Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2025 i Marlin

Since joining Marlin last July, I’ve probably reviewed and published more tournament recaps than anyone else in the world. From the sailfish tournaments of South Florida to the black marlin tournaments off the Great Barrier Reef, I’ve seen the numbers. Trust me, this is not a brag. But it is an important reference—because in doing these countless recaps, I’ve been left questioning something that I had long considered as gospel. “Son, you should have seen what this place was like when I was your age,” said the old salt at the end of the bar. We’ve all heard it, and it has always made sense. There are more anglers today than ever, and the scientific data almost unanimously shows declining billfish stocks worldwide. Of course it was better back then.…

GLOBE-TROTTING EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON AN AGE-OLD DEBATE CAPT. NEWT CAGLE  CRACKER MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA When first asked this question, I needed some clarification. Are we talking about which species is more challenging to catch once hooked or which is more challenging to target? If just comparing the fight, I’d say a black marlin is an easier fish to catch. They seem to be more acrobatic and respond better to certain boat-driving techniques than blue marlin. As far as a fish to target, though, black marlin tend to be a more difficult species. They live near structure and sometimes not necessarily in clean water. Black marlin also don’t seem to respond to the bait-and-switch methods as well as blues are known to. BILL BOYCE FISH BIOLOGIST, TV HOST SANTA…

ON FEBRUARY 14, shortly after 7 in the morning, Sirai Sea, a Viking 38 with Capt. Alex Haller at the helm, slipped her mooring at Watamu, Kenya. Cautiously she made her way through the narrow gap in the reef. Upon reaching open water, Haller opened the throttle and headed almost due east into the rising sun. In the cockpit, the crew, Sammy and Ricky Yongo, Fondo Kitsao and Garama Bongo, prepared the rods for fishing. Meanwhile, the day’s clients, Martin Clark, Chris Chapman and Dave Holland, quietly watched the crew. The three men had traveled to East Africa to experience the amazing bluewater fishing for which this region is rightly famous. By Kenyan standards, the fishing during the previous couple of days had been slow. Having considered his options, Haller decided…

As the calendar flips to a new year, the spotlight on light-tackle, finesse competition focuses sharply on one of the most target-rich environments in the sport: the Los Sueños Resort and Marina and Herradura Bay on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast. Highly honed teams converge every January to compete in the three events that make up the Signature Triple Crown. The final leg concluded at the end of March, with Billfisher, a 64-foot Duffie, emerging as the 2025 champion after winning the January and March segments. The Maryland family team released 35 sailfish and four blue marlin to win the final leg, bringing their series total to 23,400 points from 204 sailfish and six marlin releases. Capt. Noel McVicker is Billfisher’s skipper. “The series is very competitive, for sure,” McVicker…

Some innovations come and go, but occasionally, something truly game-changing hits the market. That’s exactly what we have with the DTX series from Lindgren-Pitman (LP). The new DTX series is an advanced electric-reel system that currently marries exclusively with Garmin units, making it a first-of-its-kind solution in the sport-fishing industry. These reels are fully integrated into the vessel’s NMEA network, allowing complete control through the Garmin multifunction displays. Instead of operating the reels manually or through a separate control system, everything is now accessible directly from the screen or even remotely through an iPad with Garmin’s ActiveCaptain app. When powered on, the system displays an LP icon on the Garmin screen, enabling easy operation of the reels with preset options. This seamless integration eliminates the need for additional external controllers,…

I first saw the new Regulator 35 at the 2025 Miami Boat Show. Sitting high and dry on the convention floor, its flawless fit and finish were immediately apparent. But a boat like this isn’t meant to sit at a show—it’s built for blue water. My chance came in early March off Pompano Beach, Florida. Conditions were perfect—a clear sky, a gentle breeze and just enough chop to evaluate performance. The Hillsboro Inlet, congested with early-weekend boat traffic, provided the ideal setting to assess the Regulator 35’s renowned dryness and stability. As we idled out, I took in the layout. This is a fishing boat at heart, with a massive pressurized center-transom livewell, multiple fish boxes and well-thought-out bait stations. Regulator built this boat with hardcore anglers in mind but…

Few big-game captains have built a legacy as respected as Capt. John Batterton. A native New Zealander, his career has taken him from his home waters and landed him in the heart of angling lore. With his insatiable drive and an instinctive feel for the ocean, Batterton has led with calm confidence and fierce loyalty to his pursuit, earning him unrivaled achievements on the water. In 2024, he received the IGFA Tommy Gifford Award, a fitting recognition for a career defined by quiet mastery. I recently sat down with him in New Zealand to hear his remarkable story firsthand. How did you first get into fishing? When I was growing up my parents used to fish with a guy named Harvey Franks. I was 6 years old when I went…

When it comes to tackling big-game fish, your reel is your most important tool. Keeping your reels in peak working condition requires constant care, maintenance and, in some cases, reel tweaks. Proper care and modifications can not only extend the life span of your reels but also elevate their performance. CONSISTENT MAINTENANCE A fishing reel is a mechanism, and we all know that anything mechanical requires maintenance to continue functioning in top working order. The simplest and most important part of reel maintenance is regular cleaning. Salt water is harsh on fishing gear, causing corrosion and degradation over time. After every trip, you must thoroughly clean your reels. First, rinse your reels with fresh water, using a gentle spray to remove salt and any dirt that could have built up.…

TOURNAMENT QUICK BITES SAILFISH CHALLENGE Pompano Beach, Florida, February 19-23 TOP TEAMS FIRST PLACE TEAM: Native Son, Capt. Art Sapp, 39' SeaVee, 65 releases  SECOND PLACE TEAM: Living Water/Makin’ Time, Capt. Alex Burgess, 45' SeaVee, 53 releases  THIRD PLACE TEAM: Sandman, Capt. John Dudas, 63' Spencer, 52 releases WEIGHED FISH HEAVIEST GAME FISH COBIA: 31.2 pounds, Off Course  DOLPHINFISH: 20.7 pounds, Chips Ahoy Too  KING MACKEREL: 54.7 pounds, Reel Em in III  TUNA: 26.7 pounds, Carolina Reel Men TOURNAMENT INFORMATION TOTAL PARTICIPATION: 61 teams CATCH INFORMATION: 1,467 sailfish released  TOTAL PAYOUT: $550,400 THE PESCADORA BILLFISH CHAMPIONSHIP Marina Pez Vela, Costa Rica, February 20-22 TOP TEAMS FIRST-PLACE TEAM: Pura Vida, Capt. Rudy Arguedas, 62' Paul Mann, 6,450 points  SECOND-PLACE TEAM: Kelly Dawn, Capt. Will Ochse, 45' Rybovich, 6,300 points THIRD-PLACE TEAM: Sea Duction, 6,220 points  TOP ANGLERS…

Triple Tail represents the pinnacle of Winter Custom Yachts’ craftsmanship, combining luxury, functionality and versatility into a 66-foot convertible tailored for family adventures. Designed with a focus on fishing, long stays at sea and watersports, Triple Tail brings together all the right features to meet the owners’ needs in a spacious and quick platform. COCKPIT, MEZZANINE AND FLYBRIDGE The cockpit, which features a transom fish box and a Release Trillion fighting chair with a rocket-launcher back, is an ideal spot for serious anglers and family members. Forward of the transom is a cavernous lazarette with storage drawers and compartments to house equipment, cleaning supplies and watersports gear. In addition to storage available throughout the mezzanine seating, the starboard seat hides a grill in a pull drawer underneath. The flybridge is…

Summertime in New England brings unparalleled opportunities for big-game anglers to target large pelagics in the Northeast Canyons. At the continental shelf, where the bottom depth sharply drops from around 600 to 3,000 feet, these submarine canyons constitute deep valleys in the seafloor that attract a variety of marine predators. The fishing season, typically starting in June and ending in October, is dependent on dayslong weather windows in which boats can run the approximately 100 miles offshore to reach these promising undersea features, fish for 24 to 48 hours, and then turn around and return home. Fishing trips to the canyons can be dreamlike, yielding sixor seven-headers from a “wolf pack” of 100-plus-pound bigeye tuna, dozens of white marlin, and trophy blue marlin and swordfish—all while under the observation of…

Aloha from Honokohau Harbor in Kona, Hawaii, home of the prestigious Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series. Capt. Jody Bright founded this series in 1987 after making a name for himself fishing professionally just about everywhere between Venezuela and Australia before settling down in Kona. For nearly 40 years, he nurtured it as the state’s preeminent big-game fishing competition. Marlin magazine and its parent company, Bonnier LLC, acquired the HMTS from Bright on March 25 to strengthen The Marlin Group’s position as the world’s premier operator of international big-game fishing tournaments. Just two days later, I found myself at the Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club, shaking hands and meeting participants as they registered for the Lazy Marlin Hunt, the first of eight tournaments in the season-long series. I was a malihini, a…

There have been several products that have taken the sport-fishing industry by storm over the past few years, producing a seemingly mad rush to get them. The rapid acceptance of omni sonar for marking and tracking fish 360 degrees around the boat, and the upgrade to Starlink for satellite communication, are just a couple of items that have kept boatyards and electronics installers very busy. However, despite being a relatively “old” technology compared with those mentioned in the paragraph above, gyrostabilization has become almost a standard feature on most new sportfishers and center-consoles, and has also seen tremendous growth with retrofit capabilities on most boats 26 feet and up. Those with a proclivity for a bit of mal de mer have had a great impact on the widespread acceptance of…

New Zealand builders are renowned for pushing boundaries, and the NorthCape Custom 43 from Bluefix Boatworks proves just how far they’ve come. Rowe’De’O is hull No. 4 for Bluefix, whose global footprint is growing, with new NorthCape models bound for Cairns, Australia; Kona, Hawaii; and Cape Verde. With sport-fishing DNA and yacht-level finish, the NorthCape 43 redefines what a Kiwi-built custom boat can be. COCKPIT, TOWER AND DECK FEATURES Built for serious anglers, the cockpit boasts a custom fighting and rigging station with a removable Murray Bros. 130-pound chair. Rupp outriggers, auto-retrieve teasers and a Black Marlin Tower fitted with Garmin electronics, 16-inch on the flybridge and 12-inch in the tower, ensure versatility. A central live-bait tank with tuna tubes and a glass viewing window keeps baits fresh. Teak lines…