Marlin mag’s latest issue hit the news stands this week. Their choice for a cover photo always interest me and this issue is no exception. They chose the first frame in a sequence I captured last summer while riding along with Capt. Butch aboard the Prime Time in St. Thomas. Clearly this first frame is the best choice, since the composition goes south as the fish flattens out during the second half of the jump. To see the entire motor drive sequence, click the image above to start the movie. This shows that you don’t need all the bells and whistles in a fancy digital camera motor drive, you could shoot this sport with a single shot. What do you think?

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”.

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.

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.

The North Drop in the British Virgin Islands gives up another cover photo. This months shot came while I was riding along on a familiar platform, the 58′ Revenge Custom Yacht. It’s kinda rare that I get to film a lure caught fish any more with most every team pitch baiting every opportunity. So I really welcomed this bite and was delighted that it stayed on and then jumped in range of my camera. Many thanks to Sam and Jon for the ride, and always grateful to Mike, Dean, and Ryan for letting me run around their office and do my thing. The only bad part of this cover photo is that when this magazine issue was going to print, someone dropped the ball and put the wrong photo credit on the title page. So this lovely creature is misidentified as a Black Marlin and the photo is credited to some other chap.

The wind is blowing and it’s cold in the Yucatan. Locals tell me that this is the longest cold spell they can remember. The good news is that the annual push of Atlantic Sailfish is going on strong. With the brisk North wind come the sails. And this week they are here in force. And the report is that they have been here and biting very well for several weeks now. It appears to be one of the quieter winter fishing seasons in a while with regard to the transient sportfishing boats. Sad for those who aren’t here, good for those who did make it. I arrived just behind a strong winter front and barely brought enough clothes to pull it off. A brief stay but boy am I seeing some fish. If I count the sails in the spread, tailing, and feeding under the birds, I’m seeing hundreds of sails each day. The conditions are right for fishing the birds, and this also makes for some world class trolling in between bunches. I’ve fished several days aboard the newest Paul Mann boat Qualifier, and also aboard the Keen M. Both boats have put me in the meat each day.I’ve only been trying to get this shot for a few years now … a bait ball of Sardines on the move with dozens of Sailfish and Frigate birds picking away.

Frigate birds battling Sailfish for a fresh Sardine meal.

What they lack in size, the Atlantic Sail makes up for in attitude.

Every so often, one special fish comes along and displays the most magnificent rich colors of blues, green, and gold.

Miami Boat Show plans – The show is right around the corner – February 11-15. Always a good time and great chance to catch up with old friends in the fishing community. This next show should be another hit. I always arrange my winter Sailfish shoots in Isla Mujeres to pass through South Florida for a few extra days and hit the Big Game Room . However, this year it gets even better. My friend Skip Smith called to ask what my plans were for Saturday during the show and I cleared my calendar before we finished the call. He is launching an educational extravaganza the likes of which has never been seen in our industry and is calling it “Billfish Expo 2010”. A Who’s Who of big game fishing talent assembled in one place to share their experience and knowledge to the fishing public. And I get to backup each speaker with topical photography and illustrative examples on the big screens to entertain the audience. Should be fun. Check out Skip’s web site for all the details BillfishExpo.com. I hope to see you there.

Here is a multi media project I put together from 2009 Summer fishing action in St. Thomas aboard the boat Revenge. I rode along with Mike, Dean, and Ryan a few days and compiled this material into this short movie. It has some great billfish shots and jumping blue marlin action. And it shows a well oiled crew of fantastic fisherman doing their thing. It’s 4 minutes long and has an audio track. The content is a mixture of high res still frames from a Canon MKIII and some short video clips from a Canon MKII5D.