


| Around 10% of the world's total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef. |
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| The toxin in puffer fish is 1200 times deadlier than cyanide. |
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| Strange fish facts |
| Many Fish can taste without even opening their mouths. |
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| Fish Facts |
| Most brands of lipstick contain fish scales |
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| Did you know? |
| American Lobsters have longer life spans than both cats and dogs, living over 20 years. |
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| When you need a good reason to go fishing! |
| Going fishing outdoors increases your vitamin D, which helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in your body, keeping your bones and teeth healthy. It boosts your immune system and has been linked to fighting depression. |
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| Some fishes lay their eggs on land instead of in the water |
| The mudskipper even takes this further, even mating on land. These fish burrow and lay their eggs in mudflats before returning to the water. |
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| In three decades, the world's oceans will contain more discarded plastic than fish when measured by weight, researchers say. |
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| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| God Bless The Troops |
| We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. - George Orwell |
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| One fish is called a fish. Two or more are still called fish. |
| However than one species of fish are called fishes. |
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| Did you know that |
About 60% of US Anglers practice catch and release. Women make up about 33% of fresh water anglers and about 85% of fresh water anglers begin fishing at 12 years old. |
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| Just how man species of fish are there? |
| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| Even Catfish are finicky |
| Taste Buds ? Catfish have a more refined sense of flavor than humans. Our 10,000 taste buds may seem like a lot, but catfish can have as many as 175,000. This helps them find the exact location of their next meal. |
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Aug 16, 2009; 10:41AM
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Category: Fishing Tackle Wanted
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Name for Contacts: Bill Warhol
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Phone: 763-633-0565
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City: Princeton
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State: MN
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Country: USA
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| Description: |
Looking for 9' light up pencil type bobber/float. Originally made by Blue Fox???
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December 2003 Fishing Photo Contest $50 worth of free fishing tackle for the photo with the most votes. Contest open to all anglers.
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Michael Thing40.8lbsYellowtail |
Click the image for full story |
| Michael Thing, 39 |
| We were in a Halibut tourney drifting in about 35' of water 250-300... |
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538 vote(s)
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May 19, 2003; 09:01AM - Circle Hooks for Billfish
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Category: Trolling techniques
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Author Name: Carlos Morales
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Tip&Trick Description 1:
What are “circle hooks”? To a fisherman seeing one for the first time you kind of wonder why anyone would use them or took time to invent them. They are similar in size to the more common “J” shaped hook but the opening is smaller and the barb points toward the body of the hook forming a circular shape, hence their name. At first glance it would appear fish would seldom be caught with circle hooks because the barb points the wrong way and the smaller than usual opening would difficult hooking anything.
Surprise, surprise, first impressions are wrong. Depending which study an angler consults, circle hooks have been shown to be as effective or more effective than “J” hooks for catching all types of fish including billfish. Some studies say fishermen catch 60% more fish, others 100% more fish with circle hooks than with “J” hooks. Catching more fish is a bonus but the real advantage of circle hooks is that they are designed to hook a fish in the lip or corner of the mouth and this happens about 95% of the time, preventing “deep hooking” and “foul hooking”. Removing a circle hook is fast and easy, take a pair of pliers and rotate the hook out of the mouth.
A “J” hook works by attaching itself wherever soft tissue is available. Normally, as soon as a fish bites, the first thing an angler does is “set the hook” by swiftly pulling the rod up and reeling in some line. This violent maneuver guarantees (anglers wish) that the barb of the hook will penetrate some soft tissue inside the mouth thus hooking the fish. Some fish, like billfish, have bony mouths so when the “J” hook tries to find purchase it just slides along and it either pops out of the mouth with the bait or attaches to the the upper palate, throat, pharynx, oesophagus or in the stomach. Anglers who practice catch and release know deep hook injuries, caused by any type of hook, are often mortal due to bleeding and that the hook sometimes is left inside the fish since its so deep there is no way to remove it without killing the fish. This is not a problem for the angler fishing for tasty, sought after fish like Dorado (dolphin), flounder, mangrove snapper, redfish, grouper, etc., since the whole point of going fishing is catching fish to eat.
Here is where circle hooks come in. They have been around for years and were adopted in the late 1970’s for use by longline commercial fishing boats because not only did fish hook themselves but also studies showed they were 85% more effective than “J” hooks and the hooked fish were alive when the longline was retrieved. It is ironic that recreational anglers, to preserve fish, have recently adopted commercial fishing hooks known and used for their ability to catch large numbers of fish.
We did say fish hooked themselves and we are not joking. When fishing using circle hooks and a fish takes the bait, do not set the hook! Wait. Count out one Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc., meditate about why there are no pregnant ladybugs, speculate on the price of bananas on Mars, just don’t set the hook! As the fish swims away the line becomes taut allowing the hook to rotate inside the fish’s mouth and lodge itself in the corner of the mouth. When the rod is flexed and the line taut that means the fish is hooked. Patience is very important because if the angler tries to set a circle hook the same way as a “J” hook, more often than not it will just be pulled out of the mouth of the fish. After a bite a mate on our boats grabs the rod but doesn’t do anything until the billfish swims away pulling the line taut and bending the rod, then he counts to five and “tests” whether the hook has been set by reeling in some line. This technique usually works very well.
If a “self-hooking hook” was not good enough, circle hooks have other advantages. Once hooked, billfish tend to leap and violently shake their head side to side to try and loose the hook. It looks spectacular and anglers love it but “J” hooks are sometimes dislodged this way. The circle hooks round shape and the direction of the barb helps to prevent dislodgement so fish don’t de-hook as much when doing their aerial stunts. Another great advantage is that humans hook themselves less in the hand, ear and/or other body parts and clothes with circle hooks because the barb points toward the body of the hook.
Not all circle hooks are created equal though. Besides “normal circle hooks” there are “offset circle hooks” whose barb does not point to the body of the hook but opens up, similar to a “J” hook’s. Depending on the degree that the barb is offset, 4 to 15 degrees, they become about as effective as “J” hooks at deep hooking as in their ability to catch fish. Like “J” hooks, “offset circle hooks” also cause more foul hooking of fish. Foul hooking means hooking a fish by the eye, gills, etc. Billfish depend on their eyesight to hunt and catch their prey so an eye wound seriously diminishes a billfish’s ability to feed and damaging the gills hampers the billfish’s survivability. Some circle hooks are made out of stainless steel and will not degrade with time so if a fish is lost with a stainless steel hook in it, that hook will be in the fish forever.
In Guatemala “catch and release” for all billfish is the law. Since it’s beginning our company has adopted a circle hook only policy for bill fishing and releasing the fish unharmed is a very important goal. Guatemala has the best sailfishing in the world and we do our best to keep it that way.
Happy fishing and tight lines!!
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Dec 9, 2007; 09:35PM - Custom Fit Boat Cover
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Category: [other]
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Price: Varies
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Name for Contacts: Elite Outdoors
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Phone:
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City:
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State: MO
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Country: USA
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Description 1:
When only the best will do! A perfect fit: measured, tucked, darted and approved by Hurricane's own pattern and design craftsman. Vulnerable wear and stress points are double reinforced with an extra tough material sewn to the underside of the cover. An unbreakable 1/4' poly draw rope sewn with the perimeter hem enables the cover to be cinched tight to the hull. 1' poly loops are sewn around the perimeter of the cover to accept a Hurricane strap/buckle tie down kit, bungee cords, or rope ties for positive securing to the boat. Built tough to take the exposure and abuse that boat covers are exposed to when trailering, storing, or mooring.
Westland has over 16,000 Exact Fit Custom Cover patterns for over 200 different boat manufacturers. You will have your choice of 3 fabrics and over 30 colors.
To check to see if we have a custom cover pattern for your boat please Email Us your year - make - model - any accessories like towers, swim platforms, bow rails, radar archs, etc. |
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Description 2:
Sharkskin color chart...also, available in Sunbrella |
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Nov 11, 2004; 03:41PM - Tuna, mako sharks and grouper in Venice
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Category: Louisiana
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Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
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Lots of surprises this week or short week as it
turned out..really had hoped to run the entire week
with our scheduled trips before the next front but
it came early...after hearing stories of acres and
acres of huge yellowfin from Sonny and Darryl on
Sunday (They had 2 fish on 6 bites - 140# and 120#
yelowfins), I had Kevin Ford of Geaux Fish TV
accompany me with Mike and William Miller, and
David Montz on the Cabo. After reaching the grounds
we didn't see any sign of life..decided to put out
a four line trolling spread to cover some water
..it never happened for us (or anyone else that
day).., but while we making bait, we saw a big mako
at the transom of the Balancing Act - we sped over
to capture the memory on film..the fight lasted 45
minutes after which Jeremiah Sablatura's 250 pound
mako was secured to the transom..we stuck around
for another hour with no bites before we left to go
pursue some grouper..David really wanted grouper
before we left the dock and I was looking at
another shot at beating the world record for
yellowedge grouper since the big fish I caugh on
Oct 30th did not count for either state or world
record consideration as I handed the rod off to
gaff my own fish while it was floating on the
surface..rules are rules..anyway..the grouper bite
was wide open for the 90 minutes we tried..we had
12 good bites and landed 7 groupers and one red
snapper..we were using 16/0 circle hooks to cut
down on red snapper bycatch and it worked..the
final tally was 6 yellowedges 10-15 pounds and one
60 pound warsaw..I went 2 for 4, David went 4-4 and
Mike Miller went 1 for 4..William went 0-0 - and I
let him hear about it too! We figured out that
David has the proper build for a successful grouper
fisheman..tremendous upper body strength with a low
center of gravity from all the junk in his
trunk..anyway he caught the big warsaw Monday..it
had 3 sets of hooks in it's mouth...Tuesday I had
Judge and Chad Edwards, Bart Belaire and Mark
Piazza of Abbeville..I tried to cancel on Chad but
he informed me that the wind would be light enough
to make the trip and he came anyway..he was right
and I was wrong..don't think it blew over 12 knots
until the afternoon..we stayed close just to play
it safe..never more than 10 miles out..slow roll
out of the east..conditions looked great..tons of
mullet, bluegreen water within 5 miles of the
pass..worked one school of blackfin picking up one
on a jumbo mullet..not sure how he swallowed
it..tons of sharks too..not the good kind..never
saw any yellowfin and by 2pm we decided we would go
look for jacks or better..the amberjack were thick
and hungry for mullet..picked up the limit rather
quickly, playing with the rest of them until we ran
out of live bait..fished bonita slabs on bottom and
picked up a 65 pound warsaw and 3 nice gags..Mark's
grouper put the trip over the top for me, although
a 150 pound class yellow is something I haven't
seen since the summer and really had my heart set
on..according to reports from Darryl and Sonny who
found the schools Sunday; the big fish have been
balling up mullet in open water..find the bait
balls and you find the fish..of course it helps
when it's flat calm..not sure when we'll see that
again..Plenty of great pictures to share from the
last 3 days, should have them posted on my website
tonight.. Paradise OUtfitters - 985-845-8006
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