Sport Fishing Travel Blog of photographer Scott Kerrigan

In today’s mail arrived the keys to my next adventure. A round trip ticket and a Visa from the Embassy of the Republic of Cape Verde. Even with the prospect of having to travel LAX-LHR-LIS-RCV (which for me is one of those trips that you don’t use a watch see how long it is until you get a bait in the water, you use a calendar) I am excited about another visit to Sao Vicente. The potential of capturing a few special fish in my lens in Cape Verde is that strong. And knowing that old friends Zak and Marty are well into their Blue Marlin fishing season is fantastic. So far the reports have been mixed, which only means some of the best days on the bank are ahead. To see my captures from last years trip, click the arrow in the bottom right corner of the image to start the show. Or mouse over the above image and left/right arrows will appear.

The Art of Pitch Baiting. No method of big game fishing demands more performance or provides more excitement. And no other group of professionals do it better than the crew of the 80′ Merritt boat “Reel Tight”. This video (above) shows the boys, and girl, in typical smooth perfection as they raise a blue marlin, tease him to the boat, and switch him over to the hook bait. In this case, an artificial lure lovingly referred to as the “Ting um”.

A break from the coast found me deep in the desert of Nevada. A visit to an incredible state park with some amazing scenery. To see a slideshow of the Valley of Fire, click the arrow in the bottom right corner of the image to start the show. Or mouse over the above image and left/right arrows will appear.

PTA – Planes Trains Automobiles

While working on the seemingly never ending process of adding stock photos from my collection to my new web site, I thought I would try a theme. The results is a new Gallery Collection titled Transportation. This collection consists of three galleries; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Stronger in some topics more than others, I was still surprised how many shots I had to display for this collection.

LAM-clip

Last week the annual LA Marathon was held with a new an improved route. This new course was nicknamed “Stadium to the Sea”. Starting at Dodger Stadium and ending at Santa Monica pier, this has runners passing a block from my house as they run down Sunset Blvd. You can watch a few dozen of the 25,000 runners in the short clip above. This is the first test of Canon’s recent firmware update for my 5D. This firmware added the ability to shoot 1080p at 24 fps (actual 23.97 fps) which was a feature that the video shooters have been begging for since the 5D was released.

The shot above is of Mindelo harbor from inside an abandon building up on the hill.

Spring is here and it’s time for the fish to start biting in Cape Verde. The early reports are starting to trickle in from Zak Conde and Marty Bates over at Marlin Cape Verde and it sounds like a good start to their season. Plenty of bites and the average size fish is nice and big, just like they expect from those waters. However, a recent report has one of their two boats with engine troubles so my trip is on hold for now. A mechanic from Boston is rumored to be on the way to get things back to normal.

The reports are coming in from Mexico and the Qualifier has reached a milestone. The newest 56′ Paul Mann custom boat went to Isla Mujeres for it’s maiden voyage and boy did they do it in style. This boat was tuned in right out of the box and never stopped raising fish. They just finished up their winter push and stopped fishing with 1000 Sail fish released over 49 days. Not bad for a first trip. Just wait until they get everything dialed in. Congrats Fin, Chris, and Sinapo for an incredible season opener. Now keep that roll going for some of those tournaments back home.

The Isla images have been prepped and uploaded. 300 new sail fishing images are now available on my web site www.AquaPaparazzi.com. Some great jumping shots and really cool feeding Frigate Bird stuff. This process of posting fresh images from a recent international photo safari to my new web site went so quick and smooth, this would be a good time to praise and plug my new web hosting company. Several months ago I researched a dozen hosting companies and settled on PhotoShelter as the clear winner. You can click on this link to save some money on sign-up, and I get an account credit too! PhotoShelter is a company built by photographers, for photographers. And on that front, they really seem to offer a product that is ideal for the upload and display of a large collection of digital images. Check it out and let me know what you think.

This 30″ clip shows a dwindling ball of Sardines getting eaten by a pack of hungry Atlantic Sailfish. An incredible displays of animal feeding behavior to watch from the sidelines. It goes on and on and on … until that final Sardine is gone. Yum!

If you didn’t get a chance to visit Miami last month for the boat show, then you missed seeing the most gamefishiest three panel 8′ X 20′ booth backdrop ever created. This piece was put together by Pam and her team of graphic wizards over at Boldwater Inc. It really stands out in a convention center filled with booths, just like Casa Vieja Lodge stands out in a sea of fishing destination. All but a few of the small shots are from my stock collection and some location shooting done last year.