TACO METALS OFFERS DISCOUNTED ADMISSION TO ATLANTIC CITY SHOW!

TACO METALS OFFERS DISCOUNTED ADMISSION TO: Atlantic City Boat Show - 2/1-5/12 - Tell them you saw this on the Liquid Fire Fishing Team Google Blog!

"It’s a New Year and it’s Show time! TACO Metals, Inc. will be showcasing its Sport Fishing products, tried-n-true as well as new and we’d love ...for your to drop by our booth and say HI! We’re in Booth No. 608. And, to further demonstrate our appreciation for your ongoing support, we are offering you a special discount admission to the 2012 Progressive Insurance Atlantic City Boat Show from February 1-5.

These discounts can be redeemed by ordering tickets online. Just click on the link below and enter the special promotional code. You’ll save up to $4 off adult tickets! So, we hope we’ll see you sometime between February 1st and 5th! Click Here http://www.nmma.net/assets/cabinets/Cabinet209/7075_AC12_Exhibitor_Coupon.pdf for Discounted Tickets."

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - http://www.liquidfirefishing.com/

AMERICAN FISHING WIRE & RIGID-INDUSTRIES - LED LIGHTING ALIGN WITH LIQUID FIRE

Our Liquid Fire Fishing Team would like to welcome our two newest partners/sponsors… American Fishing Wire (AFW) and Rigid Industries – LED Lighting.  We consider it an honor to be aligned with and entrusted to represent such respected companies and their products.

RIGID INDUSTRIES

Your Source for Side by Side Solutions. "Home of the Brightest, Most Efficient LED Light. Period."

"Rigid Industries, located in Mesa Arizona, is the industry leader and originator of the most efficient LED lighting solutions. Our patented Hybrid and Spector Optics systems and state of the art electronics technology makes our LED products second to none. While providing the best product on the market, we still maintain class leading affordability with a US made product. Rigid Industries is the pioneer of the forward projecting high intensity LED light bars. Out patented technology allows our lights to project up to 40% more Lux while drawing up to 50% less power than any competitor.

Unmatched customer service along with developing one of a kind lighting products is a staple of what Rigid Industries is about. Whether it be designing custom lights or offering solutions to new projects. Rigid Industries is able to meet your needs in our 15,000 square foot location. Our flagship LED light bars are made in the U.S.A. where we are able to remain hands on, expand, design and adapt to current and future needs of clients."

Thank you Rigid Industries - LED Lighting. We can't wait to post photos of our new Intrepid Powerboats 375CC Open, powered with triple Yamaha Outboard 350s.  The boat will be equipped with the most amazing underwater and above-deck lighting package on the water!! She should be ready to make a "splash" in April...

Visit this ground-breaking company at: http://www.rigidindustries.com

AMERICAN FISHING WIRE

Line and leader are the critical link between you and the fish. For over 28 years we’ve been providing serious freshwater and saltwater anglers like you with the finest quality line, leader, and rigging products.

"Our AFW range is the largest selection of wire line and leader products in the industry. We still produce all of our own wire, strand, and cable at our factory in the United States. Our quality exceeds our competition and our products are proven to withstand the powerful, unsympathetic bite of toothy fish like Barracuda, Bluefish, King Mackerel, Pike, Shark, and Wahoo. Whether you’re in a stream or on a boat, our range of wires are tailored to suit your specific needs - from the stealthy 6 lb. test of knottable Surflon Micro Ultra, to the whopping 900 lb. test of the mighty 49 Strand cable.

New this season, we are excited to introduce AFW Titanium Leaders in both single strand and 1x7 constructions. These stealthy black leaders stretch and recover on hook set and can be fished over and over without kinking . And be sure to check out our new AFW Mighty Mini 100% Stainless Steel Swivels and Snap Swivels. These technologically advanced swivels are smaller and 3x’s stronger than brass swivels. These new products are so revolutionary, they will likely change the way you fish."

Be sure to visit this historic company at: http://www.americanfishingwire.com

Our team has been a long-time supporter of AFW, the finest leader wire on the market!  In route to winning the 2008 SKA Yamaha Kingfish Tour Angler of the Year title, every fish we caught was with AFW 60#, 1x7 Surfstrand.  We are truly thankful to be considered to represent them as a pro-staff team.

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - http://www.liquidfirefishing.com

NBOA MARINE INSURANCE AND LIQUID FIRE FISHING TEAM JOIN FORCES!



NBOA MARINE INSURANCE -
THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS

Our Liquid Fire Fishing Team would like to welcome our newest partner/sponsor, NBOA MARINE INSURANCE!!  After being an NBOA customer for the last few years, we are excited to be able to work with such a great organization to help spread the word about the quality of their services.

“A great boat deserves great boat insurance, and at National Boat Owners Association (NBOA), we strive to provide every boater with the best marine insurance available, while also accommodating every aspect of the boating lifestyle.”

NBOA Marine Insurance not only provides the highest standard of marine coverage in the industry.  The company has been a sponsor and supporter of the Southern Kingfish Association (SKA) and king mackerel tournament fishing for the past few years as well.  NBOA works hard to protect our sport, its fishermen and their property.

Not only does NBOA support the SKA as a sponsor, the company also produces one of the FINEST tournaments on the trail.  The NBOA Gulf Coast Open Fishing Tournament set the standard for king mackerel tournaments with its inaugural 2011 event in Sarasota, FL.  This event was the “Cadillac” of all events with an AMAZING captain’s party and well-orchestrated list of events for the participating teams.

When you get the chance, visit their interactive website, www.nboat.com to get a quote and learn more about the ADDITIONAL COVERAGE you get with your policy!!  The NBOA Members Club offers benefits you just will not get with other insurance policies.

In addition to their website, NBOA can be reached any time, toll-free at 800-248-3512, or:

4404 N. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34234-3864
Phone: 941-360-6777
Fax: 941-360-6888

NBOA is not just another insurance company; they will be your partner during all of your “on the water” adventures!!  You will be very happy with your choice of NBOA and its staff.

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - http://www.liquidfirefishing.com/

TACO METALS DISPLAYS PRODUCTS AT MAJOR EVENTS!

I want to make sure that everyone remembers two awesome industry shows coming up very soon. One of our Liquid Fire Fishing Team's newest sponsors, TACO METALS, will be representing their top-of-the-line products at the following shows:

HENRY'S BIG ROCK EAST - Raleigh, NC - January 12-15http://www.bigrocksports.com/support/html-pages/dealer-shows.html
TACO METALS BOOTH #1141

ATLANTIC CITY BOAT SHOW - Atlantic City, NJ - February 1-5
http://www.acboatshow.com/exhibitors/resources/promotional.aspx
TACO METALS BOOTH #608

Make sure you stop by and check out their great products. Please make sure you let them know you saw this on our Facebook page!! Mark

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - www.liquidfirefishing.com

KMT JOURNALS - BRASS BANDS AND SCREAMING DRAGS… FIGHT SONGS OF THE SPORTS WORLD!

http://www.liquidfirefishing.com/journals/brass-bands.php

Most all institutions of higher education have a “fight song” that is bellowed by a thundering brass band during a celebration of each of its team’s touchdowns! The sport of king mackerel tournament fishing is not unlike these schools of higher education; the thundering, high-pitched, screaming clicker from a cast-aluminum conventional fishing reel bellowing the arrival of a welcome visitor…

…rewind to the 20th Annual Sneads Ferry Rotary King Mackerel Tournament on Saturday, August 20, 2011. This event has been one of our favorite stops among the numerous sanctioned events by the Southern Kingfish Association (SKA) for years.

Our day began with any early morning 45-mile run to a known big king mackerel fishing spot out of Drum Inlet, NC. After deploying our spread of live blue fish and menhaden at 7:00 a.m., we fished the area for over three hours and caught one small king. Although the area looked very “fishy,” with a lot of bait and good water temperature, we decided to try another location in about 90-feet of water over 20 miles away.

Once we arrived at the new chosen grounds, it didn’t take long for us to hear the king mackerel tournament “fight song”… a screaming clicker from one of our Accurate BX600-X reels!!! The long, blistering run indicated that we were chasing down our targeted species, until… the speedy creature appeared and the iridescent glow of vertical blue stripes showed just before Joshua planted the gaff behind the dorsal fin. Never had we been more disappointed to pull a 25# wahoo over the gunwale!

After pouting for a while, we sent our six-bait spread back out, hoping to capture the interest of our intended razor-toothed target this time. Shortly, we noticed the long bait dragging on the surface. Once we got it to the boat, we found that it had been sliced into three pieces by a sneaky predator. I immediately launched another blue fish on the medium line; Joshua skillfully turned our vessel back on the same trolling pattern.

Within 10 minutes, the long-lined pogy was hit by a slow-moving "bus." A couple minutes into the fight the bait thief showed itself, and as we suspected, a seven-foot shark appeared on the surface attached to our line.

Not to be discouraged, I floated the medium-lined blue fish back long, and Joshua made a third pass through the active spot. In a matter of moments the blue was attacked, and Crockett grabbed the rod in time to hear the KMT fight song once again!! After the fish made short work of exhausting our Accurate of about 250 yards of Yo-Zuri Hybrid smoke purple line, I placed the boat on top of the fish less than five minutes into the fight, and Joshua was able to identify it as “a good one.” Indicating that it was a king mackerel we would be proud to have.

That’s when the fun and excitement of hearing a long, spine-tingling run turn to shear anxiety and tension. The big girl decided that she wanted to make our efforts daunting… she dove deep and stayed there for over 30 minutes! The normal king mackerel fight for our team is generally from about eight to 20 minutes. Thus, once the fish hit at 12:40 p.m., the ensuing tussle seemed an eternity as the minutes clicked by from our GPS.

After Crockett patiently worked the big girl close to the surface, our team was able to see her size, and it gave us an opportunity to get really concerned because of her perceived innate ability to stay just out of Joshua’s range with our Aftco 12-foot gaff. Finally at 1:13 p.m., she came close enough to the starboard bow, and Joshua plunged the hook eight-feet into the water, made the short but smooth gaffing motion, and pandemonium broke out!!

Even after the 33-minute fight, she still had enough spunk in her to try to pull the gaff from Joshua’s grip. However, he was up to the task and brought the 42.51# beast over the gunwale for a resounding THUD! When putting the big girl in the fish box, the three-hook rig fell from her mouth without having to be removed, which indicated a true professional angling effort by Crockett. , our prized smoker was a welcome passenger once Joshua placed her in the fish box after a skillful gaff shot!

After setting another three-bait spread while we got the boat cleaned and straightened, Joshua took the helm at 2:30 p.m., powered up the twin Yamaha F350s and proceeded to New River Inlet and the weigh-in at New River Marina and Power Marine Outfitters for an early end to our fishing day. We collected nearly $1,700.00 for our daily efforts, and the king placed us 4th in the event's overall standings, as Crockett claimed his FOURTH JUNIOR ANGLER TITLE of 2011. He also took home third place in another event earlier this fishing season.

As we began our hour-long drive to our home in Cape Carteret following the awards ceremony, I’m almost positive I heard the faint melody from across the intra-coastal waterway of a brass band bellowing the KMT “fight song” of a screaming drag from a cast-aluminum reel... In a year that was as tough for catching king mackerel as we can remember, we have a family memory that will last forever… and a “fight song” that will not soon be forgotten!

Mark Henderson is the captain of the Cape Carteret, NC-based Liquid Fire Fishing Team sponsored by: Intreptid Powerboats, Yamaha Outboards, Cannon Downriggers, Accurate Fishing Products, AmeraTrail Custom Trailers, Simrad, Best Buy Marine, Optima Batteries, Yo-Zuri, Ocean-Tamer Bean Bags, Sportsman’s Toy Store, Crystal Coast Graphics, SPRO/Gamakatsu, Pro Chips, Columbia Sportswear, Costa Del Mar, Lee’s Livebait and Stevenson Automotive Group.

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - www.liquidfirefishing.com

TACO METALS JOINS FORCES WITH THE LIQUID FIRE FISHING TEAM!!

The Liquid Fire Fishing Team is honored to welcome our newest sponsor: TACO METALS, INC. TACO is synonymous with Sport Fishing, and has been the brand of choice providing top-quality products to the marine industry for over 50 years.  TACO marine and sport fishing products can be found on commercial, recreational, and tournament vessels around the world.


“TACO’s line of sport fishing products is known for durability, simplicity, and angler-friendly features”, says Mark Henderson, Captain Liquid Fire Fishing Team. TACO Sport fishing products continue to lead the way in innovation and performance with products that enhance the fishing experience”, continues Henderson.

“Sport fishing tournaments around the world hold a particular commonality: that the winning anglers boast about their natural talents and how they couldn’t have done it without their TACO sport fishing products,” offers Henderson.

“TACO is delighted to be sponsoring this fine sport fishing team” said Jon Kushner, President of TACO Metals, Inc. “They’re well-organized, forward-thinking and they demonstrate how a well-oiled machine can have its successes when everyone owns their position and responsibilities.” Kushner adds, “Their competitive spirit, winning attitude and all-in-the-family approach is what this sport is all about.”

In addition to engineering the rugged and reliable industry-standard, TACO GRAND SLAM OUTRIGGERS, TACO’s vast marine product portfolio includes: T-Tops and Teleshades; Marine Lumber and Hardware including latches & hinges; marine LED spreader, spot, task & work lighting; renowned rub rail and inserts; casting nest (West Coast Nets) and numerous other boating-marine accessories. Be sure and click to WWW.TACOMETALS.COM  for product and ordering information.

SPOTLIGHT ON: TACO’s LUMATEQ brand marine-grade LED Lighting, offering a $25.00 manufacturer’s rebate on the purchase of two spreader / spot lights between February 1 and March 31, 2012. Follow this link to learn more about this money-saving offer! It’s a great time to upgrade your T-Top and cockpit lighting!

http://tacomarine.com/ccp51/media/coupons/2012_boat_show_web_coupon.pdf

Our team is excited about our partnership with TACO Metals, Inc., we’ve been loyal customers of their Grand Slam Outriggers and numerous other rod holders and marine accessories for years and years.

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - http://www.liquidfirefishing.com/

CROCKETT IS YEAR'S TOP JUNIOR ANGLER!! INTREPID POWERBOATS & SKA NATIONALS

For the second time in four years, Crockett claimed the title of SKA YAMAHA Professional Kingfish Tour TOP JUNIOR ANGLER!! To our knowledge, Crockett is the only junior angler to achieve this award twice! He also captured this honor in 2008; the same year our Liquid Fire Fishing Team captured the Angler of the Year title.

The strength of capturing four of the five Top Junior Angler titles in the 2011 professional season catapulted Crockett into the yearly top spot. The pro events in which he claimed first place were in:

Sarasota, FL - Jensen Beach, FL - Fourchon, LA - Little River, SC (postponed and fished in Biloxi, MS)

One of the major highlights of our trip was having the pleasure to meet Ken Clinton, President of Intrepid Powerboats and John Molfetto, Customer Care Representative. Our team is fortunate and thankful to have the opportunity to partner with Intrepid Powerboats for the 2012 season. Our new boat is scheduled for completion by the second week of April. There is a lot more to share about this great opportunity in the very near future!! I can’t tell you how excited we are to be able to partner with such a respected company. MORE TO COME SOON…

Now to the YAMAHA Professional Kingfish Tour and SKA National Championship in Biloxi, MS. –

Our Liquid Fire Fishing Team jaunted 1/3 of the way across the country on Wednesday, November 2 to complete the 2011 SKA YAMAHA Professional Kingfish Tour. After the fourth leg of the series was postponed in Little River, SC, the make-up date was slated for Nov. 8, with the Tour Championship being held the following day.

On arrival, the fierce winds of Biloxi greeted us in full force. It was our third time traveling to the popular destination in the Northern Gulf to hopefully experience the infamous “Biloxi Bite!” A little discouraged, we tried to make our way out of Horn Pass and Dog Key Pass several days. Unfortunately, each journey was ended quickly once exiting the passes and being faced with 5-7-foot seas!

With the assistance of our new found weather app, Marine Weather by Bluefin, on our new Droid Bionics (that’s another story in itself); we stayed up-to-date with the offshore forecast. Knowing the winds would be blowing out of the south at no less than 15 knots; we stayed “on the hill” and focused on catching mullet for bait.

The poor weather conditions lead to a format change. Tuesday fishing was cancelled, and that left the Yamaha pro tour teams to catch and weigh two fish during one day of fishing on Wednesday.

Heading offshore after the Wednesday 6:30 a.m. check-out, we knew we had a long, 82-mile adventure in 3’-5’ swells. After the three-hour journey, we deployed our mullet at an offshore oil rig known to produce large king mackerel. FINALLY… we began to experience what we had heard about for years. The kings were there, hungry and big!

After boating about 15 kings between 32-40 pounds in our four hours of fishing, we began the long run back through Dog Key Pass. Weighing two respectable kings, 39.80 and 39.12 pounds, placed us 13^th in the tournament, and captured Crockett the 1^st place Junior Angler trophy.

The southerly winds continued and a strong cold front passed through the Gulf states on Thursday and early Friday, leaving Jack Holmes, managing partner of the SKA, the tough decision to make the last tournaments of the year (Yamaha pro and SKA Nationals) another one-day shoot-out… and a shoot-out it was!!!

The infamous Horseshoe / Salt Domes was the location for most of the larger fish caught during the Wednesday pro tournament. With two full days for the 147-boat Nationals’ field to gather this information, everyone believed they had a chance to catch two quality fish in hopes of being crowned Angler of the Year and National Champion.

At the Saturday morning check-out, the teams were faced with a “balmy” 40-degree air temperature. Once again, the Liquid Fire Fishing Team strapped on our Columbia foul weather gear only to protect us from the un-seasonably cool temperatures, as the sea conditions of 1-2 feet was by far the best we had ever seen in the upper Gulf!! This as going to be fun!!!

After the 82-mile, wide open throttle run, Joshua pulled back the throttles at about 9:00 a.m. We immediately deployed three large mullet, and within minutes, three 30-plus pound king mackerel “skied” on all three baits!! The “bite” was real, and it was “ON!”

WOW, WOW, WOW!!! We caught and released more king mackerel than we could count. They bit anything and everything.

After three years of skepticism, we finally got to experience the most amazing king mackerel fishery in our country. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of spending time on the water in this area, I can only say... it was worth the wait!

The SKA staff did an awesome job, as always. Thank you Jack, Deonna, Bob, Chris, Loreen, Terry and all other staff and volunteers for another GREAT event!! We’re ready to go again!

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - www.liquidfirefishing.com