I just this afternoon finished writing up an item for the November issue's news pages about an "unwelcome visitor" on a poor guy's boat. Seems he was fishing alongside a jetty in a British Columbia seaport, minding his own business, when a black bear ambled down and then leapt aboard. The angler tossed him a coho salmon, but apparently he wasn't fond of fish. He came after the man and quickly had him pinned to the deck. Then ... well, I can't give it all away, now, can I? You'll find the whole story in the November SF News section.

Once again, it's September, and we find ourselves smack dab in the heart of hurricane season here in the southeast. What a nerve-wracking time of year! As I write this, I'm glancing at the latest coordinates for Tropical Storm Hanna -- looks like we might get lucky with this one here in Florida, as its forecasted path appears to be farther east in the Atlantic. But you just never know with these storms...and the incessant drumming from the media drones doesn't help.

It's not easy to eat your weight in blue crabs, especially if you're pushing 200 pounds, but I sure gave it a good try on a recent trip to Ocean City, Maryland, to fish in the White Marlin Open. I ate crab cakes, crab bisque, crab Benedict and about 100 pounds of fried soft-shell crabs. I left wanting more.

The boardwalk blew me away - I've never seen so many people having fun outside of Disney World - and the number of beautiful boats and top crews at Sunset Marina, Ocean City Fishing Center and Harbor Island represented some of our sport's finest.

"Top warning! ... we just find out that there are some people in S.E Asia copying our products and trying to sell in the market without go through our authorized agency."

Granted, the king's English may not be perfect, but the gist of this email i found the other day in my inbox, from a Japanese tackle manufacturer, offers a reminder of what has become something of an epidemic in the tackle industry - as has long been the case in many industries where consumer goods are the end product.

From Sund's Lodge

Record Breaking Halibut Caught and Released!

Just returned from a whirlwind trip that included a week in Cabo San Lucas and Las Vegas, Nevada. Pretty tough on the liver I have to say. Prior to that I spent another week in Guatemala at the beautiful Pacific Fins Lodge for another Marlin U. (You can read about that trip in the October issue of Marlin.)

Recently back from the annual ICAST tackle trade show in Vegas, then even more recently packing up rods/reels for a trip to fish northern Gulf in a couple days - jigging, throwing big topwaters, some trolling - those waters often do have it all. Those two events reminded me just how significant braided line has become.

by Charlie Levine
Marlin Senior Editor

Dave Ferrell is fishing in Cabo right now with a group of Marlin University students, so I was asked to step in and write this week's online blog. A lot of big blue marlin showed up for this year's Fourth of July World Cup Blue Marlin Tournament and as always, the crews in Kona, Hawaii, and Bermuda were neck and neck. But in the end, my friend McGrew Rice, captain of the Ihu Nui in Kona, brought in the winning fish.

On its face, the state of Florida's plans to buy the assets of U.S. Sugar Corp. - including 187,000 acres of sugar land - seems like a great first step for continued Everglades restoration. But I'm beginning to worry that these efforts will come with a price: more development.

Just back from a couple days waaaay out on the northern Gulf of Mexico and I thought I'd share a few interesting moments and observations. Of course, you'll read and see more in a Sport Fishing feature next year, but in the meantime....

We left Destin about dark on Capt. Gary Jarvis' Back Down 2 and traveled southwest until about 9 a.m. That put us somewhere off Alabama, I guessed, and in about 400 feet. (Yes, much of the Gulf is indeed a pretty shallow body of water.) Our first objective was to do some deep dropping and there, in 400 feet, we did.