Winter 2020

Anglers Journal

A Fishing Life

Anglers Journal4 min read
Long Shots
Another season was winding down, and a west wind found me at the top of the dunes, bathed in a chilly golden light. Winter mooring stakes dotted the harbor, and every last boat had been pulled. Nighty-night. I had come for the light and for the clear
Anglers Journal3 min read
Contributors
Maryland-based photographer Jay Fleming focuses on the fish, wildlife, cultures and landscapes of Chesapeake Bay. His first book, Working the Water, documents the Bay’s seafood industry. Jay spent eight days aboard a scallop boat to shoot the photos
Anglers Journal4 min read
Mail
Call (800) 877-5207 or visit anglersjournal.com. Subscriptions are $29 for one year (four issues: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall). Please send letters and comments to Anglers Journal, 10 Bokum Road, Essex, CT 06426, or email wsisson@aimmedia.com. Bill
Anglers Journal4 min readEarth Sciences
Sailfish Alley
Before heading out for a fishing trip, most anglers monitor the weather closely, hoping for calm seas and light winds. The same cannot be said for those who target winter sailfish in Florida. These anglers pray for blustery cold fronts with winds cra
Anglers Journal7 min read
Teaching the Teacher
Shayne Langford shows up at my house at 7 a.m. in his aging Toyota pickup on a sunny August morning wearing quick-dry pants, a long-sleeved sun shirt, a 4UR Ranch truckers’ cap sun-bleached to no color at all and stuck with eight bright flies, and po
Anglers Journal7 min read
Feliz Año Nuevo
Diego greets me at the small airport in Neuquén, Argentina. He looks at my overpacked suitcase — almost too heavy for me to lift — and my hefty carry-on. “I am your guide, Diego,” he says. “Wait here. I get the truck.” He looks unhappy. Right now, th
Anglers Journal3 min read
Russell Chatham (1939-2019)
Russell Chatham was known for his evocative landscape paintings, whose muted tones grace the covers of books and have been featured in myriad galleries. The self-taught artist, author and fisherman died Nov. 10. He was 80 years old. An accomplished w
Anglers Journal3 min readEarth Sciences
Secret Ways of Snook
I live in the heart of big snook country on Florida’s east-central coast, where rivers meet the sea. Snook flourish in the warm, brackish waters that flow through our lagoon system, bays and far inland at sea level. I live with snook as I live with m
Anglers Journal3 min read
The Armchair Angler
The Shining Tides By Win Brooks Pocket Books Win Brooks expands the reaches of striped bass fishing into pulp fiction with his 1952 novel The Shining Tides. With a setting like Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and characters like Father O’Meara and Stormy Fo
Anglers Journal3 min read
Extra Credit
The centerpiece of the room is a long, white table with chairs for 15. A teal bookcase lines one wall; on another are old photographs. Every chair is occupied. It’s the weekly meeting of the Yale University Fishing Club in New Haven, Connecticut, one
Anglers Journal5 min read
Way Out There
It started with a 27-hour boat ride from Guanaja, Honduras, to a blip about 160 miles to the east and roughly 50 miles off the Mosquito Coast — an 80-yard-long piece of sand with a few palms, a couple of outbuildings, stacked wooden lobster traps and
Anglers Journal4 min read
Block Island Blues
Last fall, stripers pulled a no-show for the weeklong trip to Block Island, Rhode Island, my friends and I have been taking since the early 2000s. By day three, it became apparent that bass were not in their usual nighttime lies in any numbers (part
Anglers Journal8 min readEarth Sciences
Balancing Act
“What’s the biggest redfish you ever get?” I carefully unclamp one hand from the rod grip and point a crooked finger at the sharply arced tip. “That would be the one at the end of my line right now,” I say to guide Todd Seither. Everyone laughs, but
Anglers Journal5 min read
Run, Fish, Drink, Repeat
Even before the first ribbon of light had hit the canyon rim, runners began crawling out of tents and trucks and into the cold morning air. Overnight, a small village had formed in the sagebrush field along the banks of the Gunnison River’s Lake Fork
Anglers Journal9 min read
Nothing Like It
Few things compare to the thrill of hooking a blue marlin on a fly. I was standing at the stern of Tuna Trappe, a 57-foot Island Boat Works captained by Chris Sheeder. Behind me, a 300-pound blue marlin was tail-walking, completely out of the water,
Anglers Journal6 min read
The Chef Would Rather Fish
Dogs, it has been said, tend to look like their owners, often sharing personality traits. Ned Baldwin — chef and fisherman — doesn’t have a dog; he has a boat: a seaworthy and dependable 27-foot Eastern. It’s a traditional lobster-boat design, and mo
Anglers Journal2 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Grilled Whole Sea Bass (or Other Fish)
2 fish, 1 to 1 to ½ pounds each2 to 3 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil1 teaspoon kosher salt Rub the fish evenly all over with oil (don’t drench it). Sprinkle the salt all over. Give the grill bars a good scrub with a metal brush, then wipe them d
Anglers Journal2 min read
Crispy-Skin Fish Fillets
4 (6-ounce) white fish fillets with skin (such as striper, redfish, rockfish, or snapper), patted dry with paper towels1½ teaspoons kosher saltCanola or grapeseed oilUnsalted butter if necessary½ lemon Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Season the fill
Anglers Journal2 min read
High Seas Shucking
Last winter, photographer Jay Fleming spent eight days aboard a 79-foot fishing vessel, Italian Princess, dredging for sea scallops about 60 miles southeast of Cape May, New Jersey, in an area known as the Elephant Trunk. The hours are long, and the
Anglers Journal5 min read
A Head Start
After long summers in Montana, I like to escape winter and do a little surfing. For the past few years I’ve been going to northern California. One day last winter I came out of the place I was renting on the west side of Santa Cruz to find that my ol
Anglers Journal2 min read
My Boat My Life
Jim Bayne’s 56-foot Paul Mann, Sniper, used to be a plain Jane. When Bayne had the boat built in 1998, it didn’t have any bells or whistles. It was built for one purpose: to fish. That was until one of Bayne’s buddies — a craftsman and “very much an

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