Do you have a photograph of a fish you can’t identify? If so, we’re up for the challenge, and would welcome the opportunity to share your photo and its ID with an international audience of enthusiasts. (Whether published or not, we will personally respond to every inquiry.) Email your jpgs, as large/hi-res as possible, to: fishfacts@sportfishingmag.com.

Anglers who spend much time on clear blue offshore waters — particularly when drifting or slow-trolling — have likely seen stunning little blue-and-silver fish darting this way and that. Seen from above they resemble tiny flyingfish thanks to their oversized pectoral fins. Miami resident Scott Salyers provided this photo, after it fell onto the deck amidst “a passel of pogies” from a castnet thrown off Port Canaveral, Florida.

“We didn’t know for sure what it might be,” he says. The answer: a juvenile man-of-war fish, Nomeus gronovii. It’s a member of the family Nomeidae, the driftfishes.

The concept of niche evolution is beautifully illustrated by this species, common in all warm oceans. It’s called man-of-war fish because, at least when young, it lives in symbiosis with the Portuguese man of war, characterized by its brilliantly colored pink- and-blue balloon-like sail or float and its very long strings of tentacles filled with stinging nematocyst cells. Any fisherman or swimmer who’s been nailed by these can be excused for exclaiming “ouch!” or worse.

The man-of-war fish sets up residence beneath these animals, adrift on the ocean. (Erroneously called jellyfish, man o’ wars are siphonophores — each one a floating community of organisms). Darting about the stinging tentacles, the small fish achieve a good bit of protection from predators, though they’re ever vigilant since they’re not immune to the poison of the tentacles.

So how do they coexist with the venomous, sticky strings? Apparently, it has adapted to avoid the tentacles by being alert and agile. The species also has more vertebrae than is typical, making its body more flexible, and relies largely on its big pectoral fins, an adaptation typical of species that must be particularly nimble. Beyond coexistence, there’s evidence that the man-of-war fish may get some sustenance from its partner, nibbling on smaller tentacles.

Symbiosis suggests a two-way street, so the man o’ war presumably gains something from the man-of-war fish swimming freely about its tentacles, most likely luring in other fish with a false sense of security to blunder to their death.

All this describes juveniles, and that’s all we see of Nomeus gronovii. This is because as they grow to be adults — to 15 or 16 inches in length — they descend to live near bottom in as much as 3,000 feet of water. At that stage, the man-of-war fish hardly resembles the colorful, elegant little form it took as a juvenile, looking more like a greyish, somewhat elongate bluefish.

The post Mystery Fish Revealed: A Brave Tentacle Tickler appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

New York fly-fishing and light-tackle guide John McMurray had suggested we check out the flats on the evening of our first fishing day to see if the blues were around.

I’d flown into the Big Apple the day before, meeting up with Damon Olsen at the Allegria Hotel in Long Beach. Olsen, who runs Australia’s renowned Nomad Sport Fishing and has recently developed a line of lures, Nomad Design Tackle. One of his goals was test out some of those lures, proven Down Under, on New York stripers and blues.

The sun was falling below the horizon when McMurray cut the outboards on his 33 Contender center console. In short order, we began seeing the flat surface disrupted by splashes, tails and wakes. And until dark, we had a real ball with blues to more than 15 pounds following, assaulting and latching onto Nomad poppers and walking lures.

The next day when we discovered that the stripers were pretty small (and a run of big fish off northern Jersey never materialized for us), so we found ourselves unable to resist the chance to tangle with bluefish again on flats.

Tough Customer

Socked In

Big Blues on Patrol

Under Attack

Doing the Dance

Relentless Predator

Nearing the End Game

Walking-Lure Works

Blast Off

Small Blues, Bent Rods

Doubled Up

Bluefish at the Boat

Schoolie Striper

Bass With a Tag

Hey, Baby! Nice Pecs!

Bluefish Gone Wild

Swing and a Miss

Hooked!

Same Lures, Different Targets

The post Popping for Bluefish on New York Flats appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Check out these world-record catches — all larger than 60 pounds — that show why these mackerel are truly kings!

All-Tackle — 93 pounds

Men’s 50# Line Class — 78 pounds, 12 ounces

Men’s 30# Line Class — 75 pounds

TIED: Men’s 30# Line Class — 75 pounds

Men’s 20# Line Class — 77 pounds

Men’s 16# Line Class — 71 pounds 4 ounces

Men’s 12# Line Class — 75 pounds

Men’s 8# Line Class — 63 pounds, 8 ounces

Women’s 80# Line Class — 78 pounds, 4 ounces

Women’s 50# Line Class — 78 pounds

Women’s 30# Line Class — 67 pounds, 5 ounces

Women’s 20# Line Class — 69 pounds, 8 ounces

Juniors, Male — 68 pounds

Junior, Female — 62 pounds

The largest fish ever caught and approved as IGFA All-Tackle World Records

The post World’s Biggest King Mackerel appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

JANUARY — Red Tuna Crab

An angler peers down at what could be mistaken for a strange life-form from outer space but is actually a tiny red tuna crab, drifting off Baja’s Cedros Island.

FEBRUARY — Larval Atlantic Sailfish

Lilliputian: A larval Atlantic sailfish, barely 2 inches long, prowls its macroplanktonic world just below the surface of the Gulf Stream off southeastern Florida.

MARCH — Pacific Sailfish

The amazing acrobatics of a Pacific sailfish, airborne off Guatemala, remind us why the species is so popular with anglers around the world.

APRIL — Pompano Dolphin

Something odd about these mahi, you say? That’s because this is a school of pompano dolphin (Coryphaena equiselis) — little cousin to the much more common mahi.

MAY — Juvenile Dolpinfish

A tiny predator prowls the Pacific on a black night. Although it’s smaller than your little finger now, this mahi could weigh upwards of 40 pounds within the year, should it survive that long.

JUNE — Florida Keys Swordfish

“Golden Sword” — that’s how the photographer titled this photo of a Florida Keys swordfish just after its release by Capt. Nick Stanczyk, part of a three-for-three day from a 24-foot bay boat.

JULY/AUGUST — Black Marlin

Little-black blowout: Northeastern Australia’s fabulous June-to-September run of juvenile black marlin heralds sensational action on lighter gear. The Cape Bowling Green area off Townsville can produce double-digit days.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER — Central Florida Mullet Run

Anglers fish along a wall of mullet off east central Florida during the annual phenomenon known as the mullet run, peaking during October most years. With the mullet come tarpon, spinner sharks and other game fish.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER — Bull Dolphin

This shot of a magnificent bull dolphin makes it easy to see why mahi (dolphinfish) are one of the world’s most popular and prized game fish.

Now catch the spectacular nine “Last Cast” images that SF published in 2016 by clicking the image below!

The post Extraordinary Photos from Sport Fishing’s “Last Cast” Pages, 2017 appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

The coastal village of Samara lies within the Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica.

A long, horseshoe-shaped beach rims the Pacific ocean. Large, aggressive roosterfish patrol just outside the surf break, while schools of dorado (mahimahi) cruise nearshore weed lines scavenging for their next meal. The village of Samara is home to a productive nearshore fishery allowing for a variety of sport fish to be targeted. In this galley, SF contributor Dave Lewis shares via photos an idea of what fishing can be like here with Samara Fishing charters, guided by local captain Adrien Martinez.

Strong, beautiful, and tasty. Mahi mahi may be the perfect game fish.

Launching the boat to start the day.

Mahi often school to feed on the small baits that take shelter under floating debris. A cast worked past this tree will smoke out any takers.

At times, dozens of mahi surrounded the boat.

Classic roosterfish fishing — casting lures into the back of heavy Pacific swells as they roll onto the beach.

Want to see more topwater action? Check out 17 great tips in 17 images to help you catch more fish on poppers by Dave Lewis

Roosterfish clearly preferred pink poppers and lures over all the others.

The average-sized roosterfish was 10 to 20 pounds, but anglers caught fish up to 40 pounds and had follows from much larger fish.

A large whale shark that “hung around us for ages so I stripped off and dived in for a swim with him. He was totally unbothered by my presence: priceless!” says the photographer.

One of several small but deadly sea snakes we spotted swimming among the trash and debris of a weed line.

It’s recommended that anglers fit even small casting jigs with decent assist hooks – as the saying goes; elephants eat peanuts.

Many anglers consider Pacific bonito great for sushi.

Hang on tight when a fish with a mouthful of teeth gets out of hand, in this case a Sierra.

After coming across a longline, the guide makes a point to remove it from the water since, in the photographer’s words, “The only good longline, is a dead one.”

“Why?” wonders the photographer. “Wherever I travel in the world always I find trash. Why do people find it so difficult to dispose of their trash responsibly?”

A breathtaking leap from a lit-up mahi.

A turkey vulture basks in the sun on the Samara beach.

• Make sure to check out Dave Lewis’s web page for photos and reports of more great fishing destinations.

The post Fishing Northern Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

A part of French Polynesia, Anaa Atoll sits in the south Pacific Ocean between Mexico and New Zealand.

Sure, “Tahiti” may conjure visions of an island paradise where nubile island maidens cavort ala Mutiny on the Bounty, but for angling enthusiasts, this part of French Polynesia offers visions of a very different sort of paradise — stunning, white-sand flats and rugged reefs teeming with game fish. Anaa Atoll, just over 200 miles east of Tahiti, offers the best of this idyllic fishery. Gavin Hodgson of flatsbag.com has provided SF with 19 images that offer a compelling visual tableau.

Bohar snapper — aka “red bass” in Australia — are a common catch of anglers fishing the reef. These toothy Indo-Pacific snapper are one of the most aggressive game fishes among all species of snapper.

Paradise: Crystal-clear sand flats, pristine islands and, beyond, a stunning reef system.

Most flyrodders here wade the white-sand flats for bonefish like this one.

Nothing lights up an angler’s face like seeing a bluefin trevally crush a fly just below the surface.

Tidal fluctuation is very slight. Sandbars appear and disappear each day.

The weekly flight from Tahiti flies into the small community Airport of Anaa.

The Napoleon wrasse, also known as a humphead wrasse, can grow upward of a few hundred pounds. Even relative babies like this one are known for breaking anglers off in the reef.

Fly fishing the reefs at Anaa Atoll will allow you to catch a mixed bag of fish, like this colorful Napoleon wrasse.

Distinct markings and vibrant colors help the wrasse blend in with the reef.

On occasion, Anaa flyfishers take some time to venture outside the reef for some vertical jigging , a productive tactic for targeting large reef predators, such as this hard-fighting dogtooth tuna.

Bohar snapper of trophy proportions wait on the reef for skiff anglers.

Anglers wander exposed reef, searching for big fish and covering the likely cuts where they might work.

A stunning coral trout, an impressive catch from Anna’s northern tip.

Waiting for the sun to emerge through the clouds, these anglers wade slowly looking for any signs of fish.

A blind cast produces a surprise flounder, this one striking a large streamer as it passed a deep spot on the reef.

Bonefish can be taken off the flats with a stealthy approach and a small fly.

Large Bluefin trevally lurk around the reefs here in Anaa and may quickly snatch up a fast-moving fly.

Anaa Atoll accommodations are simple, clean, and most importantly, idyllic.

Gavin Hodgson of flatsbag.com, getting up-close and personal with the business end of a large snapper.

The post Tahiti, An Indo-Pacific Fishing Paradise appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

During the waning days of reliable summer weather — well, as reliable as central Alaska gets — a quad of kayak enthusiasts took the opportunity to join a brief expedition to the outermost fringes of Prince William Sound. The August event marked the inaugural trip for Capt. Andy Mezirow’s new kayak-fishing option with Gray Light charters, based in Seward. It also marked the first time this angler has ever had the chance to really fish the North Pacific from one of those little plastic boats so popular with fishermen in warmer climes. The experience proved to be unforgettable. But since a picture is worth 1,000 words, here’s the equivalent of about 24,000 words to share the adventure.

For two nights in Seward, we were lucky enough to have this cottage on Bear Lake for our accommodations. Within a stone’s throw sits the lake; it was filled with salmon (and, yes, bears abound).

Capt. Andy Mezirow (center), in his big quonset-hut workshop, discusses plans for the multi-day Prince William Sound adventure with Keeton Eoff (left) and Morgan Promnitz, both with Hobie Kayaks. At right are visible some of Mezirow’s new fleet of five Hobie Outbacks with Mirage Pedal Drives, fully rigged for fishing (including Lowrance GPS/sounders).

On a quiet morning, anglers and crew in Seward’s harbor load four Outbacks onto Mezirow’s Gray Light, a new, custom-built DR Radon 32-foot fiberglass boat, purpose-designed and built for Mezirow.

With calming winds, an overcast sky was no concern as Mezirow stopped in outer Resurrection Bay to offload kayaks and anglers in a silver-salmon-rich spot for a couple hours of hot/heavy salmon action.

Two silver salmon bend rods just after we start fishing. I’ve hooked one (left foreground) large enough to pull the kayak along. The cool rain made all of us glad for the Kokatat foul-weather jackets and bibs that kept us warm and dry.

Fat silver (coho) salmon proved hungry and aggressive, grabbing cut pieces of herring nearly as fast as we could get them down on our light gear, using long-leadered mooching rigs.

With a pair of bait shears, Mezirow cuts herring into chunks, which is all it takes to connect with the hordes of coho salmon in Resurrection Bay in early August.

Fishing near Montague Island, this halibut snapped up a white soft-plastic tail before a salmon could do so. On a light baitcast reel, I had quite a fight on my hands.

A triumphant Eoff lifts one of the morning’s larger silver salmon.

Gorgeous silver salmon

Bright-red yelloweye rockfish hit a leadhead jig and plastic tail dropped to bottom with halibut in mind. Penn Slammer spinning reels proved perfect for jigging deeper waters from the kayaks.

Gulp! Swimming Mullet proved the ticket for silver salmon, but halibut also got in on that action.

The Outback’s pedal-drive unit is perfect for hands-free, slow trolling, which generally led to a salmon strike in short order. Here, note the Gray Light mothership at anchor off Montague Island, in the background.

Coho salmon are dogged fighters whose erratic and unpredictable runs when hooked make them oustanding light-tackle opponents.

In the calm waters off Montague Island, Eoff eases a silver to the kayak. Landing nets would have made the task easier, but the abundance of salmon minimized concerns about the ones that got away.

Success: Eoff holds up his prize.

By nearly mid-August, the silver salmon have fattened up and a large one can pull a kayak along behind it, as Promnitz is noticing, here, off Montague Island.

The Gray Light approaches Port Ashton Lodge on Chenega Island in the early evening.

A basic but functional guest cabin at Port Ashton Lodge provided welcome accommodations for us overnight at Chenega Island.As the photos shows, the tide had gone out by 10 p.m. when this photo was taken.

Mezirow finds bait and salmon in abundance showing up on his sounder in outer Resurrection Bay and advises his kayakeros to be ready to fish.

Promnitz has his hands full trying to power a trophy-size halibut up from deep water near Port Bainbridge passage

Promnitz, having no death wish, does not try to bring a barndoor halibut onto the kayak with him; rather, he tows it back to the Gray Light for its flying-head harpoon. Of course this would be possible in a conventional kayak only for an angler blessed with four arms (two to hold the rod and two to paddle).

Proving that halibut aren’t the only game in town, I land another salmon for a quick GoPro 6 selfie.

Though still a handful, this 55-pound halibut was just small enough to allow me to hand it off to the Gray LIght crew.

Surprise of the day: Eoff’s “halibut” proved to be another flat, brown critter, and similarly difficult to bring to the kayak: a big skate.

Author’s note: I can and do recommend this kayak-fishing adventure to any experienced enthusiast. However, even on nice days, the water is very cold and the currents can be quite strong. I would not, suggest that a novice first try kayak fishing in the Gulf of Alaska. — Doug Olander

The post An Alaska Kayak-Fishing Adventure appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

The good news is, we can leave the oceans full of water and still get some of those views, thanks to the 3D bathymetric navigation charts of NSI, Inc., which boasts the most complete, compressive and accurate bathymetric database for U.S. waters.

Mark Pringle, chief cartographer at NSI, has provided Sport Fishing enthusiasts with this exclusive, revealing gallery showing some of America’s best-known, most consistently productive hot spots, from Alaska to the Northeast.

Scroll through these images — and see what you’ve been missing. (If you’re seeing them on a mobile phone, remember to revisit these on a monitor where larger images will reveal more detail.)

Ed. note: The scales of distance you see on these 3d images are not accurate for all areas of the image. Due to the perspective of the 3D area pictured, the distance scales are relative to the lower center part of the image only or the area immediately adjacent to it, providing relative reference (but not accurate as a measuring tool).

CATALINA ISLAND

Sitting just under 50 miles from Los Angeles, Catalina Island is famed among anglers for a plethora of game fish including calico (kelp) bass, white seabass, yellowtail, giant sea bass (not legal to keep) and more including striped marlin and tuna in nearby blue water.

Charleston Harbor

This major deepwater port in South Carolina is also home to some excellent fishing, including huge bull redfish, as well as tarpon, cobia and blacktip sharks, depending upon one’s timing.

Eastern Gulf of Mexico Escarpment

Sure, the northern Gulf of Mexico is pretty well-known for a gradually sloping, flat, featureless bottom — until you move out into deeper water. At that point, things get really interesting in terms of relief and structure, as this contour map clearly shows.

Golden Gate Bridge Channel

The channel that runs beneath San Francisco’s famed Golden Gate Bridge offers anglers seasonal action for salmon, striped bass and california halibut as well as sturgeon, sharks and more. Fast-running tides and ship traffic require experience and caution.

Hampton Bar

This narrow, shallow ridge north of Norfolk, Virginia, in lower Chesapeake Bay has long been a favorite of anglers for striped bass, cobia, flounder and other game fish.

Hudson Canyon

Located about 100 miles east of the New Jersey’s Hudson River, the Hudson is one of the world’s largest submarine canyons — and among the most productive for tuna (bigeye, yellowfin, bluefin), swordfish, marlin (whites and blues) and mako sharks.

Islamorada Hump

This small seamount sits about 15 miles off Islamorada in the Florida Keys. It’s popular for bluewater game fish and coastal pelagics (particularly blackfin tuna) as well.

Middle Ground

This 460-square-mile area of ridges rising off the otherwise smooth Gulf floor lies a bit more than 100 miles northwest of Tampa Bay. Though a long run from the coast, the area is well-known for big cubera snapper, large grouper and a great variety of fishes.

Midnight Lump

Located about 50 miles southwest of Venice, Louisiana, this salt dome rises from around 400 feet to within 200 feet of the surface and has long attracted dozens of boats on busy days vying for the hordes of tuna and wahoo that, at times, feast on bait fish over this structure.

Mississippi Canyon

While the Midnight Lump rises from 400 feet to 200, the amazing Mississippi Canyon nearby plummets from 400 feet to nearly 4,000 feet in places. This vast canyon averages about 5 miles wide; its walls may be home to swordfish feeding in the deep-scattering layer during the day.

Norfolk Canyon

About 70 miles off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, this steep, deep, narrow canyon snakes its way into the Continental Shelf. It’s 35 miles long and more than a mile deep in places. Norfolk Canyon is a go-to area for many anglers targeting large tunas and other blue-water pelagics.

Possession Bar

An extension of the southern end of Whidbey Island in northern Puget Sound, the sheer walls of the bar help funnel currents up and over the top, where chinook salmon feed heavily, including resident fish called blackmouth locally, during winter months.

Resurrection Bay

Seward, at the head of this long inlet, is the primary jumping-off point for accessing Resurrection. It’s main claim to fishing fame is the typically bountiful run of silver salmon from midsummer until early September, though many halibut are caught toward the mouth, as well.

Stellwagen Bank

A short run from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, will put an angler on Stellwagen‘s southwest corner, a well-known and well-fished spot for bluefin tuna. The bank, part of a marine sanctuary, rises to about 65 feet at its shallowest and is about 6 miles across at its widest.

Strait of Juan de Fuca

About 100 miles long and up to 18 miles wide, this huge channel separates British Columbia from Washington, and connects Puget Sound with the Pacific. It is often windy and beset with thick fogs. Heavy currents pour in and out. But so do salmon and from Port Angeles out to Neah Bay, anglers work near the shore for salmon as well as halibut.

The Race

This waterway runs between Fishers and Gull islands at the mouth of Long Island Sound, south of New London, Connecticut. The huge currents that barrel in and out make fishing tricky but very productive for large striped bass on jigs or live eels. Bluefish and false albacore feed here seasonally, as well.

About the Author and NSI

In 1994, Mark Pringle, along with business partner Floyd Phillips, were fishing an offshore tournament. “We had every navigation and fishing chart available at the time — yet we quickly realized we had no real idea of what structure might lie beneath us.” Their engineering and business-management skills, along with knowledge of the marine market, led to formation of NSI. Today NSI, located in Edgewater, Maryland, has the most complete, compressive and accurate bathymetric database available for U.S. waters. More than a billion geo-referenced soundings from hundreds of sources allow tremendous resolution of images. NSI creates the Contour 3D bathymetric charts for Maptech, contributes to Navico’s Nautic Insight charts, and develops software for the U.S. government and many private clients.

The post Amazing Subsurface Views of America’s Favorite Fishing Hot Spots appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

A prolific photographer of fish, fishing and fishing boats, Jason Stemple offers here a sampling of the variety of images he takes on and under the water. The South Carolina native travels widely around this country and beyond and has compiled a vast collection of images. More can be seen on jasonstemple.com.

About the Photographer

The post 20 Striking Photos of Fishing Florida and the Bahamas appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Cabo Striped Marlin

Sandy Bonefish

Ocean Oasis

A Short Reprieve

Cobia Capture

A Sailfish Soars

50/50

Sunrise Launch

Picture Permit

Keys Redfish

One Angler’s First Striped Marlin

AJs at Night

Sheepshead Release

Key West Sunset

Keys Tarpon

Flats Permit

Tournament Fishing

Lady Anglers

The Long Run

Dolphin Dinner

The rise of social media has influenced a lot of where Hunter Ledbetter’s photography has gone. He mostly shoots promo work for companies that have products they need to advertise. He shoots with a lot of anglers who need pictures for their social media profiles and websites too. Fishing publications and online media have a steady demand for new images and often require very specific images.

You can find Hunter Ledbetter in Florida Keys waters fishing or diving, and almost always with his camera.

The post 20 Great Fishing Photos of Warm-Water Game Fish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.