The F/V Revenge does it again. Captain Mike, Dean, and Ryan along with Sam and Jon angling have once again shown the fleet that they rule the drop with an eleven fish boat win in the Boy Scout Tournament.  Sam released six fish and Jon had five.  This gave Sam enough points for second place angler behind Chach angler Damon Chouest.  They had some very good competition this time with the Gulf Rascal finishing second with ten, and the Chach in third with ten also based on time.  Reports are that it was a real close finishing day with several lead swaps in the final few hours.  Congrats boys!

June Moon Report from the North Drop:

The summer Blue Marlin season is up and running on the North Drop. This June moon will be relatively quiet, with only 10 boats fishing this weekend.  Pardon the time delay in posting these results, American Yacht Harbor can’t seem to get their marina internet working this month which prevented me from doing daily updates.  All of these photos and a few hundred more will be added to my photo web site shortly.

Tuesday June 7 – This many days ahead of the moon most teams have not started fishing yet. Just the Black Gold, Hoosier Daddy, and the Prime Time.  Light winds and plenty of clouds and rain. Keith on the Black Gold released one fish. Capt Butch was the one to watch today with 2 releases from 5 bites. That report of 5 bites really stirred things up back at the dock.

Wednesday June 8 – Travel day for me as I arrived late this evening after my short hop from SoFlo. Today the Revenge caught 3 of 4 bites and the Black Gold was 1 of 4.

Thursday June 9 – Riding along with the Revenge today. It’s great to be back fishing with Sam and Mike. We caught 2 of 3 marlin bites and 1 white marlin. Also managed to catch a small Yellowfin Tuna on a lure and a nice Wahoo on a mono Ballyhoo. Conditions are crazy calm with little or no wind and mostly sunshine. The Black Gold was 5 for 5 today, and saw two other fish in the spread. The Chach didn’t see one.

Friday June 10 – Back on the Revenge for a second day. The wind speed has doubled today, now it’s blowing 8 knots. A few more boats out today and plenty of bites to go around. We only released one of our 3 bites. The other two fish fell off the pitch mackerel circle hooks after several minutes. But before that happened, I managed to get a shot of one of these fish chasing a teaser – photo below. Ray on the Therapy saw the most fish, 6, but only held on to one of those. Black Gold picked away and caught 2 of their 4 bites, and added a Sailfish. Hoosier Buddy had 3 bites and caught 1. And the Chach is out of their slump with 5 bites, releasing 2. One of those releases is the frisky little jumper pictured below with Damon in the chair and Dominick steering.  I took the liberty creating a photo montage that shows all eight frames of this sequence in one shot.

Saturday June 11. Aboard the Therapy today with Capt. Ray.  Our anglers are Billy, his son Hunter, and Shelbie.  The goal today is to catch Shelby her first marlin.  Our first encounter doesn’t take long with a bite coming before 8:00 am.  A down and tight lure bite and Shelby makes short work of a 100lb fish – photo below.  While clearing the spread a second fish made a few passes at a teaser before fading off.  A few hours later Hunter also catches a down and tight lure bite.  One more fish darts around the spread in the afternoon before they quit fishing.  Ending up 2 of 3 and seeing a fourth.  The Mojito released two today, one was a real quick 10 minute fish they called 500lbs.  Most boats had several encounters.  The stats below are courtesy of Jimmy Loveland:  Revenge was 0 for 1, Marlin Prince 1 of 2, Therapy 2 of 3, Batichica 2 of 5, Capital Punishment 1 of 2, Black Gold 3 of 3, Mojito 2 of 4, Lady Magic 2 of 2, Chach 2 of 4, Hoosier Buddy 1 of 2, Prime Time PR 1 of 3, and About Time caught 2.

Sunday June 12. Riding out again with the Therapy.  Another early morning bite puts Shelbie in the chair.  Unfortunately this is short lived as the fish falls off after the initial run.  Mid afternoon a fish shows up behind a bridge teaser but doesn’t play along.  And our last bite eats a short rigger teaser and does just what it is supposed to do.  All the way to the boat, circle back, and pounce on the pitch.  Hunter catches the Therapy’s only fish of the day.  The rest of the fleet all see some decent action throughout the day.  The following stats are courtesy of Jimmy Loveland:  Revenge 2 of 3, Mojito 0 of 1 + 1 white, Batichica 2 of 2, Black Gold 0 of 2, About Time 1 of 4, Hoosier Buddy 3 of 4, Chach 3 of 4, missed both a white and a sail also, and Prime Time PR 3 of 4 and caught a white.

Monday June 13. Back on the Revenge today.  Rasta Dean returns to work from a medical break and brings some good luck.  Around 5:00 down in the corner we wrap it up with a double header.  First one to come tight gets to use the chair…nice work Sam.  All of today’s fish are small with only two of them jumping near the boat.  The following stats are courtesy of Jimmy Loveland:  Chach 7 of 10, and a white, Prime Time PR 4 of 5, Abigail 4 of 5, Hoosier Buddy 2, Marlin Prince 0 of 2, Black Gold 1 of 2, Mojito 2 of 5, and the Black Pearl caught 1.

Tues June 14. Day before the full and hopes are high for my last day aboard the Revenge.  Continued light winds still over the area with talk of a tropical wave making some changes in a few days.  We start off with a morning teaser bite that doesn’t switch over and see Sam’s pitch bait.  Next is a long rigger lure bite that pulls off after a long run.  Jon then gets a pitch bite to stick and a second fish lurks around while the boat is being cleared but swims off.  Late afternoon has a long rigger ballyhoo get cut off by a wahoo and while winding in that head a blue marlin zooms up and follows it in.  Good tease but it doesn’t transfer over to Sam’s pitch bait.  The following stats are courtesy of Jimmy Loveland:  Black Gold 0 of 0, Mojito 2 of 3, Chach 1/2 day 1 of 1, Hoosier Buddy 3 of 5, Marlin Prince 1 of 3, About Time 3 of 3, Black Pearl 0 of 1.

Wednesday June 15. Fishing aboard the 60′ Spencer boat “Mojito” today.  Trade winds are starting to fill back in a bit with the arrival of a tropical wave.  The action starts early with a teaser bite.  However, this small fish doesn’t paddle in and never shows on the pitch mackerel.  Our second bite is a down and tight lure bite.  Another small fish but it’s feels great to get a release by 8:15 am.  Next bite is a small teaser fish that eats well and Pico comes tight.  One brief hop on the leader and we get back to trolling.  Next is a small teaser fish that eats the pitch and makes for a quick release.  Just as the spread goes back out, we raise another fish and come tight on the pitch mackerel.  Several other boats are getting bites at the same time.  This fish pulls much harder and ends up being a 250lb fish that jumps on the leader for Aileen.  End up with 5.  The following stats are courtesy of Jimmy Loveland:  Revenge 3 of 3, Hoosire Buddy 1 of 1, and 0 of 2 whites, Therapy 2 of 3, and Marlin Prince 0 of 1.

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 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.

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.

The November issue of Marlin Mag is out and it’s a nice one. This small St. Thomas fish ate a circle hook pitch Bonita behind the Revenge and jumped all over the ocean. This was the last day of a long stretch for Sam, Jon, and the boys during the August moon. And what a stretch it was, having just won the Boy Scout Tournament for best boat and best angler days before. Thank you for another great day on the North Drop.