Sportsman's Adventures Tips - 2007

Keeping Your Bait Fresh and Maximizing Its Effectiveness
Once you’ve bought your shrimp or crabs or pinfish, the most important thing is keeping them in good condition until you are ready to fish with them

Last week, I talked about choosing the proper kind of live bait to fish with this time of year. I went over how to pick the right shrimp, what to look for in a good store-bought pinfish and what kind of crabs you are going to want to use when targeting fish like tarpon, snook, reds or permit.

This week, I’m going to tell you how to keep those baits alive, fresh and in good shape as you transport them from the bait shop to the dock and once you’re out on the water.

While choosing the proper bait is important, the biggest key is going to be keeping it fresh and maximizing its effectiveness.

One of the secrets to keeping bait fresh is to put it in a livewell with good, fresh water and use the recirculating pump. These pumps are built into my Maverick. What they do is continually run water through your livewell, keeping the oxygen content high and the temperature stable.

If you fill a livewell with bait and don’t circulate the water, the temperature will rise considerably and the bait will become lethargic and eventually die. The key here is to make sure you get plenty of water from the tackle store to begin with because the more water you can recirculate from the start, the more oxygen you can get to the bait. Obviously, since you’re not out on the water yet, you can’t circulate new water in that well, which is why you need to ask for extra water when you buy your bait.

Another option is to put a marine metal bubbler in there. This is a simple solution and one that a lot of people use at their homes.

A marine metal bubbler is just a small pump with a long tube running from the air source to the livewell with an air stone at the end. As that pump creates air and pushes it through the tube, the air stone at the end breaks the air into tiny bubbles that oxygenate the water and keep the fish fresh.

All you need for this is two D-sized batteries and it will work fine. I like using one of these bubblers because the air stone lays on the bottom of the tank and, while you’re bubbling, you’re actually aerating the whole water column from bottom to top. This is important because, as you know, those fish don’t just lay in one place, they’re all over the livewell.

Perhaps the most important aspect of a marine metal bubbler is the fact it doesn’t heat the water like the pump on the recirculation system will do sometimes. The only outside influence you’re putting in that livewell is the tube with the air stone. Because of this and because the bubblers tend to be small, they are very efficient and easy to carry on your boat.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Picking the Right Bait
Matching the hatch is the key to fishing this time of year; also know what to look for in a good store-bought bait

As we transition from fall to winter, choosing the right bait is very, very critical in all of your fishing situations. The biggest thing you’re going to want to do is match the hatch. Whatever the fish are feeding on is what you’re going to want to try to use as bait.

If there is a mullet migration going on, take the time to try to find a school of finger mullet to throw a cast net on. If you can’t find the schools of mullet or don’t want to throw a cast net, you’ll be heading to the tackle store and that means you have to consider buying crabs or buying shrimp.

You can, in most cases, pay just a little bit more and ask the owner to hand-pick your shrimp or hand-pick your crabs for you. What you want to look for as a consumer is the quality of that bait.

If you’re buying crabs, make sure the shells are nice and hard. That will let you know they are fresh crabs, as opposed to crabs that have been in the tank for a long time. It will also let you know that, even if they have been in the tank for a while, they have been fed and still have all their legs, etc.

As far as shrimp go, look at the color of the shrimp.

In most cases, when the shrimp are a grey color or a dark grey color, their skin will be real soft. That tells me, after 30 years of experience, those shrimp are old and they will not last as long. You want to look for the transparent colored shrimp or ones with kind of a root beer color. Those shrimp will be a lot healthier.

If they’re dark in color then, in most cases, that indicates they’ve been in the tank for a long time and they’re old. If they’re old like that, they’re not going to stay on the hook as long and you’re not going to be able to cast them as well. Fish are also able to peck them off of the hook a lot easier, too.

Another tackle shop option is pinfish.

If you buy pinfish, ask to look at them before you buy them. If their noses are beat up or bloodied or their tails are chewed off, you don’t want to use those bait because they’ve been in the tank too long.

You never want to use a live bait that has any red on it. The fish simply don’t bite it. If their noses are bloodied, that means they’ve been bumping into the side of the tank too much. It’s not natural for that fish to have a red nose. He’s not Rudolph.

A lot of the pinfish you buy at tackle stores come from shrimp trawlers, and those fish have been dragged for hours and are not very healthy. Some tackle stores use pinfish traps and those fish are really, really good. Feel free to ask the tackle shop whether he got them from a shrimper or if they use pinfish traps. If say from a trap, they’ll last a lot longer. Most of time the fish from the shrimpers won’t even be able to withstand the trip from Homestead to Flamingo. They won’t last in the livewell for 45 minutes.

So, be careful when choosing your baits this time of year. You want to match the hatch and tempt the fish with what they’re chasing naturally but you also want to make sure you get your money’s worth when you get out on the water.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Getting in Shape for the Tournament Season
Successful competitive fishing is more than what you’re using and how. You have to make sure your body can withstand what those fish are going to put your muscles though

When most people think about fishing advice, they think about what kind of tackle to use, what kind of bait you want, places to look for fish or certain rigging or set-ups. Those are all very helpful, but something a lot of anglers don’t think about is being in the proper condition to actually catch a lot of the fish we target here in Florida.

There is a big difference between catching 2- or 3-pound snapper, a 25-pound redfish or a 35-pound snook, compared to reeling in a sailfish or a marlin in the Gulf Stream. Especially if you’re fishing under tournament conditions.

With that in mind, and the offshore tournament season right around the corner, I thought I’d let you in on a couple things I do to get my body ready for sailfishing, rather than redfishing.

This year I am fishing the Sailfish Series with Capt. Ray Rosher aboard the brand new HMY 54 Viking Miss Costa. Now, all summer I’ve been fishing for redfish and tarpon and a wide variety of inshore species. Though I’ve been on the tournament trail, there is a big difference between redfish tournaments and the Sailfish Series.

I want to be on top of my game come November when that series starts so I began my preparations in August.

What I did was call Ray and told him I wanted the exact rod and reel combination we were going to be kite fishing with in the various tournaments. I went over to his place and picked up a Penn rod with roller guides, just your basic offshore trolling rod. It has a Penn 30-wide reel on it.

When I’m sitting in front of the television watching whatever I’m watching, I have that rod laying by my favorite couch. I’ll take that rod and put it on my hip, just below my hip bone, put a little bit of tension on the reel, about one-third of the way up to the strike position, and I’ll sit there and wind and wind and wind and wind even faster. I’ll do this through the commercial breaks.

What that does is help my muscles become more used to the difference in the larger diameter of this type of reel. For me to wind a baitcaster with my right hand is very easy. Same thing with a fly rod, because the diameter of those two types of reels are very similar and it’s something I do a lot. It’s not a foreign movement for me.

Because I don’t use a 30-, 50-, or and 80 -wide every day, I felt like, potentially, at the beginning of the sailfish season, I could be at a disadvantage. So I’m trying to build those muscles over a long period of time.

Say you’re in a tournament and a sailfish hits your right long bait on your kite. You have potentially 130 to 140 yards, maybe even 200 yards, of line between the reel and the fish. When that fish hits and pulls that line out of the clip on the kite, you have all that slack to wind up and this is the most critical time when it comes to catching that fish. To be able to pick up that line is a huge key. When I’m winding fast, fast, fast, fast I want to get that burning feeling in four minutes rather than in the first 45 seconds.

Once that fish is hooked it’s no big deal, you just wind it in. But there is nothing like the winding you’re going to be doing for 45 seconds to two minutes to get that slack out of the line when you first try to hook that fish.

I’ll sit for hours while watching TV and just go through that movement. While I’m doing that, I’m also playing with the reel angle, moving the reel so that handle is a little easier to get into. I like to move the rod butt up and down on my leg so that it makes that motion more comfortable. The whole idea is to get familiar with what I’m going to be using.

And I’m glad that I’m doing it. I definitely feel the difference now in my upper deltoid muscle and the outside of my shoulder from when I started doing it a couple months ago.

So, while tackle, bait and location are important, being able to reel in that fish in a timely manner could be the No. 1 difference maker when it comes to successful tournament fishing.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Electri-Guard Fights the Devastating Effects of Saltwater
Corrosion is a constant worry in Florida, paint a little of this on to protect those important parts.

Corrosion has always been a part of the saltwater experience. It doesn’t matter whether it is the trolling motor connection on your Minn Kota or the fuse panel on your Contender, corrosion is everywhere when you’re around saltwater.

Electri-Guard is a product I was introduced to by a guy named Rick Quail who lives in the Tampa Bay area. Quail explained to me that anything on your boat that has electric going through it is a candidate for Electri-Guard. But I have found that, after six boats and six years of use, Electri-Guard will work great with anything on your boat that has moving parts.

Some of the examples that I use Electri-Guard for are: The connection on the plug of the trolling motor, the plug on my Humminbird, the battery terminals, the throttle cables inside my Yamaha and all the wiring harness connections inside that motor. You can paint pretty much anything with a metal bolt and nut, including the lug nuts on the trailer tires.

It is really easy to apply. The bottle comes with a brush applicator built into the cap. All you have to do is unscrew the cap and paint the Electri-Guard paste on what you want to protect. But be careful, in this case, more is not better -- all it takes is a little.

It is important that the surface is clean. All you have to do is paint a thin coat on the metal parts and they will be protected forever.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Clearing Up Some Muddy Techniques
Learning what to look for in mullet muds can lead to lots of fish

Fishing mullet muds is something I learned a long time ago from my good buddy Al Pflueger Jr. The thing that is important to know is the muds can occur at any time of the year but are most often found during the spring and the fall when the mullet are migrating up and down the Florida coast. The reason I like fishing these muds is because they can really produce some big numbers of fish.

The fish that are most often found in the mud are snook, redfish, trout, tarpon and sharks. The mullet are a great food source for these predators because they don’t have to eat many of them in order to be full or satisfied.

There are four key elements that are important when fishing mullet muds. The predators use the muds to hide in. For example, snook, trout and reds will lay in pot holes inside the mud waiting for a mullet to come swimming by. The tarpon and sharks, on the other hand, like to cruise through the mud, hoping to catch a mullet off guard.

The hardest thing when fishing these muds is knowing how to read the cloud and understanding where the boat needs to be. What I look for is a distinct line or edge where the clear water and the mud meet. The other thing I look for is to see which way the mud is traveling.

In most cases, the mullet travel into the tide. Once I’ve determined those two things, I try to start poling at the head of the mud, heading down current and along the edge of the clean and dirty water.

As I pole down the edge, I like to keep my Maverick in the clean water, looking for reds cruising out of the mud. The reds like to work back and forth, or in and out, of the color change. The best way to catch these reds is to throw a spoon because the fish can’t see very well and they are really turned on to vibration. A spoon sends all kinds of vibrations through the water.

Blind casting a spoon into the mud and reeling is a sure way to catch snook and reds. On a recent trip into Everglades National Park with two young anglers who were fishing with a Cajun Thunder 1/4-ounce spoon while I fished a jerk bait. Combined, they caught 25 snook on their spoons and I managed two. This proved to me that the vibrating spoon was much better than my jerk bait bouncing off the bottom.

Once you locate the fish, you need to stop the boat and fan cast the mud. Use your Power Pole or stake out and cast the area. Catch the fish in casting range, then move down the mud and start over again until you catch another red, snook or trout. This method seems to produce big numbers of fish.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Choosing the Right Knot When Jig Fishing
Look at sink rate and water depth to determine whether to go with a tightly cinched knot or a loop knot when tying on your jigs.

The way you tie your jig on can really make a difference in the action that you will get as you fish that jig in the various environments. Here is what you need to consider when making a decision on which knot you should use to tie it on to your leader.

The sink rate and the depth of water you are fishing are the top two things to consider when deciding which knot you will go with.

When you are fishing over grass flats for bonefish or redfish, you might want to use a clinch or improved clinch knot. This will slow the sink rate down and change the attitude of the jig as it sinks.

For example, tying straight to the eye with a clinch knot keeps the jig from diving nose first. The jig seems to sink at a more level attitude versus a uni-knot which allows the jig to sink faster as the eye of the hook tends to dive towards the bottom.

So, over grass I prefer cinching down to the eye of the hook with my knot and letting that jig sink slower and more evenly.

If you are fishing sandy bottom on the flats or even in a channel, you want to use some form of loop knot. A uni-knot will work well for leaders under 60-pound test. Anything over that I use a Homer Rhodes knot. The uni just doesn’t want to pull tight when I’m using line over 60 pounds.

Remember, a loop knot allows your jigs to sink nose first, which makes it sink faster and gives the jig more action because it will bounce around the eye of the hook, rotating up and down and side to side.

When I’m jigging on reefs, or offshore, I always use a loop knot because it gives me a faster sink rate and more action. It gets down to the fish quicker, with less worry about the current, and the action will do more to entice those fish.

To learn more about knots, Mark Sosin has a DVD and a book which you can order off of his website, www.marksosin.com.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Follow the Mullet to Fall Redfish
The reds you want are camouflaging themselves with schools of sediment-stirring mullet

Fall is the time of year when a lot of big schools of redfish get together all around the state. It doesn't matter if you're fishing in Pine Island, Port Charlotte, Flamingo or any other area, if the reds are there they are going to gather in big ways.

The key to fishing these redfish is to look for the schools of big black mullet. They're easy to see because they're jumping.

What these redfish are doing is using those mullet as camouflage. They're getting in with those schools of mullet and swimming with them, generally becoming part of the school. As the mullets swim over the sea floor, they spook crustaceans, crabs, shrimp and pinfish, which is exactly what the redfish are looking to eat.

A 26- or 27-inch redfish can't eat a 3-pound mullet but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to or he isn't going to try. So, that redfish just swimming with the mullet school creates a scenario where the fish really wants to eat.

That's why you have to find the big mullet, they're the ones who stir up the most sediment on the bottom. When you find big mullet, you'll find the redfish almost every time.

Finding the mullet shouldn't be too difficult. Stop at a place you think redfish might be. If you see a big mullet jumping down the shoreline, or see three or four in a 100-yard area, that's an indication that redfish might be there. These areas could be troughs around islands or an area between two flats.

Keep a lookout, there could also be some snook mixed in as well.

When I'm fishing for these redfish, I like to use a 1/8- or 1/4-ounce jig head with a Bass Assassin 5-inch jerk bait and bounce it on the bottom. Chandelier Island is one of my favorite colors though I also like avocado with red and the baby bass colors.

The other way I like to fish them is with a 1/4-ounce Cajun Thunder spoon. When you're fishing this type of lure, remember to retrieve the spoon with the rod tip down and wind as fast as you can without skipping it on the surface, so it creates good vibrations.

What I like to do is fish braided line, like 12- or 15-pound test, and I usually tie that to a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader, about 3 or 4 feet long, with a back-to-back uni knot.

I like to use braid in this situation because it allows me to feel the bite and is a lot more sensitive due to its lack of stretch. The most important thing with the braided line id you can really distinguish where the jig is at all times.

It's very, very important to know where jig is as far as touching the bottom and lifting up your rod. Every time the jig head hits the bottom it makes a puff of sand. The perception by the predator is something is alive and hopping along the bottom. They see the mud trails and they connect the dots.

So, if you're going to be targeting redfish this fall remember these two important things: Find the schools of big mullet and make sure your jig bouncing on the bottom.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Your License for Keys Permit
October is the perfect time of the year to hit the Lower Keys in search of the saucer-shaped, big lipped fighters.

As the month of October approaches, it's time to start thinking about making a trip to the Lower Keys because this is a great time fish for permit down there. The reason now is the time is because the water temperature has cooled a little bit, and the crabs really seem to be abundant on the flats. That means permit because they love to eat those crabs so much.

It's not cold yet, but the water temperatures are just about right. It's like the Three Bears. The water's not too hot and it's not too cold. It's just right and that's why October is such a great month to fish those permit.

Some of the places you're going to want to go are the Marquesas, Jewfish Basin, any of the backcountry of Key West and Woman Key are really good permit haunts.

The permit are staging on the flats because it is easier for them to make a living in 3 or 4 feet of water than to be out on the reef, which is where they will go when the water gets cold.

The size crab I like to use is a little larger than a quarter and a little smaller than a 50 cent piece. If you take your fingers and mold them into an Okay position, the perfectly sized crab would fit between your forefinger and your thumb.

The key to really successful permit fishing, whether it's in Biscayne Bay or in The Keys, is to make yourself sightfish when you're on the flats. Get on the flats with a good pair of Costa del Mar sunglasses and look for the fish. Once you see the fish, you have to take very aggressive measures with the cast.

I like to dot a permit's eye with my crab. Try to hit them right between the eyes. The reason why is because you want to get a reaction strike. It doesn't matter whether they're tailing or cruising, this is the approach you're going to want to take.

Once you make a successful cast, let the crab sink to the bottom. If the permit sees that crab it will not let it get to the bottom. I like to use a bb-sized split shot on a 2/0 VMC j-hook. I like to put the split shot right above the eye of the hook, jammed down on top of the eye. Then, when the permit eats the crab, point the rod down the line and reel as fast as you can, plus some, for 10 seconds.

The reason why you want to do this is you don't want to set hook in a normal way. It's natural for a permit to bite a crab and have his mouth get pricked a little bit by the crab's shell. But, if you set the hook by pulling back on the rod, he feels that line explode across his lips and that's not a natural thing. Instantly, what he does is want to spit it out.

If he feels the pressure of the hook start to prick him, in most cases he thinks that it's the crab poking him in the mouth and he'll bite harder. It's no different than you or I taking bite of fish and feeling bone. The first thing we want to do is spit it out.

You can hook the crab on one side or the other. Try to hook it underneath the horn that is on either side of the edge of the crab's shell. You want to hook to come out the top, barely inside of that horn. You've got to kind of work the hook a little bit to get it through but that's good because you know the hook will hold.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Pre-mullet Migration Good Times
Until the finger mullet show up en masse, try using one of their bigger cousins for giant tarpon and large snook.

It’s getting to be that time of year when anglers on both sides of the state anticipate the yearly mullet migration. Now, this isn’t because mullet are fun to catch or put up big fights, it’s because of what they bring with them when they arrive: Tarpon, blacktip sharks, bluefish and, of course, snook.

The big migration of mullet that primarily lives along the East Coast is up in Jacksonville and north into Georgia right now. As soon as the water temperatures start to cool, and the first time those fish get a little northern blow, those finger mullet will start migrating south like they’re on fire. Right there will them will be all the fish anglers have been waiting for.

And it’s not that far off. I was up there last week for a redfish tournament and it was real cool in the mornings. That’s a good sign for those fish starting to make their way south soon.

Until those finger mullet get here, though, there is still an opportunity to get out and catch a really big tarpon.

Along the West Coast right now there are a lot of big tarpon staging in 5 to 12 feet of water. Now, the one thing I have found is you will find these fish where there is some sort of freshwater influence. The Chatham River, Chokoloskee, Marco Island Pass are excellent places to search for these big silver kings. In Flamingo, places like the Broad River, Shark River and Lostman’s River are good places to find these fish.

The key to catching a big, big tarpon (we’re talking the 120-plus pound bracket and up), is you’ve got to use a big bait. The whole idea is to get a big black mullet. This isn’t a small bait. You’re going to want to find a 2- to 3-pound fish to use as bait.

When you see the tarpon rolling there aren’t going to be a lot of fish around. But the fish that are around are staging for that mullet migration, and they’re going to be hungry. The reason you’re going to want to use the big (black) mullet now is you are going to try to entice a giant fish bite.

This same principle applies to inlets of the East Coast and the bridges of The Florida Keys. There are a lot of juvenile tarpon around, 10- to 30-pounders, but there are still some residential monsters still hanging out and waiting for a big mullet to come swimming by.

What I like to use when fishing for tarpon like this is a freelining mullet. Just let ‘em swim.

For the bigger mullet, I like to use a 9/0 or 10/0 VMC circle hook. There is no need for a cork because the mullet likes to swim on the surface, which also makes for a really exciting bite. The tarpon have to get down below them and, like a kingfish, they’ll explode out of the water as they hit the bait. What’s neat is the mullet will let you know it’s going to happen before it does. It’s one of the most spectacular things you’ll see in you life.

For tarpon, I use three feet of 80-pound fluorocarbon tied to about five feet of 40-or 50-pound fluorocarbon and then 20-pound braided line. I like braid because of its lack of stretch. You can use the same set-up for snook, except without the 80-pound fluorocarbon.

Now, remember you’re using circle hooks here and that means a different hook set than what you’re probably used to. The way I like to tell people to set the hook is simply point the rod down the line and reel 1000 times the speed of light, times a trillion.

Don’t raise the rod. Let the hook slide to the corner of the mouth. The most important part is as the drag starts to come tight, there is a period of time where the drag takes over. You have to reel right through that pressure.

This technique will ensure a good, strong hook set and a much better chance at landing that giant tarpon or big snook.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Think You Want to be a Tournament Professional?
It’s a lot more than backing your boat in the water and casting out a pretty lure.

Being a professional redfish angler would be a great job – if you could really make a living at it. I’m here to give you the hardcore facts about the job, players and sponsors.

The first thing you need to know is it takes about $4000 to $5000 per tournament to get started. Then, if you fish 10 tournaments and are “lucky” enough to place in the upper third each week, you’ll probably make it to the championship, which will add another $10,000 to the bill. That makes about $60,000 in sponsorship dollars you’re going to need, unless you plan on paying that out of your own pocket.

There are about 40 teams that fish the three main circuits: The FLW Tour, The Redfish Cup and the IFA Redfish Tour.

The FLW Tournaments are held on Thursday and Friday, with the top five teams after the first two days fishing for the championship on Saturday. That means, by the time you add in the pre-fishing day, you’ve been on the water a week. There goes a week of guiding or time off from your regular job. So, that $5000 you spent to fish the tournament is even higher because that figure doesn’t account for time (and money) lost from work.

The Redfish Cup has their tournaments on Fridays and Saturdays, with the top five teams fishing for the money on Sunday. The IFA tour is a one-day tournament, held on Saturdays.

Team of the year. It’s great to that title but it doesn’t pay much. In 2004, Scott Guthrie and I won the IFA team of the year. It paid us $10,000. But, during that year of fishing, we spent $80,000 fishing the Redfish Cup and the IFA tournament trail.

This year, we tied for the FLW East team of the year, which should have earned us free entry into four FLW tournaments next year. Since we tied, that meant we only got half of that, which means we get free entry into two events, a grand total of $1600. Remember, Scott and I spent $16,000 in gas, insurance, entry fees, oil mileage on the truck, GPS chips, boat maintenance, food and hotels out of our own pockets to fish on that tour.

We don’t have to buy boat trailers, motors, lures, line, props, reels, rods, jerseys, embroidering and, in most cases, we get paid to use all that stuff. To most guys that doesn’t sound too bad.

But here’s the real problem: In professional redfishing, the payouts are based on a full field. On the FLW Tour, a full field is 150 boats. The Redfish Cup is 120 boats. If these tournaments aren’t full, the payouts are reduced.

Here’s a recent example. In the FLW Fernandina Beach 2007 Tournament, Scott and I placed fifth. The payout should have been $6500 with Yamaha incentives. But, because the FLW didn’t fill the field, we only walked with $3400. Split between the two of us, that’s $1700 for each of us. I was there four days and, if I had stayed home and guided, I would have made $2600 and not racked up $4000 in expenses.

So, unless you win a tournament or are the team of the year or have great sponsors like Scott and I do, you need to understand it’s not always greener on the other side of the creek.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Rejuvenade

I often get asked if Rejuvenade, chemical additive from Bassmedics really helps revive fish in your livewell, and I can say from experience that it’s a great product. In fact, I use it for more than just a replenishing solution. Rejuvenade is a tool that has several applications, from helping to keep fish healthy in the livewell to supercharging your baitfish.

When fishing in professional redfish tournaments, I start the day by filling the livewell with new water, and then switching to the aerator. I then drop a level cup of Rejuvenade for every 20 gallons of water into the livewell.

If I have a redfish that is acting sluggish or stunned and looks like it’s not doing well, then I rub a little of the Rejuvenade on its lips. This seems to help perk the fish up and get its body functions working properly.

While Rejuvenade will help remove chlorine and ammonia byproducts from the livewell water, it can’t keep the water temperature in the livewell cool, and it’s important to add a frozen cooler pack or some ice in a plastic bag on the warm days to help facilitate the effectiveness of this chemical product.

Another way I use Rejuvenade is in the livewell of my Contender when fishing offshore. Putting these chemicals in with the live bait changes the color of the water and not only supercharges the baitfish, but also changes the color of the bait so they really stick out when they hit the water. These baitfish look lit-up or excited, and the predators really key in on them.

Again, I recirculate the livewell to keep the Rejuvenade in the well as long as possible, but you can also add it to a normal livewell, only you have to add the Rejuvenade more often as the water in the baitwell completely changes out. This product has really worked for me, and I hope it works for you.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Take Care of your Bait and it will Take Care of You
Proper bait handling is key to lively baits and more strikes.

As a fisherman, there’s a point in time when you’re going to use live bait. Whether you fish offshore or inshore, the type of bait you use will really be different.

Inshore, we use mullet, pinfish, shrimp, crabs and pilchards just to start a list that goes on and on. Offshore, some of the popular bait would be goggle-eyes, blue runners, threadfin herring, cigar minnows, speedos, pinfish and pilchards.

I’ve been really lucky in my 30 years of fishing to have spent time around some of the greatest captains and tournament teams in the business. I can tell you they all have one thing in common and that is a de-hooker.

Joe Neber and his tournament crew on the Contender One believe that having the freshest bait is critical in tournament fishing. My buddy, Jimbo Thomas and his brother Rick, believe there is no reason to touch a bait until it’s time to put it on the line.

I have noticed that, whether fishing with Joe or Jimbo, or if I’m simply on a charter of my own, if you take the fish right out of the water and use a de-hooker to drop them into the live well without touching them, the fish will last a long time.

Here’s another way to think about it.

If you have ever caught pinfish or pilchards with a sabiki rig, instead of a cast net, the sabiki rig-caught fish last a lot longer than the ones you caught in the net. The reason is because the net-caught bait has been handled too many times and the net knocks off the slime the fish have on their bodies to protect them.

Our hands do the same thing as the net, but worse. If you don’t believe me, try this test with a pilchard or threadfin.

Grab a threadfin with a bait net, then reach into the net with your hand and grab him and hold him in the palm of your hand for 30 seconds as if you were going to put him on a hook. Now replace him in the live well and wait 20 minutes. After 20 minutes look in the live well and you will see that the threadfin will have a discoloration all over his body where you touched him.

This discoloration in clear blue water fishing can be the reason that sailfish swam right by your bait. I really believe that the livelier your baits are, the more bites you will get.

Capt. Mark Krowka is one of the best inshore captains in the world. He feels that having a good, live crab or shrimp is the key to all of the inshore grand slams that he and his clients have caught.

I’ve been fortunate to fish with Mark and I can tell you he is always asking you “How is your bait?” If you’re not sure if your crab or shrimp is okay, just lift him out of the water and see if his legs are moving. If they aren’t, Mark will have you replace that bait faster than you can take a breath.

Fresh bait is the key to good fishing and changing your bait often is important. So, take care of your bait and it will take care of you.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Inshore Grouper
No need to run to the deep reefs for your gags and goliaths.

I know there are people on both sides of the fence when it comes to some of the rules and regulations the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has employed, but my hat is off to the staff and commission for the job they’ve done in managing grouper.

The inshore grouper fishing in the last couple of years has gone crazy. I know several captains in the southern region of Florida that conduct grouper charters out of a flats boat. These captains guide in Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay and The Everglades.

I have customers that often catch gag grouper and Goliath grouper on a daily basis. And, after talking to guides like Mike Hutchinson, Eric Herstedt, Matt Lofton and George Mitchell, I know my customers aren’t the only anglers catching them.

What determines whether a fish is considered an inshore or offshore species is the depth of water you can catch it in and its habitat.

These inshore grouper are still structure oriented. We find them around inshore wrecks, but also around undercut banks in rivers and fallen trees. These grouper like to live where bait is going to gravitate, like a point where two rivers meet, or a curve in a river where the bank comes out to a point.

Remember, current is important to gags and Goliaths. They like to hide in, or around, the structures and let the current push the bait to them.

Make sure, if you decide to target these inshore grouper, that you man-up your tackle.

Even though the water is only 12 feet deep (or less), they are still grouper. They are going to head straight to the structure and do their best to break you off.

I would suggest 20-pound braided line with 50-pound fluorocarbon leader as a decent start. In some cases, you might have to go to straight mono if the water is too clear, to get the bite. On the other hand, if you’re fishing the rivers of Florida Bay, you may have to go up to 50-pound braid to stop these big grouper before they get you in the rocks.

And remember, when you’re broken off more than a dozen times, the FWC is to thank for that.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Tarpon Basics
This is the time of year to target the silver kings. Plugs, live or dead bait will work if you do it right.

As we get into the spring, you can’t help but think about when the first day of slick, calm conditions are going to arrive. Well, you don’t always have to have perfect conditions to catch a tarpon, although it certainly helps.

Understand that tarpon all over the state have staging areas and are vulnerable to plugs and bait while holding in these areas. Places like Boca Grande, Pine Island Sound, the bridges in the Keys and off Fisher Island, south of Government Cut are some of the more well-known staging areas around the state.

You can find those tarpon in 8 to 15 feet of water. And they’re easy to spot. You will see them rolling and free jumping all over the place.

When I see this, there are two ways I like to fish for the silver kings.

The first is to drift my boat and blind cast a plug across the current. The plugs I like are the orange/gold or chartreuse Rapala X-Rap 14 or the long cast minnow in the same colors.

These plugs can be twitched with two quick jerks of the rod tip and a pause while reeling in your slack. This seems to be a proven method for attracting strikes.

The second way to fish these silver kings is to anchor up current from where you see the fish rolling and throw live bait to them. I like a big, live mullet with a 7/0 circle hook in his nose or a pinfish under a Cajun Thunder cork, down about 4 to 6 feet.

Something important to remember is, whenever you’re fishing while anchored with your bow headfirst into the current, you want to throw your baits out to the side of the boat. Cast one at 9:00 to the bow and the other at 3:00. Remember live baits are traveling salesmen, so keep freelining them down current. As long as the bait is traveling, it is attracting fish. If you stop it by flipping the bail back over, you’re only fishing in a 10-foot area.

You can also try dead bait on the bottom.

A mullet head or a chunk of a ladyfish or, if you’re in the Keys, try a piece of a dolphin carcass. Either way, an 80-pound leader is a must and, whatever you do, don’t forget to bow to the jumping fish.

Sometimes, when these tarpon first move in, they can be tough to catch. Be patient, they’re going to have to feed sometime and this time of year is a great time to catch a monster.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

How to Target Springtime Bonefish
Watch the current and wind direction, choose the right-sized tackle

A lot of anglers will flock to South Florida in the spring to possibly catch a dolphin offshore or a tarpon around the bridges or even in the backcountry. Nevertheless, don’t overlook the bonefish. Bonefishing in the spring can be unbelievable. On windy days, when it is blowing 20 mph, the fish really respond to the warming condition the spring brings.

Here are some helpful hints before you climb up on the flats.

First, any place you have the current moving the same direction as the wind would be a good place to take a look. When these two conditions are working together, the flow of water across the flats is accelerated. The bones can smell better and seem to really mud on the flats. Some bonefish experts think the fish mud harder because of the current. Wind and choppy water allows you to get closer to the fish, as long as you have a quiet poling skiff. Certainly you can catch a bone out of another type of boat but in today’s world stealth seems to be the game.

The bones in the spring can be really big. My good buddies Mark Krowka and Tim Mahaffey have caught several fish in the teens already this spring.

Now, if you decide to try a little bonefishing, here are some things to keep in mind.

If you’re a shrimp fisherman, make sure you use a dark colored hook. A bronze or black will work pretty well. The 2/0 size seems to work well with a BB-sized split shot placed at the knot, just above the hook’s eye.

The key is to throw the shrimp up current of the tailing or mudding bones and don’t move it. Bonefish aren’t used to shrimp running out of the grass as they approach, plus the smell of the shrimp will work better if you leave it one place.

If you like to fish with artificials, a flat jig in tan or white with a pink or chartreuse jig, along with a 1/8-ounce jig head is the right size. If the water is close to three feet, or deeper, you may have to use a 1/4-ounce jig head.

For you guys who like the fly rod, a 12- to 15-foot fluorocarbon leader is a must. The fly is your choice, just make sure you can get down in the water column because bones are bottom feeders. Some of my favorites are Clouser Minnows in chartreuse/white, Borski Sliders and shrimp or crab imitations. The key is you need to be on or near the bottom.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

The Rubber Band Technique
Tying a rubber band under your sinker goes a long way toward reeling in fish

I was recently filming an episode of Sportsman’s Adventures and my good buddies, Jimbo and Rick Thomas, showed me a really cool tip involving a knocker rig. I found it very helpful and have been using it ever since.

Whenever you’re using a leader and a sinker for bottom fishing, there is always the issue of the sinker falling all the way down the leader to the hook, leaving the bait positioned right against the bottom and the sinker. Also, there is no way to hide the sinker from the fish.

The other way to keep the sinker apart from the bait and keep the bait off the bottom is to use a swivel up the leader line. The negative part of this is, if you are using a 20-foot leader, how do you reel the swivel through the guides? This makes landing the fish a two-person job because you have to have someone handline your fish in once the leader and the swivel come up to the tip of the rod.

The rubber band trick eliminates the swivel and also allows you to adjust the amount of leader you want to have between the sinker and the hook. The best part of this trick is, when it comes to landing your fish, you can just keep reeling because the rubber band is going to allow the sinker to continue to slide down the line.

So, let’s go over the rig.

Take your bottom rod, a 7-foot, heavy action with 20-pound test line or maybe 8/20 braid. Tie a 2- or 3-inch bimini twist, then add 15- or 20-feet of 50-pound fluorocarbon leader. Tie the two together using a back-to-back uni-knot. Now you have to put on your sinker, the size of which will be determined by the depth and current.

The next thing is your hook. Use whichever knot you like, I prefer the simple clinch knot when I’m using a heavy leader.

Choose the distance you would like between the bait and the weight. Slide your weight up from the hook to that distance and all that’s left is installing the rubber band. To do this, simply put a half hitch around the leader with the rubber band and pull the rubber band back through itself. Don’t forget you place the rubber band on the hook side of the sinker. The beauty to this is, when that big snapper comes up to the surface, you can reel and, as you’re doing so, the sinker will hit the rod tip and push the rubber band down until the fish gets next to the boat and you can reach over and grab him.

Then slide your weight back up the line, pushing your rubber band back up as well, re-bait and you’re ready to go.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Tournament Fishing - You never know what you’re going to get
You can pre-fish all you want but, sometimes, it doesn’t make a bit of difference

Jacksonville redfish have always been hard to find when high tide rolls in. During the past four years of fishing with my partner, Scott Guthrie, we have spent hours trying to figure out what these redfish do at high tide. The only certain pattern is the fish are concentrated at low tide and, as the tide comes in, they spread out and move to who knows where.

During that time, Scott and I have had great success. We finished first and third on the FLW Redfish tour and 14th in the 2004 IFA Redfish Cup. Well, the Redfish Cup last month has a story of its own.

Good fortune was with us on Day One. We had high water at 9 a.m. with a southwest wind at 10 mph and an approaching cold front. Our plan was to go where Scott had pre-fished and located a small school at mid and low tide, and use topwater or spinnerbaits during the higher phase of the tide. Once the tide began falling we were going to switch to a jig head with a Bass Assassin jerk bait.

We found, when using a topwater Rapala Skitterwalk, the small size with a split ring in the nose is real effective. The Skitterwalk seems to really call the fish out of the flooded grass. The slow clicking noise the topwater bait makes really can make a bad cast a good one. The split ring on the front seems to make the nose stay down and the bait track truer.

The bigger Skitterwalk works just fine right out of the box. If it’s real windy, you’ll want to use the larger size because it makes a disturbance on the surface and stays connected to the water surface better when it’s a little choppy. In Jacksonville, topwater lures are great anytime of the day and they work well during the high tide.

On Day Two, our worst nightmare happened as our fish just evacuated. We went to several different places and returned to the spot we did so well at three different times of the tide and, unfortunately, the fish just were just gone.

We went to a low tide spot about six miles away and Scott found some fish. We tried soft plastics, we just couldn’t make them bite. That, my friends, is fishing and, more importantly, tournament fishing.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Sharpen those Hooks
The correct wayto sharpen your hooks and ensure you’re catching the most fish possible

In the world of fishing, it’s important to have sharp hooks. We find ourselves fishing for fish that have mouths as hard as concrete. Whether inshore fishing for tarpon or offshore trying to catch a billfish, your hooks need to be razor sharp in order to penetrate the hard mouths of game fish.

A lot of the hook manufacturers are really trying to build hooks with sharper points and also stronger material. I feel they are doing a great job, but their hooks could still use a little sharpening.

Here is how you can take a sharp hook to the next level.

First, you need a good file. The one I really like is made by Luhr Jensen and is easy to pick out because it has a bright yellow handle. What I like about this file is that it is a fine coarse file. What that means is it will sharpen without damaging the texture of the hook.

After getting the correct file, here is how to go about sharpening your hooks.

I like to triangulate the point. I hold the file in left hand and the hook in my right. I face the point of the hook at me and grip the file firmly. Now stroke the point of the hook on the inside top of the point, towards the barb. This should start to cut a flat edge on the inside.

The next step is to turn the hook over to the other side so the point is facing away from you and down at your shoes. Stroke the hook along the file until you have a cutting edge that matches the side you’ve already filed. If you have sharpened it correctly, you should have a knife-like edge on the inside of the hook, from the point to the front side of the barb.

The third, and most important, step is to take the point on the outside of the hook and sharpen it. You will still want to hold the file in your left hand, but turn it a little sideways so you can see the angle of the hook point. The point of the hook should be facing you so that, when you make your stroke, you’re stroking towards the point.

It is very important that you file towards the point because it will keep your point from rolling over when it hits something hard.

After you think you are done, look at the hook. You should have a knife-like cutting edge on the inside and a triangulated point where the outside and the two inside points meet.

A great way to check this is to see if the point of the hook will stick into your fingernail. If it will stick and not slide along your nail, then you have a sharp hook.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Stay on Top of your Gear
Check your safety equipment to make sure it’s still valid. One glance could save you money from a ticket.

More often than not the safety gear on your boat is expired.

It’s natural for us to go out and purchase a new boat and, at the same time, buy new flares, personal floatation devices, fire extinguishers, throwable cushions and noise-making devices.

But when was the last time you checked your flares’ expiration dates or looked to see if your fire extinguisher is fully charged?

Here is what you need to know if you get stopped by one of the Fish and Wildlife Officers.

They’re going to check your vessel registration. Then they’re going to want to see a life jacket or PFD for every person on board. He will look to make sure they are in good condition.

Next, he will ask to your flares and fire extinguisher. Your flares have a date that says when they expired and your fire extinguisher has a gauge telling you if it’s full.

After returning these items, he will ask to see your throwable cushion and check its condition to make sure there are no tears in the outer fabric. If you’re a captain for hire, you must have your address written on the throwable cushion.

The last thing is a noise making device like a whistle or a horn. If you choose the horn and it is an air horn, make sure it still has air in it.

Now you know as much as I know about what to look for when it comes to safety.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

The Tie that Binds
Knowing how to tie the right knot the correct way will preserve line strength

You know the knots you use when tying your lure or tying on a piece of leader material can sometimes be tricky. If you don’t use knots that are braid-friendly, you can be fishing with the breaking strength of the line cut in half.

Understand, whether you are using the new Rapala stretch braid or any other braid, the line set-up is the same. What I’ve found works is to first tie a 40-turn bimini twist in your braid.

The reason I want you to use a bimini twist is that it doubles the line. If you don’t know how to tie a bimini twist, you can use a spider hitch. Both of these knots can be found in Mark Sosin’s video on knots or in a variety of books on knots, or the Internet, which is a valuable source for knot-tying.

The sole purpose is that you should double the braid. After that you are going to pick your leader material.

I usually use about 4 1/2 feet of leader. The reason I like the braid doubled is so the braid is similar in diameter to your monofilament or fluorocarbon leader. Now that you have cut your leader, it’s time to join them together.

The knot I use is a back-to-back uni-knot.

You are going to take the braid first and tie a uni-knot around the mono, usually I like 6- to 8-turns around the mono with the braid and then pull the tag end down to where it’s not fully tight. Now do the same knot with the mono around the braid, but only half as many turns as you did the first time. Now pull the mono tight.

Go back to the braid and pull the tag the rest of the way to tighten it as much as possible. Make sure, whenever you tie any knot, you wet it before pulling it down tight.

Now pull the two lines together by pulling the main line going to the rod and the main line going to the hook. Uni-knots are joining knots and, when they join together, you don’t have to worry about the rigid texture of the braid cutting into the mono.

Make sure after the knots have been tightened to really pull on them to make sure they don’t break. Then you will know that you’ve done everything the right way.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Big Bait = Big Fish
When considering bait, look at something like a 2-pound speedo when targeting larger game fish.

A few weeks ago, I was filming a future episode of "Sportsman's Adventure" in Key West with my buddy, Capt. Ken Harris. Our goal was to fish right out front of Key West for kings and wahoo.

Harris explained that he had been catching 2-pound speedos for bait. The Red tailed scad are the biggest speedos you have ever seen, so we set up a chum bag and dropped it overboard. Within a few minutes, the speedos were at the back of the boat. Harris' plan was to use a hoop net to catch them, but the current was too strong. We had to catch them using Sabiki rigs.

For me, it's always fun to show an offshore captain an inshore trick or technique because offshore captains are such masters at catching bait. The trick I shared with Harris was tipping the Sabiki rig with Fishbites.

I took the Fishbites and cut little pieces off and placed them on the Sabikis. Lo and behold, we started catching speedo after speedo. After getting a good supply in the livewell, we headed offshore. Harris had a great day of fishing there the day before and his plan on this day was to fish in 125 feet of water and drift out to 200 feet.

He rigged the speedo with a size 5/0 j-hook in the nose with a stinger in the rear. The one thing that really impressed me was, when we put the speedo over the side of the boat, he swam away like he'd been shot out of a rocket. In most cases, they head for the bottom. Harris pointed out that, when the speedo comes back to the boat, he's doing so because there's something out there scaring him.

The first fish to try our speedo was a 19.5-pound Mutton snapper. The second was a monster wahoo that Harris reeled in. We also had a doubleheader on sailfish and managed to land both. We had several other bites that had teeth like kings, sharks or barracudas.

The one thing you can count on when using a 2-pound speedo is you are going to get big bites. Big fish like big baits and I think the big baits are able to get away from the smaller predators.

The next time you are thinking about a bait change, maybe a speedo should be a consideration.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Motor Toter the Way To Go
Lessen the load on your transom while your boat is trailered.

A motor toter is the best way to keep you boat manufacturer happy. The stress on the transom while trailering a boat is unbelievable. The weight of that 350-plus pound motor bouncing up and down as you drive down the highway is more than most fiberglass transoms can handle and, over a period of time, that motion causes stress cracks.

Let me explain how it happens and how the motor toter works.

First, the powerhead, when in the trailering position, is usually in the up position which puts it inboard or inward of the transom. The transom, which is not designed to flex, is directly under the weighty powerhead, absorbing all the shock. This is where the cracks start. I have used a motor toter the past four years and haven’t had a single stress crack.

The motor toter comes ready to use in the package and is adjustable to fit most boats. All you have to do is put one end on the roller that is attached to the crossmember of your trailer. The other end of the motor toter has a rubber V-block, which is placed above the bullet on the front side of the lower unit.

Make sure you turn the motor all the way down so the weight of the motor is placed directly on the V-block. Understand that you want the weight of the motor completely on the motor toter and the trailer roller. This will keep your transom stress-free and will help the life of your motor last longer.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Check your Insurance Policies
It’s never too early to prepare for hurricane season, especially when you’re talking about your boat’s coverage.

As the state begins reviewing insurance rates and practices in Florida, now would be a good time to check on your boat’s insurance. My wife was just reviewing our boat coverage and one of the questions that came up was, where is the boat going to be stored during a hurricane?

We found that, if our boat was going to be inside a garage or a storage building like a concrete warehouse, there was a break on our insurance rates. The more solid, the better.

Also, keep in mind that most insurance companies won’t write a policy if there is a storm in the Gulf or Atlantic. Many companies have a box drawn around the Caribbean and Atlantic routes hurricanes generally follow and will abstain from writing new coverage as long a storm is in that box. It was also brought to our attention that a boat barn or an aluminum boat storage warehouse, where they stack boats one over the top of another, is not considered to be as safe as a small garage or concrete warehouse. So don’t count on receiving any breaks in your premiums if you store your boat at a marine facility.

Another thing to consider is, as the state looks at the business of insurance, there will probably be a drop in the current rate. Don’t wait. Now’s the time to check your boat’s coverage.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

How to Pick the Right Jig Head for Plastics
Match the hook size with your bait’s thickness; leave plenty of barb and curve exposed.

In today’s world of soft plastics, matching the right sized hook and jig head with the right sized plastic can be tricky. If you understand that the thickness of the plastic is what determines what hook size you’re going to need, then making this choice is simple.

If you have a thick bait, like an Exude Shrimp or a Berkley Gulp! Shrimp, I find that a Mustad 5/0 ultra-point with its unique gripper design holds the nose of the shrimp very secure, while the gap of the 5/0 gives you plenty of room to have easy penetration when you set the hook.

One of the most common mistakes anglers make is not using a big enough hook when fishing soft plastics. The 5/0 set-up also allows you to make it a weedless rig by simply sticking the point back into the plastic.

Mustad also makes a version with a sliding weight on the hook shank. I like this option because it allows me to change the way the bait sinks. If the weight is forward, it makes the bait sink nose down. If the weight is in the middle of the hook, it makes the hook or bait sink level.

The same way of thinking applies when choosing a hook with a jig head. If you are using a jerk bait or a slug-type of bait, you don’t have to use a 5/0 hook because the bait is streamlined. In this case, I suggest a 3/0 hook with a jig head. If you’re going to be using a shrimp with a thick body, make sure you don’t thread it on the hook so deep that it covers the hook and doesn’t leave enough exposed when you get a bite.

In both scenarios it is important to have a lot of bite in the hook so there is a maximum amount of hook to go into the fish’s mouth. The more point and curve that’s showing, the better your hook-up ratio is going to be.

The Mission fishing jig heads are my favorite because of the double barb. It just seems like you get a lot more mileage out of your plastics.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Adjusting to the Warm Weather
Think Spring, Drop a Stinkbait to the Bottom and Just Wait

With the mild winter we’ve experienced so far, the fish inshore and offshore seem really confused. Anglers seem to have the same state of confusion.

Warm water is the key to this pattern and the key to warm water is not how hot it gets in the day, but how warm it stays at night. When we have air temperatures in the high 60’s at night, the water has a chance to reach the high 70’s or even low 80’s during the day. What this should mean is you need to adjust your style of fishing to more of a spring-type pattern.

I have found that the offshore reefs are loaded with big snappers; muttons and yellowtails. The key here is the outgoing tide.

The falling tide is the best time to be fishing. I feel that, even though the bays and flats are miles away, there is a warming process which occurs from the outflow of all the shallow water. The snappers and the baitfish feel this and move to the warmer water. Think of how many ballyhoo are on the reef right now, compared to late spring or summer.

There are many ways to fish for these snapper, but I like covering ground, so I fish with a jighead and a stinkbait like a Berkley Gulp! Shrimp or a small nylon jig with chunk of Fish Bites. The coldwater formula shrimp scent works the best.

Covering ground works well and once I catch a small snapper, I will anchor. After that, I fish with live baits, in addition to the stink baits I mentioned above. Just letting the stink baits sit on the bottom is a real effective way to catch monster snapper.

I feel the biggest mistake people make is moving the baits instead of just leaving them on the bottom. If you want to try a proven way to get the big bite, just put the rod in the rod holder and let it sit. The bait will relax because you aren’t checking every five minutes and it will look like easy prey to the big snapper. If you are using a chunk of Fish Bites, the more you let it sit, the more smell will be in the area and it will draw attention from the bigger boys.

Capt. Rick Murphy is a Professional Tournament fisherman and fishing guide from Homestead, Fl. He is also the host of Sportsman’s Adventures and co-host of the Chevy Florida Fishing Report on the Sun Sports Network.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Cinnamon Toothpaste Chase Away That Fishy Smell

What do you do with the smell on your hands after cleaning fish? A lot of people try all those fancy soaps and other kinds of gadgets (wash your hands while holding a piece of stainless steel, for example), but it doesn’t have to be that hard.

I have found, after 25 years of experimenting and handling virtually any fish you can catch in Florida, the best way to get the smell out of my cooler and off my hands is to use Crest toothpaste. The kind that has Scope flavor or cinnamon really seems to work well.

I simply squeeze an ample amount in the palm of my hand before I get them wet and rub it in really well. I leave the toothpaste on my hands for a few seconds and then rinse with warm water.

Another favorite method for getting that fishy smell out is to wash your hands with lemon juice. Just pour a decent amount over your hands and rub them together. Look out for any open wounds or places you might have stuck yourself with a hook or you’ll feel a bit of a sting.

Finally, for those of you who have to use soap, forget about Bath and Body Works or any of those other fancy-soap stores. Buy some Ivory soap, lather up really well and rinse away with warm water.

-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy

Sportsman's Adventures Fishing Tips:
2005 Fishing Tips | 2006 Fishing Tips | 2007 Fishing Tips | Current Fishing Tips