AFW & HI-SEAS Blog

Winter Time is Line Changing Time

2011-02-17T03:00:00.004-05:00

Well for a great many anglers in areas of the country that experience winter cold that can even be accompanied by hard water, also called ice, this is the time to service your tackle so it’s ready for spring. Even if you like ice fishing, the rods and reels you use when the water isn’t frozen are out of service unless you like to stand a ways back from those holes and cast into them. I don’t mean to make light of ice fishing, but the only ice I like is in my drink after a nice day on liquid water.

So with all that winter spare time on our hands, one of the things we should be doing is servicing our tackle. Your reels should be gone over carefully to check for loose screws, worn bearings and line rollers and if you use them a lot, opened up, cleaned out and re-lubricated. If you are not too handy with mechanical stuff, you might want to bring them to a local tackle shop or send them back to the manufacturer for service. Trained technicians go through all the systems on the reel to see if there are worn parts or drag washers might be needed and they stand a much better chance of putting them back together without any parts left over.

I like to service most of my reels myself. I have a work bench in the tackle room in my basement that is the ideal place to do it. I start by stripping old line off of my reels so I can check the spools for possible corrosion. If you fish in saltwater, corrosion can be a problem, but only if you don’t take care of your gear. Then I spread out a clean towel, one that has been retired from people-drying duties, and set the parts out in an organized manner in the order they came out of each reel so I end up with the reel looking like one of those exploded diagrams. It makes putting it back together the way it came apart a lot easier.

Time to clean the old grease out of the gear case, bathe the gears and bearings in reel cleaner and let them dry. I pay particular attention to the areas of the reel that touch the line. In the case of spinning reels it’s the line roller on the bail. Take a piece of line, loop it around the roller and pull it back and forth to check that the roller is turning easily. A corroded line roller bearing that stops it from spinning can cost you a big fish in a heartbeat. I have replaced quite a few line roller bearings over the years, some during the season, but most during winter cleaning. Cheap insurance.

In the case of baitcasting reels, check and see if there are any burrs on the line guide. Start by snatching a pair of old panty hose from your significant other and cut it into some strips. Then pass a strip through the line guide rubbing against the sides and feeling carefully for any snags. If there is anything that can chafe up your line it will snag the stocking material. Most modern baitcasters use extremely hard materials for line guides so this is rarely a problem, but it can still happen. If your reel has a ceramic insert for the line they can crack and eat your line alive! Hang on to the extra stocking strips because you can use them later to check the guides on your rods to see if there are rough spots or cracked inserts. If you find any damaged guides they must be replace or they will cost you a big fish and ruin a bunch of new line in the process.

Once the reel is reassembled, spray it with a light coating of water displacing lubricant spray like WD40 or CRC, wipe it down with a clean dry cloth and it will almost be ready for the new season. Almost, because it’s time to load it up with new line, so you have some decisions to make. Where you pleased with the line you used last season? Did you use monofilament, but are considering switching to a braid this year? Maybe you want to fill one of your reels with fluorocarbon to give you an edge with special jigging and finesse techniques. A lot of tournament bass fishermen have made the switch to fluorocarbon for fishing worms, shaky head jigs, do nothing worms, things that require a slow, but balanced rate of decent without line impeding the drop and subtle action. Well you just happen to be in luck because you can fill all your line needs from one source – HI-SEAS!

Saltwater anglers have been switching to HI-SEAS Grand Slam Braid a lot in recent years because it is a thin, strong, extremely sensitive line that enhances feel when bottom fishing, jigging and plugging. Surf fishermen are using it because it improves casting distance and you can pack more and heavier braid on a reel than you can monofilament of an equivalent pound test. You could try HI-SEAS Wildfire, a fused braid that is rounder and casts more like monofilament on spinning rods while retaining all the great benefits of regular braid.

Are you happy with monofilament on your reels? A lot of anglers still are and HI-SEAS offers a great selection of top performing monofilament lines like Grand Slam Mono and Quattro Plus, two of the toughest, most abrasion resistant lines on the market today. There is no fish too big, no place to nasty for these lines. Grand Slam is available in several colors while Quattro Plus has alternating colors that act like camouflage in the water. Looking for a super thin co-polymer monofilament? You can’t beat HI-SEAS White Lightning and Black Widow, both super thin, extra supple, high performance lines. White Lightning is a clear line that is True Test Rated to be IGFA record compliant and Black Widow is camo colored.

Winter time is gear servicing and line changing time. Out with the old and in with the new. So tune up your tackle and load your reels with the best lines money can buy. The pros know and that’s why our motto is, HI-SEAS – When the Money’s on the Line.

Bassmaster Classic

2011-02-13T03:00:00.000-05:00

Well, another year is here and you know what that means….a new Bassmaster Classic champion will be crowned! Our HI-SEAS pro-staff team is coming off a very successful 2010 campaign which kicked off with Jeff Kriet’s 2^nd place finish on Lay Lake in Birmingham, AL. We also had a solid 14^th Place finish from Cliff Pace, and a 26^th place finish from Terry Scroggins. The 2010 Classic was also the debut of the first HI-SEAS wrapped boat on the B.A.S.S. Elite Series trail, run by Cliff Pace. It was a very solid year for our Elite Team, capped off by Cliff Pace qualifying for his 2^nd consecutive B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Championship week in 3^rd Place and ending the year 6^th overall after the two tournament postseason.

The HI-SEAS Elite Series team of Cliff Pace, Jeff Connella, Jeff Kriet, and Terry Scroggins cashed an impressive 25 checks over the 2010 Elite season and Southern Opens combined. They racked up three 2^nd-Place finishes, one 3^rd-Place finish, and a total of ten Top 12 finishes.

This year, we have 3 very strong competitors and favorites in Cliff Pace, Jeff Kriet, and Terry Scroggins. It should be another very exciting classic for HI-SEAS and our team!

As we have for the past 3 Bassmaster Classics, HI-SEAS will have an impressive booth set up at the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo. HI-SEAS will set up our display at the 2011 Classic Outdoors expo at the Ernest Morial Convention Center in Downtown New Orleans, LA. As we have for the past 2 years, B.A.S.S. Elite Series Angler Jeff Connella will be available in the HI-SEAS booth ALL 3 days. Jeff will be on hand to answer any questions you have about the HI-SEAS Lines, specific techniques, sign autographs, or to just talk fishing! You will also get to meet the great people who work day in and day out to provide you with the highest-quality fishing lines available today.

Also, we are PROUD to have the legendary BILL DANCE on hand at our booth on Saturday, February 19^th from 10am-11am! Stop by and meet Bill, get his autograph, and say hello! You DO NOT want to miss your chance to meet and talk to one of the legends of our sport!

We will also have some show-special pricing on ALL of our HI-SEAS Lines, sold through one our master retailers, Jann’s Netcraft.

Please stop by and see us at booth #2071, say hello to all of us, our Pros, and Bill Dance! See you there!

Will Bellucci

Sales Executive – AFW / HI-SEAS

Winter Sailfish Part Two: Dead Bait or Live

2010-12-23T03:00:00.000-05:00

Sails are amazing acrobats
when hooked and fought.

Over the past few seasons Florida has experienced phenomenal winter runs of Atlantic sailfish. In fact, the season has gotten longer each year, as the population appears to be growing due to major regulatory action taken against pelagic long lining about ten years ago. With the long line fleet rapidly dwindling, and areas where their bycatch of sailfish and marlin was the highest closed to that gear the beneficiaries have been the stocks and anglers.

Live goggleye with a circle hook
in the nose for slow trolling.

While more people are fishing for sails, recreational fishing mortality is at an all time low with the advent of circle hooks and a stronger appreciation for these great billfish. The use of circle hooks has greatly reduced release mortality of both sailfish and white marlin, where the main techniques used for catching both is using either live or rigged dead baits. Circle hooks work by wrapping around the jaw structure of the fish so they are hooked in the corner of the mouth or on the bill. No damage to gills, stomach or throat, no bleeding, easy to remove, and away the fish swim — a little tired from the fight, but no worse for the encounter!

Loading up the live well with live
goggleyes for a days sailfishing.

Two techniques dominate fishing for sailfish — using live bait or trolling with rigged dead ballyhoo. Live bait is most popular from West Palm Beach south to the Florida Keys, with the prime baitfish being goggleyes and greenies, a species of sardine. Serious live bait fishermen use kites, but you can also slow troll a drift fish with live bait and even put them deep on downriggers. Personally I love kite fishing because it leads to savage strikes by aggressive fish right on the surface.

Dead ballyhoo rigged for trolling
with a circle hook.

A fishing kite is run out away from the boat with up to three release clips attached to it at various distances. A live baitfish is suspended from each release clip with the line run through a ring so the angler can control the baitfish from his vantage point on the boat. By letting line out or reeling up slack, he can keep the live bait splashing on the surface of the water, calling out to any sailfish in the area that there is an injured and easy prey item waiting to be eaten. Properly set up, a single angler can control two or three baits suspended from a single kite. When a sailfish pounces, the angler puts the reel in gear and winds slowly to pull the line out of the release clip, then winds like crazy to pick up the slack so the circle hook will wrap around the fish’s jaw.

Launching a fishing kite. Note the
release clips on the line.

But you don’t have to go to the expense of buying kites, kite reels, rods and all the trimmings to fish live bait. I’ve spent many days fishing off the Florida coast drifting or slow trolling live bait. I even use a downrigger to get live bait down to deep feeding sails and there have been many days that the deep bait has caught the majority of the fish.

Competition trollers rely
on massive dredges as
teasers to attract sails
to their baits.

Trolling with rigged bait is a whole other ballgame. Small ballyhoo are rigged on circle hooks with small chin weights so they swim when trolled and fished using light lever drag reels and rods. Trolling is preferred by anglers north of the Palm Beach area because of the difference in near shore depth and structure. Sails in this area tend to spread out over larger areas, sometimes key on structure that accumulates baitfish. But just the rigged ballyhoo are frequently not enough to attract sails, so a subsurface teaser called a dredge is added to the trolling pattern as an attractor. A dredge is a six-arm wire frame with a couple dozen or more rigged ballyhoo or mullet, with no hooks, pulled behind it. It is dragged 20 to 50 feet behind the boat and weighted so it will run 10 to 20 feet down so it resembles a bait ball or school of baitfish. Tournament anglers use all natural baits on their dredges, but there are bait-free dredges available that are less time consuming and expensive to use that incorporate plastic imitation baitfish or strips of clear material with adhesive baitfish decals strung from them. They present a lot of flash in the water and can attract sailfish well, but if the sail attacks an artificial dredge it will not hang around long. The key is to get the approaching sailfish to switch off the dredge and eat one of the rigged ballyhoo being trolled nearby.

Most Atlantic sailfish are
in the 40 to 60 lb class
like this one, ideal for
light tackle.

Most serious sailfish guys use 20 pound test tackle because Atlantic sails rarely get much larger than 60 or 70 pounds. The vast majority are smaller, which makes them easy to handle on light line and a lot more fun. All the dedicated sailfish tournaments held in Florida during the winter require tackle no heavier than 20 pound test and mandate the use of circle hooks, too. Sails might be small compared to their larger cousins the striped, blue and black marlin, but they are very strong, extremely acrobatic and great fun to catch and release on the right tackle. If you’ve never done it, spend some time down south this winter and get in on the fun. I know I will.

Caputi Blog Tip:

Fluorocarbon leader is a must for sharp-eyed sailfish whether trolling or using live bait and there is none better than Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon or Hi-Seas Quattro Fluorocarbon. Plan on using 60-pound test, which is plenty strong when paired with 20-pound test monofilament running line like Hi-Seas Grand Slam in Hi-Vis Yellow. Acceptable leader length varies from tournament to tournament so be sure to read the rules carefully and rig your tackle accordingly.

Winter Sailfish: Tournament Time

2010-12-16T15:00:00.028-05:00

While December for northerners means it’s time to pull the boat and winterize it or hang up the waders for another season, for those lucky enough to live in sunny Florida it is the start of the winter sailfish season. There is no better time to catch these feisty billfish than December and January when the occasional cold front accompanied by Northeast winds cause them to gather in large schools and go on the hunt. Early winter finds them concentrated in the more northern reaches of Florida’s east coast, but as water temperatures drop and the bait they pursue pushes further south, so do the sailfish. The migration will take them into South Florida and the Keys.

For the past six years I’ve been the director of one of the oldest billfish tournaments in the United States, the Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament, which has been run out of the West Palm Beach area each January for the past 47 years! Since I got involved it has been operated as a fund raising event for the Recreational Fishing Alliance (www.joinrfa.org), generating tens of thousands of dollars each year for the important work the organization does as the sole political action organization representing saltwater anglers. AFW/Hi-Seas is a corporate sponsor of the RFA and the Buccaneer Cup and we would certainly love to have you come fish with us this year.

Last year the fishing during the Buccaneer Cup was nothing short of incredible! In fact the number of sailfish caught hit an all-time high with more sailfish being released in the three days of fishing than at any other time during the events long history! The teams successfully caught and released a staggering 585 sailfish and saw hundreds more in massive schools stretching from Ft. Pierce to Jupiter Inlet. They experienced fishing so fast, both trolling with rigged baits and kite fishing with live bait, that teams were returning to the dock at day’s end exhausted and telling stories about how many more got away. Release flags were flying everywhere and it was a sight to see.

Why has the fishing for sails gotten so good? From my estimation it is the result of the work of the Recreational Fishing Alliance in forcing the government to close several key areas in the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida to all commercial pelagic long line fishing. The problem with long line fishing is the gear not only catches and kills juvenile swordfish by the thousands, it also catches and kills sailfish and marlin as bycatch. The facts show that the number of sailfish being slaughtered by an out of control long line fleet was far in excess of anything the National Marine Fisheries Service thought at the time. In the 11 years since these regulations were put in place the sailfish population has grown rapidly to levels not seen in 50 years and the swordfish population has rebounded so successfully that there is a vibrant recreational fishery for them again up and down the East Coast.

There are two popular techniques for catching sails both for fun and in tournaments – live bait fishing with or without kites and trolling with rigged ballyhoo. We will take a closer look at both techniques in my next blog and pay special attention to easy ways you can get in on the fun without the expense of the techniques used by top tournament teams with unlimited budgets. So stay tuned.

Keep in mind that Atlantic sailfish are among the smallest billfish, and in Florida the average fish tends to be in the 40 to 60 lb range, so light tackle, both spinning and conventional, is all you need to enjoy the fight. The Buccaneer Cup prohibits line heavier than 20 lb. test during competition and sails are still caught and released in short order, usually after a spirited fight with lots of aerial acrobatics. They are truly a great sport fish to catch and the overwhelming number of anglers who pursue them releases every one they catch. They might make beautiful mounts for the wall, but all you need is a length measurement and any taxidermist can make you a fiberglass representation of your catch without ever seeing the fish.

If you are going to be in Florida this winter, here’s your chance to get in on one of the oldest and most prestigious billfish tournaments in the nation. Come fish the Buccaneer Cup with us by going to www.buccaneercup.com and singing up today. The dates are January 19 through 21 in sunny Florida, and if you don’t have a boat of your own that meets the requirements, there are plenty of boats available for charter for the event. We can help you with that, too. It’s for a great cause and if the action is anything like last year, the sails will run you ragged.

Fall Bass Guessing Game

2010-11-18T03:00:00.000-05:00

The trees are bare and weather getting
chilly, but the bass are still biting.

Most of my earliest experiences fishing were chasing largemouth bass and, to a less degree, trout. At the time it wasn’t because I liked one more than the other, but there were a lot fewer trout waters available with walking or biking distance of home. As I fished more and got old enough to drive my fishing vistas opened more and my enthusiasm for bass fishing grew rapidly. My first boat was an aluminum car topper, then a larger aluminum boat on a trailer that was tricked out for bass fishing, then a real bass boat.

As my mobility on land and water expanded I became heavily involved in bass fishing both for fun and in tournaments in the Northeast. My first job out of college was in the public relations department of the largest tackle company in the U.S. at the time, which was headquartered in New Jersey. When the department head, a kindly older gentleman by the name of Dick Wolff, figured out I could bass fish and use a baitcasting reel proficiently, I became the “go to” guy to send for personal appearances at bass clubs and at some of the more high profile bass tournaments in the south, where B.A.S.S. was just starting to emerge as a force and Bass Pro Shop was still just a tiny store attached to Johnny Morris’ dads liquor store in Springfield, Missouri. I know about it because I bought my first spinnerbaits and Big O crankbaits there back in 1974 while attending a Bass Casters Association tournament on Lake of the Ozarks. It’s actually pretty funny when I think back on it and see just how bass fishing has evolved since.

Working a submerged weed bed
near a point drop-off is
a prime fall pattern.

My two favorite times of year on the bass fishing calendar were spring and fall, and if I had to choice between the two I would take fall every time! October, November and even December, depending on how far north you do your fishing, offers some of the finest bass fishing of the year as the quarry is generally feeding with abandon in preparation for the scarcity of winter. What makes it really interesting is the changing weather. Each new high or low pressure front that passes through changes the fishing conditions and forces the angler to use his brain to find where the barometric pressure has pushed the fish.

One rule of thumb we used was high pressure tends to drive them into deeper water and low pressure turns them on in shallow water. Just remember that deep and shallow are relative terms as the water temperatures get colder. Earlier in the fall shallow can put them in the weeds, especially weed beds close to deeper water. One of my favorite techniques for these conditions was ripping shallow running crankbaits along the edges of weed beds and watching the bass charge out of the cover to smash them. If they are father into the weeds try casting jig and pigs or Texas rigged worms into open spots in the weeds was often effective and even top water baits could produce fast fishing.

Comes the cold front, and they always do in the fall, and the bass move off to deeper structure and for a while become downright unresponsive to most lures. Try to find deep structure adjacent to shallow weed beds and check that out first. A creek bed, drop off or rock pile that is six to ten feet deeper will often be the first place the bass will fall back on. Change your tactics to smaller drop baits like finesse worms and shakyhead jigs and fish them so they fall slow and low. These techniques are deadly with Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon line on the reel as it sinks in time with the light baits and has less stretch than mono so you can stay in touch with the bait better and pick up on subtle bites.

Don't forget to dress for fall fishing.
The weather can change quickly.

One technique we hit upon years ago that still works when bass are suspended over a deep drop off or other type of structure was drop fishing a Rattle Trap. The lures sink fast and can get into the zone easily, but it helps to know the rate of sink so you can count it down to the right level and then begin a slow to moderate retrieve. If you haven’t tried that one, especially late in the fall, you should. When we first started using that technique all we had was mono line. Now I prefer using Hi-Seas Wildfire fused braid for this because it is thinner and allows the plug to sink easily on a tight line, which gives it action as it falls. It also provides incredible sensitivity to the lightest strike and quick hook sets. I like to cast well beyond the structure, engage the reel and let the plug swim down in an arc back towards the boat. Many hits come as it swims its way down into the zone where the fish are holding before you ever have to turn the reel handle.

Be ready for fall this year with Hi-Seas lines on your favorite bass outfits. The right line for specific techniques can make you a more productive angler - and that’s a fact, Jack.

-Gary Caputi

The Evolution of Terminal Tackle (part 2)

2010-11-11T03:00:00.000-05:00

In the first part of our discussion on the evolution of terminal tackle we touched on advancements in wire leader materials and manufacturing. Keep in mind that while AFW Titanium Tooth Proof single strand and AFW Titanium Surfstrand braided leader are at the cutting edge of technology and performance there are many anglers who relay on the reliable performance of stainless steel leader products. The leading products in that category are AFW Tooth Proof single strand and AFW Surflon and AFW Surfstrand braided wires available in a number of configurations from 1 X 7 to 1 X 19 strands uncoated or nylon coated, to cover any fishing situation from the biggest sharks to the smallest fly fishing leaders. They even offer a wide selection of pre-packaged leaders with AFW Mighty Mini barrel swivels and snaps, which leads us to the next topic of discussion in the evolutionary development of barrel swivels and snap swivels.

The swivel became part of fishing when problems with line twist began to emerge. Many early fishing lures features parts that spun around a shaft or, in some cases, the entire lure would spin, which would cause the line to twist. After a while the twisting would become so severe that the line became unusuable. The problem was even worse prevalent in early monofilament lines, which kink up into a bloody mess when exposed to excess twisting. Early swivels were of the box variety consisting of a square open frame with wire loops that passed through holes in opposing ends of the square. While box swivels offered some relief from line twist they were not very efficient or effective and were followed by the earliest forms of barrel swivels, a shape common to almost anyone who fishes today. Early barrel swivels had to be large and bulky due to the crude manufacturing machinery of the time and to possess enough strength because they were formed out of soft brass.

The evolution of the barrel swivel was pushed forward by advances in manufacturing and the ability of the machinery to mass produce smaller and smaller metal components consistently, but materials lagged behind. Brass remained the material of choice because it was corrosion resistant and soft enough for the machinery of the day to form easily. So barrel swivels got smaller, but not too small because the remaining inhibiting factor was the brass itself. No matter how you cut it brass is still soft and it just isn’t very strong unless it is relatively thick.

The last inhibiting factor fell a few years ago when the machinery used for manufacture the component parts of a barrel swivel were improved to handle stronger materials, stainless steel in particular. Stainless steel maintains the corrosion resistant characteristics needed in terminal tackle and now machinery was in place that could manufacture and assemble the component parts to meet strict quality control standards using it. With that American Fishing Wire introduced the AFW Mighty Mini Series!

AFW Mighty Mini Crane Swivels are 100% stainless steel, both the rings and the bodies. These tiny wonders are three times stronger than brass or stainless/brass composite swivels and can be 3 times smaller than typical brass swivels. Whether you fish in fresh water or salt the smaller the rigging hardware at the end of the line the more natural the presentation of the lures or baits you are using. A more natural presentation means more bites and that’s the best news of all.

The smallest swivel in the AFW Mighty Mini line is the size of a 15 lb rated brass swivel, but it tests out to 78 lbs before failure. The strongest in the line is rated at 511 lbs of breaking strength, but smaller than a brass swivel rated at just 150 lbs. Now that’s remarkable, but you don’t have to believe me. Ask world famous big game angler, fishing tackle innovator and television personality Dennis Braid. He uses AFW Mighty Mini’s to tackle the biggest game fish in the world. Recently he caught one of the biggest fish ever landed on stand up tackle using his remarkable Braid belt and harness systems. He boated, tagged and released a 1047-pound giant bluefin tuna using size 1/0 Mighty Mini Crane Swivels in his bait rigs. Now that has to be the ultimate test of any terminal gear!

Stop fishing with old technology and step up to AFW Mighty Mini Swivels and Barrel Swivels. They best money can buy, and value priced too.

-Gary Caputi

Albie Time!

2010-11-04T03:00:00.006-04:00

Fall brings a cornucopia of great fishing opportunities and one of my favorites is the appearance close to the beach of a speed merchant called a Little Tunny. As I write this they are popping up blasting schools of baitfish from Long Island to North Carolina.

The Little Tunny is the smallest member of the Atlantic tuna family and while it resembles the Atlantic Bonito and Skipjack, those species are actually member of the mackerel family. Confused yet? Albies are easily identified by the dark spots appearing between the pectoral and ventral fins and "worm-like" markings on an olive colored back above highly reflective silver/white sides.

Fat Albert has undergone a remarkable transition from trash fish to premiere light tackle game fish over the last 20 years. Trash because its flesh is almost inedible; game fish because they are strong and extremely fast. Anglers, especially fly fishermen, travel up and down the coast spending thousands of dollars to catch King Albert creating fishing destinations that were unheard of just a few short years ago like the Harkers Island area of North Carolina. There vast numbers of ablies congregate each fall. After I finish writing this blog I am packing my fly rods for a trip there to fish with renowned fly fishing guide Capt. Jake Jordan.

But you don’t have to go all over the place if you time their arrival in local waters. New England sees them enter Narragansett Bay and Vineyard Sound in September and they invade Long Island Sound shortly thereafter. The New York Bight arrivals move inshore in October and hang out into November depending on water temperature and bait availability. At the same time they show up off New Jersey they are appearing off North Carolina.

So how do you catch them when they show up? The most common place to find ablies on a tear is around inlets on the outgoing tide ambushing baitfish pouring out of estuaries, but find schools of small baitfish anywhere and they won’t be far away. I rarely have to go further than a couple miles from Manasquan Inlet to catch them locally.

For tackle think light and stealthy because these fish have excellent eyesight. My favorite spinning outfit is a 7’ light/medium action graphite rod and freshwater size reel with an excellent drag system loaded with 6 to 10 lb. test Hi-Seas Grand Slam Braid or Hi-Seas Wildfire fused braid. I add a long (6’) leader of 20-lb. test Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon for stealth. The lures are small metal jigs in the ½ to 1-1/2 ounce size, slender and very shiny to match the baitfish they are chasing. When I am lucky enough to be able to get a cast net over the school of spearing or bay anchovies before leaving the inlet I bring them along as chum to hold a school of ablies near the boat.

When ablies turn on catching them is easy. They will be blasting bait on the surface and you can cast to the splashing fish, let your jig sink a little and then start a moderate speed straight retrieve. When they hit, they smash the lure and take off at speeds that can reach 40 mph. When they stop showing on the surface watch your depth finder for straight line marks that indicate they are blasting through the sonar cone beneath the boat. If you see that make a long blind cast and let the jig sink to the bottom. Then start your retrieve. I’ve hooked as many albies blind casting as I have chasing the surface feeding fish.

If you can get them working a specific pod of baitfish hang with the bait and don’t go chasing other surface feeding fish. If you have it, throw handfuls of spearing in the water to keep the ablies nearby and make shorter casts. This is an ideal scenario for using the fly rod, which should be equipped with a light fluorocarbon leader, especially when the water is clear and tiny fish-shaped flies to emulate the batifish they are feeding on.

Fat Albert presents one of the fastest, and occasionally most frustrating, fishing opportunities of the fall season and one of my favorites. Keep an outfit ready for them regardless of what you are fishing for so you’re ready for the action when it starts.

Jigs & Shads for Fall Stripers

2010-10-28T03:00:00.001-04:00

If you’ve read this blog for any period of time you probably picked up on the fact that I like fishing for striped bass. As a Jersey Shore guy, please no comparisons to Snooki and the casts of miscreants on the supposed reality show by the same name, striped bass are the premiere inshore game fish in my backyard, as they are for anglers from North Carolina to Maine. Fall is coming on fast with water temperatures plummeting and massive amounts of baitfish moving out of coastal rivers and bays. That means fishing the beach fronts should be fantastic for beach and boat anglers.

I took my center console out of Manasquan Inlet yesterday to chase false albacore and oceanic bonito and the concentration of bait in the river near the inlet was epic. The same goes for outside the inlet. Peanut bunker, mullet, bay anchovies, sand eels and spearing were everywhere and on the bottom below them were acres of small weakfish and spot picking them off. Bass love all of these forage species, including the weakfish and the spot, and you can match the hatch with a few simple lures and techniques.

The vanguard of bigger bass migrating south are not here yet, only the resident fish that remain in these waters throughout the summer, but they aren’t far away in distance or time. By early October we will be seeing large schools of stripers working their way south, stopping to feed voraciously along the way. The timing will be earlier to our north and later to our south, but you can count on it.

Two of my favorite methods of catching fall stripers are using light spinning tackle with plastic shads or using a medium bait casting outfit to vertical fish metal jigs. The two techniques don’t require a lot of specialized tackle, but I would not be caught dead without braid on both the spinning and bait casting outfits – Hi-Seas Grand Slam Braid or Hi-Seas Wildfire Fused Braid to be more precise. Why? Well the simple answer is they basically guarantee you’ll catch more fish. OK, it’s not a written guarantee, but using braid puts so many factors more squarely in your favor that you’d be crazy not to use the stuff.

Most of my spinning outfits for fall bass are 7’ graphite and rated as light/medium or medium with appropriately sized reels. They are spooled with 10 to 20-pound test Wildfire. Most of my bait casting outfits are 7’ straight-butt trigger sticks with medium or medium/heavy actions and appropriately sized reels loaded with 30 to 50-pound Grand Slam Braid.

The spinning rods are used mostly for throwing plastic shads or bucktails and Wildfire is the perfect line choice. Since it’s a Spectra line it has all the necessary benefits – thin diameter so the lures sink deeper more quickly, almost no stretch so you can feel even the lightest pick up, and its tough stuff. Fusing the outer sheath of the line gives it a rounder, smoother feel so it casts and spools beautifully on spinning reels and no special braid knots are necessary for tying on leaders.

I prefer Grand Slam Braid on the bait casting outfits because it is thinner than even the fused braid and I tend to use heavier line on these rigs. That’s because the metal jigs I fish below the boat are frequently heavier and larger, requiring a stiffer action rod to work them. I frequently fish jigs in deeper water right on the bottom, where stripers spend a good deal of their time, and big jigs can catch some big bass so the heavier tackle provides a better chance at boating a bigger fish. Grand Slam Braid is extremely thin, even in 30 and 50-lb test, and with almost no stretch you can feel the subtle pick up of a striper grabbing the jig while it is sinking to the bottom or when lifting and dropping it. It also gives you an advantage when setting the hook. A quick lift of the rod transmits all the power directly to the hook without losing any to line stretch.

The fall run in coming, the fall run is coming. Is your tackle rigged and ready for these two great fall striper techniques? It isn’t if the reels aren’t loaded with Hi-Seas Grand Slam Braid and Hi-Seas Wildfire lines.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: When fishing either braided line for fall stripers be sure to add a four or five foot leader of Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon in 50 or 60 lb test as shock and chafe protections. Stripers might not have teeth, but they do have sand paper lined jaws. If bluefish are mixed in add a bite leader of AFW Surflon Micro Supreme. You can tie knots with it just like monofilament.

The Evolution of Terminal Tackle

2010-10-04T03:00:00.005-04:00

Fishing tackle is constantly evolving as technologies and manufacturing capabilities improve and new materials come on the scene. Sometimes new gear requires manufacturing techniques to catch up to new materials. Such is the case with AFW’s impressive titanium leader wire products.

Titanium is certainly nothing new. You can find it on the Periodic Chart as Ti, with an atomic number of 22, which is the number of protons in its single atom form. That’s probably more information than you need, but now you know in case you’re on a game show and the question comes up. Titanium is also considered a rare earth element as compared with other metals like iron and copper, and until recent the military took a big interest in it the stuff was not really available for civilian purposes. It is extremely light and strong and can be finished to a very shiny, slippery finish and is extremely resistant to chemical and environmental corrosives. It is nearly impervious to saltwater. It is used in high-tech military aircraft and spacecraft, but as it became more readily available it started finding its way into less exotic applications.

Several years ago AFW introduced Titanium Tooth Proof wire leader material, which is a titanium alloy suitable for fishing purposes. It is a single strand wire that has very interesting properties. It is stronger than stainless steel so the leader material is thinner. It is unaffected by saltwater so it will not corrode in the water, your tackle box or when left on board a boat for long periods between fishing trips. It can be crimped or tied using a clinch knot, which will be more loosely cinched than one tied in monofilament line, but just as strong. It also has a degree of stretch to it, which means it can absorb a bone jarring strike and then snap back to its original length, but probably the most revolutionary improvement over stainless steel is it’s resistance to kinking! Stainless wire and cable will kink when bit, which means one or two fish and the leader is shot. Not titanium. The elasticity factor negates the tendency to kink like steel, so the added expense is offset by its life expectancy.

As alloy science and manufacturing techniques evolved so did the way titanium can be extruded and woven providing the ability for AFW to introduce the next generation of leader material, AFW Titanium Surfstrand, another advancement in the use of this amazing metal. Formed from seven hair-like strands of titanium woven into a single, super light micro-cable, Titanium Surfstrand is stronger than the sum of its strands providing a thin protective leader to guard against toothy critters like kingfish, barracuda, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and their ilk when fishing with light to medium tackle. It has excellent elastic properties for absorbing the shock of a strike when trolling or fast jigging and it is even more resistant to kinking than single strand titanium leader. It is available in 30, 50. 75 pound test and can be knotted like Titanium Tooth Proof, but also works extremely well using AFW Leader Sleeves and crimping tools.

Bite proof leaders are not the only thing evolving in terminal tackle. Next time we’ll take a look at the amazing shrinking swivel. Until then, fish hard, you can always rest tomorrow.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: When crimping Titanium Surfstrand using AFW Leader Sleeves it is important to use a 3-time thru process because of the elasticity of the cable. Then follow the simple instructions below for a fool proof connection.

JIGS & SHADS FOR FALL STRIPERS

2010-09-23T03:00:00.000-04:00

BASS FISHING’S WEEKEND WARRIORS

2010-09-09T03:00:00.030-04:00

Competitive bass fishing is alive and well in the 21^st Century and you don’t have to be a well-heeled, heavily sponsored professional to get in on the fun. In fact for some you don’t have to own a bass boat! Sound interesting? Then check out American Bass Anglers and their American Fishing Tour.

From the time I got wheels I was going bass fishing all over the Northeast. I fished my first tournament before I owned a bass boat in a buddy event where non-boaters were paired with boat owners. When I purchased my first bass boat I started fishing tournaments with the newly formed New Jersey Chapter of the Bass Anglers Sportsman’s Society (BASS) and had a ball doing it. That was over thirty years ago and the competitive spirit among bass fishermen continues to flourish today and the dominant force is the ABA. The association recently took over running the B.A.S.S. Weekend Series in addition to its own extensive state and regional pro and non-pro tournament series, which makes it the largest bass tournament promoting body in the nation.

Currently there are ABA chapters and tournaments in 42 of the lower 48 states, which include almost every state that has a viable population of largemouth bass. The state chapter-based American Fishing Tour features at least half dozen events for members in all 42 states each with a modest $75 entry fee and $145 for the state championship. The tournaments are open to all ABA members, male or female from 14-years old and up. Anglers fish two to a boat and draw for partners.

Are you lucky enough to have a wife or girlfriend who likes to bass fish as much as you do? Well ABA has its Couple Tournament Series to give you a venue for the two of you to strutt your bass fishing talents.

If you find yourself really getting into competitive fishing and doing well in the ABA state chapter events then maybe it’s time to step up to the Bassmasters Weekend Series. This is the proving ground that has produced many of the top competitive anglers fishing the Bassmasters Elite Series like AFW/Hi-Seas pro staff members Cliff Pace, Jeff Connella and Jeff Kriet. These guys are at the top of their game as highly respected professional tournament anglers. To learn more about them click on the links or go to www.hiseas.net and click on Pro Staff.

If you have the talent and the drive you just might end up in the Superbowl of bass fishing, the Bassmaster Classic! Well at least we can dream, right?

Caputi’s Blog Tip: The most popular fluorocarbon line on the bass tour is Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon. It is ideal for many specialized techniques because it sinks more naturally with finesse baits, has very little stretch so you can feel subtle bites and it is as close to invisible underwater as modern technology can make it! Spool up with Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon and you can be a winner, too.

DEALING WITH TEETH

2010-08-30T03:00:00.005-04:00

It doesn’t matter if you do your fishing in fresh, salt or brackish water because there are species of game fish in all aquatic environments that come equipped with formidable weapons of the dental variety—teeth. Small razors or big, pointy choppers, they all can have the same result when placed in proximity to fishing line and for the angler on the other end none it ain’t good!

Among the most popular game fish swimming around in North America’s abundant freshwater rivers and lakes are the northern pike, the muskellunge and their diminutive cousin, the chain pickerel, all toothy critters. In bays and along our beaches the bluefish is a notoriously aggressive inshore game fish with teeth sharp enough to make quick work of any baitfish. Then there are those pesky barracudas, king mackerel and wahoo all of which can snip through line like a pair of fine scissors. Sharks are probably the most well known of saltwater’s toothy critters (what fisherman doesn’t look forward to Shark Week on cable each year?) and their reputation for having a sharp personality is well deserved. Do some traveling to Central and South America, Africa or the Far East and the number of species of fish with awe inspiring dentures increases considerably.

AFW/HI-SEAS has been helping anglers deal with tooth critters for three decades by producing the finest wire and cable leader products in the world. All of their wire and cable is manufactured in their facilities in Valley Township, Pennsylvania using modern equipment run by skilled technicians who continually check the material coming off the line for quality, uniformity and durability. It doesn’t matter which toothy critter you have to contend with, AFW/HI-SEAS has the right leader for you. Tournament fishing for king mackerel is one example.

Kingfish have razor sharp teeth—lots of them—and they are as fast as a speeding bullet when they go on an attack run. When they nail a fish that has been unfortunate enough to get in the crosshairs of their sights it looks like Edward Scissorhands was on the job! Wire leaders are essential for catching these fish. The largest saltwater tournament trail in the world is run by the Southern Kingfish Association, which puts on or sanctions upwards of 60 events each year from Texas to North Carolina and in every state in between. Over the years AFW/HI-SEAS has been one of the SKA’s most reliable corporate sponsors and with good reason, these events provide an ideal testing ground for many of our products, especially wire leader material. AFW/HI-SEAS Tooth Proof Single Strand Stainless Steel leader wire has been the wire of choice for SKA competition teams for close to twenty years because it performs up to the expectations these anglers demand. I rest my case.

AFW/HI-SEAS has a wide selection of wire and braided cables for every use you can think of in freshwater and saltwater. Do you fish ultra light tackle for pickerel? They’ve got you covered with Surflon Micro Supreme in diameters so small you can hardly see it and that will work well with even the tiniest lures. Best of all you can tie it direct using the same knots you use in monofilament line. And while you’re checking out all the leader products at www.americanfishingwire.com be sure to check out the new Titanium Single Strand and Titanium 1X7 braided materials, the latest in products developed at the AFW research facility.

Teeth are no problem for anglers who fish with AFW/HI-SEAS wire and cable leaders. Check out their website and see for yourself.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: Fly fishing for bluefish, kingfish, pike and other tooth critters is great fun, but they are murder on unprotected tippets. That’s why I tie six to 12 inches of Surflon Micro Supreme using a Uni-to-Uni jam knot between the tippet and fly. Properly done, it’s IGFA legal for record fishing, too.

USE THE RIGHT COMPONENTS FOR CAROLINA RIGS

2010-08-23T03:00:00.009-04:00

One of the most productive methods of fishing plastic worms is the time proven Carolina Rig. It differs from the more commonly used Texas Rig, which places the sinker right on the nose of the bait, by moving the weight a couple feet away using a barrel swivel, bead and short leader. The components you use to make your Carolina Rig can affect how successful it is in attracting bites from wary largemouth bass, but we’ll get into that in a minute. First, why use a Carolina Rig in the first place?

Texas rigged worms are great for shallow water use. You can pitch or cast them into heavy cover and they won’t get hung up. Throw them into the nastiest spots, snake them through the branches of fallen trees, flooded bushes, rip rap, just about anything, without having to worry about negative consequences. Used in this manner they have an enticing action as they fall being pulled down by the slip sinker that slides away from the lure on the drop. Most bites occur on the drop so a low stretch line on your reel like Hi-Seas Grand Slam Braid, Wildfire or 100% Fluorocarbon pays big dividends when fishing Texas rigged worms.

Ah, but the Texas Rig has limitations and when you get it out of shallow cover and into deeper, cleaner bottom areas where bass often retreat to during hot summer weather or when the weather begins to turn cold in the late fall it just doesn’t look very enticing. Fact of the matter is that the worm will have about as much action as a pipe cleaner. That’s where the Carolina Rig takes over. It is right at home in water 10, 15, 20 feet deep and even deeper. The only limitations on depth is increasing the sinker size to get the worm down there and keep it on the bottom. The Carolina Rig keeps the worm separated from the sinker by a couple feet of leader so it can’t inhibit the action as you slide it across the bottom. Use a worm that is slightly buoyant, has a swimming tail or go to a lizard style that looks natural crawling across the bottom and they come alive with the slightest movement.

The rig is easy enough to make. It starts with a standard worm hook tied to an 18 to 24 inch length of leader material. I strongly recommend using Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon for the abrasion resistance and near invisibility it provides, in 16 to 25 lb. test. Remember, lighter leader allows the worm to move more freely back there behind the sinker. At the other end of the leader tie on an AFW Mighty Mini #4 Crane Swivel. Even though they are extremely small the #4 has a breaking strength of 78 lbs. Now slide a slip sinker (¼ to 1 ounce depending on the water depth) and then a tiny plastic bead onto your running line before you tie it to the other side of the swivel and the rig is complete.

The sinker rests against the bead preventing it from jamming on the tiny crane swivel and it also puts out a subtle clacking sound as the sinker bounces back against it while you are working the rig across the bottom.

Carolina rigged worms can be fished using spinning or baitcasting tackle, but be sure you use a moderately stiff graphite rod to enhance your feel and give you a solid hook set when the time comes. Fish the Carolina Rig by making long casts and allowing it to sink to the bottom before you move it. Then reel up any slack line and work the worm by making long, slow sweeps of the rod to the side keeping it horizontal to the water. As you pull it along you will feel the sinker scraping along the bottom and tapping any objects it might come in contact with. A strike can be detected in several ways. You might feel the classic bump through the rod; you might see the line start to move off to one side or another; or the line could tighten up. The last two are indications that a bass has picked up the worm and is swimming away with it. Remember, the bass is pulling the line through the slip sinker, which can dampen the feel of more tradition hits. If you feel or see any of the indicators keep the rod low and strike to the side, not up and over your head. Once you get the hang of it you’ll find the Carolina Rig to be a valuable tactic in your quest to catch largemouth bass. Just be sure to rig ‘em right with Hi-Seas lines and leader material and AFW Mighty Mini Crane Swivels. Using these quality products assures you will get the best performance from your rigs and increase your bites!

Caputi’s Blog Tip:

AFW Mighty Mini swivels and snap swivels are marvels of strength in a tiny package. Old style swivels were made out of brass, which is a soft metal that requires bulk for strength. Mighty Mini’s are finely crafted from stainless steel, which means they are capable of providing three to four times the breaking strength of similarly sized brass swivels.

Offshore Leader Systems

2010-08-16T03:00:00.002-04:00

Canyon fishing is really heating up and a lot of newcomers are heading offshore to get in on the action. One of the key components for successfully pursing tuna and billfish is the leader system and keeping it simple is the way to go. The system I recommend starts with two knots that should be in every offshore angler’s bag of trick and works equally well on any pound class tackle.

Start by creating a double line with the terminal end of the running line using a Bimini Twist. The double line acts as a safety feature when you bring a large fish close to the boat, leader it then gaffed or release it. It’s insurance incase a fish chafes the line or even breaks one of the two legs of the double. It’s saved the bacon many times for me.

For most instances I like the double line to be about 10 feet long, but you can make it longer or shorter if you desire. Then tie a high quality ball bearing swivel to the terminal end of the loop using an offshore swivel knot.

Next comes the leader, which will attach to the double line at the swivel and the strength and length will vary with the application. Each lure or rigged bait will have its own leader. I use Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon in 50 to 130 lb test for rigged ballyhoo because the trolling speed with baits is slower than with lures so the fish get a better look at them and any telltale indication of something not looking just right can be a turn off. Heavy mono leaders are stiff and too visible, hence leaders of lighter testing fluorocarbon.

For lures I make leaders using Grand Slam or Quattro Plus monofilament leader material in 150 to 400 lb test depending on the size of the lure, its swimming action and the fish it is most likely to attract. Lures for blue marlin or bigeye tuna are rigged on heavier leaders than the smaller lures I use to target longfin or yellowfin tuna. If you worry about your leader system being approved for IGFA record catches then keep in mind that you can run a combined double line and leader up to 20 feet up to 20-pound class tackle and up to 30 feet in 30-pound class and heavier.

For chunking tuna day or night use fluorocarbon leaders and have hooks rigged and ready on 30, 50, 80 and 100-lb test so you can start heavy and switch down in thickness if the fish are finicky. Chunking leaders are usually no more than six feet long with an AFW Mighty Mini Crane Swivel at the opposite end from the hook.

With these basic leader systems you can be ready to switch from one technique to another at a moments notice using the same rods. Practice your knots so you’re sure to have them right and go fishing.

Caputi’s Blog Tip:

Circle hooks are your best bet for chunking tuna. I use non-offset circle hooks only usually in size 7/0. Just remember when a fish takes your bait DO NOT try and jerk set the hook. Just slide the drag lever forward and let the line come tight. The hook does the rest.

Tournament of heroes

2010-08-12T03:00:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday I was involved in a tournament for the military called Tournament of Heroes. The event is held during the Dallas Summer boat show. Great event, the soldiers had a good time, the VIP's had a good time, and I had a good time.

There were a few elite guys involved,Gary Klein and Kenyon Hill, along with local fishermen.There were 34 boats (all Tritons) in the tournament. Some were paired with a soldier and others had a soldier and a VIP. The day started with military band, national anthem and a flyover. Then a flotilla type parade out of the marina. The weigh-in was held at Market Hall in downtown Dallas which is around thirty miles from lake Lewisville. We had a police escort in which the highways were shut down to allow us to stay together in a parade of boats.Here are some pictures.This is the third year and it keeps getting bigger and better every year.

P.S. I believe we finished 4th.

Tricks for Summer Trout

2010-08-09T05:00:00.014-04:00

Summer time is not usually considered prime time for trout, but if you start treating the fish that made it through the spring like natives you can score. Most states stock huge volumes of trout in rivers, streams and even ponds prior to the opening day and many “inexperienced” hatchery fish are caught quickly in the first few weeks of the season, but certainly not all of them. Some states do follow up stockings later in the spring and a greater percentage of those fish escape capture to become and join the others to become what are generally called holdovers.

The survivors learn quickly to become more wary and adept at finding hiding spots and ambush points for feeding. They aren’t getting a daily dose of pellets in the hatchery anymore and have to learn to fend for themselves. They start to take on characteristics of native trout and that makes them a more challenging to catch, so you have be a more savvy angler to score, but there will be a lot less angling pressure and more opportunities to have some great spots all to yourself.

Learn to read the water and pick out ambush spots where feeding trout will position themselves to grab prey drifting by. Places like undercut banks, runs with rocks to hide behind, heads of pools, seams and riffles that channel prey items into a specific spot. Acclimated trout will feed on insects, but also have a preference for small fish and that means using tiny spinners and swimming plugs and they can produce some surprisingly large trout. One of my favorites for holdovers is the Rapala F5, a 2-inch wonder that imitates a variety of tiny fish found in streams and rivers. Cast it across current so it swings downstream through a potential feeding station and it is one tough offering for a hungry trout to let go by. Ditto some of my favorite small Roostertail and Vibrax spinners.

To make any of these offerings more inviting line choice is an important component of your strategy and the main considerations are thinness and invisibility. I have walked stretches of streams in the summer behind another angler fishing with just slightly heavier tackle and caught fish that never took a second look at his offerings because I was using Hi-Seas White Lightning monofilament in 4 pound test. This clear, co-polymer line is so thin, only .006 inches diameter, it lets the lures work in a totally natural way and is near impossible to see. Take my word on that because I have a hard time seeing it to tie knots in it! Using the right line and lures will have you catching more and bigger trout during the summer months than you ever thought possible.

Caputi’s Blog Tip:

Summer trout tend to feed most heavily under low light conditions so plan on being on the stream at first light and being done by 8 or 9 AM or go fishing after dinner and watch the stream light up with feeding activity at dusk.

50lbs Cobia in Florida

2010-08-05T05:00:00.000-04:00

The cobia was 50lbs and was caught sight fishing off a shallow shoal in FL. Always nice to catch a fish that's almost as big as you are.

RIGGIN’ FOR JIGGIN’ TUNA

2010-08-02T05:00:00.010-04:00

Butterfly jigs have reawakened interest in one of the oldest techniques for catching saltwater fish—using metal jigs—except now there are specialized rods, high speed reels and a different kind of line that makes it more exciting and productive than ever before.

It is amazing how much pressure
you can put on a fish with these little
outfits paired with Grand Slam Braid.

Jigging for tuna isn’t new by any means. I’ve been doing it since the first time I went to the submarine canyons off the Mid Atlantic Coast over twenty-five years ago and it was already an accepted and well practiced technique, we just didn’t use specialized tackle and jigs. Jigging was done in conjunction with chunking tuna while the boat was either at anchor or drifting. The standard lure was a heavy diamond jig clipped on the end of a 50-pound class stand up outfit. Drop it down, jig it up and down until your arms got tired or you hooked up. When you arms got tired we would drop the jig down 50 to 150 feet, put the line through a release clip and run the clip up to the top of one of the outriggers. As the boat rocked it would do the jigging and when a tuna hit the line would snap out of the clip and hook the fish. No fuss, no muss, but it wasn’t the primary technique we were using, just a adjunct to chunking with bait.

Today the tackle is strikingly different. Light-weight graphite-composite rods are paired with small, high speed reels, both conventional and spinning, that take on big, strong fish like bluefin tuna with surprising ease. Don’t get me wrong, you are going to be on a fish for a while, an hour or better if it’s a larger fish, but the tackle is so light and easy to handle it doesn’t fatigue the angler nearly as much as heavier stand up gear.

The key to the success of the technique and the ability to use such diminutive tackle is the line. Without the advantage of thin, strong, sensitive Spectra® braided like HI-SEAS Grand Slam Braid the whole system would collapse. The light rods still require line of 50 to 80 lb test and the small reels could never hold enough line to challenge fish that fight as hard and run as far as tuna if it wasn’t extremely thin. The last critical factor imparted to the tackle by the line is sensitivity because the line has almost no stretch, which makes is possible to feel a fish hit a jig while it is descending in time to engage the reel and set the hook. The thinness and sensitivity are also critical when jigging in deep water by allowing you to get relatively light jigs down and still feel the hits. We frequently jig and catch bluefin tuna hunting for sand eels right on the bottom in up to 250 feet of water using six and eight ounce jigs!

Little outfit, tough line, big fish!

I usually take two jigging outfits with me. One heavier rod and reel rigged with 80 lb Grand Slam and a lighter outfit rigged with 50 lb. The reels are complete filled with braid. No backing for this set up because if you hook a big tuna you might need every foot of line capacity the reel can carry. I add six feet of HI-SEAS 100% Fluorocarbon or the new Quattro Fluorocarbon as a leader and keep a selection of 40, 50, 80 and 100 lb test onboard in case the tuna are line shy. I tie a 40-turn Bimini Twist in the braid and then attach the leader using a No-Name (worm) knot. I start with heavy leader, usually with 80, and only rarely have to go lighter. But if I’m not getting any hits and there are tuna showing on the depthfinder, I will drop switch to 50 and then 4 lb leader, whatever it takes. On one occasion I had to drop all the way to 30 before the fish started nailing the jig and that’s light for fish that were averaging 70 lbs or better.

These hot new jigging outfits aren’t just for tuna, either. They are gaining popularity for a variety of bottom species like groupers, snappers, jacks and more. Fish that were rarely associated with jigging are being caught on butterfly type jigs. It’s a lot of fun and you should get in on it. Just be sure you’re spooled up with HI-SEAS Grand Slam Braid, it’s the best!

Caputi’s Blog Tip: When attaching a butterfly type jig to your leader leave the hardware out. You want the line attached directly to the welded ring the assist hooks are hanging off. With heavier line you can do it with a crimp or tie a clinch or uni-knot to make the connection.

LEARN FROM THE SKUNK

2010-07-29T05:00:00.000-04:00

Some days you eat the tuna
and other days you don’t.

The recriminations started on the drive home after the long trip offshore to catch tuna and maybe a white marlin with nothing to show for our efforts. Questions filled my head. Did we have the most recent information about fish activity? Did we have the right tackle, lures and baits? When we arrived at the area we chose should we have left sooner or stayed longer? Were other boats doing better in other areas? The list grew progressively longer as I replayed the entire trip, from preparation to on-the-water decisions, in my head.

Every angler regardless of what he fishes for has run up against that brick wall when no matter what you did you got skunked. You thought you did everything right and fished your heart out and ended up with nothing to show for it. This time the trip was from New Jersey’s Barnegat Inlet offshore to the Carteret/Lindenkohl Canyon area 85 miles offshore to fish for tuna. We left a 2 AM after spending hours rigging ballyhoo baits, checking rods and reels, going over the lures, extra leader, rigging components and provisioning the boat with food, drink and ice. We had the latest offshore fishing forecast including the most recent satellite sea surface temperature chart, which we used to pick our spots. We had current intel from several captains who had been out in the prior days and factored that into our decisions.

The temperature break and deep blue water was there when we arrived a little after first light. We marked pods of bait on the depthfinder along the break. It was a text book situation for attracting game fish. The only things missing were the tuna and white marlin…duh…the most important part of the trip. By the time we got back to the dock eighteen hours later we had put a total of 260 miles on the boat running out and back and searching different offshore ar`eas for fish and nada!

Was it disappointing? Sure, but I’ll survive. What does not kill me only makes me stronger and in fishing every trip is an opportunity to learn. Was it the first time I’ve been skunked? No. Will it be the last time? Probably not. So can we take away from the experience? Well you might be surprised, but there are times when you can learn more on a skunk trip than if you had some action! And the day was certainly not wasted.

Don’t put yourself in the dog house
when you don’t catch, learn from the experience.

First and foremost, we had the delightful experience of spending a gorgeous day on the water away from stress with a few good friends who share the same interests—fishing. We got to see whales and porpoises, water so blue it was almost a religious experience, and we matched wits with a sometime elusive quarry that we just didn’t fool this time out. As I analyzed the trip I know we didn’t leave much to chance, but there were some back up plans that could have been in place that might have increased our chances of hooking up. Maybe we were a little over confident when we left the dock.

Some after action investigation calls to other boats that were in the same general area provided a few answers, but we found that we were certainly not alone in our defeat. Very few boats had caught fish that day, although the same areas produced a lot of yellowfin tuna the afternoon and evening before.

Just remember that sport fishing is

not a zero sum game. If you have to catch fish every time you go out to enjoy yourself you probably will not be fishing for very long because you just don’t have the demeanor for it. I learned a long time ago that true fishermen are the most optimistic people in the world because every time they go out they are confident that it’s a new day and they are going to catch fish—even after a trip like the one we just took when we never did seem to get the skunk get out of the boat. I know it’s not going to keep me from heading offshore a gain very soon—maybe tomorrow.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: Make every trip a learning experience and a valuable asset in the future by keeping a fishing log. As your fishing trips mount and the log grows referring back to it can help you catch more fish as you begin to recognize patterns of fish behavior.

Fluorocarbon Leaders: Are they all they’re cracked up to be?

2010-07-26T05:00:00.004-04:00

With a few spools of fluorocarbon,
an assortment of hooks, swivels and beads
I can make bait rigs for anything on the spot.

I remember the first time I was shown fluorocarbon line. It was at the annual sportfishing trade show, which was held in Orlando, Florida that year, and the product was still a year away from general distribution. Rumor had it that it was developed by a Japanese industrialist who was using the material for other applications, but he was also a nut fisherman so he tried extruding it into fishing line.

In its earliest formulations fluorocarbon made lousy line, but one of the properties of the material was interesting. The refractive index was almost identical to water, which meant that it nearly disappears when submerged and that is a benefit for fishermen. So if it was too stiff to be good running line, but was nearly invisible to fish the only option was to offer it as a high priced leader material and that was exactly what it was marketed as. When it hit the stores it was still very stiff. Anything over 50-lb test was difficult to tie knots in and therefore hard to join to mono or braided line, but fishermen like me will try anything that gives them an advantage and it didn’t take long to realize that fluorocarbon did. There was no question that I got more bites using a few feet of fluorocarbon on the end of my line than I did using monofilament leader whether it was clear or tinted.

Fluoro makes bucktails more
effective and this nice fluke is ample proof.

Fluorocarbon has come a long way since then and the state of the art is Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon and the new Quattro Fluorocarbon. In lighter pound tests it is soft enough to use as running line and freshwater bass fishermen do. They spool reels with 12, 15 and 25-lb. test for fishing finesse baits and sinking lures like plastic worms and tie direct to their lures. Fluorocarbon sinks and has less stretch than monofilament, which tends to float, so using it for sinking baits gives them a more realistic presentation, added sensitivity and improved hook set.

But how about fluorocarbon as leader material, does it really do what they claim? The simple answer is yes! From my experience fluorocarbon provides a distinct advantage in clear and not so clear water and even at night! I’ve proven it to myself so many times fishing mono leaders alongside fluorocarbon leaders and watching the results that I rarely ever fish without the fluorocarbon advantage. Invisibility is not the only advantage fluorocarbon provides. The latest generation is softer and easier to tie with testable knot strength as good or better than mono, it is also incredibly abrasion resistant. It’s just the best all round leader materials you can use. If you’re not using HI-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon or the new Quattro 100% Fluorocarbon you are missing out on bites and that’s a fact.

You won’t jig many sharp-eyed bluefin
tuna with fluorocarbon leaders.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: Attach fluorocarbon leaders to mono using a Uni-to-Uni knot. For Grand Slam Braid use a No-Name Knot to prevent the finished knot from slipping. For braid use offshore start by tying a 40 turn Bimini Twist in the braid and then tie the fluoro to the braid with the No-Name to create a simple wind-on leader system.

The Ultimate Fishing Destination - Part 2

2010-07-08T03:00:00.002-04:00

...continued from July 5

Alaska is a fisherman’s dream come true and a vexing problem all rolled into one. With so many places to go and so many different fisheries to explore where do you start? I began my quest to discover Alaska at the Orca Adventure Lodge in Cordova at the southern entrance to Prince William Sound, where we fished for silver salmon in early September of 2002. We made trips to more remote rivers with famous bush pilot Gayle Rainey. Twelve days of incredible fishing, even more incredible scenery, liking flying over the Bering Glacier, only served to whet my appetite for more.

Next I did a two week driving trip from Anchorage to Talketna to Denali National Park and back to the Kenai and Russian Rivers to fish for wild rainbow trout so I could write a story for Field & Stream called “Rainbow Road Trip.” Most recently I spent a week at Icy Bay Lodge in the most remote area of Alaska’s Lost Coast region. We waded shallow bay waters sight casting to huge silver salmon with Mt. Saint Elias, the second tallest mountain in North American, and four major glaciers as the back drop. The region has the highest concentration of brown bears anywhere in the world. We came around a bend in a heavily wooded trail one morning on an ATV and there was a huge moose standing on the trail. We would slip off to sleep each night serenaded by the baying of roving packs of wolves while the huge Bull Mastiff, Zeus, kept the bears out of the lodge area during the night. The glacier-fed waters of Icy Bay were the most beautiful color blue I have ever seen and I can see it in my mind’s eye right now.

If you can only go to one exotic place to fish in your lifetime, make it Alaska. It will be a trip you will remember the rest of your days. The only problem is once you experience this majestic, truly magic place you will want to go back again and again and again. I do.

-Gary Caputi

The Ultimate Fishing Destination - Part 1

2010-07-05T03:00:00.012-04:00

If you are thinking about traveling to some exotic fishing location in the near future I have some advice. I know, advice is cheap, but travel is not and if you’re going to spend the money you want to catch lots of fish, view remarkable natural wonders, interact with animals in the wild and come home with pictures and stories to wow your family and friends. Well read on and hopefully you can benefit from my experiences.

I have had the good fortune to fish in a lot of really incredible places over the years. I’ve made dozens of trips to islands in the Bahamas, crossed the Stream in small boats, and fished for marlin, tuna, wahoo, dolphin and stalked the flats for the ghost-like bonefish there. I’ve fished the Keys for tarpon, permit, bonefish and all over Florida for sailfish. My first trip to Venezuela was almost three decades ago and the billfishing on the fabled La Giuria Banks was unbelievable. I’ve fished all the hotspots in Central America, Costa Rica for Pacific sailfish, Panama for sails and black marlin, Guatemala for even more sails and blue marlin. I’ve spent days on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, where I caught my first marlin over 1,000 lbs. I was one of the first East Coasters to travel to California for a trip on the famous Royal Polaris during long-range fishing’s heyday, spending 16 days at sea catching fish to the point of exhaustion! This year I traveled to the remote Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, where the striped marlin were thick as fleas on a junkyard dog and I hope to return there later this year in search of monster blue marlin.

There are more exotic places on the list, but bragging is not my aim. My experience with fishing travel is extensive; especially when you factor in I am not among the moneyed elite who can take such trips on a whim. But when all is said and done the place I have most fallen in love with and daydream about regularly is right here in the good old USA—ALASKA!

You will find no more beautiful, rugged and exotic place on earth. I’ve been there five times and fished for halibut, silver salmon, the biggest rainbow trout in the world, king and sockeye salmon and even salmon sharks, a close relative of the mako. Each trip was ten days to two weeks and included side trips aboard bush planes with some of the best wilderness pilots and fishing guides in the world and I have not even scraped the surface of what this incredible region has to offer visiting sportsman. Most of Alaska is an unspoiled wilderness with bears, moose, caribou, wolves and some of the most amazing characters you’ll ever meet. The Kenai Peninsula is only a two hour drive from Anchorage where you can catch rainbow trout that can reach 20 pounds, king salmon that can top 100 and see brown bears in their natural habitat. There are hundreds of thousands of square miles of wilderness, millions of miles of streams and rivers, more coastline than the entire East Coast and fish everywhere just waiting to be caught.

...to be continued on July 8

-Gary Caputi

Ultra Light Tackle for Sea Bass

2010-07-01T03:00:00.012-04:00

Home port for me is the Manasquan River in Pt. Pleasant, New Jersey. My trusty center console sits in a slip in a small marina about quarter mile from the inlet so I can be in the ocean within minutes of slipping the lines. From there I have access a variety of bottom and game fish species with the changing seasons that always keeps the fishing interesting.

One of my favorite types of fishing when I just want to relax and catch some fish for the table without working too hard is bottom fishing for fluke and sea bass, both tasty critters. They are also great fish to catch with children or people not too well versed in saltwater fishing. You can fish for them the old fashioned way using sinkers and bottom rigs, but a friend of mine; Tim Surgent – the owner of the popular fishing website Stripersonline.com – introduced me to an even more fun way to catch them a few years ago. He uses ultra light spinning tackle and bucktail jigs.

I remember the first time he showed up with a little freshwater spinning rod loaded with 6-lb test braided line and a box full of bucktails ranging from ¼ to 1-1/2 ounces. I was wondering just what he was going use them for since we would be anchored over a wreck in 75 feet of water fishing for black sea bass. Once we were anchored I took out what I considered light, a baitcasting outfit with 20-lb test Grand Slam Braid and a high-low bait rig with a 3 ounce sinker. As I was baiting up he slipped a strip of squid on the back of a small bucktail and dropped it straight down. When it hit the wreck he reeled up a foot or two and started wiggling the thing around and wham, the rod bent double as a fat sea bass engulfed the jig. It fought like crazy all the way to the surface, where Tim flipped the 3-pound beauty over the rail and into the cooler it went.

He not only out fished me and caught bigger fish to boot! He was having a ball, but little did he know I was sold and the next trip I would be packing a new 5’ ultra light spinning outfit loaded with 6 lb test Wildfire braid and all the small bucktails I had hanging around my tackle bench in the basement. I’ve been an addict ever since.

Some of the things I’ve learned since switching to the tiny tackle is that the super thin braid allows you to get very light jigs to the bottom and feel every twitch and piece of structure it touches. Use a stouter rod and heavier line and those small jigs would probably never make it that deep and would be difficult to feel. The bigger sea bass are aggressive predators and really go for the bucktails, which resemble baitfish. We definitely catch bigger sea bass, and sometimes bigger fluke, on these diminutive outfits and catching them is way more fun because they fight like crazy on the light rods instead of being overmatched by a more typical saltwater tackle.

If you fish for these tasty bottom fish try bringing along a freshwater ultra light outfit next time, but be sure it is filled with very light, very thin braided line. Four or six pound test Wildfire is perfect!

Caputi’s Blog Tip: Sweeten your bucktails. Bring along some squid cut into strips from 2 to 6 inches long. When using longer strips add a stinger hook to the bucktail so you don’t miss short striking fish. “Assist hooks” available at tackle stores make great stingers.

-Gary Caputi

Congratulations, Kim!

2010-06-24T03:00:00.003-04:00

In between filming her TV Show “Breaking the Surface” on The Sportsmans Channel, Kim Bain-Moore found a chance to fish in the 25th Ladies Annual Fish-Off held in South Florida winning #1 Overall Angler. Kim, along with husband Andre Moore, also a member of the AFW/HI-SEAS Pro-Staff and their team “Crikey”, took 8th place overall. Congratulations Kim!

Why Wire Line - Part One

2010-06-21T03:00:00.004-04:00

Trolling with wire line is a commonly misunderstood technique by the uninitiated. It is a wildly successful method of fishing for striped bass, bluefish and wahoo that is being rediscovered by a whole new generation of anglers.

First let’s clear the air a little. Trolling wire is not used to give the angler an unfair advantage and is usually lighter or equal in breaking strength to braid or monofilament line used for the same fish. It’s used to control the depth of the lures. The technique was developed over a hundred years ago to place trolled lures where the target predators spend most of their time, below the surface. For each ten feet of wire in the water the lure gains about one foot of additional depth. A lure will be running at about 20 feet with 200 feet of wire out; 30 feet for 300. This method is most popular for striped bass fishing although tournament wahoo fishermen use wire too, just for slightly different reasons.

A typical wire line outfit for inshore fishing for stripers and bluefish consists of a moderately sized conventional reel and a 7’ or longer trolling rod equipped with carboloy guides to handle the abrasive nature of the wire. The reel gets 200 to 300 yards of monofilament backing (50-lb test Grand Slam works great!) and then 300 feet of 40 or 50-lb test AFW Stainless Steel Trolling Wire or 40, 45 or 50-lb test AFW Monel Trolling Wire. The wire should be marked at intervals of 100’, 150’, 200’ and 250’.

If you’ve never fought a big striper or bluefish with a wire line outfit you don’t know how truly strong these fish are. The wire has zero stretch and you will feel every head shake, turn and hard-charging run of the fish. I’ve been striper fishing for over 25 years and one of the most memorable big striper days I have ever experienced was in November of 1991, when striped bass were scarcer than hen’s teeth, using wire and bunker spoons off Island Beach State Park in New Jersey. Me and my buddy, Joe Nunziato, caught 11 bass over 28-lbs including a 46, a 44, a 40 and several more in the high 30 lb class that morning! I’ve caught a few bigger fish in the years since, but that was a day to remember. Joe and I kept two biggest bass and released the rest and when the word got out we were the talk of the striper coast for weeks! In the early 90’s catching any bass was considered a victory, but this was simply unimaginable! Joe passed away after a very long and painful fight with lung cancer four years ago, but I will always remember him with a big smile as the photographer from The Fisherman magazine was taking our picture holding the two cows standing behind the console of my Mako.

With all the bass around today trolling bunker spoons, shad rigs and parachute jigs on wire line is more productive than ever and thousands of new anglers are rediscovering the joys of using wire line. But enough for right now, we’ll get into trolling for wahoo with wire in a future blog. It’s high speed madness for a fish that is said to be one of the fastest creatures in the sea.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: Step-by-step instructions for marking wire line can be found on the AFW website or in their catalog, which you can download as a PDF file by clicking the link at the bottom of the home page. Then you can print it out for easy reference.

-Gary Caputi

Big Striper Time!

2010-06-17T03:00:00.009-04:00

If you live in the New York Bight area, central Jersey up through the western end of Long Island, the next four weeks are your greatest opportunity to catch a really big striped bass! A couple days ago a 57 pound monster fell to a wood plug cast from a boat off Island Beach State Park and the number of bass in the 30-lb. and up class in the area is staggering.

There are two reasons for this convergence and both have to do with spawning and migration patterns. The main body of fish that had been pouring into this area over the last couple months are mostly mature bass that were preparing to run 40 to 60-miles up the Hudson River to spawn, from the second week of May through the end of the month. Millions of bass make this annual migration and once they are done the run back down river into the waters surrounding the river mouth, they are ravenous and ready to rumble. As I write this, the earliest wave of spawners are coming out of the river while there are still more on the beds or heading that way.

The second wave of bass headed this way spawned in the Chesapeake Bay complex of feeder-rivers about a month ago. Afterward, they left the confines of the bay and started migrating north to their summering grounds off the coast of New England, feeding heavily as they go.

Both bodies of fish are about to collide in the New York Bight, which is currently choked with dense schools of menhaden (bunker) and other types of favored forage. From now through June and possibly well into July, the bass fishing is going to be monumental!

So how do you catch them? A few of my favorite ways are live lining bunker, fishing dead bunker on the bottom, casting big wood swimming plugs and poppers and trolling with wire line and bunker spoons. All work at various times so bring along the tackle for all of them so you’re ready for whatever conditions you might encounter.

Catching live bunker is easy with a cast net or by snagging them with weighted snag hooks. I live line with an outfit comprised of a wide spool baitcasting reel and a stout 7-foot graphite rod loaded with 30 pound Grand Slam monofilament or Grand Slam Braid. I use only the biggest circle hooks (9/0 or bigger) pinned through the nostrils of a live bunker with a 36” leader of Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon in 50 or 60-lb test and a Mighty Mini Barrel Swivel. You can either swim the menhaden near the surface or replace the barrel swivel with a 3-Way swivel and sinker to get it deep or even right on the bottom.

Watch upcoming blogs on using plugs and trolling wire line for big stripers and remember, these are great game fish that deserve to be handled gently and released. Keep the small one for the table and let the biggest females go to spawn again.

-Gary Caputi

Can You Feel It?

2010-06-14T03:00:00.005-04:00

It doesn’t matter if you’re fishing in freshwater or salt, many of the techniques we use to catch fish rely on the angler’s ability to “feel” what’s going on at the other end of the line.

I remember when I first started fishing plastic worms for largemouth bass. That was back in the day when there were only a couple companies’ even making plastic worms. I was using the best baitcasting reels and one of the first graphite rods blanks to come on the market. It had all the action of a pool cue, but man you could really stretch a fish’s neck with that sucker! A bass pretty much had to swim away with the worm to feel the bite because of the stretch in the monofilament line.

If I had the advantage of lines like HI-SEAS Wildfire, Grand Slam Braid or Quattro Fluorocarbon my hook-up ratio would have soared! These great new lines make feeling the bite so much easier. Wildfire and Grand Slam Braid have virtually no stretch so they transmit the most subtle sensations directly back to the angler’s hand. Quattro 100% Fluorocarbon has a small amount of stretch, but not enough to dampen the connection between the angler and the lure. It’s ideal for lures like plastic worms and finesse baits because it sinking more uniformly with the lure allowing you to maintain a tighter line as it is dropping. Tighter line means a more direct connection and the ability to feel and respond instantly.

The ability to “feel” isn’t exclusive to freshwater techniques. There are many techniques used in saltwater that benefit dramatically from using low stretch lines. Butterfly jigging for grouper or tuna is impossible without superbraid lines. With Grand Slam Braid and a high speed reel you can work lighter jigs deeper because the line is so thin and still feel every bite. Then a quick lift transmits all the energy and force of the rod into the hook set.

I enjoy bottom fish for a wide variety of species. Sometimes I use jigs or bucktails and other times I use bottom rigs and bait. Regardless, braided line makes feeling the most subtle bite and results in fewer missed opportunities. It makes filling the cooler with tasty fillets a lot easier.

Hi-Seas has the right line to match up with any fishing technique. Spend some time looking around www.hiseas.net and you’ll find the perfect line to make your fishing more productive, no matter what you are fishing for.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: For most applications a leader of fluorocarbon or monofilament is used with braided lines. When fish are being finicky and bites hard to come by try changing leaders. If you are using mono, switch to fluorocarbon to reduce visibility. If you are already using fluorocarbon switch to a lighter pound test.

-Gary Caputi

Drag Racing

2010-06-10T03:00:00.001-04:00

A lot is riding on the performance of the drag system of the reel when you’ve got a fish on the line. You can use the best line and terminal tackle and tie perfect knots, but if your drag is not performing correctly you will break fish off, especially big fish that test the limits of your tackle and angling skill.

The drag system on your reel works in much the same way as the brakes on your car. A combination of metallic and non-metallic disks rotates against one another to generate friction. The break pedal in your car controls the amount of pressure the brake pads place against the rotors and subsequently how hard the vehicle stops. A drag knob, star wheel or lever controls the pressure on the drag disks and how much force it will take for a fish to pull line off the reel. A drag system has to be smooth, adjustable and free of excessive start-up inertia—the need for greater force to get the disks to start slipping. If your reel is not up to these standards it should be serviced before your next fishing trip.

Setting a drag is best done with a drag scale. The typical drag setting is about one third of the breaking strength of the line for spinning and star drag reels. Set the drag with the line going through the rod guides, the end attached to a stationary object, tighten it a few turns and pump line from the reel against the drag, then reel back down. Do this at least a half dozen times to warm up the drag washers. Then attach the line to the drag scale and pull the rod and reel back with the rod tip pointed straight at the scale until the drag begins to slip. Check the scale for a reading and adjust the drag knob accordingly. Repeat the process until you get the desired setting.

Lever drag reels offer the option of changing the drag pressure during a fight and feature “strike” and “full” drag positions. Set strike at 30%, full at 50% and add one or two tape marks on the reel body for settings less than strike. That way you always know how much pressure you’re putting on a fish.

Drags are critical to fishing success. Be sure yours are at peak performance and you won’t be crying the blues when the big one breaks free.

-Gary Caputi

National Championship

2010-05-27T03:00:00.004-04:00

Recently I competed in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship on Ft. Loudoun lake in Knoxville, TN- one of the biggest bass fishing tournaments of my entire career. With a first prize of $100,000, it was not something my partner Kevin and I were going to take lightly. Representing North Carolina State University's fishing team, we spent a large portion of the month prior to the event on the lake practicing and learning the lake. Thanks to some thorough homework, we were able to find some excellent areas that we really felt good about. We were catching fish on Strike King Flat Shad crankbaits in Chartruese/Black back using Hi-Seas Grand Slam 12lb monofilament.

Come the first day of the tournament, one of our key areas was ruined by cold water runoff, but we were able to use a few of our backup spots to catch enough fish to put us in 7th place after day one, two spots away from making the top 5 cut which was made after day 2. Going in to Day two, with the same conditions, we hit the same areas that we caught our fish in the day before. Unfortunately, for some reason, the fish were just not eating right. We were able to hook up with several fish, but they quickly shook off- they were not eating it right. We tried other areas, adjusted the lure and color selection, but we could not buy a keeper bite! Unfortunately we were not able to put things together on day two, and did not make the top 5 cut.

On Monday, the final day, instead of moping around about our poor performance on the prior day, I volunteered to take two soldiers fishing. I took them to the same exact areas that I fished the day before, and we WHACKED them! Both of the soldiers caught the biggest bass of their life- and I personally had 14lbs on my best 5 fish. The funny thing about it was that the biggest bag brought in by the final day competitors was only 10lbs. Its sad that we were not able to catch them on Day 2 like we did on Day 3, but I cannot complain about having a great time with two soldiers that deserved a great day on the water!

-Ben Dziwulski, collegiate angler from NC State University

How deep is DEEP?

2010-05-24T03:00:00.013-04:00

I made mention of deep drop fishing in my last blog “Braid Rules!” and got some emails asking “how deep can you fish with the right gear?”

Deep drop fishing comes in three varieties— Deep, Very Deep and Extreme. I have had the opportunity to cover the bases using a mix of human and electric powered reels and they all have their appeal, not the least of which is you never know what you might drag up from down there!

DEEP starts around 250 feet and extends to 500 feet. A high-speed conventional reel and a rod capable of handling sinkers up to 24 ounces will do the trick. Depending on where you fish theses depths can give up codfish, pollock, haddock, a variety of groupers and snappers, gray tilefish, wreckfish and amberjacks.

VERY DEEP goes from 500 to 800 feet. If you’ve got the stamina, a heavy conventional outfit that can handle sinkers up to 4 pounds will work, but a moderately sized electric reel makes for a lot less work. It also means no possibility of a recognized world record fish because the IGFA does not recognize electrics as legal sport fishing tackle. These depths can hold golden and gray tilefish, snowy grouper, wreckfish, yelloweye snapper, wolfish, weird eels and a host of oddities you’ve never seen before.

EXTREME is 800 feet or more and really separates the men from the boys. Big electric reels are expensive and boat handling is critical to hold position over structure. The deepest I’ve fished was in the Bahamas and we caught beautiful and very tasty queen snappers in 1,300 to 1,500 feet of water and a very rare six-gill shark over 500 lbs.

There is one thing all these rigs have in common—braided line. Without the thin diameter and low stretch of Grand Slam Braid you would never be able to see or feel a fish hit at those depths, never mind set the hook. On conventional reel and smaller electrics 80-lb Grand Slam Braid is ideal. On middle-weight electrics 100 to 150 lb. is the way to go. On the electric reels capable of raising a truck off the ground you don’t want to use anything lighter than 200 lb. To go deep, use the line that gets the job done – HI-SEAS Grand Slam Braid.

Braid Rules

2010-05-20T09:57:00.001-04:00

I like fishing with braid! It’s great line for a wide variety of fishing situations from freshwater to extreme deep-drop fishing for denizens of the really deep!

Before HI-SEAS Grand Slam Braid was available to the public, I was testing prototypes of this Spectra wonder line to make sure it met the performance standards fishermen expect from HI-SEAS products. It didn’t take long to determine it was everything an angler could want in a high performance braid and much more. I used it on baitcasting, spinning and conventional reels and it performed beyond my expectations in all instances. Since going on the market, I continue to use it for all kinds of applications and it just keeps proving itself.

It’s great in light tests on spinning tackle with all kinds of artificial lures, for surfcasting, on baitcasting reels for everything from live bait to artificial lures, on light conventional outfits for trolling, heavy stand up tackle for battling oversized tuna and marlin, for butterfly jigging and even as backing on big game fly reels. I was using 80-lb Grand Slam Braid when I broke the world record golden tilefish, which was caught in almost 700 feet of water! The line is so stretch free that I could feel the lightest bites that far below the boat.

The performance characteristics of Grand Slam Braid make it a versatile line. Its thin diameter, extremely low stretch, superb sensitivity and solid abrasion resistant qualities have made it the go to line for fishermen everywhere.

HI-SEAS recently introduced Wildfire, a new kind of Spectra braid that has a fused outer sheath that makes it perform more like mono in some applications while retaining the great qualities of Grand Slam Braid. It’s still very thin, low stretch and has great sensitivity, but the fusing process gives it a rounder profile and smoother outer surface. It is quieter going through rod guides and works extremely well with the same knots that work in mono. The more I use Wildfire the more I like it especially on freshwater size spinning and baitcasting tackle. It casts great and hook sets are quick and positive. If you’ve been thinking about trying a Spectra braid, but are worried about having to tie special knots forgetaboutit! Get Wildfire and it will spoil you from the first time you use it.

Caputi’s Blog Tip:

Trolling deep diving plugs like Mann’s Stretch Series or Rapala X Rap Magnums is a great way to catch a variety of game fish. To get the depth the plugs are rated for use Grand Slam Braid. Its thin diameter cuts the water and lets the plugs dig deep.

-Gary Caputi

Be a Fan of our Blog and You Could Win!

2010-05-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

Subscribe to our blog for weekly stories and be part of the AFW & HI-SEAS fishing community! Be one of the first 100 people to follow our blog and you'll be entered to win a free spool of HI-SEAS Quattro 100% Fluorocarbon line or leader. Five winners will be picked randomly from the first 100 followers! If you have a gmail account, click the google-follow button to sign-up. If you don't, simply add your email address to the feedburner section.

Thinking About Braid

2010-05-14T11:30:00.001-04:00

I used braided line for the past few years on the big guns, Tiagra 30 WLRS' for tuna, wahoo, etc. Played around with it on my king mackerel reels but never took a liking to it until Hi-Seas came out with the Grand Slam red braid.

Started thinking about it all winter and thought of the upside and downside to using braid. The biggest concern was how to overcome the stretch factor of mono and prevent from pulling hooks on the speedy kings who get hooked all over their body most of the time, rarely in the mouth.

The plan is to use 30 to 40 ft. of 20 to 25 lb. Quattro Flouro carbon leader for stretch, use a Red Phillips knot to connect the 50 lb. test red braid to the leader. Rigged a reel just like this yesterday to chase Cobia in seas that were too rough to sight cast, so we anchored up with no luck.

If you live in warmer climes and can catch kings, try the above set up and let me know how it worked for you by leaving a comment!

Thanks for reading,

Captain Stanman

www.captainstanman.us

Thoughts on Knots

2010-05-10T05:00:00.001-04:00

Of all the things you need to know to be a successful fisherman, knots are probably responsible for creating more confusion and anxiety than anything. I have one friend who has fished with me for years who still asks me to tie one specific knot even though I’ve shown him how to do it dozens of times, and it’s not a particularly difficult one to tie or remember. He just has no confidence in his ability to do it correctly. Weird but true.

For new comers to the sport, knots can be a conundrum because there are so many basic knots capable of doing the same thing and so many different opinions on which ones work best. It can really make your head spin if you let it. The funny thing is fishing knots don’t have to be a source of confusion. Most are not hard to learn, you just have to be willing to practice a little.

Here’s some simple advice. Forget about trying to learn dozens of different knots (unless you are a knot collector, and I have met a few over the years) and instead just learn to tie the few you’ll need. I figured out a simple truth a long time ago—it is far better to know how to tie a few knots really well than to know how to tie lots of different knots poorly. Tying a simple knot that might only be rated at 85% of the breaking strength of the line perfectly will serve you better than trying to tie a more complicated knot that is rated at 100% of the line strength, except you tie it so sloppily that it only tests out to 50%! Get the picture?

There are plenty of resources for selecting and learning to tie knots—books, pamphlets and even animated websites. You can call or email AFW/HI-SEAS and request a free booklet on the subject. But all the information in the world is useless unless you’re willing to practice tying the knots you want to use. Get some line, sit down with the resource, and start tying following the instructions. Once you understand the procedure, close the book or website and keep tying it from memory. Tie it a few dozen times examining each knot carefully to see that it cinched up properly. Test the knots to see if they slip or if they are strong as they should be. Only after you are confident in your ability to tie a knot perfectly should you start using it on the water.

I purposely keep my repertoire of knots to a minimum, but I can tie all of them quickly under almost any fishing conditions and feel confident that they will perform. It is so rare that I loose a fish because of knot failure that I can’t remember the last time it happened. So, learn to tie a few knots really well, go fishing, and stop worrying.

-Gary Caputi

Cliff Pace, 2nd Place Winner of the Alabama Charge, accredits HI-SEAS with his success of 70 pounds, 4 ounces

2010-05-06T05:00:00.003-04:00

Cliff Pace (2nd, 70-4)
I fished the main river where there was a lot of current. My area ranged from 5 to 10 feet deep with a lot of underwater current breaks — rock, snags, humps, whatever. The fish were tucked in behind the breaks.

A lot of the guys were catching tons of bass. I wasn't. I was picking them off one at a time. I'd find a spot, take a fish from it and then come back in an hour or two and do the same thing again. That worked for me all four days.

The key was to drag a 1/2-ounce V&M football jig — green pumpkin — with a plastic trailer as slow as possible over, through and behind the current breaks. It was a matter of having the patience to stick it out. If you pulled it up off the bottom, the current would wash it away.

I tossed my jig with a 7 foot, 3 inch CastAway Grass Master Braid Heavy XP rod and an Abu Garcia Revo reel (6.4:1 gear ratio) spooled with 15-pound-test Hi-Seas Fluorocarbon line.

My line gets a lot of the credit for my performance. Hi-Seas makes a tough, abrasion-resistant product. I needed that in all the heavy stuff I was fishing. I never broke off or lost a fish that mattered all four days.

-Courtesy of bassmaster.com

-Photo by James Overstreet

Opening Day: A Fishing Tradition

2010-05-03T05:00:00.005-04:00

The term “opening day” has just one meaning for fishermen and that’s the kickoff of trout fishing for a new season. It’s a right of Spring, a cause for celebration, and a ritual all rolled into one - and this year was no different for millions of anglers. In my home state, Opening Day fell on April 10th.

About a week before, the ritual began by dragging out the tackle for a preseason tune up. Considering I spend most of my time chasing saltwater fish big enough to eat the average size stocked trout, around here the rod, reel, and lures certainly seem diminutive by comparison. But matching the tackle to the fish is what makes fishing fun.

I had to clean the dust off the tiny spinning reel, give it a shot of lubricant and replace the old line. I spooled it with HI-SEAS White Lightning in two-pound test, a line so thin I don’t know if I should put my glasses on or take them off to see it when tying knots. It’s a very limp line, which is important when you know the water is going to be cold and after the winter we had, the streams would be freezing!

The rod is a 4-1/2 ultra light, very short, but ideal for casting under overhanging branches to reach undercut banks where trout like to hide. With such light line it’s a good idea to check the guides for nicks or cracks. I absconded with an old pair of my wife’s panty hose and cut a few pieces of material out of it. You can detect any defects by running one through the guides and feeling for snags on the cloth.

Then I checked my waders to make sure there wouldn’t be any unpleasant surprises when I stepped down into the stream and located my vest, which still had plastic tackle boxes filled with tiny spinners, plugs, and other goodies to make sure they were stocked with everything I would need.

Come the fateful day I met my neighbor at 5 AM and headed to one of the lesser known streams the state stocks nearby and was in hip deep water when the season officially opened. We fished for a few hours catching an even trout between us, keeping a few for dinner, before driving to a diner for a late breakfast in celebration of another annual rite of passage. After the opening day rush subsides in a week or two I’ll sneak back to the stream for a few hours of fishing before or after work, but this time I’ll bring the fly rod. Hope you had a happy opening day, too.

-Gary Caputi

Lessons Learned While Rigging for Monsters

2010-04-29T05:00:00.014-04:00

More fish are lost as a result of connection failures than for any other reason. That’s a fact! When fishing for freshwater or inshore saltwater species, most connections are made using knots so being a proficient knot tier is critical. You can use the best tackle, line, leader and lures, but if your knots are poorly tied you’re going to be a very unhappy angler.

When fishing for the biggest fish on the planet, creating 100% connections is paramount because the margin of error is mighty slim. When I was on assignment Down Under for Yachting and Motor Boating with an Australian yacht builder, part of the trip included a few days of fishing on the Great Barrier Reef with Capt. Sharky Miles for black marlin, which grow to well over 1,000 pounds. Back in the States I’ve rigged all manner of big game tackle for tuna and billfish using AFW/HI-SEAS lines, leader materials, crimps, swages and special knots, but the game was nowhere near as large. The rigging systems Sharky used on his 130-lb. class outfits included tricks I had never seen before. He called it “fail-proofing” and when I hooked my first big black I could see why he took such extreme precautions.

To create a double line in the 130-lb. mono he used a modified Bimini Twist, but finished it with overlapping half-hitches of waxed floss so the knot couldn’t unravel or get chafed going in and out of the guides. Where the double line was mated to an extra-heavy duty snap swivel, he created a horseshoe on the loop with floss to prevent the swivel from turning over on the line and breaking it, a problem that can occur with huge fish that jump a lot and boy do black marlin jump!

The leader between the swivel and the trolling baits was 600-pound test and the connections were all carefully compressed aluminum swages, which won’t slip or cut the leader with sharp edges. The rigged baits weighed from 10 to 20-lbs. and were attached to 22/0 circle hooks strong enough to tow a car.

Even when taking such incredible care with rigging, the odds of landing one of these incredible fish are 50/50! On the second day I fought and released one estimated at over 1,000-lbs, my first Grander! The third day we hooked another that was even larger and fought it for 2-1/2 hours. As the mate was wiring the big fish to the boat to be released the 600-lb. leader popped. It had chafed through from contact with the rough bill.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: Time spent learning the right connections, knots, and the proper way to tie them is time well spent. The same philosophy applies to using crimps and swages. The complete line of matched components from AFW/HI-SEAS can meet any fishing need from making Carolina Rigs for largemouth bass to “fail-proofing” the biggest big game tackle.

- Gary Caputi

My First Open Experience

2010-04-26T05:00:00.001-04:00

On the drive down to Amistad, I couldn't wait to get there and put the boat in the water and start practicing for my first BASS Central Open. After 600 miles and 9 1/2 hours of driving I finally arrived there, but the only bad thing was it was too late to start fishing that day. On the first morning of practice, I started throwing a DD22 on 15# Quattro Fluorocarbon and the first fish I caught was a 7! I ended the day with a little over 20 pounds but on Amistad - that is just an average day. The first day of the tournament finally comes and I decided that I was going to make a long run up the lake. The first fish I caught was a 6 and that just got the day off to a good start. At the end of the day I had 22.1, and was in 13th place and was really hoping the wind wouldn’t blow the next day, which it did. After the tournament was over I ended in 90th which was really disappointing. But I have to say that i was flipping trees in 20 feet of water with 15# Hi-Seas fluorocarbon and I never broke off. Its time to start getting ready for the next open on the Red River this should be interesting!

-Zach Gagnard

HI-SEAS and AFW are the Exclusive Line and Wire for Bill Dance Outdoors and Bill Dance Saltwater Television Shows!

2010-04-23T09:40:00.003-04:00

HI-SEAS is proud to announce that they have joined forces as a sponsor of Bill Dance, world famous fisherman, and his television shows Bill Dance Outdoors and Bill Dance Saltwater. Bill is one of the world’s most famous fishermen and currently is featured in his two shows Bill Dance Outdoors and Bill Dance Saltwater. Bill Dance Outdoors premiered on a Memphis ABC affiliate in 1968 and has been growing in popularity ever since. Today the show is televised nationwide and its host has achieved celebrity status among the nation’s 45 million anglers. Bill Dance Outdoors is featured on the Versus channel five times per week and Bill Dance Saltwater is featured on the Outdoor channel three times per week.

Dance is excited to incorporate HI-SEAS fishing line in his show, “Today I'm doing just that with some of the fine products that Hi-Seas offers. Like Grand Slam mono and braid, Wildfire and Quattro Fluorocarbon. HI-SEAS was originally designed for saltwater, but several years ago it was also introduced into the freshwater market. To me that says a lot! If it's tough enough to withstand the punishment of salt and all its toothy creatures, it's more than adequate for fresh.” He also says, “I'm highly impressed with Hi-Seas and proud to tell America that they are now a major sponsor of Bill Dance Outdoors and Bill Dance Saltwater.”

“We are extremely excited to have teamed up with Bill Dance. Bill is a fishing legend and icon in the industry and we are looking for Bill to help us grow HI-SEAS to the next level.” says HI-SEAS Sales Manager Steven Miller.

“HI-SEAS is well established in the saltwater market with over 30 years of successful product growth. We introduced our quality freshwater products 5 years ago and have had a fantastic response from the industry. Bill’s support and following will help us educate anglers more on HI-SEAS and continue to establish HI-SEAS as a household brand name in both the freshwater and saltwater markets.”, responds Mike Shields, HI-SEAS Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Bill Dance Outdoors and Bill Dance Saltwater provide a primetime platform showcasing HI-SEAS line and leader products to over 20 million households. This platform will educate anglers nationwide on all of their unique quality products such as Grand Slam Mono & Braid, Wildfire and Quattro 100% Camo Fluorocarbon. Stay tuned to the Versus Channel to see HI-SEAS featured on Bill Dance Outdoors and on Bill Dance Saltwater featured on the Outdoor Channel.

First Stripers of the Year

2010-04-22T05:00:00.014-04:00

I don’t truly believe it’s Spring until I catch my first striped bass and this year it happened on the first Sunday in April (4/4/10). I hooked up with my buddy, Capt. Terry Sullivan of Flats Rat Charters, and we launched his 21’ bay boat on the Shrewsbury River in Oceanport, New Jersey.

The Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers wind their way through some very scenic areas of northern Monmouth County before joining into one and then emptying into Sandy Hook Bay under the Highlands Bridge. They are part of a massive staging area for mature striped bass prior to the spawning run up Hudson River late in May. This estuary complex encompasses waters in southern Connecticut, western Long Island and northern New Jersey and is also the nursery area for millions of smaller stripers. That’s what we were out to catch.

The rivers warm much earlier than the nearby bay and ocean. As temperatures rise into the mid 50’s the stripers begin hunting the river’s abundant baitfish population presenting an opportunity to catch them using tackle that would be more appropriate for freshwater bass fishing.

I had three outfits with me, two spinners on 7’ light and light-medium action rods, and one small baitcasting reel on a 7’ straight-butt trigger stick, also light action. All three were loaded with HI-SEAS Wildfire, a fused Spectra braided line that has all the best properties of braid; extreme sensitivity and almost no stretch for great hook sets even at the end of a long cast, which is a good thing considering no line I’ve used casts further. Unique to fused Spectra is that you can use all the same knots you use with monofilament. The lightest spinner was filled with 10-lb. and the other spinner and baitcaster were spooled with 12 lb. All three were tipped with a three-foot leader of HI-SEAS 100% Fluorocarbon in 20 lb. for two reasons—to reduce visibility of the line nearest the lures and because it has excellent abrasion resistance. Stripers don’t have teeth, but do have sandpaper-like surfaces on their jaws and there is structure in the form of rocks, docks and pilings where we would be fishing.

We ran down the Shrewsbury and into the Navesink where we started exploring coves on the north side of the river using a bow-mounted electric trolling motor for a quiet approach. South-facing coves warm quickly and we encountered water temps to 60 degrees by mid morning. Once the tide started running we saw bait schools moving through the coves, some being harassed by feeding stripers. We started ripping four inch swimming plugs through the shallow water. They are a good imitation of the prevalent baitfish in size and color, but the bass ignored them so I switched over to a 4” paddle-tail plastic shad in white and chartreuse. The first cast with a fast retrieve was rewarded with an aggressive hit by a small bass. After a short tussle my first striper of the year came to the side of the boat where it was unhooked and released. A few minutes later Terry had a bass take a shot at his lure, but miss. There was another one was with it so I made a quick cast and hooked up immediately with a much larger fish. It took off smoking the 10-lb Wildfire off the reel as a huge smile broke out on my face. Striped bass in shallow water are an absolute joy to catch and this was one no slouch. After a spirited fight the 12-lb. bass was subdued for a quick picture and release. Spring had definitely arrived!

-Gary Caputi

2010-04-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

HI-SEAS Pro Staff, Jeff Kriet, set the lake record and caught this 12lb 10oz Largemouth last Wednesday on Lake Murray in Oklahoma using 15lb HI-SEAS Fluorocarbon Line.

"I was just out with a buddy (Gene Eisenmann) fishing for smallmouths with spinning gear, and we'd probably caught about 50," he said. "Then we slid back in this little pocket and there's a swamp donkey sitting next to a stump. I said, 'Hey, there's a 6-pounder,' which shows how good I am at sight-fishing. It ran underneath the boat and got hung up in the keep protector. It was on the other side of the boat when I finally got the line out of there, and then it got hung up on my Power-Pole after that. If it was a tournament, that fish would've come off for sure. I'm just glad it wasn't on film because it would've been ugly, and if I'd have know how big she was, I know I would've lost her."
Once it was in the boat, he was prepared to call it an 11-pounder and let it go right there, but Eisemann suggested they take it to the marina because it might be a lake record. Sure enough, it eclipsed the previous certified mark by more than 2 pounds.

"I'd caught a few 10s, but I've been fishing there my whole life. At a jackpot tournament on Tuesday night it took 8 pounds to win, so it's not like somebody catches one every day. I fished that tournament and I caught five for 7 pounds."

Welcome!

2010-04-15T11:13:00.002-04:00

Welcome to the first in a continuing series of blogs aimed at providing useful and entertaining information and advice for anglers from AFW/Hi-Seas. In the coming weeks and months it will feature ramblings from me, and a stable of guest bloggers. These will include TV fishing personalities like Bill Dance, host of Bill Dance Outdoors and a legend in the bass fishing community, and Dennis Braid, host of TV’s Monster Fish and one of the top big game fishermen in the world. You’ll also find helpful tips, tricks and techniques from our Prostaff of professional and tournament anglers include Cliff Pace, Jeff Kriet, Jeff Connella, Terry Scroggins, Elite B.A.S.S. anglers all, in addition to Kim Bain-Moore, the first woman to compete in the Bassmaster Classic. Kim is equally competitive fishing the SKA Professional Kingfish Tour with her husband, Andre Moore. And those are just a few of the dozens of pros who will be giving up secrets to help you catch more fish!

Fishing is as old as the human experience and as fresh as the latest innovation in tackle and techniques. It is an evolving sport that means different things to different people. To some it’s the opportunity to get on the water and enjoy nature to others it’s the ability to catch a few fish for table. For the more competitive among us, it’s the challenge of pitting their skills against other anglers whether the prize is bragging rights, cash or glory! Some fish from the bank or beach while others employ boats. Fishing is a diverse outdoor recreation, yet when all is said and done we are all members of a fraternity of anglers that is rich in history and tradition.

My name is Gary Caputi and I have been fishing since childhood and been lucky enough to spend most of my adult years working in the fishing tackle industry, writing for fishing magazines and hosting seminars aimed at teaching this great sport to others. My fishing experience runs the gamut—fresh water panfish, bass, trout, walleye, pike, salmon and brushes with exotics like musky and even peacock bass. And while there is nothing I enjoy more than making a delicate presentation to a trout lurking in a stream or the site of a smallmouth bass launching skyward after taking a tube jig presented with ultra light tackle, I must admit to having saltwater running through my veins.

Striped bass are a favorite quarry, as are redfish, snook and tarpon, but I am equally at home bottom fishing for blackfish, sea bass, grouper, snapper, amberjacks and even deep dropping for tilefish. Offshore, in the realm of blue water, I’ve caught every species of billfish including Atlantic and Pacific sailfish, white, striped, blue and even grander black marlin on Australia’s famed Great Barrier Reef! Some day I hope to catch the elusive spearfish, but I am not losing any sleep over it. Billfish are great fun, the fish many anglers feel mark the pinnacle of achievement, but the sheer freight train strength and bulldog tenacity of tuna is an incredible rush, not to mention back breaking exercise keeps me going to the gym so I can handle the punishment!

After more than 40 years on the water I can honestly say I love all types of fishing and I will use my expertise to help readers of this blog expand their fishing knowledge and improve their fishing prowess.

Those are my bona fides. Now a word about our blog hosts, AFW/Hi-Seas, two great fishing product lines under one roof that offer anglers like you and me a fantastic assortment of great fishing products. Based in Pennsylvania and family owned for almost forty years, their goal has been to provide anglers with the very best fishing line, wire goods, rigging components, tools and accessories. All of us on the Prostaff are proud to be associated with this great company run by such fine people.

So mark the AFWHISEAS Blog Spot on your favorites or sign up to receive the blogs regularly by email. We’ll do our best to keep the information coming and make the learning experience an enjoyable one.

-Gary Caputi