QUICK TIPS: COLOR-CODED RODS
It always happens. When you hook a nice-sized fish, the crew kicks into gear and starts clearing the lines. But the rods tend up going in all different directions. The rods get set in any available rod holder in the tower legs or rocket launcher. After the fish is released and it is time to get the spread back out, you want to get the spread back out as fast as possible. You don't want to miss any chance at a fish. There could still be fish in the area or a little bit of a bite going on. The more time the baits are in the water, the more chance you have to catch another fish.
To help the crew get the rods back out as fast as possible and in the proper position, we color-code each rod with a piece of colored electrical tape on the rod butt right under the reel. For the left-long we use green tape. The right long gets red tape. The center rigger, blue tape. We keep the colors the same all the time so the minute you look at the color you instantly know where it goes. In the case that we use short riggers instead of cockpit teasers we would mark those with double pieces of tape... For the left short, for example, we'd use double green. The right short, double red. Sometimes it's the simple things that keep you organized and in the game.
ROBERT "FLY" NAVARRO
Known by most on the docks as “Fly,” you can pretty much expect to see Robert Navarro at the sport's largest tournaments and hot spots throughout Florida and the Caribbean.
Fly began the life of a traveling deckhand in his early 20's, when he made his first trip through the Panama Canal to fish Piñas Bay.
Over the next four years he bounced back and forth between St. Thomas, where he fished the summertime blue marlin season, to Venezuela where he caught everything imaginable aboard Topless with Capt. Billy Borer. In 2000, Fly started fishing with Jim Lambert and Capt. Eddie Herbert aboard the 80-foot Merritt, Reel Tight. He averaged more than 200 days fishing each year on Reel Tight and got the best on-the-job training you could ask for. He's an expert in all facets of offshore fishing, and specializes in helping traveling crews get parts and other necessities through his company, R&D Marine Parts (rdmarineparts.com).
