Some rainy day time spent in front of the computer this morning and I came up with this. This sequence comes from the Venezuela archive and was always a favorite of mine. It was taken just after sunset on a very gray and cloudy day. This late in the day the ISO gets cranked up and the shutter speed rolls down and I usually cross my fingers too. Everything came together with this fish as I prefocused on the distance I thought we had to go and hoped the flash batteries could keep up if I got lucky. It all came together with this sequence and I was reminded to never give up when the light fades and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Marlin Mag just leaked this photo on FaceBook.  The next cover has been selected and is off to the printer.  I shot this jumper while covering the USVI July Open earlier this summer.  This fish is one caught by Sarge aboard the Black Gold that helped his team win the tournament again this year.  Also pretty cool sepia treatment to the background splash.

I’ve taken to the skies with my latest advertising client.  The global aeronautic company Embraer has picked a nice jumping Blue Marlin for their new ad campaign.  This campaign features the Phenom 300.  An executive jet that is unparalleled in it’s class – range 1,971 NM, max speed Mach 0.78, max operating altitude 45,000 feet, and an interior design by BMW designworksUSA.  And you thought a fishing boat was a cool toy…

Times are a changing. The postcard weather that we have been enjoying up to now is officially over. The trades have filled in with a vengeance. Fishing for us remains very frustrating. We aren’t getting many bites, and those few are all small fish. There is still some time however.
 
 
We have been fishing some great areas well to the North, offshore of Lizard Island. One benefit is getting to watch the neighbors catch a nice one.
 
 
So far the rumor has proven it self to be true – all Black Marlin jump at or near the boat.
 
 
Healthy, colorful, but oh so small.
 
 
The edge of patch reef is easy to see in these conditions.
 
 
More bites for the neighbors as they disappear in the trough.
 
 
Another small jumper puts on quite a show near the boat.
 
 

You never know what will take the bait on your morning troll along the reef edge. This small Permit surprised us today.
 
 

Conditions remain calm today. Although, according to Buoyweather, that is about to change to a more typical pattern for October here on the reef – breezy with lots of bites!
 
 

So we made the best of what we were dealt, and caught a few small fish.
 
 
This small Black had a cluster of papasites on his shoulder. Tim says it’s quite common with these fish. Didn’t seem to slow him down at all.
 
 
I love it when they jump in the late afternoon sunlight.
 
 
Everyone enjoys a nice sunset. Especially when there is a Black Marlin blocking your view.
 
 

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.

The April/May issue of Marlin Mag has hit the street. This issue features an Atlantic Sailfish flipping around in the wash behind the charter boat Pelican in the waters off Isla Mujeres. This cover photo is cropped pretty heavy to isolate just the fish and it’s flared dorsal fin. What you don’t see is mate Josh on the wire and Capt. Arch at the wheel on that breezy February day. The fish were on top that morning and Arch put his anglers in some great action until the bait disappeared and we switched back to trolling.

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 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.