While a common mantra for catching flounder — “fish near the bottom, stupid” — is mostly true, being tuned in to exceptions and nuances increases the odds of bagging big flatties.

No one’s better at doing just that than top flounder fishing guides and pros. Questions we asked included what are the best flounder rigs, what’s the best bait for flounder, where can we catch flounder, and when is the best time to catch them. Here’s what the 10 experts said.

Catching Flounder in Maine

• Expert: Barry Gibson
• Region: Booth Bay Harbor, Maine
• Species: Winter flounder (known as “blackbacks” locally)

The late Barry Gibson spent decades targeting winter flounder. In fact, it was easy to spot his 28-foot Whitewater during the hot flounder months of July through September. “Area tides don’t make a lot of difference,” said Gibson. “Flounder like moving water around coves, estuaries and inlets that present fairly deep centers and shallow fringes. A sand or gravel bottom is ideal, but they’ll also feed over mud and grassy areas as well as mussel beds and creeks that empty into deeper water.

Maine Flounder Fishing Tips

• Go Zobo: Fish a Zobo rig developed by Pete Santini, a tackle-shop owner in Everett, Massachusetts. It’s essentially a high-low rig with hooks and 2- or 3-ounce sinkers painted orange or yellow for more visual appeal.
• Seduce with Sandworms: The best bait for flounder is a 3-inch section of a live sandworm. To make the worms less slippery, put them in a plastic container half filled with corn meal.
• Move It: Blackbacks feed more by sight than scent; try moving the bait a few inches at a time.

Catching Flounder in Massachusetts

• Expert: Capt. Jason Colby
• Region: Boston Harbor and Quincy Bay
• Species: Winter flounder

Catches of winter flounder weighing 3 pounds or more often reward anglers fishing with Capt. Jason Colby. You can find him aboard his 31-foot Contender with dual 300-hp Yamahas. He says the best months for winter flounder are May, June and July, and August to September for summer flounder, aka fluke. (Colby says summer flounder are encountered more often during August and September past Cape Cod.) Colby prefers no wind, but a light breeze with the tide works fine. “Generally, I drift over smooth bottom and anchor where there’s structure,” he says.

Massachusetts Flounder Fishing Tips

• Drop Down: Flounder tend to gather on the deeper side of a ledge, especially on a falling tide, around creek mouths that feed into larger bodies of water. Sometimes flounder follow baits to an anchored boat, so periodically drop straight down.
• A Puff of Mud: When chumming in a current over mud or sand, bounce your flounder rig on the bottom: Lift it 2 inches, and drop it suddenly. That creates a particulate puff each time the sinker hits, and blackbacks hustle over.
• Clam Up: Colby’s consistent success often relies on a two-hook tandem rig with one leader a little longer than the other. Put a clam on the shorter hook and a worm on the longer one — more flounder will go for the worm, but the clam is likely to attract the big boys.

Catching Flounder in New Jersey

• Expert: Capt. Scott Newhall
• Region: Southern New Jersey
• Species: Summer flounder

“Summer flounder start arriving around the coast in this area in April and during all of May,” says Capt. Scott Newhall. “Then they head into the back bay before reaching the continental shelf for the winter.” A veteran in the guiding biz, Newhall fishes a 21-foot Contender. “In the back bay, you want two hours before and after high tide, since you often get cleaner water then,” Newhall says. “Light winds add to the bite, and I run a drift speed of half to 1 mile per hour.”

New Jersey Flounder Fishing Tips

• Gulp! Over Gulp!: Go with a single-hook ­bucktail tipped with a Berkley Gulp!. Ten inches above that, thread a bare Gulp! onto a hook — all colors seem to work well. Vary the retrieve from a long stroke to rapid fire.
• Lots of Live Baits: Effective live baits include minnows, peanut menhaden (pogies or bunker), baby bluefish, striped killifish or mullet, fished on a bare hook.
• Structure on Sand: For ocean fishing, stay tight to structure where the debris or metal meets the sand. If you get a bite and the flounder drops the bait, immediately set it back.

Catching Flounder in North Carolina

• Expert: Capt. Jeff Onley
• Region: Albemarle Sound
• Species: Southern and summer flounder

Capt. Jeff Onley, who guides from a deep-V Polar Kraft, says the best flounder months in his neck of the woods are May to September, when winds come from the southwest to clear up water and push tides higher. “I prefer braided 6-pound line, up to 12-pound around structure when bigger flounder or stripers are in the mix,” says Onley.

North Carolina Flounder Fishing Tips

• Deploy a Dropper: A dropper rig using a rounded weight and, above it, a hook tied to the line or leader, helps avoid break-offs around structure.
• Best Baits and Lures for Flounder: The best live baits for flounder are croaker or mullet. For strip baits, he likes bluefish, squid or the belly of a gray trout or croaker. When fishing artificials, his go-to list includes Berkley Gulp!, swimming mullets and spinnerbaits.
• Creek-Mouth Wisdom: Target mouths of creeks on the ebb tide and, on the incoming, deeper water over drop-offs and around structure with live baits.

Catching Flounder in Georgia

• Expert: Capt. Tim Cutting
• Region: St. Simons Island to northeast Florida
• Species: Southern flounder

A guide since 1990, Capt. Tim Cutting bags flounder year-round from his 20-foot Scout, but does best from June to late fall. “I’m not that big a believer in tidal influence,” says Cutting. “Flounder like clean, salty water and structure near an inlet. They gravitate to wherever the ocean feeds into marshes, jetties, docks and riprap.” Cutting utilizes his trolling motor frequently to cover water. He prefers a Carolina rig with soft plastics, using a sinker as light as possible above the swivel and a short 6- to 15-inch leader to limit bait movement where the bottom is snaggy.

Georgia Flounder Fishing Tips

• Skip the Shrimp: Flounder seldom pass up live croakers, finger mullet, pinfish or menhaden. Junk fish, such as hardhead cats, tend to get to shrimp in this area before flounder do. Soft plastics, such as Berkley Gulps, do well along with spinnerbaits.
• Fewer Fails with a Kahle: Use a Kahle hook for more dependable hooksets. On live bait, wait five to 15 seconds before a hard hookset.
• Think Clearly: When water runs fast, it can become turbid, so concentrate on areas where the bottom isn’t silty. If you can’t see the bottom of your trolling motor, move.

South Florida Flounder Fishing

• Expert: Capt. Alan Sherman
• Region: South Florida
• Species: Gulf and summer flounder

A Miami Beach head boat skipper for decades, Capt. Alan Sherman, who runs a 24-foot Pathfinder, knows a thing or two about flounder. “We usually come upon flounder while fishing for other species,” says Sherman, adding that the more frequently encountered summer flounder run 4 to 6 pounds but Gulf flounder are smaller. Late fall through winter, in sandy areas, near rocky bottoms, yields the best flatfish catches. Sherman likes moving water.

Florida Flounder Fishing Tips

• Supersize Shrimp: In the colder months of winter, fish shrimp, which tend to run large, or else use pilchards hooked through the nose.
• Fish Finger Channels: Target finger channels. Tie the running line via swivel to a 30-pound monofilament leader with a 1/0 short-shank hook, and go with a ¼- to 1-ounce egg sinker, depending on current strength.
• Feel for the Fall: Bounce red or chartreuse jig heads with Gulp! along the bottom. Strikes usually occur as the lure falls.

Gulf Coast Flounder Fishing

• Expert: Capt. Paul Hajash
• Region: Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg
• Species: Gulf and southern flounder

Capt. Paul Hajash (pronounced hash), who has been guiding since 1999, fishes a 20-foot Backcountry. “Flounder seem to migrate offshore during winter to spawn in deeper water, and come back when water is between 68 and 78 degrees during spring and fall,” Hajash says. Flounder — especially the bigger doormats — feed more by sight than smell, he adds. “Accordingly, they can see better in clearer water, where they lie hidden until something swims over their heads.”

Gulf Coast Flounder Fishing Tips

• Guide’s Hot Spot: Good areas include the ­mitigation reefs that run from Sound Key south to St. Petersburg. Flounder congregate in sandy areas in 10- to 15-foot depths just off those reefs.
• Soak a Sardine: Live sardines with a 1/0 to 3/0 hook, fished with just enough split shot to get them to the bottom, are hard to beat. Nearly as good are tiger minnows, chubs and small pinfish. Mullet strips or small pinfish on a lead-head jig also work.
• Cast Up-Current: In Clearwater Pass when the tide is moving in or out, cast up-current and let your bait drift slowly or bump it along the bottom. Oyster bars anywhere often hold promise.

Catching Flounder in Louisiana

Guide: Capt. Troy Nash Contact: 337-412-5950, Region: South Louisiana Species: Southern and Gulf flounder

Capt. Troy Nash, who’s guided for more than 30 years, employs a 2023 Pathfinder 2500 Hybrid bay boat. “Our best flounder fishing starts in October and November as they migrate into the Gulf to spawn,” he says. “We fish a lot of artificials, such as ⅛- or ¼-ounce wiggle jigs tipped with shrimp.” Nash prefers spin gear with a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader and, if using bait, a 3/0 Owner hook with a shrimp threaded onto it. He adds a small split shot, then bumps the rig along the bottom of bayous and outflows. “You can catch large numbers of flounder in Vermillion Bay and around Marsh Island in the Russell Sage Wildlife Refuge,” he says.

Top Louisiana Flounder Fishing Tips

• Go to the Gators: Look for alligator trails where they enter and exit the water; these create holes where flounder like to nestle. Other points of water flowing in and out of the marshes are good too.
• Follow Slack Tide: Fish the end of high tide, when water starts to slacken, as long as water clarity is decent, then follow the slack tide to the next spot and on and on.
• Flounder on Fly: Fly patterns take plenty of flounder, particularly small poppers, Seaducers and lavender bendbacks. Put a lead wire on the flies to get them below the surface so flounder feel and see the push of water.

Texas Flounder Fishing Secrets

• Expert: Capt. Mike Losoya
• Region: Galveston
• Species: Southern flounder

Capt. Mike Losoya fishes in the marshes and open bays of Galveston. “Around here, we find a decent amount of flounder year-round, but the best runs occur in the marshes from October to November,” says Losoya. He searches for green water that’s neither stained nor crystal clear. Wind doesn’t seem to affect flounder, but he does look for mixed bottoms, “such as sand and mud together with shells around drop-offs in depths from 2 to 20 feet, with the 5-foot range most productive.”

Top Texas Flounder Fishing Tips

• Better with a Baitcaster: Learn to throw a baitcasting rig to maximize precision with just a touch of your thumb to hit the points and run-offs.
• Texas Choice: Live shrimp, mullet, pinfish and croakers work well for those not adept at casting lures, but you should have good action with Berkley Gulps, MirrOlures and the Texas favorite, Corky lures.
• Cover Ground Looking Down: Use your sonar to look for irregularities in the bottom, such as small holes and rocks. Fish eddies in currents. Cover lots of water because flounder will be scattered in potholes as well as open areas.

South Texas Flounder Fishing

• Expert: Capt. Bill Sheka Jr.
• Region: Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay
• Species: Southern flounder

Few guides can match Capt. Bill Sheka’s prominence as one of the most famous fishing personalities in Texas. Now retired, Sheka plied the waters in a 21-foot bay boat for 35 years. “Fishing is best from October to December, when water temperatures fall below 72 degrees, because that seems to get flounder to stop moving,” says Sheka. “Dropoffs are the big key in shallow grass beds, as are points during a push of current.”

South Texas Flounder Fishing Tips

• Pop a Cork: A live shrimp under a popping cork can work magic if popped hard where grass bottom gives way to a channel.
• Twitch Versus Hop: Don’t hop baits along the bottom — they tend to snag too much in these waters. Instead, work your offering with small twitches.
• Cast Master: Precision casting will result in more catches — a difference of only 5 feet from where a guide says to cast can mean the difference between success and a big zero.

The Different Types of Flounder

Gulf Flounder

Summer Flounder

Southern Flounder

Winter Flounder

The post Top Flounder Fishing Tips appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Catching fish on topwater lures represents the most exciting form of fishing, hands down. No arguments. Period.

Nothing—absolutely nothing—triggers that wide-eyed rush of adrenaline as when a super-size snook, bull redfish or marauding striped bass blows up on a topwater lure. It’s a savage attack that can startle both newcomers and veterans alike. Once you come tight after that wild, explosive surface strike, you quickly become a believer in topwater fishing. It’s an addiction that lasts a lifetime.

Fishing with the best saltwater lures for topwater—be it a popper, surface walker, sub-surface walker or prop-bait—can also serve as one of the most effective inshore techniques, often producing fish when other methods draw blanks.

Here are 12 of today’s best topwater lures for saltwater anglers.

Berkley Choppo Saltwater

Berkley’s new Choppo Saltwater topwater lure features a uniquely engineered and durable cupped propeller-like single-blade tail to create maximum surface disturbance, generating sound and spray that attracts fish, even in murky water and from a distance. Corrosion-resistant heavy-duty split-rings and Fusion19 3X treble hooks resist bending, straightening or breaking under pressure.

This prop bait is available in two sizes: 105 and 120 mm, weighing 3/4 and 1 ounce. Both are designed to swim straight at any retrieve speed. The Choppo Saltwater comes in 10 colors, including black chrome, blue bullet, bone, red head, mullet, pilchard, pinfish, and pinky.

Specifications

• Length: 105 and 120 mm
• Weight: ¾ and 1 ounce
• Colors: 10 options
• Hooks: No. 2 and No. 1 treble hooks
• Action: Straight-swimming prop bait

Bomber Wake Minnow

The Bomber Jointed Wake Minnow is a lipped, jointed floating hard bait designed to be easily retrieved. The swimming movement, just below the surface, creates an enticing V-wake. A 3D body and HD decoration give the lure an appealing finish.

Specifications

• Length: 4 1/2 or 5 3/8 inches
• Weight: 3/4 or 1/2 ounces
• Colors: 10 options
• Hooks: No. 2 or 4 treble hooks
• Action: Subsurface swimming

Egret Zombie Ghost Walker

A legendary Texas-coast topwater bait was brought back to life by Egret baits. The Ghost, originally built by Producers Bait Company 25 years ago, is now manufactured as the Zombie Ghost Walker. Egret updated the strength of the hardware and cosmetics, but no changes were made to the dual sound chambers.

Specifications

• Length: 4 1/4 inches
• Weight: 1/2 ounces
• Color: 12 options
• Hook: VMC treble hooks
• Action: Walk the dog (walking)

Halco Slidog 125

The Halco Slidog 125 joins is a stickbait with compact body profile used in shallow and midwater situations. This far-casting lure can be twitched around bait schools to draw strikes.

Specifications

• Length: 125 mm (or 4.92 inches)
• Weight: 1.83 ounces
• Colors: 11 options
• Hook: Number 1/0 Mustad treble hooks
• Action: Twitchbait

Heddon Super Spook Jr.

Heddon’s Saltwater Super Spook, Jr. is the smaller version of Heddon’s classic Super Spook, built with a saltwater twist. Heavy-duty components and saltwater-grade hooks allow this plug to stand up to gamefish like striped bass, gator seatrout, and bull redfish.

Specifications

• Length: 3 1/2 inches
• Weight: 1/2 ounces
• Color: 21 options
• Hook: No. 4 Saltwater treble hooks
• Action: Walk the dog (walking)

MirrOlure MirrOmullet (CS16MR)

The MirrOlure MirrOmullet (CS16MR) now incorporates MirrOlure’s unique mullet skin design. This bait really looks like a mullet, with its lifelike finish on the lure. The lure also includes oversize eyes, low frequency rattle, and premium black-nickel hooks. With a twitch retrieve, the surface walker darts from side to side to attract strikes.

Specifications

• Length: 3 inches
• Weight: 3/8 ounces
• Hook: Black nickel treble hooks
• Action: Surface walker

Ocean Born Flying Popper

The Ocean Born Flying Popper is a narrow-neck popper built for casting and surface action. The plug can pop, spit, walk the dog or create a bubble trail. Ocean Born Flying Poppers come in 4 types, including Floating (FL), Sinking (SK), Super Long Distance (SLD) and Tuna Rocket. Patrick Sebile’s favorite model is the Super Long Distance because it casts in nasty weather, works in turbulent surface conditions, and can even be jigged to reach fish at various depths.

Specifications

• Length: 5 1/2 inches
• Weight: 4 ounces
• Color: 8 options
• Hook: 6X Treble Hooks
• Action: Pop, spit or walking

Rapala Skitter Walk Saltwater

The saltwater version of the most popular topwater bait of all time—the Rapala Skitter Walk—is available in four new color patterns. Three of the colors mimic saltwater baitfish, including the mullet, pilchard and pinfish patterns. Holographic bone is the fourth new color.

Each Skitter Walk Saltwater surface-walker features 3D holographic eyes and weighted tails to keep the lure in a natural position, even when resting or stopped in mid-retrieve. A large internal rattle helps create a rhythmic side-to-side motion and a sound that imitates wounded or panicked baitfish. Skitter Walks are designed to swim perfectly out of the box, and are well suited to walk-the-dog retrieves that trigger explosive surface strikes.

The size 8 Skitter Walk is armed with VMC black-nickel treble hooks; the size 11 comes with PermaSteel hooks.

Specifications

• Length: 3 1/8 inches (size 8); 4 3/8 inches (size 11)
• Weight: 7/16 ounce and 5/8 ounce
• Colors: 22 and 17, respectively
• Hooks: No. 3 and No. 2 treble hooks
• Action: Surface walker

River2Sea Rover

The River2Sea Rover walking bait has a cupped face that produces a choppy, side–to–side slashing action instead of traditional smooth-walking motion. The lure company says its action is unique to topwaters and is sure to draw strikes from hungry predators.

Specifications

• Length: 3 7/8 or 5 inches
• Weight: 3/8 or 11/16 ounces
• Color: 5 options
• Hook: Daiichi No. 4 or 6 treble hooks
• Action: Walk the dog (walking)

Shimano Pop Orca Slim

The Pop Orca Slim is the newest popper lure addition to the ORCA series, with its unique bubble chamber designed to maximize commotion, coupled with diving and erratic swimming action. The bait also features Shimano’s propulsion weight transfer system technology to help anglers make longer casts.

Specifications

• Length: 6 3/8 inches
• Weight: 2 6/8 ounces
• Color: 6 options
• Action: Surface and subsurface

Read Next: Topwater-Lure Tricks of the Inshore Experts

Storm Rattlin’ Saltwater Chug Bug

Specifications

• Length: 3 1/4 or 4 3/8 inches
• Weight: 3/8 or 15/16 ounces
• Color: 10 options
• Hook: VMC Perma steel treble hooks
• Action: Popper (popping)

Yo-Zuri 3D Inshore Popper

The new 3D Inshore Popper from Yo-Zuri attracts strikes with a patented three-dimensional exterior prism finish and internal painted pattern that reflects in all directions to attract fish from a distance. The tough and durable ABS resin finish will not chip or wear off, according to Yo-Zuri.

The wide, red-painted mouth of this popper pushes an extra amount of water to generate commotion and noise, even in choppy water, and results in a sharp, darting action. The 3D Inshore Popper comes in two sizes, each featuring a pair of saltwater-grade 3X-strength treble hooks and split rings. The sizes are designed for nearshore and offshore game fish such as striped bass, trevally and tuna.

This popper is available in 14 color patterns, including green mackerel, sardine, ghost shad, mullet, peanut bunker, and real pilchard.

Specifications

• Length: 3 ½ inches (R1411); 4 ¾ inches (R1412)
• Weight: 7/8 ounce and 1 5/8 ounces
• Colors: 14 options
• Hooks: No. 2 and No. 1 treble hooks
• Action: Popping

The post Best Topwater Lures for Saltwater Fishing appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Top Product: Next-Level Lenses

When it comes to sunglasses, there’s a glass for every sun. From backwaters to open ocean, from dawn to dusk, sunglass lenses should reflect the conditions and environment you’re in. Not only did Costa do it first, but the company has always done it. Costa was founded almost four decades ago by an angler whose previous sunglass options failed him, so he made his own. In fact, Costa was the first manufacturer of color-enhancing, all-polarized glass sunglass lenses, and to underscore the company’s conservation ethos, some of its lenses are made from mineral glass developed from sand.

It’s important to understand just how critical the right lens can be in skinny water. The sun at high noon or an overcast haze can make it challenging to spot rolling tarpon or tailing bones. Costa developed two lenses with shallow-water anglers specifically in mind. The green mirror lens offers enhanced vision and contrast for fishing inshore and on the flats, as well as sight-fishing in full sun. This is made possible by Costa’s 580 lens technology. The number 580 refers to 580 nanometers, the wavelength on the visible light spectrum for yellow. These lenses block out yellow light, which in turn boosts the amounts of reds, greens and blues, providing better definition. Similarly dialed for the flats, the sunrise silver mirror lenses are made for the least amount of light—the moments before sunrise when targeting sleepy silver kings, or the last glow of sunset as you chase permit to close out a grand slam.

These lenses now have new homes with the Costa Pro series, versions of the popular Fantail and Blackfin frames that Costa upgraded based on angler feedback. New features include side shields and hooding to keep light out, and ventilated nose pads to reduce fogging.

Top Mission: Protect Our Waters

Earlier this year, Costa released a 36-page overview of its many conservation initiatives, highlighting the company’s 38-year tradition of protecting our watery world. Among the successes in 2019 and 2020 was removing 90 tons of trash from beaches and coastlines, and recycling 4 tons of polycarbonate lenses.

The Protect Report showcases Costa’s vast array of partner organizations, initiatives and projects. Take Indifly, for example, which promotes recreational fishing as a way to create sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems for indigenous people from Wyoming to Guyana. (Indigenous communities are guardians of 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity.) And there’s also Junk, a Costa-supported documentary about two adventurers who spent 88 days at sea on a raft made from 15,000 plastic bottles to highlight the growing problem of plastic pollution in the ocean.

Two organizations in the report focus on issues near and dear to skinny-water anglers. Captains for Clean Water is dedicated to saving Florida’s waterways and Everglades restoration because one cannot happen without the other. It was founded by Capts. Daniel Andrews and Chris Wittman, guides on Florida’s Gulf coast who have seen their home waters tainted by poor water-management decisions to the point where the places they grew up fishing and camping are closed due to contamination. Support for the organization has grown exponentially since 2016.

“Captains for Clean Water is a beacon of the entire outdoor industry to speak up and stand up for the places we love,” says Capt. Benny Blanco, host of Guiding Flow TV, which focuses on water issues in Florida.

Costa also partners with the Bonefish Tarpon Trust, which aims to conserve and restore bonefish, tarpon and permit fisheries and habitats through research, stewardship, education and advocacy. While serving fisheries worldwide, the BTT is strategically headquartered in Miami, a short run to some of the greatest flats fishing on Earth.

The BTT has assisted in a range of initiatives. It established nationally protected bonefish conservation zones in the Bahamas and consults on fisheries management for the Florida Keys, the backyard of Key West fly-fishing guide Capt. Brandon Cyr.

“I’m confident that if we unite around BTT’s efforts, I won’t have to tell my kids about days that once were,” Cyr says. “They will be able to enjoy and preserve healthy, improved fisheries for years to come.”

The post The Costa Skinny Report appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

If you want to fish the flats efficiently, no boat can make it happen better than a flats skiff. Minimal draft, maximum fishability, and a stealthy attitude make these craft ideal whether you plan on sight fishing for reds or fly casting for bones. Check out these top five contenders.

Hewes Redfisher 16

Hewes’ VARIS construction takes boatbuilding to the next level and sets this skiff apart from the ­competition. By delivering the ideal ­resin-to-composite ratio, it reduces weight while maximizing strength, resulting in a lighter boat that’s easy to pole and tough as nails. Add the wide beam and 15-degree transom deadrise, and you get a flats skiff that’s also surprisingly stable, runs smoothly, and rides high in a chop—precisely the kind of versatile boat that feels right at home fishing in inlets and passes, as well as in ­back­country bays or on oceanside flats. To cap it all off, the Redfisher 16 is a breeze to trailer and fits readily in a garage.

Maverick 18 HPX-V

The Maverick 18 HPX-V, popular with hardcore flats anglers and guides, poles well in extremely shallow water and affords the comfort and space of a backcountry boat. The extra elbow room lets three anglers fish comfortably in different types of waters, from flats and passes to inlets and bridges. The length helps the skiff track well, even in a breeze, and allows for considerable livewell capacity: a whopping 30 gallons for hauling large, live baits. The boat is designed to get on top of a chop instead of plowing through it, thanks to the builder’s weight-saving techniques that use Vacuum-Assisted Resin Infusion System (VARIS) construction, and Kevlar and carbon fiber. Added bonus: An incredibly rigid and solid hull.

Xplor Boatworks X7

Hull design on the Xplor X7 gives this boat unique running characteristics and also boosts fishability. The integrated rails take the upward force of the water and use it to soften the ride while ­channeling that water away from the boat to knock down spray. This allows for the rails to be placed higher on the hull sides than normal, minimizing rail or chine splashing that can create fish-­spooking noises while poling. Additionally, the hull has a padded running surface, longer than most, that provides more lift and stability. Topside design boosts the skiff’s fishing prowess as the cap extends beyond the hull confines, providing the most fishing area possible atop the minimal amount of wetted surface, leaving room for three livewells totaling a monstrous 86-gallon capacity.

Yellowfin 17CE

A vacuum-bagged and injected molding process, and the use of composites, including proprietary fabrics unique to Yellowfin, made with Kevlar, E-glass and carbon in a quad-axis weave, plus 1005 pure vinylester resin, give the Yellowfin 17 CE (Carbon Elite) a major dose of high-tech construction that sets it apart from the flats skiff crowd. With a stepped hull that’s 20 percent lighter and 17 percent stronger than its predecessor, the 17-footer has an average fuel burn of 7 mpg with a Mercury 60 FourStroke, and a range of over 150 miles—unheard of for a flats skiff. On top of that, Yellowfin’s high resale value means the 17 CE is bound to deliver exceptional value, despite a higher initial cost than some other skiffs.

Action Craft 1600 FlatsPro

If you love flats skiffs but not their limited capacity, you’ll want to check out Action Craft’s 1600 FlatsPro, a 16-footer US Coast Guard-rated to hold up to five people—more than many other flats skiffs, even significantly larger models. Stability is a big contributing factor here because the FlatsPro, with its 14-degree transom deadrise and 7-foot beam, is uber-stable. Action Craft also offers multiple seating options to increase the comfort level of those aboard, including a bench seat with flip-up backrest, and a raised console with leaning-post seating. Angling acuity gets a boost as well, thanks to the spacious fore and aft casting decks, each with its own livewell topping 20 gallons.

Blue Wave 1900 STL

One of two models in Blue Wave’s Ultra-Shallow series, the 1900 STL combines skinny-water capabilities, generous storage and ­excellent fishability without sacrificing comfort, making it a great choice for spending the day on the flats with the family. The hull boasts a large, rounded tunnel and a slot transom—exclusive Blue Wave designs—for taking off and cruising in shallow water with confidence. Stability, both on the run and at rest, is one of the 1900 STL’s hallmarks, and the layout includes large fish boxes and livewells, elevated casting areas fore and aft, and plenty of walk-around space, plus forward-console seating, a leaning post that accommodates two at the helm, and twin jump seats astern.

The post Best Skiffs for Flats Fishing appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

If you own a money tree and enough real estate to warehouse dozens of situation-specific fly rods, stop reading now. Everyone else should buy an 8-weight, simply the most versatile number in the lineup. It packs enough punch to fling weighted crustacean imitations for bonefish or redfish, deliver 3- to 4-inch streamers for snook, schoolie stripers or juvenile tarpon, and command the sinking line you might choose when chasing albies. The rod also has the power to slug it out with sizeable game, and the fighting butt to tuck in your gut and settle in for the fight. Consider these mid-priced 8-weights, which get ‘er done in virtually all shallow-water situations.

G. Loomis IMX-PRO Streamer

Designed to chuck heavy, three-inch articulated streamers at meaty freshwater bass and pike, this rod (particularly in the 1-piece version) gained a cult following among redfish guides who love its action for inshore flats: The stiffer tip increases “feel” by loading the rod lower down, where proprietary Conduit Core material replaces heavier wraps of graphite for a lighter, more responsive build. 8′10″, 1-piece or 4-piece, $525

Orvis Recon

All the R&D that gave Orvis’s flagship H3 its dazzlingly light swing weight and sharpshooter accuracy gets replicated in the Recon, using a more approachably-priced package of resin fibers. The result feels impressively crisp and light, so it lets experts hit new benchmarks and welcomes newbies with a forgiving sweet spot. 9′ and 10′, 4-piece, $549

Sage Maverick

Designed to trim seconds off your shot time, this rod features a particularly powerful tip that increases line speed and dampens the vibrations that reduce accuracy. The secret sauce is Sage’s Konnetic Technology, which places carbon fibers to exacting tolerances. 9′, 4-piece, $575

Echo Prime

With a shorter length and light tip, the Prime lets anglers cast quicker and with tighter loops. Its moderate-fast action is optimized for the 40- to 60-foot shots that most anglers make in most situations, and its unique handle gives anglers different gripping choices. 8′10″, 2-piece or 4-piece, $470

Thomas & Thomas Zone

Made from the same materials as T&T’s flagship Sexton—but with a slightly less-fast action that accommodates a wider variety of casting styles and line types—the Zone offers T&T’s coveted feel, at a price made more approachable thanks to fewer aesthetic finishes: The resin is left unsanded and uncoated, and the fiberglass reel seat is less expensive and lighter than burled wood. 9′, 4-piece, $549

Scott Tidal

Some ultra-performance flats rods are so stiff and light that mere-mortal anglers lose touch with the tip (and their cast). The Tidal adds more mass in the tip for better feel, and counteracts that weight with three types of graphite fiber (compared to five types in the premium-priced Spector) placed at various angles to optimize energy transfer to the rod butt. 9′, 4-piece, $495

The post Best 8-Weight Fly Rods appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

If your mind keeps conjuring images of bonefish tails waving, with stunning tropical-island shores for a backdrop, it might be time to finally pull the trigger on that dream flats-fishing getaway. The Caribbean and Central America offer precisely what you need to quench that thirst, and many renowned fishing operations are again welcoming anglers. Be sure to include these on your short list of top options.

1. The Bahamas

While bonefishing options in the islands nation are varied and numerous, Andros, the largest island in the Bahamas, is known as the “bonefish capital of the world.” Swain’s Cay Lodge is a top-notch, full-service bonefishing operation on Andros that caters to hardcore anglers and nonangling family members.

2. Belize

A handful of atolls and the flats and shoals stretching the length of the country’s coastline afford ample opportunity for visiting bonefishers. Located on the southern tip of the largest atoll in the Western Hemisphere, Turneffe Island Resort is one of the oldest and most established lodges in Belize, offering excellent year-round fishing.

3. Cuba

The Bay of Pigs and Playa Larga fishery offer prolific numbers of bonefish in a vast, still untouched locale within Las Salinas Wildlife Sanctuary and the Ciénaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve. Amazing scenery, seasoned guides and well-equipped skiffs make for a memorable trip.

4. Mexico’s Yucatan

Better roads and small-aircraft service now make the trek from Cancun to the many fishing lodges in the peninsula considerably easier. Grand Slam Lodge is the ideal base of operations for fishing famous Ascension Bay, perhaps better known for its permit, but also home to a vast bonefish population.

5. Honduras

While the country’s Bay Islands have long been known to deliver excellent wade-­fishing -opportunities for bones, the new Far Away Cayes ­operation—a remote fishery accessed via helicopter—has reset the bar for the most productive and untouched flats in the region.

The post Best Bonefish Destinations in the World appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Among the many species I’ve pursued around the globe, striped bass still hold top ranking on my list, and my favorite place to engage with this rugged fish is in the clear shallows of New England.

For the ultimate striper challenge, an experience that marries the demanding flats fishing for bonefish with a hint of tropical reef wading for aggressive trevally, look to the coastal flats of Narragansett Bay, the Elizabethan Islands, Block Island and the waters around Cape Cod, where light sandy bottom peppered with boulders, carpets of eelgrass and shellfish beds draws plenty of hungry stripers.

Striped bass, ranging from packs of school-size 5- to 15-pounders in the deeper channels to lone fish as large as 50 pounds, routinely prowl and hunt these clear flats and shorelines.

They may appear as dark shadows against the sand, or as silver-green phantoms with fins glowing ultraviolet purple. When the tide is right and the moon fat, these fish readily take gaudy lures and flies. Cast beyond them and retrieve with the tide, from shallow to deeper water, across their travel path.

When the moon is shyer, so are the stripers, which become selective and demand smaller lures and lighter terminal gear.

Approach carefully, keep your shadow off the fish, and cast beyond and ahead of the fish, then retrieve as if the lure is fleeing. Correctly interpreting the behavior of a pursuing linesider reacting to the lure makes all the difference between a committed smash or a hard turn and bolt that leave a cloud of sand and disappointment.

Clear-water sight-casting to glowing phantoms and reading fish behavior as they track your lure isn’t a likely scene you conjure up when thinking about striped bass in the Northeast, but in New England from May through July, it becomes an exciting reality.

The post Striped Bass Fishing in New England appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Lipped plugs provide swimming, diving action, swimming deeper the faster they are retrieved, imitating a range of baitfish. Surface plugs lure predators keyed on shallow swimming or surface-feeding baitfish.  Crankbaits swim through the middle part of the water column with an erratic or steady action: that’s up to you. Lead-head jigs with a plastic tail, perhaps one of the most versatile lures, prowl the bottom when fished slowly; with a steadier, faster retrieve they’ll swim mid-level, imitating either shrimp or baitfish. And the venerable white bucktail jig adapts to bottom crawling, hopping off the bottom, or swimming and darting like a baitfish.

With these five types of inshore fishing lures you’ll be able to approach a day on the water with confidence.

Lipped Plug

In a survival-of-the-fittest world, a lipped plug, whether trolled or cast, presents as unfit to succeed, and predators are notorious for a lack of empathy.

Walk-the-Dogger

Fished with a leisurely, erratic walk-the-dog cadence, the surface dance excites fish and incites strikes.

Crankbait

Anywhere big fish eat little fish, the shimmy and shake of this subsurface lure bouncing over obstructions trips the feeding trigger in predators.

Jig and Tail

Any of an endless array of configurations pinned on a leadhead jig, from a plastic grub to a Berkley Gulp! soft bait—rigged weedless or not—just looks like fish food.

White Bucktail Jig

If you were limited to just one lure for the rest of your fishing life, the white bucktail jig would certainly keep you in the game.

The post Best Lures for Inshore Fishing appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Daiwa Kage MQ LT

Daiwa’s Kage MQ LT 3000 is all about space-efficient strength. Its one-piece Zaion monocoque body, made of a high-density resin-and-­carbon material, eliminates body-cover screws and accommodates larger gears. Adding Magseal’s air- and watertight oil seal protects the innards and ensures consistent power to put the brakes on charging redfish or surging snook. Weight: 7.6 ounces. $369.99

Okuma ITX Carbon

You can’t stop a reel from getting wet, but the Okuma ITX Carbon 3000 protects its anodized machined- aluminum spool with a cyclonic-flow rotor, which pulls air into the ported rotor to hasten spool drying and minimize corrosion. Also, the hydro-block gasket protects the multidisc carbon-fiber drag for longer life and maximum stopping power. Weight: 8.3 ounces. $119.99

Shimano Exsence

Time management often distinguishes good days from great ones, and the Shimano Exsence 3000′s MGL rotor promotes the latter by reducing start-up inertia and providing immediate control for precise lure retrieval. When you connect, the light yet rigid magnesium Hagane body resists flexing for maximum fish-fighting power. Weight: 6.3 ounces. $539.99

Penn Conflict II

Embracing braided-line benefits with its superline spool, and sporting line- capacity rings and a rubber gasket, the Penn Conflict II 3000 needs no backing. The spinner’s slow-oscillation system improves line lay, while the HT-100 carbon-fiber drag washers stop whatever you hook. Weight: 9.1 ounces. $179.95

The post Best Lightweight Saltwater Spinning Reels appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Why You Need a Motorized Kayak

Motors deliver propulsion and range—all while sparing your quads and deltoids. Dial in trolling speeds, or set a GPS anchor to hold position. These are the mini microskiffs of the inshore world. Old Town builds its Sportsman Autopilot kayaks with an integral Minn Kota trolling motor (both brands are owned by the same company). Bixpy and Torqeedo each build lightweight aftermarket motor kits. Bixpy’s comes with a floating battery, wireless remote and countless mount options, and it delivers run times up to 10 hours. Most states require a fee and a manufacturer’s certificate of origin to register a motorized kayak. Check your local laws.

Why You Need a Pedal Kayak

Sneak a peek at the underbelly of a pedal kayak, and you might find fins or a propeller. While neither signifies gender, the two styles still operate quite differently. Hobie first popularized the fins, and Native Watercraft first promoted the propeller. Now—post the patent period—other kayak-makers can employ either drive. Fins excel when fishing shallow waters and weedy areas with submerged structure. Props facilitate positioning in a current, and excel when fishing tight quarters around docks, where they transition quickly between forward and reverse. Some fin drives can switch to reverse with the pull of a cord. Most anglers appreciate pedals because they can use both hands to cast.

Why You Need a Paddle Kayak

Paddle kayaks scream versatility. Scull them in the shallowest of waters, chasing redfish over saltwater flats, or push them through beach swells to coastal waters. Unlike pedalers, paddlers can skim over the thickest marshes to target tailers. Paddle kayaks typically weigh less, so anglers can more easily manhandle them to fish remote off-road locations. Before purchasing your paddle boat, though, remember to budget for a lightweight, quality paddle in the correct length (typically 94 to 102 inches, or 240 to 260 centimeters). Your arms and back will applaud you.

The post How to Choose a Fishing Kayak appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.