Mr. Bulthuis brings years of experience from the industry. Being the President of Pure Fishing, Inc and also an avid fisherman we are extremely honord to have him on board as the Official Spokesman for Gray FishTag Research.

With over 20 years of experience in the sport fishing industry publishing 3 regional, weekly editions of The Fisherman Magazine, Michael draws from an enormous base of knowledge, contacts and is experienced in virtually all types fishing in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic regions

A Jersey Shore native, Jim Hutchinson, Jr. was hired in 2002 as managing editor of The Fisherman’s New Jersey edition, moving to New York in 2006 to take over as executive editor of all the regional editions following the retirement of his mentor, Pete Barrett.  Having covered saltwater fisheries issues extensively, Hutch left The Fisherman in 2009 for a six-year stint as managing director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance a national political organization dedicated to safeguarding the rights of saltwater anglers and the recreational fishing industry; he returned to The Fisherman in early 2015 as New Jersey edition managing editor.

A licensed USCG Captain, Veteran, and Principal with the Hargett & Tabb Insurance Agency, Steve has been an active and avid sport fisherman both inshore and offshore nearly all his life. On his first offshore trip at age 8 he won the “pool” and was hooked for life.

My Passion for fishing started at about 4 years old.  I had some great teachers.  My Dad and my Uncle were the best anglers I knew.  Great mentors in skill and great respect for the water.

Just started my 25^th year in the fishing tackle industry.  Sales and Product Development have been the bulk of my background.  I have had many roles in the industry Including Telemarketer for a great rep agency, Global Brand Manager for G.Loomis, Vice President of sales at Accurate fishing, and currently Director of Fishing rods at Pure Fishing.

My passion for fishing and the outdoors goes back as far as I can remember crabbing and fishing with my family on the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay’s. I can remember netting my first crab with my great grandfather like it was yesterday.

2021 will mark my 20^th year in the fishing industry. The first 10 years had me in the retail and e-commerce space, while the last 9 years have been spent in numerous roles with American Fishing Wire (AFW) supporting the Hi-Seas, C&H Lures, and Triple Fish fishing brands.

Growing up in south Jersey, fishing with his grandfather on the Ventnor Pier, John DePersenaire used that love of the ocean and the marine resources to pursue a BS in Marine Biology from UNCW and continued with graduate level courses in Marine Ecology at Rutgers University. 

John joined the Recreational Fishing Alliance in 2002 as a Fisheries Researcher assisting the team with data analysis and interpretation associated with fishery management plans and legislation.  In this role, John was successful in leading and securing funding for the first recreational focused research project through the Research Set-Aside program.  

Mr. Dave Marciano grew up in Massachusetts, and although no one in his immediate family fished, Dave was drawn to the sport, going to ponds with his mother and fishing for hours on end. When Dave was 9, his family moved to Beverly, MA, near the harbor. This gave Dave the chance to walk right down to the docks and fish whenever he felt like it. His lifelong passion for fishing was officially nailed down.

I grew up fishing with my family. We fished many tournaments in my dads boats growing up. I started working on boat when I was 16. After high school I started traveling the world fishing. I have fished over 20 different countries and visited 32 countries. I have been lucky to fish with some great captains like James Roberts, Will dixion , Jody Whitworth, Randy Baker, Bobby Brown and Eddie Herbert to name a few. I have a dogtooth tuna world record 147.6lbs on 20lb test ( its mounted on my wall) . Some good catches include 963lb black marlin, 896lb blue marlin, 7 black marlin on fly in 1 day, 7 swordfish on rods in 1 night and the first ever grand slam with a swordfish in the Virgin Islands .

Mr.Zsolt is dedicated to providing you with an angling experience of a lifetime. He has been fishing the Florida waters for over 14 years, manufacturing Power assisted fishing reels for over 28 years.

Zsolt Szekely is a powerful business driver whose entrepreneurial instincts and clarity of vision have carried multiple companies through rapid and continuous growth.

Tracy Ehrenberg was born on the south east coast of England, in the seaside town of Brighton.

At nineteen years of age she landed a job in the Canary Islands (Spain), where she met Marco Ehrenberg from Mexico City. After whirlwind romance of five days, she accepted his marriage proposal and moved to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to help him take over the family business of three small sportfishing boats. Tracy became fluent in Spanish and quickly learned about boats, fishing and how to run a fleet. Her dedication to service quickly allowed the fleet to grow not only in size but in range, to what it is today; a fleet of fishing boats and cruising yachts, that depending on the season, can be as many as thirty vessels.

A New England native, Chris grew up in a coastal Massachusetts town fishing both commercially and recreationally. Being raised on the water afforded him the opportunity to be exposed to a wide range of fisheries and methods to include commercial fishing on gillnetters, draggers, long-liners, and lobster boats. Chris’s rod & reel experience is largely on charter vessels, and recreationally, fishing in North Atlantic waters for pelagic species.

In his 30-plus years in the fishing industry, John Brownlee (known far and wide as “JB”) has become an internationally recognized light-tackle fishing expert and journalist. As the former editor-in-chief of Salt Water Sportsman and Marlin magazines, he has traveled the globe honing his angling skills and learning techniques from the best captains and guides in the world.

Mr Takacs joins Gray Fish Tag Research program with a history of conservation, education, fishing and yachting industry experiences. Starting his professional career as SCUBA instructor, resort operations specialist and boat captain, president of the watersports association, advisor to the department of environmental and coastal resources, national parks committee and rescue association of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Carter began his big game fishing and tournament involvement in the mid 1990’s while residing on the island of Providenciales.

August 1st 1946 born into a family of fishermen and hunters in Ventura Cailf. First fishing recall: Fly fishing the Sierras with my Dad, age 6-7. Original pier rat age of 9 onwards. Only 2 miles to the pier, and we could stay all Saturday night. Never caught much using the old Calcutta poles, but was fishing, and figured out “you are always learning”.

Kristen, along with her husband Capt. David Salazar, are owners of Casa Vieja Lodge a 19-bedroom hotel and with 10-classic charter boat fleet on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. Casa Vieja Lodge delivers luxurious turn-key fishing packages while concentrating on the 5-Star Angling Experience.

Casa Vieja Lodge practices responsible conservation techniques so that future anglers can have an experience as special as those of today. Studies show that a billfish caught and released can generate 10 times or more in tourism-related revenue than the revenue generated by a billfish caught and killed by a commercial fishing operation. 

Gerry Benedicto is currently the General Manager of Seaguar fishing line and leader material.  He is responsible for the managing the Seaguar brand, sales, marketing, and product development of premium fishing line and leader. Benedicto also manages the sales and marketing for Kureha America’s fluorocarbon guitar strings.  Prior to joining Seaguar, Benedicto worked at Canon U.S.A., Inc. for several years in the consumer product marketing divisions.  He is an avid saltwater and freshwater angler and is an advocate for conversation in the fishing industry.  He is honored to be an advisory board member of the Gray Fishtag Research team.

I have been charter fishing in Miami Fl since 1966. Over the years I learned the high value of a fish swimming in the ocean over the low value of a dead fish.

I have been running Dusky boats from 25 to 33 years as charter boats targeting sailfish, tarpon, swordfish, mahi and everything else that swims around putting smiles on anglers faces and/or beauty on their walls.

My crew and I have tagged over a thousand sailfish, hundreds of mahi, dozens of tarpon and swordfish and we can’t wait for the next tagging opportunity. We have also spent thousands of hours promoting fisheries conservation and teaching people how to catch more fish.

I was born in South Florida and started fishing at the age of 10 and since then this has been my life passion.  Naturally growing up around the ocean in South Florida and The Keys I was exposed to many types of fishing including freshwater, backcountry and offshore for more pelagic species.  In 1989 I was able to turn my passion into a job and started working on a Miami based charter boat.  From 1989 to 1996 my jobs took me from South Florida to the Bahamas and Virgin Islands fishing exclusively for billfish tagging as many as possible. 

An award-winning photojournalist and speaker, Gary Graham’s writing speaks with the authority forged by decades of travel throughout Baja California, mainland Mexico and portions of Central America. 

Since the 1950’s, Gary has authored 1,600-plus weekly editions of his Baja California fly and conventional fishing reports, two do-it-yourself books on saltwater fly-fishing and numerous feature articles in various regional, national and international publications.

Currently the Fishing Director at the world class fishing resort, Tropic Star Lodge. I’ve held this position for almost 7 years and am extremely passionate the sport and practicing responsible fishing while promoting conservation of all gamefish species. My career in sport fishing began over 25 years ago and the opportunity to be located at  Pinas Bay Panama, one of the best locations on the planet to pursue species such as Black  and Blue marlin has has made a significant impact on my life.  I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside great men such as Guy Harvey and light Tackle specialist Raleigh Werking who are icons in the sport.

Mr. Poe has been tagging large sharks since the mid 1990’s, promoting conservation and conducting research in the southern California Bight. His first experiences with tagging sharks started when he worked with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to deploy conventional tags. When CDFW lost funding, he started his own tagging program and passed all the data on to the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) and CDFW.

I am a Texas ranch girl that fell in love with catfishing in a pond as a child.  After my first year at Texas A&M I realized that my summers would be “better spent” fly fishing the Colorado River out of Vail, CO, where I ended up being the only female fly-fishing guide in the Vail Valley. Upon graduation I joined the World Billfish Series as their Project Coordinator… this is where I fell in love with pelagic fish and billfishing!