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Dredges, Spreader Bars, and Rigged Squid from Canyon Candy Tackle

Canyon Candy is a new fishing tackle company making dredges, spreader bars, rigged plastic squid, and other offshore gear – and we like their style.

The Gummy Squirmin dredge: looks tasty to me!

Offshore anglers are always on the hunt for the best dredges, spreader bars, and other tuna-tempting gear, and a fresh option we discovered this spring comes from a new company, called Canyon Candy Tackle. This gang of four found that the gear they were towing through the Atlantic didn’t quite make the grade, and decided they could do better making their own stuff. They trolled, tweaked, and trolled some more, until they developed the offerings from Canyon Candy.

The first thing that caught my eye when I found these guys at a bluewater fishing tackle show was their rasta-color Gummy Squirmin’ dredge (not to be confused with the blue Cotton Candy dredge or the red and white Sugar Free). This is a beefy six-arm 36-squid dredge built on a stainless-steel frame. The nine-inch squid each carry a two-ounce weight in their bellies, and each string is rigged on 250-lb. test secured by aluminum crimps, with a swivel clip at the end for quick set-up and break-down. It’s an awesome looking creation which any hungry billfish or tuna would be proud to slash at, and its built thoroughly tough to last through the years; price for the Gummy Squirmin’ is $250.

Canyon Candy’s spreader bars—known as Candy Bars, of course—are also rugged and appealing. They’re built on five-drop 36” titanium bars, with 14 nine-inch squid, 250-lb. test on the main line, and 200-lb. test on the outer lines. Best of all, these bars go for $95, which is a serious bargain. The same can be said of their five-squid daisy chains, which go for $30 bucks.

I haven’t fished with any of this gear just yet—the offshore season hasn’t kicked in and they just started building these things—so I can’t tell you if they attract fish any better or worse than other offerings. But after discovering Canyon Candy and playing with their gear at the fishing show I can tell you three things for sure: it looks great, it’s well-built, and it ought to prove tempting to anglers with a sweet tooth. Yummy.

Get your offshore sugar fix at Canyon Candy Tackle.

Attention all tuna - this spreader bar is for you.

Daisy chain, anyone? They call this one the Candy Apple.

The MSSA Scholarship Foundation is a great example of a long-term investement in your fishing future.

Fishing For Brains

No, we're not talking about casting for zombies.

There's a program being shaped in Maryland which anglers everywhere should be aware of, thanks to the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association. What does fishing have to do with brains? Plenty, when the smarts - and the future - of our kids is at stake.

One tie that binds all anglers is their love of the water, the outdoors, and the aquatic environment. Unfortunately, as you surely know already, that environment is under a constant assault. That assault threatens everything we love about fishing, boating, and watersports in general. How can we protect it? We need our youth - the kids we've raised with the same intrinsic attachment to fishing that we have - to grow up well-educated and interested in finding ways of improving our fisheries and the environment they dwell in. What better way to do so, then to promote scholarships dedicated to this goal? Hence, the MSSA Scholarship Foundation.

This foundation isn't exactly new. In fact, back in 1992 the idea was put into motion and the foundation was established. Since then, over $200,000 has been raised for over 50 young men and women. And the return on that investment is huge: recipients have followed careers in environmental research and education, mitigation, fisheries management, and more.

A few years ago a dedicated angler named Pete Abbott took the reigns at the Scholarship Foundation, and set out to dramatically expand the Foundation's reach. Fundraising is, naturally, the biggest and most important challenge he and the rest of the Foundation's board faces. Should you donate to the fund, buy a raffle ticket or two, and help support your own fishing future? Of course. But just as important is recognizing that the aim of this foundation should be a common goal of all anglers, no matter where they live and fish. Fishing clubs and organizations from coast to coast should visit the organization's web site, and find a way to either support it or establish their own scholarship funds, with similar goals and means. Hey fishermen, this is our future we're talking about - and that of our kids and grandkids, who are growing up with the same love of the water that made us who we are. So don't just ignore the issues we face; act on them with an eye on the long term, by helping our youth become well educated, intelligent, dedicated defenders of our fisheries and their environments.

If you agree with the goal, why wait to support it?

You can take immediate action, by donating to the MSSA Scholarship Foundation, today. Just decide how much you can afford to donate, and click on the button.

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