grams, Mangrove Snapper says 7-year-old Brin. “Just in case, I put my foot firm on the dock, so Most Fish Caught by Weight it didn’t pull me in!” Minutes later, 1st Lynnea Steuerwald, 1705 grams 9-year-old Keiron Harris brought Last Fish Caught Most Fish Caught Total his catch, also a white grunt, to Zendi Sewer 1st Christian Brin - 11 the scales, which were manned by 2nd Earl Questel – 9 First Boy to Catch a Fish professionals from the Department of Planning & Natural Resources (DPNR) 3rd Stevie Annaclerio – 8 Carl Benjamin Fish & Wildlife Division. When asked how he felt when he caught the fish, Harris Smallest Catch First Girl to Catch a Fish said, “It made me feel happy”. Brin and Harris were among the 148 anglers aged 1st Omar Williams, Lucy Price 15 years and younger who competed in this annually anticipated event. 8.7 grams, blue crab Junior anglers, along with parents and friends, were armed with Virgin Youngest Participant Most Unique Fish Islands Game Fishing Club-provided handlines, bait, and buckets as they spread Connor Browne 1st Christina Xu, out along the marina docks and tried their luck. It didn’t take long for the fishHoneycomb Trunk Fish catching action to happen. “We love it,” says Cinnamon DeMarco, who attended with her husband, with Members of the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club walked the docks and three of their children fishing the event - Omar, Eileen, and Lois Williams. “It’s a helped junior anglers and adults alike with everything from fishing techniques fun family event, it’s not overly competitive, and we get to see several other families to untangling lines. we know. The kids get everything they need to fish, plus T-shirts and backpacks.” Grunt, snapper, barracuda, a trunkfish, and a couple of crabs numbered among the day’s catch. Junior anglers practiced conservation by keeping their fish in a bucket of seawater until weighed and then released their catch back into the sea. The overwhelming success of the tournament played out over the young faces as they ate pizza and drank cold drinks following the 11 a.m. call for lines out. Prizegiving followed shortly after. Among the winners was 9-year-old Lynnea Steuerwald who captured two awards: Most Fish Caught by Weight, and Third Place Winner by Weight. “I fished last year and won a prize for the strangest fish – a mud crab,” says Steuerwald. Mangrove and yellowtail snapper were among her catch. “What I enjoy most was catching and then releasing the fish.” Four-year-old Ahmori Colston enjoyed beginner’s luck in his first year fishing. He earned Second Place for his 1-pound-plus mutton snapper. When asked how he enjoyed the fishing, catching and prizes, Coleston smiled broadly and gave a thumbs-up sign. “There were smiling faces up and down the docks. That’s what this tournament has always been about, passing these skills and a love of fishing to the next generation,” says Kelvin Bailey, Jr., president of the VIGFC Board of Directors. Dr. Sennai Habtes, bureau chief of fisheries for DPNR’s Division of Fish and Wildlife echoed and expanded on those words as the prizegiving wrapped up. “We’d like to congratulate the parents, friends, and supporters who brought their kids and are helping to keep recreational sportfishing alive in the VI. I know I enjoyed fishing on the docks here as a kid. It’s important for kids to enjoy our natural resources and to learn how to engage in fishing responsibly, sustainably, and enjoyably.” The Kid’s Fishing Tournament and prizes were sponsored by American Yacht Harbor, Capt. Red Bailey/The Abigail, Dr. Billy Biscoe, G-Clef Music, Island Time Pub, Lattes in Paradise, Mixed Bag Sportfishing/Capt. Rob Richards, Neptune Fishing Supply, Ocean Surfari, Seas the Day, Shen Dragon, St. Thomas Swimming Association, VI Children Museum, Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club. COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM

JANUARY 2024

VIRGIN ISLANDS / PUERTO RICO 5

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Top Boat in Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s Annual Wahoo Windup Tournament a while, so I picked the brains of a couple of charter captains I know and got an idea of where the fish were biting,” Basnight adds. Buckstein’s catch was 48.5 pounds shy of the $25,000 prize offered for the tournament angler who caught the largest wahoo over 75 pounds. Meanwhile, St. Thomas’ Keith Terry, Jr, angling off Double Header, caught the Second and the Third Largest Wahoo, at 25.1-pounds and 21.5-pounds, respectively. The Best Boat prize, determined by most wahoo by count, went to The Dude Abides, who collectively caught 7 wahoo weighing a total of 88.1 pounds. Teams from St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix participated in the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s Annual Wahoo Windup Tournament. Trophies, cash prizes totaling over $7,000, and gift certificates were awarded to the winners. “It was fantastic to see this level of participation, and the camaraderie back on shore. This wraps up our tournaments for 2023, and we look forward to hosting our Dolphin Derby, Kid’s Fishing Tournament, and Wahoo Windup again next year,” says Front Row, Jared Buckstein, Top Angler; Back Row L to R: Capt. Walt Basnight, Tyler Battan, Kelvin Bailey, Jr., president of the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Zac Wooden, Sharp Kemp, and Flip Kemp. Credit: Dean Barnes Club’s Board of Directors. The Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club appreciates the support of t was Wahoo time on Sunday when sport fishers aboard 14 boats Cape Fear Distilleries, IGY’s American Yacht Harbor, Neptune Fishing Supplies, weighed 21 wahoo weighing 290.2 pounds in the Virgin Islands Game Ocean Surfari, Seas the Day Charters, and its much-appreciated volunteers. For more information about the Club and its events, call (340) 775Fishing Club’s Annual Wahoo Windup Tournament. In the end, St. Thomas’ Jared Buckstein caught the Largest Wahoo, a 26.5-pounder, from 9144, Email: usvigfc@gmail.com, or Visit: www.vigfc.com. aboard the 32-foot Regulator, The Dude Abides, with Captain Walt Basnight at the helm. “We caught our biggest one within 15 minutes of lines in and it gave us momentum,” says Basnight. “We won this tournament in 2019 on another boat and our gameplan this year was the same. That is, we high-speed trolled up to about 11 a.m. and caught four wahoo, including the big one. Then we switched to bait fishing and caught the other three. We had all seven of our wahoo in the boat by Noon.” Interestingly, The Dude Abides was the last boat to enter the tournament at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday. “We hadn’t fished for

About the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club Founded in 1963 by a small group of dedicated sportfishing enthusiasts, the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club promotes the healthy enjoyment and pursuit of saltwater game fishing and has long been proactive in marine conservation. In its almost six-decade history, members have set nearly 30 International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) world records. The Club, based in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands with its beautiful Clubhouse in Red Hook, hosts several sportfishing tournaments and social events annually. www.vigfc.com 8 VIRGIN ISLANDS / PUERTO RICO

JANUARY 2024

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FEBRUARY 14-18 • MIAMIBOATSHOW.COM

ENTICE BIG TROUT WITH

ERRATIC ACTION PHOTO COURTESY OF KNOCKIN TAIL LURES®.

By Capt. Michael Okruhlik

common principle anglers abide by during winter months is to slow down their retrieve or presentation. Although this is a good default option, it may fail to entice strikes of those big, cold, winter trout. Let’s discuss. Some of my favorite lures for targeting trophy trout in the winter are those that suspend, slow sink, and have an erratic movement. When I

define a slow presentation, I am referencing the speed at which the lure moves toward the angler, the retrieve speed, not the motion. As a young angler, I was always told to slow down when it’s cold and then slow it down a little more. Although this has its place, it should not be set in stone, or ice if it’s really cold. OK, enough of the bad jokes. When trout are cold and may not be feeding

as aggressively as we would like, an extremely erratic motion can entice the strike. This erratic motion makes the lure dance in place with little to no forward movement. I use a rod with a whippy action for this. This allows me to point my rod tip at the lure and shake it up and down aggressively causing the lure to almost dance in place. I then let it pause, suspending or slow-sinking as I reel up the slack. I then repeat this practice, modifying according to the conditions. Fishing braided line is imperative for this method. The stretch in mono will not allow your slow-sinking lure to dance in place at the end of a long cast, but the zero stretch of braid makes it move like it is on a wire. I learned this the hard way 20 years ago. I was fishing with four friends, and I was the only one using mono and the only one not catching. I mimicked every move my buddy made to no avail. I then ask him to cast his lure and retrieve it near me. I watched it dance past with great action. I then cast my lure near him. Although I moved my rod more vigorously, he said my lure was moving in a straight line as if I was just reeling it in. I switched to braid on the next trip and never went back, and of course this dancing method started to produce fish! If you pay attention to the strike, this method will let you know if you should modify your retrieve. If they bite on the pause, you may want to slow it down a bit. If they bite on the shake, you may want to speed it up. I hope this helps you land more big trout this season. Good Luck! Capt. Michael Okruhlik is the inventor of Knockin Tail Lures®, and the owner of www.MyCoastOutdoors.com

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By Capt. Jamie Thrappas

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t was a chilly winter morning, and my crew—a good friend Zach and his two sons—all knew it was going to be either a tough day or a great one. It was a typical morning for winter here in the Daytona, Fla. area, with overcast skies, highs in the low 60s and a dominant wind and swell headed from the northeast. The inshore bite is typically pretty good this time of year, with a variety of different species usually willing to cooperate. Red drum are a favorite backcountry target during the colder months. When they move up on the flats to feed, it can lead to good action on spoons and paddletails. On the end of the outgoing tide, we hoped to bag a few redfish before the switch, but the bite never happened. We kept busy with some small permit, pompano, mangrove snapper and even a flounder. By the time the tide switched mid-morning, the bite had slowed down with just a few small sheepshead taking our bait. Sheepshead are delicious, and around here the causeways of the Intracoastal along with barnacle- or oyster-encrusted docks, bridges and jetties are a pretty good bet for picking up a few for the cooler. They love sand fleas and fiddler crabs but will also eat shrimp on a jig head or Carolina rig. Something I like to do while targeting other species is to leave baits out for red or black drum. I had two dead stick bottom rods out the back soaking halved blue crabs in the hopes that a drum would be hungry enough to pick it up. With the action pretty slow, and while we still had some time left in the trip, I decided we should make a move. I told Zach’s younger son Gavin, who is an employee of mine at Yellow Dawg Bait & Tackle in Ormond Beach, to reel in the back rods that had been soaking. At first it looked like he had a snag as the rod bent when he picked it up, but then the drag took off. Big black drum are tanks! It’s almost like they have shoulders and they’ve been working out all week waiting for you. The big ugly that highlighted that trip was somewhere in the 50-plus-pound range, a trophy for sure! Gavin, who is the younger guy in the photo, will be in U.S. Coast Guard boot camp when this edition hits the racks. His dad, Zach, is a veteran, along with his other two sons Logan and Cameron. A big thanks to all the men and women out there who serve our country! Capt. Jamie Thrappas is Co-Publisher of Coastal Angler - Volusia County and owner of Yellow Dawg Fishing. Check out yellowdawgfishing.com. To win a free half-day inshore or offshore charter with Capt. Thrappas, enter the Fish with Coastal Angler drawing at coastalanglermag.com/contest.

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Delayed Harvest Trout By Nick Carter

AT FIRES CREEK, N.C.

delayed harvest trout stream is a better place than most to spend a winter afternoon, and if you can find a two- or three-day warming trend, there’s a good chance you’ll get into some pretty good fishing. North Carolina’s Fires Creek has a 2-mile stretch of delayed harvest water on U.S. Forest Service land off U.S. 64 between Murphy and Hayesville. Rainbow, brown and brook trout are stocked in the creek and protected under catch-and-release, single-hook, artificial only regulations during the October into June delayed

harvest season. It’s a small-stream setting with more and bigger trout than one would find in most creeks this size. The creek is gorgeous, with clear plunge pools and deep bend runs sliding into skinny pocket water that twists for miles through the bottom of a rhododendron-choked valley. Even the rounded river rocks are notable for their beauty, with striking dark gray and tan bands that’ll make you want to stash a few flat stones in your vest to take home. The fishing is about like any other delayed

harvest in terms of fish size and the density of stockings, but it is a small stream, so you’ll be tempted to—and you should—explore your way upstream instead of settling in on the big holes. Small streams are just more fun when you fish them that way. Around each bend lies a new challenge, another series of pools and runs. Tightlining nymphs is probably the most effective way to fool fish this time of year. They might fall for the standard “junk flies,” but a few months into the DH season, the fish might also be looking for something more natural. In winter, the aquatic insects will be small. Little black stoneflies, midges and blue-winged olives might hatch off on a warm afternoon and lead to some dry fly action, but unless you see bugs in the air, you’re better off fishing subsurface imitations of these insects. A double-nymph rig with a big attractor nymph below a smaller more natural looking nymph is always a good option. The foot bridge at the Fires Creek Picnic Area is the lower boundary of the DH water. Access above the foot bridge is easy on a streamside trail and also along Fires Creek Wildlife Road. This gravel track parallels the creek way up into its headwaters. The delayed harvest ends at the Forest Service 340A bridge. Upstream of this point, the trout population trends toward stream-born rainbows that top out at 10 or 11 inches. For GPS coordinates to access points and detailed maps of North Carolina and Georgia’s best trout water, check out “Flyfishers Guide to North Carolina & Georgia.” It is available at fly shops, on Amazon, and signed copies are available from the author by e-mailing nsc8957@gmail.com.

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A FEW THOUGHTS ON

SHEEPSHEAD By CAM Staff

heepshead have become a wintertime staple when water temps drop and the regular cast of inshore characters become more difficult to target. If you’re a cold-weather inshore angler, you’re probably already familiar with sheepshead, so here are a few tips you might not have heard yet. Finding Fish: Convict fish travel and feed in packs. Once you locate them, the action can be fast, but you have to find them first. Obviously, they like structure like bridges, docks and jetties, where they can happily gnaw on barnacles. When considering structure, older, rambling docks with lots of pilings provide more surface area for established colonies of crustaceans. These can be honeyholes, but keep moving if you’re not catching fish. You might run a dozen different structures in a day and catch 90 percent of your fish on one. In the clear water of winter, sheepshead can often be sight fished, and they don’t really spook, so look for them before casting. If the water is too dingy to see them, you can sometimes hear them crunching shells if you listen quietly. Chum ’Em Up: This might sound silly, but sheepshead get excited about free food just like any other species of fish. Keep a shovel on the boat and scrape barnacles off the structure you’re fishing. This rings the dinner bell, and it’ll also help you spot them as they dart around to pick off the falling morsels. Looking for scraped pilings is also a good way to identify where other anglers have chummed sheepies before. Play the Tides: Pretty much every fish feeds best on a moving tide, but a ripping flow can be detrimental when fishing for such a structure oriented fish. Fast moving water tends to pin sheepshead right up against structure. This, and the tide itself, can make presenting baits more difficult. Find a moderate tide, and

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