From the New York site:Construction goes around the clock in the dense nation state of Singapore. But increasingly, the wealthy island is turning away from the typical trappings of new construction and focusing on developing environmentally conscious architecture. And that is in large part thanks to the firm WOHA.
Singaporean architecture firm WOHA recently designed the Parkroyal on Pickering, a high-end hotel that feature terraces literally dripping foliage. And that isn't their only sky garden.
Founded in 1994 by Richard Hassell and Wong Mun Summ, WOHA says it is committed to combating the process of global warming in tropical Asian cities.
“Skyscrapers don't have to be shiny machines,” Hassell told Curbed. “We can introduce other concepts to their design and they can turn out quite differently.”
They are currently working on designing vertical ecosystems and using the Green Plot Ratio, which compares newly planted vegetation with the amount of vegetation present before it was developed.
The firm is currently exhibiting “Garden City, Mega City,” which is open until September 4th at the Skyscraper Museum in New York City. [Curbed] –Christopher Cameron
Rendering of the Beach House development in Fort Lauderdale
North Miami Beach-based Macken Companies opened an on-site sales center for Beach House, an enclave of four high-end houses under construction on Dolphin Isles, a barrier island in Fort Lauderdale.
The residences, with prices starting at $1.375 million, are being built in an enclave between Highway A1A and the Intracoastal Waterway. Construction is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2017.
The house addresses are 2512 and 2516 Northeast 32 Avenue, and 3200 and 2310 Northeast 26 Street.
The new sales center at 3200 Northeast 26 Street is open Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment.
Stofft Architects designed Beach House with a contemporary tropical design. Marc-Michaels Interiors is overseeing the finishes.
The project is being constructed by VCM Builders and offered for sale by Macken Realty. Both are affiliates of Macken Companies.
After seven years heading Fortune International Group's development sales division, Andres Asion is leaving Friday for his own firm, The Real Deal has learned.
And the timing is no accident.
Asion, 41, told TRD that his plans are to capitalize on the condo market slowdown to branch out beyond development sales to residential and commercial deals and distressed properties, as well as advising developers on revising their projects as they face the next phase of the cycle.
“It's one of those times in my life that I want to go on my own,” he said.
Asion, a fixture at South Florida launch parties, said he told Fortune President and CEO Edgardo Defortuna early this year about his plans. “I am not leaving to jump ship to a competitor….,” he said. “I look forward to working with Fortune and Edgardo in the future on other deals.” Defortuna was out of the country on Thursday and could not reached for comment.
Asion actually founded his firm, Miami Real Estate Group, in 2008, after working for 12 years at Cervera Real Estate. He worked at his firm for a year, spearheading the sellout of Infinity on Brickell, Brickell on the River and Havana Lofts, the latter for a bank. Then Fortune decided it wanted to expand its development sales arm beyond its own projects to third-party developers. “So I came on board, and together with the rest of the team, we went after additional business and we were very successful,” Asion said.
At Fortune, Asion worked on 39 development projects, with total sales of $10 billion. Among the condo projects: SLS Brickell, the Paraiso towers, Hyde Midtown, One Ocean and Brickell Heights.
“It's been an amazing ride,” he said.
When he joined Fortune, his brother-in-law's sister-in-law, Susan Priscal, ran Miami Real Estate Group as the broker of record. The brokerage firm currently has a total staff of seven and one office at Brickell on the River, at 41 Southeast Fifth Street in Miami.
“The business never closed,” Asion said. “I was just never attached to the business, and I never wanted to close shop but never did business through that entity.”
He begins Monday as broker at Miami Real Estate Group, with plans are to add a second office at 60 Southwest 13th Street, with a goal of more than doubling the staff to 15 or 20 agents.
“I'm looking forward to looking for good business opportunities for buyers and developers looking for the right opportunity for the next round of the market,” he said, “whether in Miami or Atlanta or Dallas,” or internationally.
From left, Dresden Peters, Ariana Peters, Dakota Peters
You can call her the Ivanka Trump of Lake Worth. Ariana Peters, 22, took over from her father Douglas Peters as CEO of Peters Development two years ago and has expanded the company's portfolio of commercial buildings in Lake Worth to 32.
In just the last year, Peters has purchased 10 properties in the city, totaling several million dollars. The company also owns three buildings in Boynton Beach, one in Jupiter, four in Clearwater and one in Fort Myers.
Ariana is actually the senior family executive in Peters Development. She works with her sisters who are 17 and 20. The entire family is bullish on Lake Worth. “My father always believed in the town,” Ariana Peters told The Real Deal. “It has so much potential. It's an amazing downtown.”
Douglas Peters invested in Delray Beach before it took off more than 15 years ago. And while downtown Delray has one main thoroughfare, Atlantic Avenue, Lake Worth has two: Lucerne and Lake Avenues, Peters pointed out.
“Lake Worth has a quaint, Key West feeling,” she said. “It just hasn't lived up to its potential yet.” The city has the advantage of strong infrastructure, an ocean beach and proximity to the town of Palm Beach, Peters said. “Other towns like Boynton Beach don't have that.”
Tacos Al Carbon's site at 2200 North Dixie Highway
Last week she bought the building at 2200 North Dixie Highway for $300,000 and already has leased 3,700 square feet of space in it to Tacos Al Carbon, whose tacos were voted the best in the county by Palm Beach Post readers.
Peters expects to close on the purchase of 600 Lake Avenue on Oct. 1 and will move the company's headquarters there from Boynton Beach. The firm is also buying the building next door at 602 Lake Avenue, home to souvenir shop Studio 205 and the Java Juice Bar, both owned by City Commissioner Andy Amoroso.
He said he is quite impressed with Ariana Peters. “She's a go-getter: young, aggressive and with a fresh set of eyes,” he said. Amoroso likes the fact that Peters “already is talking about painting with nice Key West colors and doing renovations” in his building. As a city commissioner, “anytime someone buys a building, I'm excited because tax revenue goes up,” he said. “They're very energetic, and that only helps us in the long run.”
Developing in Lake Worth is not without its challenges, however. “In any town where there's a lot of potential, there's also a lot of backlash,” Peters said. “People worry about overdevelopment. You don't want to cause too much of a ruckus, but you see the potential in the town.” The good news: “once people realize this isn't Brickell City Centre, they'll get behind everything.”
Peters, who studied journalism for two years at the University of Miami, before leaving to join her father's company, says her youth hasn't raised many obstacles. “It can be a little difficult when I meet someone for the first time, especially when I'm with my sisters. They might not take me as seriously,” she said. “But once they understand I have the knowledge, that dissipates quickly.”
And youth has its advantages. “My dad never had a website or social media presence until we got involved,” Peters said.
Over the past three years REIT stocks tended to rise when treasury yields fell, with a few exceptions
From the New York website: Real estate investment trusts are back. After a tough start to the year, share prices of New York's leading public real estate firms have climbed steadily for five months.
SL Green Realty, which reported second-quarter earnings last week, saw its stock jump 43 percent since early February. Vornado Realty Trust's stock is up 30 percent from its February low, Boston Properties is up 28 percent and Brookfield Property Partners is up 26 percent. What's behind the rally?
The “overwhelming driver,” according to John Kim, a REIT analyst at BMO Capital Markets, is the 10-year Treasury yield: Over the past three years, when the 10-year Treasury fell, REIT shares rose, and when the Treasury rose, REITs fell.
Low Treasury yields benefit REITs because they result in low interest rates across the economy. Cheap debt lowers REITs' financing costs and increases overall demand for real estate, pushing up the value of their holdings.
As of Tuesday, afternoon, the 10-year Treasury yield had fallen to 1.56 percent, from 2.27 percent at the start of the year.
In last week's earnings call, SL Green's CEO Marc Holliday said he expects his firm to see an “extraordinary amount of savings” from low interest rates this year, in excess of the $30 to $40 million that had been anticipated. Meanwhile, low bond yields make real estate returns look more attractive in comparison, which attracts investors and adds another boost to property values.
“Real estate is a derivative of credit in the economy,” said Alexander Goldfarb, a REIT analyst at invesment bank Sandler O'Neill.
The interest-rate effect explains why stocks of New York-focused REITs rose so strongly in recent months, despite the fact that the current real estate cycle should be winding down after years of growth and even though recent market reports have painted a sobering picture.
It's important to note that falling Treasury yields don't always lead to rising REIT stocks. In late 2015, for example, both fell noticeably. The explanation: investors were worried that economic uncertainty (which drove down treasury yields) could also hit commercial real estate companies.
This time around, most investors appear to think that the impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union or Italy's looming banking crisis won't put a hurt on U.S. real estate companies.
“People are getting more comfortable that real estate is not a bad place to be,” said Dirk Aulabaugh of Green Street Advisors.
The good news for REIT investors is that the Treasury yield could stay low for a while. In May, JPMorgan cut its yield forecast for the end of 2016 to 1.9 percent, from 2.15 percent. Goldfarb argued that even if the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates in September, the long-term Treasury yield is unlikely to spike.
“Long-term rates are set by the market, and the Fed has only so much impact on the market,” he said.
The bad news for REITs is that even after months of rising share prices, many still trade at a discount to the net asset values of their underlying properties, which could indicate investors are pessimistic about real estate prices. On weighted average, office REITs trade at an 8.3 percent discount to their underlying net asset values, according to BMO. Vornado (16.3 percent discount) and SL Green (19.4 percent) are even worse off. “It's a combination of leasing slowing down while at the same time cap rates are moving up,” said BMO's Kim, adding that some REITs are “highly levered.”
Apartment REITs are performing somewhat better, trading at an average discount of 1.9 percent, while healthcare REIT valuations exceed their underlying asset values by an average of 23.5 percent.
Rendering of the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach and Douglas Elliman's Philip Gutman
Lionheart Capital has brought on Douglas Elliman Development Marketing to take over sales and marketing for the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach.
Previously, Premier Sales Group and ONE Sotheby's International Realty were both handling sales in some capacity, Lionheart Capital founding partner Ophir Sternberg told The Real Deal.
While South Florida's luxury condo market is experiencing a slowdown in sales, Sternberg told TRD that the Ritz-Carlton Residences has not been affected. Sales launched in late 2013. The luxury waterfront development is now 65 percent sold to about half local buyers, as well as those from New York and the Northeast.
With that demographic in mind, “We wanted to bring in a group that's deeply rooted in [markets] where we're selling,” Sternberg said of Douglas Elliman. Philip Gutman took over the project as vice president of sales at the end of June. Gutman, who led the record $1.275 billion sellout for the Las Vegas Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino, was tapped as Elliman's vice president of sales for all of Florida last year. Elliman agents Darin Tansey, Bill Hernandez, Bryan Sereny and Viviana Junc are also part of the Ritz-Carlton sales team.
“I think overall our expertise with high-end luxury product and our reach domestically and internationally is what did the trick,” Gutman told TRD.
ONE Sotheby's declined to comment, but a spokesperson said the brokerage was “contracted to consult the developer on certain international marketing sales tactics,” and did not handle sales for the project. Premier Sales Group, meanwhile, will stay on as a consultant with the developer.
When completed, the 7-acre development, at 4701 North Meridian Avenue will have 111 condo residences and 15 single-family villas. Designed by Piero Lissoni, the Ritz will feature gardens, pools and 36 private boat slips. Shared amenities will include a residential art studio, a rooftop pool deck with private cabanas and a gourmet restaurant, a waterfront bar and social room, pet grooming facilities, indoor and outdoor yoga studios, a meditation garden and carwash facilities. It's being built on the site of the former Miami Heart Institute.
Earlier this year, Lionheart brought on Gigi Ganatra Duff in a new role for the company, chief marketing officer. Ganatra Duff is helping expand Lionheart's portfolio and shape the firm's marketing and sales efforts, which includes hiring Douglas Elliman.
Prices range from $2 million to $40 million. In March, Lionheart offered a discount to Canadian buyers during The Real Deal's first U.S. Real Estate Showcase & Forum to compensate for the strength of the U.S. dollar.
Sternberg said the project, which has topped off, is on track to be delivered in the first quarter of next year.
Rendering of the Nexus Riverside Central (Inset: Adler Development President David Adler)
The Adler Group has big plans for city-owned land on the Miami River.
Responding to a request for proposals from the city, which is looking to replace its aging administrative headquarters, the developer said it would build the city new offices and construct a massive mixed-use development on the vacated riverfront site.
The city of Miami's Miami River headquarters
According to bid documents uploaded by the Next Miami, Adler's proposal for the 3-acre Miami River site entails erecting two 36-story towers with a combined 900 apartments, 20,000 square feet of retail space and 150 hotel rooms.
The project, dubbed Nexus Riverside Central, would be combined with Adler's neighboring development site to the north that it purchased for $14.25 million late last year. As detailed in the proposal, Adler is already close to beginning development of a 462-apartment residential tower called Nexus Riverside on that site with 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
To make the project happen, Adler has proposed a 90-year lease on the city's site with a present-day value of $70 million. In return, the city would gain 3 percent of all gross revenues generated from the development, according to the documents.
Adler would also partner with the city of Miami to finance and erect a new built-to-suit Class A office building with 375,000 square feet and 1,200 parking spaces.
The location of that building isn't yet specified, though Adler said in the bid that it would be willing to offer a piece of land at its Link at Douglas Station development site - which it's leasing from the county. Other suggestions include the Marlin Stadium and the Overtown Lyric Theater.
The city would have the option to stay in its current offices until the new building is completed under the proposal. If approved, Adler pegs the completion date for the city's offices in January 2020, while the mixed-use development as a whole would roll open its doors later in 2026.
The developer is competing against Panther Capital Management, which has proposed to buy the city's headquarters for $58.6 million and lease it back for roughly $25.6 per square foot on a triple-net basis.
Gary Nader's proposal for 520 Biscayne Boulevard and Gary Nader
In the heated battle to develop Miami Dade College's downtown site, Gary Nader's team plans to file a bid protest and has asked the court to rule on the appropriateness of a required $2.3 million bond, an attorney for the group told The Real Deal.
Miami Dade College has not yet awarded a contract in the months-long process to develop the 2.6 acre-site at 520 Biscayne Boulevard into a mixed-use project. But the college's evaluation committee has ranked the Related Group as the top bidder. Nader+Museu was ranked second.
And following a Miami Dade College evaluation committee meeting earlier this month, the college issued “a notice of intended decision” to recommend it negotiate a contract with Related. In the complicated public-private partnership process, that offers a window of opportunity to file a bid protest.
On Friday, Nader+Museu sent a letter to the college saying that it it intends to file a bid protest and was told it must issue a $2.3 million bond, Bill Riley a partner with GrayRobinson who represents Nader+Museu told TRD. “The formal written protest will prove that the recommendation was arbitrary, capricious and a clear departure from the essential requirements of the law…” the letter by Riley, obtained by TRD, said.
The bid protest and bond are due this coming Monday. Riley said the opportunity to protest is among four in the process that began with the solicitation.
Nader+Museu has now asked Miami-Dade Circuit Court to issue a temporary injunction. And in a hearing on Wednesday, it asked Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Bronwyn Miller for a stay to allow the court time to consider the appropriateness of the $2.3 million bond, Riley said.
“I don't see that that is in keeping with open, fair, competitive solicitations,” Riley said of the bond. “I think it is a chilling effect, at a minimum, on competitive solicitations. I think it is improper.”
With the stunning transformation of Wynwood and the Design District in recent years, it's easy to believe that Miami's retail market is only headed up.
But a new second quarter report from commercial brokers Colliers International shows there's softness to be found in the Magic City's retail sector.
Meanwhile, Broward and Palm Beach counties enjoyed another healthy quarter of growing rents and tenant demand.
Miami-Dade
Lincoln Road
There's uncertainty in the air for Miami's retail market, which has boomed in recent years as neighborhoods like Wynwood, the Design District and Brickell became established shopping destinations.
For the second quarter, rental rents for Miami-Dade County as a whole actually fell 1.64 percent from the first quarter to an average of $31.25 percent, according to the Colliers report.
That could partly be explained by turnover in markets like Lincoln Road, Miami's most expensive shopping district in terms of rental rates. New vacancies on the high-profile strip, where asking rents average roughly $170 per square foot, are likely to have a much more significant impact on the market as a whole opposed to less-expensive neighborhoods.
But while rents across Miami-Dade took a slight hit, according to the report, absorption and vacancies continued to improve. Tenants ate up 175,200 square feet of space during the second quarter, pushing vacancy rates down to 3.1 percent.
With an absorption spike of nearly 20 percent, according to the report, there's still high demand for areas like Aventura, Coconut Grove, Brickell and Wynwood. That demand will have to keep up if the county expects to absorb the roughly 2.1 million square feet of retail space that's now under construction.
Decreasing rents did not seem to deter investors, who made a slew of big-ticket purchases in the past three months. The largest of those was Lightstone Group's $29 million purchase of a three-property portfolio in Miami Beach from Crescent Heights and Streamline Properties.
As noted in the Colliers report, population growth and a strong tourism industry are driving investors to buy into Miami-Dade's northern cousin. Broward, which hasn't relied on foreign investment as strongly as Miami, has also been shielded from fallout following Britain's vote to exit the European Union, as well as the continuing strength of the U.S. dollar.
On top of that, net absorption rose sharply from the stagnant first quarter to 391,300 square feet, while vacancies fell slightly to 5.9 percent, according to the report. As a result of that tightening, asking rents rose 2.86 percent to $19.8 per square foot.
To try and feed that demand, developers have another 393,500 square feet of retail space under construction, with new developments line the 650,000-square-foot Plantation Fashion Mall and the 500,000-square-foot Dania Pointe projects also in the pipeline.
Palm Beach
Lakeside Centre in Boca Raton and the Holiday Inn Express next door
Tenant demand is picking up in Palm Beach County, which is now boasting its lowest vacancy rate since 2008, according to Colliers.
Net absorption held mostly static at 284,700 square feet between the first and second quarters, but vacancies continued their downward slope to a flat 5 percent. Rental rates, on the other hand, budged upward only a fraction of a percent to $19.22 per square foot.
The report said one major driver behind Palm Beach's retail growth is investors and developers looking for favorable deals outside of already competitive markets.
While new large-scale construction has been practically nonexistent in the county during recent quarters, the Alton Town Center development is slated to bring 400,000 square feet to Palm Beach Gardens, plus the Swinton Commons in Delray Beach and the Shops at Indian Trace near Palm Beach are both promising to deliver more than 100,000 square feet of new space each.
Gulf of Mexico Recreational Greater Amberjack Federal Fishing Season Will Remain Closed Through December 31, 2016
NOAA projects the Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack recreational fishery exceeded its allowable harvest. Therefore, the recreational fishing season will not reopen as scheduled on August 1, 2016, and will remain closed until December 31, 2016. The recreational season will reopen on January 1, 2017.
NOAA reminds fishermen that greater amberjack state water regulations may differ from federal water regulations. It is important for fishermen to check the applicable state regulations to determine whether harvest is allowed in state waters.
During the closure:
Recreational harvest or possession of greater amberjack is prohibited in federal waters. The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a valid Gulf of Mexico reef fish charter/headboat permit.
This closure is necessary to protect the greater amberjack resource. The greater amberjack population is considered overfished (the population is too low) and limiting harvest is necessary for the population to recover.
NOAA Fisheries Southeast is pleased to announce the introduction of our Text Message Alert Program. The program will allow you to sign up to receive important fishery related alerts via text message. Text alerts you may receive include immediate fishery openings and closures, and any significant changes to fishing regulations that happen quickly.
How to opt-in
Sign up for related alerts for one or more of the following groups. Standard message & data rates may apply. You may opt-out at any time.
Gulf of Mexico Recreational Fisheries: Text GULFrecFISH to 888777
Gulf of Mexico Commercial Fisheries: Text GULFcommFISH to 888777
South Atlantic Recreational Fisheries: Text SATLrecFISH to 888777
South Atlantic Commercial Fisheries: Text SATLcommFISH to 888777
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is hosting several mutton snapper workshops this August to gather public input on potential management changes in state waters. FWC staff presented draft rules to the Commission at the June meeting and these rules will be brought back before the Commission for a final public hearing at the September meeting in St. Augustine.
Proposed rule changes to be discussed include:
Increasing the recreational, commercial, importation and sale minimum size limit from 16 to 18 inches total length.
Reducing the recreational bag limit from 10 to 3 fish per person within the 10-fish snapper aggregate bag limit.
Replacing the May through June commercial trip limit in all state waters with a 3-fish per person, per day limit from April through June in Atlantic state waters only.
Establishing a 300-pound commercial trip limit for the remainder of the year (July-March) in Atlantic state waters.
Staff will also be gathering public input on whether or not to create a closure at Western Dry Rocks, a major spawning site and popular fishing spot for mutton snapper located 11 miles southwest of Key West.
Schedule
Workshops will be from 6 to 8 p.m. EST and are scheduled as follows:
Aug. 10 – St. Petersburg – Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 3rd Floor Conference Room, 100 8th Ave. SE
Aug. 11 – Stuart – City of Stuart Commission Chambers, 121 SW Flagler Ave.
A New York investment group has bought a dozen properties in the River Park area of Naples, raising concern that residents of the low-income neighborhood will have to look elsewhere for affordable housing.
Jonathan Shectman manages private hedge funds that have spent $8.2 million to buy 12 River Park properties, including nine single-family homes, two commercial lots, and an apartment complex with 96 units.
Shectman manages the hedge funds in his role as a portfolio manager at Axonic Capital LLC, a Manhattan-based advisory firm for real estate investors.
He told the Naples Daily News the investors in the River Park properties have not made plans to redevelop the neighborhood.
“We're not developers,” he told the newspaper. “We're buying apartment complexes and single-family homes all across Florida. We own in many areas of Naples. We look all over Naples.”
Shectman acknowledged that investors in the 96-unit rental complex, called Gordon River Apartments, have raised rents.
He also told the Naples Daily News that “we haven't been raising rents in a way that is any different from rents across the state, basically. There is no intent to move people out of the neighborhood.”
River Park was built in the 1960s as a segregated area for African Americans laborers to reside. It is where 90 percent of the African American population of Naples now resides.
“It's a low-income neighborhood that's historically been low-income, and these [housing] units are needed for the workforce in town,” Susan Golden, a planner who worked for the City of Naples for more than 20 years, told the Naples Daily News. [Naples Daily News] – Mike Seemuth
Virginia is the seventh state Publix has added to its territory.
Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets has contingent plans to broaden its entry into Virginia by purchasing 10 supermarkets there branded as Martin's Food Markets.
The 10-store acquisition agreement depends on a ruling by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unrelated to Publix.
Publix's deal with a unit of Ahold USA Inc. is contingent upon FTC approval of a pending merger of Ahold with grocery chain Delhaize Group.
Unless it buys 10 Martin's Food Markets sooner, Publix will open its first Virginia location in the Bristol area by year-end, making the state the seventh in the grocer's territory. Publix also plans to open a supermarket in Glen Allen, Virginia, in early 2018.
The 10 supermarkets would continue operating under the Martin's brand for a while but eventually will be converted to Publix stores, which will involve remodeling work.
Publix's expansion into Virginia follows its entry into North Carolina, where its first store in the state opened in February 2014.
Publix also has locations in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. [Tampa Bay Times] – Mike Seemuth
The family will love the bow with its padded lounge seating and removable cocktail table. The front seat of the console rounds out the conversation pit and below the cushion is an insulated drink cooler. Step down inside the center console to find a pottie and dry storage that extends under the deck. Helm seats adjust for standing or sitting and behind the seat is a tackle rigging station with ample storage. The stern seating in the cockpit is just forward of a live baitwell with clear lid and to the port is a bait prep area complete with sink and wash-down. Just the right length for fishing beyond the inlet, diving the reef or taking the family out for the day, all in a trailerable size.
Recent fishing reports from the Bahamas and tropics.
Green Turtle Adventure
Florida Sportsman member: dpdash
One day at Manjack, we had a turtle come up to the boat. We see turtles almost every dive but have never had one come so close. We ended up hand feeding this one squid and he hung out for almost 20 minutes, very very cool!
Found a bucket floating with some nice mahi on it, pulled a 30 pound bull off it along with a few of his girlfriends. Next day found the birds and found the yellowfin! They were firing off launching out of the water, pretty epic.
I had the opportunity to go deep into the Bahamas last week on a beautiful boat with great crew. We got all the way as far as San Salvador and had tremendous fishing along the way.
Day three we headed out and by 9am we have already released 20 fish. Around 11:30 a 600 pound plus blue crashes the left flat ballyhoo and all I can do is grab the rod with Brad yelling “big marlin”, lock it up! I looked at Brad, he looked at me and says “this is a big girl.” When he says that, it's for real, again well over 600 pounds.
At times I felt as if I could be pulled over rod and all into the brink. The pressure that these fish put on is amazing. The fight seemed to go on forever as Deek thought that I got sharked. I was determined to beat whatever I had on the line. After twenty or thirty minutes, wasn't keeping track, we finally saw the color of a YFT and Deek gaffed the largest fish of the day.
We fished two full days (18th and 19th). We raised 56 sails and released 37, also landed a nice yellowfin tuna. I'm not that much into billfishing but when you have a hot bite like we did, you just can't help but like it.
For those that cancelled this weekend, it wasn't bad at all. Fished friday afternoon and Saturday, if we wouldn't have used rubber hooks would have got several, pulled a bunch off for whatever reason. Best bite was up by Isaac's.
I was leary about towing the the new skiff across in the event that the weatherman was wrong for the return home, this time he was right. We caught a few nice bonefish, I have done a ton of fishing on the flats in Bimini and have never seen more fish than on this trip.
The Yellowfin Tunas were still around in big numbers but unlike first week of June the Tunas were not up in feeding frenzies and eating everything we pitched at them. The bite slowed down a bit and the weather got a bit sloppy. We had to work for our fish as the Porpoises were keen to the boat traffic and were a bit shy.
On Thursday morning we raised our first blue which came in hot on the left teaser. We managed to pull him off the teaser and he turned and crushed the left short rigger lure. He was on and angry! Started tearing up the ocean as only a blue can do.
“We came across a piece of debris and caught numerous small yellowfin tuna as bait. A little while later, bam! A blue marlin. After a good 45 minute fight we landed him. The rest of the day we caught numerous small yellowfin which made great boat side sashimi and dinner that night.”
Now it's your turn to fish Nosara, Costa Rica. For Free.
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18th Annual International Marlin Tournament in El Salvador
Florida Sportsman member: GT Fish
Well once again I got the invite to join Paco Saca and his sons in the 18th International Marlin Tournament in El Salvador! Bart and I made are way down to Bahia Del Sol Marina and Hotel. We were greeted by Mauricio a Rep for Flora De Cana rum. They sponsor the tournament and others in Central and South America. He explained various ages of rum and the process of how it's made. We then proceeded to “Taste test” We all had a nice testing! We ate some dinner and they brought us Desert. Bart grabbed the bottle of 18 year old rum and drenched it in Flan [...]
My brother and I had the chance to fish with some guys that REALLY have their game together on “bait and switch” marlin fishing on the north drop off St. Thomas. We fished two days and managed to go three for four on blues and even found a white for a bit of variety.
“Haven't posted in a while, but here's a video and some pictures of some fish shot in the Bahamas over two trips this summer. We forgot the Go Pro's on the second trip when we got to break in our new Invincible, but at least we got some good fish. Check out the video and let me know what you think, watch in HD!”
Lindsey Pankey sent in this photo from a recent trip to the Bahamas. After locating the birds in the northwest channel, a miles north of Little Issac, they began to chunk the yellowfin tuna that were in a feeding frenzy underneath. All the tuna were roughly 60-to 70-pounds. Scott Nichols is on the left, Taylor Pankey on right.
Chunkin' Tuna off Lucaya Monty White of Team Fin-Addict went on a tuna trip for the 4th of July weekend. He had this to say about the trip: “It was an active few days, fish and birds everywere. We were trolling and chunking tuna under the birds circling around Tuna Canyon off Lucaya, Bahamas. We landed 10 dolphin, over 45 tuna, and lost several more to big brown reef sharks that had to be over 350 pounds. Mike Haun caught a 79 and 68 pound yellowfin tuna, Tim Johnson landed a 50 pound yellowfin, and we had a few around 40 hit the deck along with many smaller tuna of both black and yellow sorts. Another epic trip with great friends!” Here are some pictures from the trip:
Cleanin' Up West End
Florida Sportsman member: Blue Devil
We had a great time fishing out of Blue Marlin Cove this past weekend. It was our first trip over there so a big thank you to the forum members who gave me some great advice on planning for and fishing that area. We were focused on snappers, groupers and hogfish and worked hard to find them. Most of the muttons and strawberries and about half the hogs were caught very close to BMC. The tails and the rest of the hogs were caught a few mile North of Memory. Marvin at BMC was a great help and put in the general vicinity of the fish.
Tom Gordon of Miami completes his afternoon workout session with a 50 pound "tuna.
Fulton Ivy stands two fisted with a pair of quality yellowfin tuna.
Bimini, Bahamas. “I caught one and thought I was going to throw up,” said Tom Gordon. These fish aren't snapper. “We were fishing yellowtail off the gingerbreads and decided to go look for birds around 2 p.m. in the afternoon on June 14th. About five miles from the yellowtail spot we saw some birds, stopped the boat, threw a couple of baits out and had a double header of yellowfin on within 5 minutes. We found the birds using binoculars (no radar). Ran over to them close, not right into them, just close. Had cut sardines into 3rds and had in a bucket. Just started chucking 2-3 pieces every 20 seconds or so. The tuna found us. Once we saw the tuna we put out some heavy iron with 60 foot of 50 lb fluorocarbon leader, braided line. Worst part of it is we didn't have any rod belts. Tuna was really not on our target list. We were just messing around. Try catching one with an International without using a rod belt. We got mugged by 5 boats when we had on the double header. Big mistake, those boats steamed right into the birds. Then it looked like most tried trolling. None hooked up and they eventually left. We went on to catch 3 more and could have caught more (enough is enough, like I said catching one made me want to throw up). I think the key was to not spook the fish by running into them. It was a total Cinderella story! Ended up catching five in two hours and quit. We left them there biting. I don't think we will ever get that lucky again. It was stupid easy and just total blind luck. A truly amazing day.”
The Endless Summer
Florida Sportsman member: JohnnyBlack
The Endless Summer started yesterday at 4:30 am as we pushed out of Boca inlet on “The Soundboy”, ChadJ55′s boat here on the forum. The itinerary for my trip this month will be 5 days in West End Bahamas at Blue Marlin Cove resort then a short one day back here in the states and then it's off to Treasure Cay in the Abaco's for 2 weeks to Marlin fish the Bahamas Billfish Championship on “The Zinn Dog”, Captain Jeff Maggio's boat out of Ft. Lauderdale [...]
I was invitied to cross on a buddy's boat and we left Saturday a.m. for West End after loading up on some livies. We had a nice crossing and encountered a pod of pilot whales and shortly after, we came across a pod of bottlenose. The porpoise hung right at the boat and checked us out for awhile. It was very cool. We then continued on and cleared at OBB which was quick and easy. We then headed out in search of birds. We did find a few but not with any action or bites [...]
Have not posted much lately, been really busy with school and other stuff, but finally got a break last week and took advantage of the open weather window for this past weekend and decided to cross over for some serious fishing and fun in Bimini. We left Friday evening and returned to Miami Sunday morning, after clearing customs and checking in the hotel we set up out front for the muttons but we had missed the bite by an hour, decided to stay until 2 am, and got cutoff on two big mystery fish. Saturday morning headed south to deep drop for the day, it was a bit slow at first but then it picked up and we caught yelloweye snappers, queen snapper, a mystic grouper, big amberjacks that were released and sharks too.
Hot Yellowfin Tuna Action in Mexico http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2P-Erj9lhw There's no doubt you've got another choice to find plentiful yellowfin tuna action: www.puertovallartafish.com.
April in Guam
FS member Night Moves is back with fantastic action from Guam. “At about 1400, we had made the full round trip down the East side and back up. We didn't feel like gambling on the back side as the front had been so productive. I knew we would have a good shot at a Marlin if we trolled all the way back in the deep water, but to maximize or fishing time, we picked up the lines and did a little “run and gun” to Stu bank, then baby on to Galvez. We even baited up the spinning rods and had a blast bringing in a few more Mahi that followed in our hooked fish. Pulled in the lines at Galvez NE and ran back to Agat arriving at 1730. 12 hours on the water. Finished with 13 Mahi, 4 Wahoo, 2 Rainbows and the Doggie. Mahi averaged a nice size. I hope they stick around just a little longer! Hook up ratio was a little off today as we had about 10 knockdowns that didn't stay hooked. Most were Mahi who took to the sky and did somersaults and back flips to get off. By the time we got the boat washed and cleaned up, it was 2100. After waking up at 0340 that sure makes for a long day, but great days on the water like that are worth it. Its awesome to be able to enjoy Guams beauty and catch some fish in the process!” For more on Night Moves action click here:
FS member sam50 shows why it's worth the trip across, “the tide ended so we switched gears and put out a spread of big ballyhoo and some strip baits behind islanders. Out in 900 feet of water the long line(strip bait) gets absolutely freight-trained and is dumping the 30w international quickly, we get the angler into the harness and clear the spread, and realize the Man-in-the-Blue-Suit decided to make an appearance!! The fight lasted a while, but eventually the mono leader gave up, as we were not “equipped” for Marlin. Things slowed down and the group decided to head in for lunch. We took a stroll south on the streets and ended up at Fabian's Conch shack and had some great eats with a few cold Kalik Golds. Afternoon fishing trip was to deep drop again, but a lack of current spoiled that plan, as the yellow eyes are very finicky, only 2 boated. We found some good looking weeds and then Mr. Frigate showed us the way. We nailed some nice phins late in the day to top it all off.
Florida Sportsman member Flyers Up made the right call and hit wahoo paydirt.
Flyers Up posted, “we made the walkers trip on Friday, had great weather arrived about 10.45 cleared customs and off to Rosies. Went 20 off to find some YF but no luck, trolled for two hours not one knock down. Saturday did some deep dropping and bottom fishing did ok some groupers and one nice mutton 14 lbs, yellow eyes and black fins and one sm mystic about 8 lbs. Sunday morning get up early to fish home wind blowing 18 gusting to 23 out of the north, not going home today so we decided go get some conch with our new friend Tiko and drink rum. Monday morning with the wind blowing out of the west SW 7 to 10 knots so we checked out and went to Matanilla reef to speed troll for wahoo where we went 7 for 9. Range in size from 30 to 65 pounds and two dolphin.”
Canadians Andy and Sonya Copeland, and their son Max, joined us for a few days at the island last week. Andy wanted to try his hand at some “Deep Sea Fishing” and boy…..was he ever introduced royaly! We showed up at Hannibal Bank at 8:30 and to my surprise there were no other fishing boats only a Tiara with some spearos working the high spot. Two days before we counted 14 sport fishing boats and 4 commercial boats all on the bank! There was a real good mark of bait on the sonar and Bonitos and Tunny's were busting all around [...]
Headed out of Boca 6am Friday morning to a nice 11 knot wind out of the S. Seas were 1-2 almost the whole ride over till we were about 15 miles off Bimini, then they switched to 2-4. All and all the crossing was pretty much a non event. We cleared customs around 9am and began an hour long search for Kalik golds on the island. The island was pretty dead so alot of stores were closed. Sue and Joy's had kaliks [...]
Walker's Wahoo and Grouper Florida Sportsman Member: Docked Wages
Weekend of Jan 8-9, Scott (Bloodstream), Chris (Light_Tackle) , Frank and myself loaded up and ran across to Walkers Cay targeting some Wahoo. This was to be a quick one night trip and back covering approximately 350 miles out of Sebastain in two days. Walkers Cay continues to decline as the docks are now roped off for access and nearly no place to tie up and transit to the Bahamian Customs office.
