By John Merwin

An old friend sent me an e-mail the other day that’s one of the most compelling bluewater fishing tales I’ve heard in a long time. Capt. Terry Nugent (pictured below) runs his Riptide Charters business out of Bourne, Massachusetts, at the western end of Cape Cod. He’s often casting to surface-crashing schools of bluefin tuna or else chasing giant stripers, but sometimes heads well offshore in his Contender 33T in search of still-larger game. Last week, he got more of an adventure than he’d bargained for. It’s a long story, but well worth it. Here’s what happened, in his words....

“The game plan for the trip was to day trip to Veatch canyon for a shot at yellowfin, mahi and maybe a marlin. My crew was GW and Sageflyguy. We geared up for the 80 degree forecast and 2-3' seas. All the safety gear was checked and re-checked like always, we never thought we would be needing it. We splashed the boat at 0300 in Falmouth and in no time we were zipping along headed south.

By Joe Cermele

John Merwin and Kirk Deeter both wrote about headgear that protects you most effectively from skin cancer recently. Deeter prefers an Amish-style straw hat, while Merwin likes a classic boonie-style hat. I'm actually a big fan of full-brim hats, though I never wear one simply because numerous folks--my wife included--have told me I look utterly ridiculous in them. I know it's about protection, not style, but I also know there are two schools of people: those that look good in a dirty cowboy hat or old Stetson and those that make you stare and think, dude, are you serious? Perhaps I'm part of the latter group, but I might shirk looks for safety after discovering the hat below.

By John Merwin

It seems that every fisherman breaks a fishing rod eventually, usually by accident but typically coupled with stupidity, too. Just in case you’re among the few who haven’t snapped a favorite stick, here are a few tips that will get you into that unhappy club.

Spring-loaded screen doors at home or camp work really well, as do the electrically operated windows in many vehicles. Either one can snap a rod tip so abruptly that you might not even notice until later. Or you can just set a rod on the ground, momentarily become distracted, and then step on it. That’s probably the easiest rod-breaker of all.

By Joe Cermele

I'm in Las Vegas at the annual ICAST trade show where all the new fishing toys set to go on sale in 2011 make their first appearances. This year, there are a lot of technologically-advanced lures floating around. There are solar-powered frogs and vibrating squid you turn on with a wireless remote. Then you have Reaction Strike's "Home Wreckers" pictured below in their...tantalizing new patterns. They don't have lights or computer chips in them. So I ask you, in the over all scheme of things, which do you think will sell more? The the giant topwaters with the "bunny" finishes, or the lures with the ten-page instruction books?