Gray Taxidermy February 2013 Newsletter
Region of the Month
The Winner of Regional Captain in the Florida Keys is Captain Ben Ekblom on “Tailwalker” out of Hawks Cay! Each month we will feature a specific region that is “Hot” in fishing. One order is randomly pulled from the previous months orders and the Captain will be awarded a prize specific to that region.
This month’s sponsor is Dolphin Electreel. This company has long
supported Gray Taxidermy in prizes and specials rates exclusively for our captains through-out the year. Congratulations Captain Ben, enjoy your new Electric Reel!
Get ready Captains and Mates - Costa Rica and Panama is next month’s Region of the Month - Get your orders in!
Captain Craig Jiovani
Grand Slam Charters Key West Florida
Affectionately called "America's Caribbean," the Florida Keys is comprised of a chain of islands spanning 106 miles long, located off the southern-most tip of mainland Florida. The Keys boast the only living coral reef in the continental United States, making the islands a haven for marine life and fishing getaways ideal. Surrounded by water, the Florida Keys enjoy a temperate, tropical climate year round, setting the stage for relaxing in paradise. Average air temperatures range from 70 degrees in January to 84 degrees in August.
Key West and the Florida Keys are very unique places to go fishing. The vast diversity of the types of fishing makes it so. From the blue waters of the gulf-stream to the reef, the harbor and the back country, you can fish for and catch almost anything you would like to target. Stating with Blue and White Marlin, Dolphin, Wahoo and Tuna in the blue water. You can find Grouper,
Snapper, Barracuda, Jacks and Sharks on the reef, Tarpon in the harbor and Permit, Bonefish and Drum on the flats and back country as well as the Everglades National Park. This is what makes the Florida Key's so great for fishing.
Anglers come from all over the world
to make their fishing dream a reality by
catching that once-in-a-lifetime trophy
fish for their wall, as well as get to eat
some of the tastiest fish in the world.
Author Unknown...
I AM A FISHERMAN! IT IS NOT MERELY SOMETHING THAT I DO, IT IS WHO I AM! FISHING IS NOT SIMPLY AN ESCAPE, IT IS WHERE I TRULY BELONG, WHERE I AM SUPPOSED TO BE! IT IS NOT A PLACE THAT I GO, BUT A LIFELONG JOURNEY I AM TAKING. IT IS A PASSAGE THAT MY FATHER SHOWED TO ME, AND THAT I WILL CONTINUE TO SHOW TO OTHERS. WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND ALL OF THIS, YOU WILL THEN KNOW ME, AND WE WILL FISH TOGETHER.
Captain of the Month - Capt. Will Kitsos
Will Kitsos - REACTOR Watch Co (The official watch company of Gray Taxidermy) is the proud sponsor of the Captain of the Month program! REACTOR and Gray Taxidermy award the monthly winner a GRAVITON 11 watch from REACTOR and a plaque naming them as winner. The winner each month is randomly pulled from all orders turned in during the previous month. “Congratulation” goes to
Captain Will Kitsos from Costa Rica.
Captain Will began his professional fishing career in Iliamna, Alaska, as a fly fishing guide in 1982. He still guides in Alaska in the summers and for the past 14 winters he’s been taking people fishing in Costa Rica. Will started fishing as an inshore captain for Crocodile Bay Resort, and works there still. It didn’t take long for this fly fisherman to find a passion for taking anglers out to fulfill their bucket list item of catching a bill fish on a fly rod.
Captain Will’s favorite saying that he uses in both Alaska and Costa Rica, “Today we fish because tomorrow we fish again.” Makes sense to us!!
You ROCK Captain Will!
Thank you REACTOR Watches (The official watch company of Gray Taxidermy) for sponsoring Gray Taxidermy Captains in this project!! Each month, REACTOR awards a GRAVITON 2 watch to the Captain of the Month, an outstanding watch for an outstanding Captain!
The determination of Captain of the month comes from a random drawing. Each month, every order placed with Gray Taxidermy is entered in a drawing. At the end of the month, one name is randomly pulled from all entries. Along with the new watch, the captain will also be awarded a Trophy plaque with an engraved plate from Gray Taxidermy. The more orders turned in, the better your chances.
Mate of Month, Luis Cota
Luis Cota - Born and raised in Cabo San Lucas and comes from a long line of fishermen. He has been the deckhand aboard Pisces 31 ft Bertram, “Rebecca,” for seven years.
Luis has a reputation as being friendly and outgoing. The clients end up loving him for his wit and positive attitude. Luis is highly skilled as a deckhand with Striped Marlin being a specialty on this boat. His uncle Roberto is a captain of Pisces as well on “Valerie.”
Great Job Luis! Enjoy your new Costa Del Mar, Blue Mirror 580 Corbina sunglasses. As always, the Mate of the Month comes from a random drawing from all the previous month’s orders. Thanks to Costa Del Mar for sponsoring this monthly drawing for Gray Taxidermy Mates!!
The sponsor of this program, Costa Del Mar, is awarding Luis a pair of Blue Mirror 580 Corbina sunglasses as well as a plaque from Gray Taxidermy!
Once again, way to go Luis!! Way to get those orders in! We truly appreciate everything you do!
The determination of Mate of the Month comes from a random drawing of all orders turned in during the previous month’s time.
Featured Fish of the Month - Trigger Fish
The Spanish word for Triggerfish is Cochinos, and that is what I read when I pulled the winner for this month’s “Fish of the Month.” Congratulations to mate Buenaventura Bech from Chac-chi Marina! He is awarded a pair of sunglasses from our sponsor and friends at Costa for an order turned in last month mounting this month’s “Fish of the Month,” the Triggerfish!
A triggerfish makes a wonderful trophy mount! The teeth, the shape and the color!
They are a beautiful fish – with a great big attitude! According to NationalGeographic.com, there are 40 species of triggerfish scattered throughout the world’s seas. These bottom dwellers dig out prey, such as crabs and worms, by flapping away debris with their fins and sandblasting with water squirted from their mouths. They also use very tough teeth and jaws to take on sea urchins, flipping them over to get at their bellies, which are armed with fewer spines. Triggerfish wreak such havoc on less fortunate reef dwellers that smaller fish often follow them to feast on their leftovers. The Balistidae family takes its common name from a set of spines the fish use to deter predators or to “lock” themselves into holes, crevices, and other hiding spots.
The system can be "unlocked" by depressing a smaller “trigger” spine. (Triggerfish tend to be solitary but meet at traditional mating grounds according to timetables governed by moons and tides. The males of many species appear to establish territories on these spawning grounds and prepare seafloor nests that will house tens of thousands of eggs. Females share care of the eggs until they hatch, blowing water on them to keep them well supplied with oxygen. In some species males are known to maintain a harem of female mates.)
Triggerfish are infamous for their nasty attitude and this behavior is especially evident around nests where intruders from other fish to human divers are likely to be charged or bitten.
Remember, (size is not everything...) not every mount you turn in is going to be 4’ – 6’ long!
These are very popular mounts around the globe due to their size and coloration!
Keep up the good work!
Take the time, engage your customer, you WILL mount more fish. Congratulations.
Christmas in Cabo!
It is hard to put into words the feelings of excitement to see 500 charter boats in one Marina! I had the privilege of attending my first Christmas party in Cabo San Lucas. A tradition that has been going on with Gray Taxidermy for about 25 years! Part of the Gray Taxidermy team went to Cabo for the annual year-end event, and what an event it was! Where else can you go and meet around 800 captains and mates in one place, have a great meal and meet some truly dynamic people living in paradise. These guys are fired up and are clearly proud to be part of the Gray Taxidermy team.
It was an amazing experience to get to meet so many of our guys. I am so excited, you can count seeing more of me! The Gray Crew will be back! We are ready to help and support our captains all over the world.
Bill Dobbelaer, GM
Something to Think About...
At Gray Taxidermy, we are always running data and analyzing trends, trying to stay ahead of what is to come for our industry. When running the report for all the fish species turned in to be mounted last month, I found it interesting that during December, which is historically one of our slowest months for mounts, there were 53 different kinds of fish turned in. That is a huge number of fish types! And yes, it was a “slow” month compared to other months.
The kind of “mountable” fish that get caught on a day-to-day basis cannot be counted on fingers and toes! This also goes to prove, you guys get it!!!! The customers are getting the communication needed to mount more fish. IT WORKS!!! We want to thank you for your hard work and dedication to this industry. We are here to help, please always feel free to reach out.
Just wanted to list some of them… Amber Jack, Large-Mouth Bass, Striped Bass, Bonito, Bonefish, Black Grouper, Goliath Grouper, Grey Grouper, Warsaw, Hound Fish, Jack Crevalle, Spanish Mackerel, Permit, Redfish, Hammerhead Shark, Lemon Shark, Nurse Shark, Cubera Snapper, Mutton Snapper, Yellowtail, Snook, Spearfish, Tarpon, Queen Trigger, Sea Trout… Catch It – Mount It!
New Sales Tool Available
We all know that the most effective way to consistently mount fish is to discuss the possibility of catching a trophy fish and your ability to mount it for them before leaving the dock. PLANT THE SEED EARLY…
In effort to help you, we would like to introduce the “Free Sportfishing T-Shirt” campaign. We will support you guys in the field using a promotion to give a free Gray Taxidermy T-shirt to anyone who mounts a fish with you! Show them the card before leaving the dock, plant the seed, identify the interest level and create the excitement. You will see a spike in interest as well as more mounts. We have been testing this in the field and the success has been staggering!
This is again, just one more tool to help you engage your customers early in the trip. We hear it everyday... “Without the ability to mount trophy fish, my business would end up being just an expensive hobby.” Adding Gray Taxidermy to your Chartering Fishing business can be like adding an extra boat!
We have several different tools to help you be successful in your trophy mounting business. If you would like to hear about any of the free tools Gray Taxidermy has available to you, please let us know so we can help. We know not every tool will work with everyone, so we will keep the variance of campaigns coming! If you have an idea, please let your representative know or give us a call here at the office. Working together, we all succeed!
Where is he now?
Just like Willie sang it, “On the Road Again, I can’t wait to get on the road again” – this latest journey has taken the Gray Taxidermy team west – from the Southeast Coast of Florida to the Southern tip of Texas! We stopped by Biloxi, Mississippi and got meet guys trolling and catching huge trophy Redfish on the Gulf and Speckled Trout off Chandeleur Island. We also explored the Southern-most point of Louisiana and ventured to a great little spot called Venice. Great guys and great off-shore fishing there! From there it was off to Texas where I will be spending a little bit of time. What a great state! You can catch everything from Speckled Trout, Black Drum, Founder, Tuna, Dolphin, Wahoo and a variety of Billfish.
If you didn’t catch us on our way through your area, contact me directly or the office and we will be sure to come see you on our way back to Florida. 954-621-6913 - Scott
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