Lauderdale event's 50th year boosts hopes for boaters

Today's economy still feels like a tight band around the chest - no one can really breathe easily. So when events like this past week's 50th Anniversary Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) put the marine industry on display, everyone starts looking for signs of relief. Thankfully, we saw some.

We're just getting ready to ship a magazine out the door and head down to the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this Wednesday to see the latest and greatest offerings from the world's premier boat companies. It's usually a big time for all of us editorial types since we get to walk around on nice boats during the day and eat at fancy restaurants on an ad rep's tab each night.

I've probably been to Cabo San Lucas on the tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico 15 times - either running the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament or hosting a Marlin University session. In all those times, I've never seen it rain a drop. This year, as my inbound plan banked over the peninsula, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Instead of a stark brown desert interrupted by spurts of green, I looked down on a verdant plain. It looked like the top of a jungle.

Have you heard about the proposed Gulf of Mexico Heritage Park that will close the entire Gulf from southern Texas to Key West from 20 miles out to all recreational fishing?

Probably not, since I just made that up.

But I'll bet I got your attention.

And your full attention is warranted to understand what our sport-fishing counterparts Down Under are facing right now with a very real Coral Sea Heritage Park proposal.

My office smells like a rubber chicken. Every time someone walks in, I have to hear the, "Phew! What stinks in here?" along with the accusing evil eye. No, I don't have a latex fetish; I'm just buried under a pile of rubber teasers.

Fishing is all about friendships and storytelling. So it's no wonder website forums became instantly popular as bragging boards and informational highways. Forums remain a positive venue for many anglers, but more and more I see online fishing communication flourishing at social networking sites.

Recently returned from the Flyfishing Retailer Expo in Denver, Colorado. Exhibitor space may have been down about 25 percent from last year's show, but there is no question that some serious business was being conducted in the halls of the Denver Convention Center.

Matter of fact, I think it's safe to say that virtually everyone in attendance was rather shocked at the volume of orders being taken. I'm not sure anyone has a clear vision of what lies ahead in 2010, but hopefully, some of the robust commerce on display in Denver will bode well for the coming year.

Although the fishing could have been a lot better, Panama sure offered up some grand adventures. Even getting out of the States wasn't easy. Everyone's flights were right on time, and we all met up in Miami for the trip over. After boarding our flight to Panama, however, things started to get a little funky.

Tomorrow I'm heading off to Panama's Las Perlas Islands and the island of San Jose for our next session of Marlin University. This trip represents a first for us; we've never hosted a trip to Panama before, and I have to say I'm excited to get back there once again. Although I'm a little worried that we might run into a bunch of rain, my good friend Trevor Cockle got us to come down during the month of August since he's experienced some good blue bites during that time before.

For decades, sport fishermen from all over the world (particularly, of course, the United States) have converged on the remarkable Sea of Cortez, enjoying the abundance of marine life introduced to the public 60 years ago in John Steinbeck's chronicle, The Log from the Sea of Cortez.

One of the big and enduring draws to anglers: the vast numbers of dorado (dolphin or mahi) that pour into this yawning gulf between Mexico's mainland and its Baja peninsula. Those dorado are also a factor drawing in large numbers of billfish and big yellowfin, which also find them tasty meals.