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Best of Sport Fishing 2011

A look back at some of the year's most popular galleries, features and posts

By Ben Holtzclaw

Updated: December 16, 2011

The French islands of New Caledonia, almost 1,000 miles of the eastern coast of Australia, offer some remarkable fishing for species both exotic and familiar. We took you there in April with an exclusive gallery from Le Poisson Banane, a local charter operator.

New Boat List

What better way to ring in 2011 than with a list of the year’s hottest new boats? Our annual Fishing-Boat Preview clues you in on the latest models to put on your wish list. And don’t miss the 2012 edition, coming mid-January…

Big Winners

Every month we receive dozens of great entries to our Sport Fishing Photo Contest, with the winner scoring a new pair of Costa sunglasses and the honor of seeing their photo in Sport Fishing magazine. Browse all of our winners (plus some favorite staff picks) here.

We added to our collection of Sport Fishing‘s extremely popular scientific line tests this year with a comparison of 20-pound lines.

In February, author Jerry McBride took us on a tour of the Indian River Lagoon near Stuart, Florida, to target some of the area’s most popular inshore species.

Jig Guide

If you’re looking to juice up your jig-fishing game, there’s no better place to start than our guide of 24 Great Metal Jigs.

Facebook Fun

With a fan base of 37,000 and growing, Sport Fishing’s Facebook page is the place to be, and our fans always look forward to Top Tip Tuesday, when we feature a new reader tip from the vault.

Mystery Fish

Our readers are always sending us questions about rare, exotic and bizarre fish for our Fish Facts magazine column. We’ve collected some recent favorites online and invite you to sample the fascinating diversity on display.

Boat Torture Test

This summer, we watched as a new SeaHunter center console was dropped and cut in half, yet still proved suprisingly seaworthy. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss out on this amazing footage.

For anyone looking for the latest boats and boating accessories, the Miami International Boat Show is the place to be. For those who couldn’t make it to South Beach last February, here’s what you missed.

Sport Fishing met up with Penn in Bimini this year to test out some new gear on some hungry tuna. Check out the action here!

Tropic Star Lodge in remote Pinas Bay, Panama, is a legendary bucket-list fishing destination, and the Sport Fishing editors were lucky enough to cross that one off this last summer.

Pros on Plugs

This year, we asked 14 fishing guides what their favorite plug was and grilled them for some pro secrets on how to fish it. Here’s a list of their favorite lures.

New World Records

The IGFA keeps tabs on all catches submitted for potential world records, and here’s a sampling of some recent candidates from October.

Massive tarpon prowl Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, and _Sport Fishing’_s Chris Woodward made it there in October to tap into an epic bite.

Every year, we round up the latest tackle releases in our Fishing Gear Premiere. Browse our 2012 version here.

Our Photographer’s Showcase features a regualar rotation of top-notch offerings from today’s best marine photographers. Here, Paul Sharman offers up some high-flying mako sharks.

Braid or Mono?

Q: What type of line should I use – braid or mono? A: It depends, and here our experts tell you why.

Live in Lauderdale

We walked the docks at the 2011 Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show in October and compiled blogs, videos and galleries from the show here on our FLIBS 2011 page.

What is That?

This bizarre creature from the deep drew a lot of attention in 2011, and you can see it and more in another edition of Fish Facts.

Record Striper

The all-tackle world-record for striped bass is one of the most sought-after trophies in all of saltwater fishing. In August, that 29-year-old record was broken by Connecticut angler Greg Myerson.

Looking to plan a vacation around some legendary offshore action? Here’s our list of 15 Great Sailfish Spots where you can make it happen.

Mexico’s remote, limitied access Revillagigedo archipelago provides a prime opportunity to target big tuna. Doug Olander made the journey to this exclusive destination and didn’t come back empty-handed…

Swordfishing became the rage off Texas in 2011, and Sport Fishing was there to cash in on the action offshore.

ICAST, or the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, is held annually (usually in Las Vegas), and gives industry insiders a glimpse at all of the new gear to expect in the coming year. While it’s closed to the public, we were there, and you can see all of our coverage here.