Time to pack my cameras again. This time I’m off to new island near the bottom of the Lesser Antilles chain. UK based developer Camper Nicholson is building a mega marina in Grenada and is looking for some press to show off their facility. This island is familiar to most of us for the brief coup attempt that received military action by the US back in 1983. Not quiet known for their swarms of billfish (yet), They do have some good days with a variety of species. I hope to catch some action on film and help put them in the forefront of the fishing community. This trip coincides with Grenada’s annual Spice Island Billfish Tournament.

The fishing this Fall along the Mid Atlantic coast proved to be some of the best White Marlin fishing the area has seen in many years. Just when many indications showed the White Marlin population was in dire straights, they bite like crazy in incredible numbers. I sure hope it doesn’t cause anyone or any group to give up on the need for continued efforts to conserve or protect these animals. If you’ve been fortunate enough to fish a good White Marlin bite when it’s going down, I think you’ll agree that it is truly something special. When the boys at Marlin Magazine called to tell me about a whitey piece that Charles Perry sent in, I didn’t hesitate to bounce a few keepers off their screens. Lucky for me they were hoping to make this the main feature of the issue and even selected one of my shots to lead it off. This cover capture was from a seven day shoot I spent aboard the Prime Time with Capt. Butch Cox. If there is a nicer, talented, or more accommodating host to fish with, I have yet to meet that person. My thanks to Butch and his crew, along with angler Joe Zimmer, for the opportunity to bring it home. Image 1471-023 shot at 1/1000 @ f5.6.

Miami Boat Show plans – The show is right around the corner – February 11-15. Always a good time and great chance to catch up with old friends in the fishing community. This next show should be another hit. I always arrange my winter Sailfish shoots in Isla Mujeres to pass through South Florida for a few extra days and hit the Big Game Room . However, this year it gets even better. My friend Skip Smith called to ask what my plans were for Saturday during the show and I cleared my calendar before we finished the call. He is launching an educational extravaganza the likes of which has never been seen in our industry and is calling it “Billfish Expo 2010”. A Who’s Who of big game fishing talent assembled in one place to share their experience and knowledge to the fishing public. And I get to backup each speaker with topical photography and illustrative examples on the big screens to entertain the audience. Should be fun. Check out Skip’s web site for all the details BillfishExpo.com. I hope to see you there.

Here is a multi media project I put together from 2009 Summer fishing action in St. Thomas aboard the boat Revenge. I rode along with Mike, Dean, and Ryan a few days and compiled this material into this short movie. It has some great billfish shots and jumping blue marlin action. And it shows a well oiled crew of fantastic fisherman doing their thing. It’s 4 minutes long and has an audio track. The content is a mixture of high res still frames from a Canon MKIII and some short video clips from a Canon MKII5D.

After a wonderful week of holiday fun with our families in FLL, Maria and I thought we would take break on our way home. This year we picked the familiar comforts of Isla Mujeres Mexico to spend a few days before heading back to the fast pace of LA. We are so fortunate to have friends like Anthony and Kin Mendillo who between the two of them have everything land and sea covered. Anthony’s charter fishing operation is world class and Kin’s boutique hotel is a quiet paradise. Hard to resist that combination of talent from these friends of 20 years. I didn’t get out on the water this visit, although Anthony was booked every day by anglers who are realizing that late December is not to early to catch the Sailfish up on the bank. The day after we arrived he was conventional fishing and found the sails on the birds and bait close to the island. He ended up releasing 15 for 20 something bites. Incredible billfish action considering his Lilly M was only one of a couple of boats out. The next few days his charter was throwing the fly and was catching a couple a day for double digit bites. All this in the breezy conditions that come with the winters cold fronts.

Did I mention I have a thing for pork. I tend to seek it out everywhere I travel. I could live on the stuff. And one of the earliest pork dishes that I can remember craving and pining for is a signature dish of the Yucatan called Cochinita Pibil. A slow roasted and seasoned pulled pork taco is a Sunday breakfast ritual.