Summer has arrived, and it's time for some family fishing fun.
June has to be the best month of the year for fishermen, as there's an awesome bite going on just about anywhere you choose to fish. It makes no difference whether that's your own backyard or some exotic destination - a great many opportunities come up this month.
Many of us have spent the winter and spring planning for a summer sojourn to a new fishing ground. The kids are out of school, and the weather's great, so why not? Pack your bags and tackle, and head out for new fishing experiences.
But where to go and what to fish for? A bewildering number of possibilities exist: inshore or offshore, striped bass or billfish, domestic or international? You must answer these basic questions before making reservations, but once you narrow it down, it's time to book a trip.
To help you choose a suitable summer adventure, we at SWS put our heads together and debated where we would send folks for that unforgettable summer trip. We threw lots of options on the table and came up with the following five offerings.
We hope one or more will strike a chord with you and get you to pick up that phone or log on to the Internet to pull the trigger on a reservation. The time has never been better, and fish are waiting. Each of these areas offers excellent fishing for the species recommended, so all you need to do is show up!
* ISLAMORADA, FLORIDA
PRIMARY SPECIES: Swordfish
BONUS SPECIES: Dolphin, blackfin tuna
Swordfish stocks have rebounded in recent years, and charter captains in the Florida Keys have taken advantage of this to develop a dynamic and exciting recreational fishery for these magnificent fish. At first the action took the traditional form, with skippers fishing at night, but innovative fishermen later figured out how to catch swordfish in the daytime, at greater depths, making the action much more enjoyable and safe.
The Stanczyk family of Bud N' Mary's Marina, in Islamorada, led the charge in creating this phenomenon, and there's no better place to give it a try. If you've always dreamed of tangling with one of the toughest fish in the ocean, now's the time. Swordfishing offthe Keys is as close to a sure thing as you're likely to find anywhere.
HOT SPOTS: Offthe drop in 1,500 feet of water or more.
TACKLE: 80-pound conventional tackle loaded with 65- or 80-pound solid-core braid. 20-pound spinning tackle to pick offa passing dolphin or a tuna at one of the famous Islamorada humps.
LURES AND BAITS: Rigged squid; sewn belly baits of tuna, bonito or dolphin; live blue runners.
EXTRA GEAR: Heavy-duty fighting belt and back harness, dropper lights, stick leads or concrete weights of up to 10 pounds.
LOCAL FLAVOR: Bud N' Mary's T-shirt, Pelagic board shorts, Teva flip-flops, camouflage visor.
WHO :
Bud N' Mary's Marina
Capt. Scott Stanczyk
Catch 22
Capt. Nick Stanczyk
Bn'M
800-742-7945
budnmarys.com
WHERE TO STAY:
Cheeca Lodge & Spa
800-327-2888
cheeca.com
Islander Resort
305-664-2031
islanderfloridakeys.com
* PACIFIC COAST OF GUATEMALA
PRIMARY SPECIES: Pacific sailfish
BONUS SPECIES: Blue, black and striped marlin; dorado; yellowfin tuna
The fishing out of Marina Pez Vela, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, has become the stuffof legend in the past decade. Huge schools of Pacific sailfish often swarm offshore in pursuit of massive schools of bait, and the captains in the area have perfected the bait-and-switch - hookless teasers bring the fish up, and hook baits are dropped back as the teasers come in. It's an exciting and challenging fishing method offering maximum angler participation.
Double-digit releases per day are more common in Guatemala than anywhere else, making this the best place to try fly-fishing for sails, the ultimate billfishing challenge. Many boats in the Marina Pez Vela fleet specialize in sailfish on fly, and their crews can teach you in no time.
HOT SPOT S : Everywhere offshore is hot!
TACKLE: 20- or 30-pound conventional tackle for sailfish; 50-pound conventional tackle for marlin. 12- to 15-weight fly rods with large-capacity fly reels.
LURES AND BAITS: Hookless Mold Craftlures for teasers, naked ballyhoo hook baits rigged on circle hooks. Pink-and-white Cam Sigler tube flies for fly-fishing.
EXTRA GEAR: Fighting belt and harness, wind-on leaders for conventional tackle, fly stretcher box, The Billfish Foundation tag stick and tags.
LOCAL FLAVOR: No trip to Guatemala is complete without a side trip to the ancient city of Antigua, nestled at the foot of an active volcano, and a stay in the Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, an ancient monastery converted into a luxury hotel.
WHO:
Casa Vieja Lodge
800-882-4665
casaviejalodge.com
Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures
512-535-1751
guatbilladv.com
WHERE TO STAY:
Hotel Casa Santo Domingo
Antigua, Guatemala
casasantodomingo.com.gt
* NEW ENGLAND
Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut
PRIMARY SPECIES: Striped bass
BONUS SPECIES: Bluefish
New England's summer run of striped bass and bluefish is legendary, as millions of members of both species migrate northward along the East Coast, chasing bunker, sand eel and squid schools. Summer here along rocky shores is shade-tree-comfortable, with water temperatures reaching the high 60s - a perfect climate for stripers in the 15- to 40-pound class and knuckle-busting bluefish to 15 pounds. Live-baiting is a near-guaranteed hookup, but swimming plugs and poppers offer a crash-and-splash show on bass and blues. It's simple, as any local will tell you: Follow the "bunkah" schools to find the "stripahs."
HOT SPOTS: Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod and Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts; Block Island, Rhode Island; Casco Bay, Maine.
TACKLE: 20- to 30-pound conventional or spinning outfits spooled with 20-pound mono or 50-pound braided lines; 10-weight fly rods and matching reels.
LURES AND BAITS: Ava jigs, custom wood plugs, Mann's Stretch plugs, umbrella rigs, tube and worm rigs, poppers, sandworms, live bunker, eels, live squid.
EXTRA GEAR: Headlamps, Korkers shoes, waders, plug bag (for surf) , long-sleeved fleece, sock hat.
LOCAL FLAVO R : Lobsters, Birkenstock shoes, New England clam chowder (duh!), pastel L.L. Bean button-down shirt, Samuel Adams beer.
WHO:
Capt. Barry Gibson
Boothbay Harbor, Maine
207-633-5929
saltwatermaine.com
Capt. Chuck DiStefano
Boston, Massachusetts
617-775-7745
bostonsportfishing.com
Capt. Bob DeCosta
Nantucket, Massachusetts
508-228-5074
albacorecharters.com
Capt. Tom Pitasi
Niantic, Connecticut
203-943-6738
fish-ct.com
WHERE TO STAY:
Black Point Inn
Scarborough, Maine
207-883-2500
blackpointinn.com
Gloucester Inn by the Sea
Gloucester, Massachusetts
978-283-8025
gloucesterinnbythesea.com
* BAHAMAS
PRIMARY SPECIES: Bonefish
BONUS SPECIES: Permit, tarpon
The Bahamas islands are a constant source of discovery for flats fishermen. New hot spots arise, and traditional camps shut down, but the sheer number of bonefish never changes. If you doubt the importance of the species to these islands, look through that handful of change you end up with after a trip to the Bahamas. This nation has chosen to emblazon its dime with a pair of bonefish.
Whether you want to post a high number of school fish or tag the trophy fish of a lifetime, you'll accomplish it at one or another of more than two dozen islands here. As a bonus, permit ply the deeper water adjacent to the bonefish flats, and in places such as Andros and Crooked Island, tarpon cruise the inshore channels and venture onto the deeper flats.
HOT SPOTS: Abaco, Andros, Mangrove Cay.
TACKLE: 8-pound spinning gear for bonefish; 12- to 20-pound for permit and tarpon. Fly rods should be 8-weight for bonefish and 10-weight for permit, both fitted with floating lines. For tarpon, use an 11- or 12-weight.
LURES AND BAITS: Shrimp, conch and crabs for bait; 1/8 - to 1/2 -ounce skimmer jigs in pink, white, brown and chartreuse; any variety of bonefish flies; crab flies; Clouser Minnows; tarpon streamers.
EXTRA GEAR: Wading shoes with gravel protection at the ankles for the flats. Bring leaders, tippet, hooks and flies, as they may be hard to find once you are here.
LOCAL FLAVO R : Plenty of sunscreen; an island attitude; familiarity with the sound made by a junkanoo cowbell, universally recognized as "kalik," which also happens to be the brand name of the islands' beer.
WHERE TO STAY:
Black Fly Bonefish Club
Abaco
904-997-2220
blackflybonefishclub.com
Stafford Creek Lodge
Andros
954-676-4158
staffordcreeklodge.com
Mangrove Cay Club
Andros
242-369-0731
242-379-0732
mangrovecayclub.com
* LONG-RANGE TRIPS FROM SAN DIEGO
PRIMARY SPECIES: Yellowfin tuna
BONUS SPECIES: Wahoo, California yellowtail, bluefin tuna
Long-range trips departing southern California to travel deep into the Pacific to fish Mexican waters are a West Coast mainstay. Often lasting up to three weeks, these trips target giant yellowfin tuna on the legendary Alijos Rocks and offHurricane Bank and Revillagigedo Islands, though the last destination is now by law for catch-and-release research trips only.
Customarily these trips are a winter exercise, but shorter trips are abundant in the summer, when the entire fleet targets yellowfin and bluefin tuna, California yellowtail, dorado and wahoo on one- to five-day, and occasionally seven-day, excursions down the Baja Peninsula. It's a less demanding but no less productive sampler of the abundance of blue-water sport that lies south of the border.
HOT SPOTS: Cedros, San Benito and Guadalupe islands; Alijos Rocks.
TACKLE: Long-range tackle is specialized, but long, beefy live-bait rods carrying 25- to 80-pound braid, depending on your trip, quarry and destination, are the rule. Reels need top-quality drags and high capacity, as you'll be fishing on anchor for big pelagics. Most trips provide the option of top-flight rental tackle to save the newcomer the expense of tackling up with high-priced specialty gear.
LURES AND BAITS: For the most part, this is a live-bait fishery, and boats are equipped with sophisticated livewell systems. Occasionally you'll fish surface metals or jigs for yellowtail. Complete tackle recommendations are posted on each crew's website.
EXTRA GEAR: Heavy-duty fighting belt and back harness, gear to handle tropical weather and day-andnight exposure.
LOCAL FLAVO R : These are fishing trips, pure and simple, with little else to focus on.
WHO:
Fisherman's Landing
619-221-8500
fishermanslanding.com
Point Loma Sportfishing
619-223-1627
pointlomasportfishing.com
H&M Landing
619-222-1144
hmlanding.com
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