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Miami, Florida - Offshore
Capt. Mark Houghtaling
February 26, 2001
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
The Captain Bob Lewis Boat Center Yamaha Billfish Challenge was held last
weekend and Boat Center’s own Gary Lawson, and his team of anglers, ran
away with the event.
The Boat Center team consisted of Gary Lawson, owner-manager of Boat
Center of Miami, Jock Horner, Dr. Jeffery Bennett, Spencer Bennett, and
Captain Marty Locke. They were fishing on their new 36 foot Contender
called the Boat Center Fishing Team....and what a team they were.
Gary Lawson has been working at Boat Center of Miami for 25 years and is a
wealth of knowledge when it comes to the boat business. I have fished with
Gary since we were teenagers and he still manages to outfish me. After the
tournament I spoke with Gary to find out what his tactics were and what he
thought gave him the winning edge. He explained that he began preparing for
the tournament weeks in advance. Tackle and gear was placed in perfect
working order. Next comes the bait. As everyone knows, Goggle Eye are the
preferred baits to use during a Sailfish tournament. Their team began fishing
for them at night a week before the tournament. They penned them up in a
large holding pen, and let them recuperate from the stress from being caught.
They fed them during the week ( I gave them the roe from the bellies of the
Dolphin I caught during the week for fish food) and by tournament time
these baits were healthy and frisky and ready for tournament action.
Everyone on the boat had a job. Up front on the bow it was Spencer
Bennett’s job to work the sea anchor. He also kept two live baits, free lined
from both sides of the boat, under control. Captain Marty Locke was in
charge of driving the boat. At times their were multiple hook-ups and
Captain Locke performed the awesome task of running down the fish for a
quick release without running over the lines. In the rear of the boat was Dr.
Bennett on the two port kite baits and Lawson and Horner on the two
starboard kite baits. On Friday night Lawson received a hot tip from the
captains off Ocean Reef Yacht Club in North Key Largo. They had seen a
good Sailfish “bite” in the morning and they thought it might be a good idea
for Lawson’s team to make the run from Government Cut to Key Largo in
the morning. Lawson knew that there had been a large amount of fish off
Miami the previous week and he had an idea that maybe this herd of fish had
pushed on south to Key Largo. At the Bimini start Saturday morning, the
Boat Center Fishing Team, secretly made their way down to Key Largo. Only
a handful of other boats had received the same tip. It only took a matter of
minutes and the bite began. Every boat that had headed south did well that
day, but by the end of the day the Boat Center team had ten releases and total
command of the lead. The next day the word was out and everyone else had
made the run south. Everyone caught fish, but the Boat Center team was too
far ahead to catch up. They won the tournament with fifteen releases.
Lawson’s team used 120 baits each day, changing them constantly. They
used a combination of Threadfin Herring and Goggle Eye. He said the key to
winning is being totally prepared all the time. They never take their eyes off
their baits. If someone wants to get a sandwich, then somebody else will take
over for them and watch the baits. He said “you have to hook and catch every
Sailfish that comes up and eats your bait. Missed opportunities will make you
the loser.” They caught fifteen out of seventeen hook-ups! He explained that
luck has lots to do with winning also. If you are not at the right spot at the
right time you won’t even get the opportunities. If you don’t get any
opportunities, then you’ll never even have a chance at hooking a fish. The
same team fished the Reef Cup Sailfish Tournament a few weeks earlier, and
they only caught one fish out of three days of fishing. He added that the
smaller outboard boats had an advantage over the big sportfishing type boats.
There was a fleet of fast Contender boats that could make the run to Key
Largo in less than an hour. They ran up the inside of the bay and then headed
offshore once they were far enough south. The seas were very rough and it
took the larger boats quite some time to get in on the “bite” once they found
out where it was. By that time the bite was almost over.
Congratulations to Gary and the rest of his team. They worked hard for their
win, and the work paid off. A little luck didn’t hurt them either.
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