South African fishing industry stalwart Duncan Murfin has entered the glide bait fabrication industry — with a single-jointed lure meant to imitate various species of tilapia.

On our last trip to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, bait to plate was taken to another level. Pete caught an almaco jack. First mate Michael did an amazing job filleting that almaco. When we were back on land, I was so interested in the bait to plate process I asked Chef Eddie to be his sous-chef.

Capt. Juan Diego Gonzalez is only 32 years old, but he has the wisdom and experience of a captain twice that age, and he’s put me on several of my bucket list fish. That’s why I wanted to find out what makes him tick, and why he has seemingly boundless energy for his difficult job each day. Watch this video to hear about him in his own words.

I was honored to participate in a recent episode of Chris Woodward’s “Women in Fishing” podcast, where I had the opportunity to talk about my passion for travel and some of my favorite fishing experiences. If you have time, please listen and let me know what you think.

The highlight of any trip to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge is of course the fishing — but thanks to Chef Eddie the food is a close second. In fact, it would be worth it to go there just to eat!

In Part 2 of her interview, Jen Kravassi of Jekyll explains what goes into a custom-painted lure, how to order the baits of your dreams, and her own plans for the future of her business.

Before the Gathering, my friend Tej Sawhney told me that one of my first stops should be at the Sherpa Swimbaits booth, owned by Passang Wong Chuu. Hanna and I got there just in time to see some of his amazing wake gills and crawler baits fly off the table. Here’s his story, in his own words.

Master craftsman Germán Pérez produces highly individualized peacock bass that look like they just came out of one of South America’s many fertile rivers, and he doesn’t stop there – his work with other exotics (and more common species) is beyond exceptional. Here’s his story in his own words.

Jen Kravassi is a full-fledged member of the swimbait community and a master lure painter — and so much more. We met her at the Gathering but if you’ve been around bass fishing at all you’ve seen her work for Bull Shad and Catch Co.

I regret that on a trip to Hong Kong in the mid-80s I did not take full advantage of the eating scene — although there are still a few things that wouldn’t really appeal.

Amy Lockhart is a 20-year Navy Veteran who loves to fish! But there’s much more to the story than that. After retiring from an official career serving our country, Amy is still helping people, one by one, except this time in the fishing industry. Here’s her story in her own words.

I know that I can count on J.D. Blackburn for a good story tip, some constructive feedback, and most of all a welcoming smile. He’s a “fixer” who gets things done and then lets others claim the credit.

One of the best things about the Swimbait Universe Gathering was the diversity of the people, all brought together by their mutual big bait fetish. It was almost disarming how welcoming everyone was. Despite being a generally-misanthropic introvert, I had no trouble going up to just about anyone. One of my favorites was CJ Martin of Swimbait Hooligans, who took my interview in good spirits.

Oklahoma’s F5 Custom Rods is highly respected in the swimbait community and makes custom-quality rods at production rod prices. Owners Brad Vanderpool and Lisa Livesay put their personal stamp on every rod, including collabs and multi-piece travel rods.

Eric Gomez, founder of Leviathan Rods, builds a full lineup of custom-quality swimbait sticks that have earned near universal-praise. Moreover, he hasn’t been content to rest on the laurels of his two Ivy League degrees – he’s the consummate multitasker, with strong feelings about how he wants to live his life and run his business.

Anyone who knows me is well aware that I can be something of a chatterbox – I love to share stories and hear yours – but when you put me in front of a microphone I tend to clam up. Angie Scott invited me on her podcast titled “The Woman Angler and Adventurer.” She does a great job of featuring female anglers and I was honored to be invited.

When I met Paul Bourcq, it quickly became apparent that we were friends with a lot of the same people and worked for many of the same properties. We may also have shared the same somewhat immature sense of humor. Moreover, he was living my dream life, traveling the globe with some of the greatest anglers in the world to hit premier fisheries. In fact, just a few weeks before I’d drooled over a video he’d shot of fly fishing for queenfish in Dubai.

Looking at Randi Gleason’s camping lifestyle online and talking to her about it, it quickly becomes obvious that they truly are “Living the dream.” It’s not just the fact that they’re on the road experiencing the world, but more importantly she and Darold are sharing just about every moment of that dream, the only way they’d consider doing it.

I’m going to come clean in public for the first time: I cyberstalk BASS wife and Superwoman Randi Gleason, I simply don’t understand how she can cram so much productivity into every day. She supports the career of her husband, professional bass angler Darold Gleason (she calls him “D”) as if it were a full-time job, but she also seems to have about 12 other gigs.

For her 40th birthday, Tara Folz of California wanted to relive and add to her family’s history by catching a sailfish off the coast of Miami. Sometimes a plan comes together perfectly.