The Weekly Salvage
(1.15.25) Fishy News from Around the Northeast and Beyond
The maritime rule of salvage has its origin in Roman law, which dictates that one who preserves or improves upon the misplaced property of another is owed compensation, even if the service was not requested. Let’s get out the internet trawler and get to work…
🎙️| OTW Podcast: The Making of a Skillie Man —> Capt John Galvin of ‘El Diablo’ discusses his early angling inclinations as a kid working at Eastman’s Bait & Tackle, which ultimately led to his current post on the 72 Viking. His private-boat travels have brought him from Canadian to Caribbean waters, but he still can’t shake his passion for the tunas and billfish of the Cape & Islands.
🎥 | Tuna Junkies - Winter Pop-sickles —> Nothing like a little tuna topwater mayhem to keep the seasonal depression at bay. It’s not always easy to stay on finicky fish with just two guys on the boat, so take notes on the approach angles Billy & Jim take to stay in the strike zone.
Fishing Reports | OnTheWater - FishermanMag - HullTruth - MAFishReport - SOL
***Reminder to renew your fishing licenses here. HMS vessel permits here.***
Swimbaitin’ Q&A - Adrian of Scales ‘N Tales Media
Our first Q&A of 2025 features a fellow proprietor of ‘alternative’ angling media in the freshwater world. I started listening to Adrian’s backlog of swimbait fishing-focused podcasts this past Fall, and found his perspective, love of conspiracy theories, and many memes quite relatable. His takes on the hot-button issues like FFS, tournament fishing formats and the private equity destruction aggregation of household fishing brands well-formulated and quite refreshing. In addition, his YT channel and magazine offer very in-depth analysis from himself and experts on the various components and philosophies required to catch truly giant Bass. Overall, I just like his style, dude.
Q - What is the 'Mount Rushmore' of Swimbaits for the Midwest/Northeast? If you could only throw five big baits all-season long...what goes in your toolbox?
A - As someone who swore I’d never throw a wake-bait, I’ve surprisingly come around. It’s arguably the most fun way to fish swimbaits, especially from a visual standpoint. My favorite right now would probably be the Throwback Wake Walker. Another wake that I really fell in love with this past season was the ZFG Thundermouth. It’s a 10-inch trout-shaped bait that, in my opinion, covers the 0–2 foot water column like no other.
Another staple for me is bouncing big soft baits off the bottom. In particular, the one that comes to mind is the Working Class Zero 7-inch Citizen. This soft boot-tail style bait was one I fished heavily this season, and the results speak for themselves—I broke my PB on it.
For spot four, I’d go with a budget-friendly ABS bait. One that stands out the most to me is the Swimbait Republic Glideway 176. It’s versatile, customizable, and super easy to adjust the sink rate using the provided sticker-style lead strips.
Finally, the last spot has to go to a big glide bait. Not one in particular, but in my opinion, it’s hard to beat any 8–9 inch glide bait. While the size might cut down on your number of bites, the quality of fish makes up for it.
Q - How did you get interested in pursuing fishing media and podcasting? What was your path into the swimbait world?
During COVID, like many people, I looked around and wanted to try a new hobby. Fishing had been my passion for probably 6–7 years, but I really wanted to try my hand at photography. I ended up buying a Sony A6000 and a kit lens from Best Buy. When it finally arrived, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Looking back, it was actually painful. I wasn’t necessarily focused on any particular type of photography; I just wanted to be behind the camera and capture cool stuff. In 2021, I started shooting “rollers,” a car-filming technique involving hanging out of a car on the highway while someone drives by. I got a lot of traction on my shots, but ultimately the car scene kind of disappeared one season, and I didn’t have much to do. I ended up falling back into fishing and hit it hard. Around this time, I had another podcast that I enjoyed doing but never felt like it was good enough to grow into what I imagined. I stopped producing that show and decided to try my hand at a fishing-based podcast.
Scales N Tales started as a standard fishing show, not the hyper-focused show it is now. A few weeks into making episodes, I realized I wasn’t doing anything different from every other fishing podcast. I decided to focus exclusively on swimbait content. It gained a lot of traction fast and never really slowed down. It wasn’t until about a year later that I thought of transitioning from a podcast page to a “media” page. I knew there were very few shows doing swimbait content and even fewer pages covering the scene. I wanted to give a platform to anyone in the scene to broadcast their stories, ideas, bait drops, or merch releases. I wanted to be the one-stop shop. It hasn’t been until recently that I really feel like I’ve reached a solid point.
I’ve been so focused on creating a platform for others that creating one for myself had taken a back seat. Hell, I had listeners who had no idea what I even looked like. That was a wake-up call for me—I realized I needed to literally put myself out there. I needed to be in front of the camera as well as behind it, sharing my stories and experiences alongside everyone else’s. I really love where we are now, and I’m excited for a lot of new projects in 2025.
Q - What is your big fish philosophy? And what conditions are you most confident in when targeting big fish?
I’ve embraced the mindset of “it only has to last one fish.” My knot only needs to hold for one fish, and my line and hooks only need to last for one fish. Using lighter gear has made a big difference for me. Fishing big baits on 15-pound copolymer line and smaller hooks has significantly improved my chances of landing big fish. Marshall, The Homeless Fisherman, has been a huge influence on shaping my big fish mentality.
Q.- What are the biggest mistakes a new angler makes when they get into swimbait fishing? And what is the community etiquette around spot-burning and intel-sharing?
I think a lot of guys getting into swimbaits go crazy and buy every bait they see during the first couple of months. Half the time, they don’t even have a rod capable of fishing half the baits they buy—but they don’t care. I get it; I did the exact same thing when I got started. Looking back, I wasted a lot of money that way.
The community feels split between those who are hardcore about spot-hiding—blurring backgrounds, cropping photos, and all that—and those who honestly don’t care. It’s funny, because if you’re going to edit the background that heavily, I’d probably just keep the catch to myself. Maybe post a photo of the scale, but if you have to jump through 100 hoops to share a fish and still keep your spot lowkey, maybe it’s just not worth it.
Lightning Round!
Favorite knot and leader size for big baits? Just a normal fisherman’s knot, 8-9 twists and through the loop. It’s a knot I can tie in the pitch black and in my opinion that’s the best knot.
Best song on the ride to the lake? No sunshine by DMX at least when I get to the lake to lock in, first song in rotation is probably 9-5 by Dolly Parton to set the tone.
Preferred method of caffeination? Coffee, black. Hits harder.
Favorite conspiracy theory? The 1945 Nuke testing videos from Nevada were faked.
If you had to fish one color all Spring? Resin bone white; it glows in clear water, and it straight up pisses fish off.
Gear Guide by Tak Waterman | G-Ratt Poppa & Sneaky Pete Glides
Sizes | 10” (4.5oz) & 7” (2.5oz) Features | Salt & Freshwater Forage Colors (like Bunker, Hitch and American Shad), Replaceable Tail
Description | A durable and affordable jointed glide-bait for both trophy Largemouth and Stripers. Both models featured a wide glide and super-slow sinking action on a slow retrieve, but can also be ‘chopped’ back-and-forth on half-turns of the reel handle for an erratic baitfish flee. I like throwing the larger silent model (in the color above) around Bunker schools, gliding it slowly back to the boat just outside the fray.
Big Blackfin Tuna Off Hatteras (SportfishMag) - “Known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, Hatteras Inlet is no joke any season of the year. Winter is especially exciting. In addition to howling winds, a strong Gulf Stream current and huge rollers, the days are short and temperatures can be frigid. We started the day layered in fleece and nylon. The 50-foot sportfisher rolled through the slop without complaint, carrying us to the fishing grounds — a series of seamounts that the locals call “rocks.” Shortly after we passed over the color change from dirty-green inshore water to the deep-blue Gulf Stream, Warren slowed the boat, and the party emptied out of the comfort of the cabin.”
The Mystery & Mastery of Jigs for Winter Bass (Infisherman) - “Some anglers store the boat and stash their tackle once when water temperatures fall into the 40°F range. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably not in that camp. But even most die-hards like to let the sun warm things up a bit before hitting the lake. Not Randy Claybourne of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He’s evolved into a persistent and highly skilled winter jigman, learning from experience that winter presents the best opportunity for a giant. His belief was validated on the night of January 12, 2014, when he landed a 13.86-pound Texas ShareLunker at Lake Fork.”
It's the Little Details that Count When You're Fishing Offshore (FLSportsman) - “The longer a piece of debris floats at sea, the more algae builds up on it, lending to the familiar food chain where small browsing fish pick away at the growth and larger fish move in to pick off the smaller fish. Smaller fish apparently also regard the structure as a safety zone, a place to hide from predators. Lift a piece of old rope, for instance, out of the water and there’ll remain a cloud of fish that will instantly gravitate back to the structure when you return it. (Rope is always a great find!). Basically, the dirtier and dingier the better, when it comes to small floater finds. A clean foam marker float, recent flotsam, may not hold much, but one that’s covered in algae and attended by little fish is always worth a cast.”
Top 15 Tackle, Terminal, & Apparel Items from 2024 (#11-15)
Daiwa Zakano Jig - Who knew Albies loved heavy metal?! Especially on those Blowin’ We Goin’ kinda days, the 30g version of this flat-side metal was the only one I could still launch 100-120ft into upwind feeds. As long as Bluefish weren’t heavily involved, the paint-scaling held up pretty well, though I would say the stock treble could use an upgrade if your chasing the big Juans that showed up off Monomoy in 2024.
MS Slammer - A wooden wake-bait that flat-out gets chewwwed (once you upgrade the terminal tackle). This 9” hunk of pine also cranks down on a speedier retrieve and is ideal for no-light or low-light conditions around isolated cover and weed/break-lines. It’s not cheap, but has pedigree for good reason.
HD 5.0 RonZ —> RonZ’s are kinda like franchise quarterbacks after the age of 40; they’re expensive and easily torn up by a blitz. Sure, there are new competitors in the market (Hogy & NLBN, etc), offering more interesting colors, shapes and functionalities. But goddamnit, this guy has got a lotta gas left in the tank after an offseason spent doing Ayahuasca. I still can’t go to the tuna grounds without at least one tied on.
Imperium 5-Pocket Lure Bag —> Extra credit to Jack Burke on this tactical storage find. Whether your heading to NJ, Newfoundland, or out on a buddies’ boat this year, this roll-up bag fits more than its fair-share of plugs, jigs and terminal tackle, and still fits in a dry bag. One side is clear, and the other side is synthetic mesh, so easily washed at the end of the day to avoid rust.
Grundens Weather Watch Pant —> A rugged and slime-resistant lower outer-layer for chilly runs in the dark that won’t overheat during the day. Especially for run ‘n gun folks that need a bit more casting flexibility and don’t want to get sweat-soaked battling in bibs, these were a steady choice for me from April to November.
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