Got new shirts sent to me a few weeks back from Joseph at Apex Industries for a review. The first shirt was a XXL Hanes short sleeve navy blue Apex Predator Shirt with a Largemouth Bass 2 color graphic on the front and nothing on the back. The second was an XXL Hanes royal blue Top Gun Shirt with tuna graphics in one color and logo on the front and the Apex Predator logo on the shoulders across the back. Got to try both of them out on half day trips out of Long Beach Sportfishing on the Icon the past few weekends. (View the reports from trip 1 and trip 2).

Overall I like the shirts, both are good quality shirts from Hanes and the screening was done well on both, only in two color on the Apex Predator shirt and one color on the Top Guns. I found the darker blue Apex Predator with the large mouth bass to be my favorite of the two with the darker navy blue, it had a tag but I removed it before going out on the second trip (don’t like tags, I cut them out of most of my shirts).

The royal blue Top Gun shirt got attention from other anglers on the boat. The white one color tuna stands out on the lighter blue. Not my taste in color, but I do like the graphics. Got to get some blood on it the first time out, not tuna, just cuda.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

With the large mouth bass shirt and my son Jonathan.

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

Apex Predator LMB w/ Hardbait (Shortsleeve)

Product: Apex Predator Large Mouth Bass w/ Hardbait (Shortsleeve T-Shirt)
Color: Navy
MSRP: $14.99
Manufacture: Ap3x Industri3s (Apex Industries)
Available: Online http://www.ap3xpr3dator.com/

From Product Reviews

Product: Apex Predator Top Guns Slug Tuna (Shortsleeve)
Color: Royal Blue
MSRP: $12.00 – $15.00
Manufacture: Ap3x Industri3s (Apex Industries)
Available: Online http://www.ap3xpr3dator.com/

Final Thoughts:
Apex Predator has laid down a good foundation of products to start with. Along with the shirts they have hats and long sleeve shirts as well. As an angler I would like to see the line expanded out to hooded sweatshirts and or zip ups, I like to wear hooded sweatshirts on the twilight runs and in the winter months out on the boats. Time will tell how well the shirts hold up in the washer and dryer over and over, I suspect as good as any other good quality shirt. Nice product and I plan to get some mileage out of them.

http://www.ap3xpr3dator.com/

Have you used this product? Have comments? Let your opinions be heard! Fill out your comments below.

With school starting for my son this coming Thursday, fallball baseball and my Fall 09 classes I teach starting in a few weeks I wanted to take Jonathan out on the boat one last time this summer. Decided on the Icon out of Long Beach Sportfishing again, did a good run last weekend (Read about it here) and hoped it would turn out the same. This time I called in for the 3 for 2 special early in the week and my cousin Jason joined us again. I also was trying out my other shirt from ApexPredator today as well. http://www.ap3xpr3dator.com/

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

Got down to the landing around 11:45 and picked up our passes. Looked like a lighter load today, around 35 or so. The morning run was much heavier. They came in on time and it did not go well for them. Only a handful of fish on plastics in the morning. No anchovies for bait today, only huge sardines. Here is a pic of what we had for bait.

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

Captain Shawn got on the horn as we left, slow slow morning a few calicos here and there on plastic. Basically good luck today with no bait that was worth anything. Oh wells, we win some and lose some. Luckily we has a bunch of plastic in the bags.

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

Nice thing was there was a bunch of kids on board for Jonathan to have friends and they had a great time all day with the great weather. Jonathan did not end up fishing much, just watching is new friends fish (thanks to their families they were great with Jonathan) and sitting in the galley.

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

To sum up the trip, about 5 moves around the horse shoe, no current, no birds, nada, nada nada at all. First 4 stops I got 1 bite and the guy next to me got one legal calico (it was his first time out so that was good). Maybe about 10 bass the whole day, and neither of us got skunked at least. On the last stop my cousin got 2 dinky mackerel and I got one short calico. When I hooked up Jonathan was in the galley and missed bringing it in. Oh wells.

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

Passed on the jackpot this time around and a 2lb calico won the whole thing.

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

I was happy to be out on the water before the hectic school/work schedule begins this week (It’s lots of fun with 4 kids in the house) and have had some great outings the last few weeks.

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

At least all the kids had a good time. (Look at the baby mac in the one kids hand, we had those mixed in with the sardines).

From 24th Trip: Slow Afternoon 1/2 Day on the Icon 8/16

Once again I would highly recommend Long Beach Sportfishing. Easy to get to, great crew (they tried hard on this run) and fun to go out with. They have some good specials going on right now from the looks of things in the office http://www.longbeachsportfishing.com/. The Icon is a good boat and has seen some years but like most of the other ships in the SoCal 1/2 day fleet she does her job well. Liked the new shirt that ApexPredator sent out to me, comfortable and I liked the color better than the other. My full review will be on my site under product reviews.

Final count for the day…

Jason:
Mackerel 2 (released)

Myself:

Calico Bass 1 (released)

One weird thing did happen to us, Jonathan put up his light spinning rod when we go on board and it disappeared. Both me and my cousin checked the whole boat a few times over and did not find it till the end of the trip, back up in the holder. It had been used by someone on the boat the whole time, reel was wet and it was tied up different than what usually do. It’s a beater walmart rod so it would not have killed me to lose it, but with all the rental rods on board it did not surprise us.

I had planned to go out on the 3/4 day on the Enterprise out of Long Beach Marina Sportfishing with my cousin Jason, but my alarm did not go off in time and after a “Where are you” text that woke me up at 5:30am finally we decided to get a few more hours of sleep and hit an afternoon 1/2 day run. Decided to go out of a landing either of us had not been out of in a long time so called down to Long Beach Sportfishing at Berth 55. I also was trying out a new fishing shirt from Ap3xPr3dator today as well. http://www.ap3xpr3dator.com/

Got down to the landing around 11:45 and they took care of us in the office. Looked like a lite load all the way around, and the Icon was a bit late coming back in with a very light load (I counted about 14 or 15 on board). The morning bite was bad, only a handful of fish on the boat for everyone. Loaded up quick with a total of around 35 or so and we headed out.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

Captain got on the horn and said the fishing was bad in the morning, but hopefully the afternoon bite would make up for it. We went straight out with bait left over from the morning to the fleet that was sitting off the green buoy outside Angels Gate. The Matt Walsh, Sport King and a bunch of other moo-moo’s were there, and a fleet of personal boats. Lots of birds and action in the water so we hoped for the best.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

Dropped anchor and we rigged up with a dropper loop with 5oz torpedo sinker. Even with 5oz we were dragging a little on the bottom. Water was clean and the wind was not whipping up yet. Got a good hit and fish on. Thought it was a nice calico the way it was fighting but it ended up being a grumpy treefish. Biggest one I’ve ever got, his coloring was very dark as well, almost black.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

It set the tone for the day, quality fish for us coming aboard, but not in huge quantity. Few minutes later got another good hit and bring up a large sculpin. One of the larger ones I’ve ever caught on anchoives. Always a pretty fish, and one of the few fish I really like to eat.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

I farmed a few fish at this spot, the fish were just pecking at the baits, either pulling them off or leaving only half an anchovy but everyone around us was pulling up a few calicos, sandbass and barracuda as well. Ended up moving spots as the bite slowed down. Shawn our captain worked hard all day moving and finding fish to scrape up, it was never a huge wide open bite but fish came aboard all day long.

Next stop my cousin Jason finally stopped farming fish (he lost a few at the first stop) and pulled up a very nice sand bass then an equally big calico on the next cast. Both good looking fish with great coloring.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

Jason also pulled in a few short barracuda on this stop off the bottom. I lost 3 as well getting bit off by them and loosing a few hooks. Only lost two 5oz sinkers today between the two of us.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

The whole time barracuda were coming on board on iron and off the bottom with anchovies. As the bite slowed down again on this spot we moved around the fleet and anchored on the west side of them. Once again the barracuda started coming on board again. We continued fishing the bottom with live bait. On this stop we kept getting pecked away at on the bottom. Try to set the hook then nothing, either bait gone or all torn up. I thought I had lost my bait again after some pecking and started to reel and wam, it started to pull back. No hard hook, just pull and go. Fought it up, knew it was a cuda from the fight and it was a big one. Got her gaffed and brought aboard.

Largest barracuda for me this year.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

Same spot a few minutes later and my cousin gets hooked up the same way on the bottom. Another cuda gaffed and brought aboard.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

We both farmed a few more fish, all barracuda at this spot. Died off again and we moved one more time. Another drop down, and going up to a 6oz sinker and got another nice treefish. Not as big as the first, but pretty colors.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

Jason also pulled up another bull sculpin on this stop.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

Made one last stop for the day and the cuda were being pulled on board once again. Jason got in on the action with some iron and hooked 3 shorts (most missed by an inch or so). Not much going on at the bottom, got a few more small hits and we called it a day.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

Came in second for the jackpot with my cuda. The winner was just a bigger model.

From 23rd Trip: 1/2 Day Afternoon on the Icon 8/8/09

Great day on the water out there. I would highly recommend Long Beach Sportfishing. Easy to get to, great crews and fun to go out with. They also had some good specials going on right now from the looks of things in the office http://www.longbeachsportfishing.com/. The Icon is a good boat and has seen some years but like most of the other ships in the SoCal 1/2 day fleet she does her job well.

Final count for the day, all large quality fish kept here.

Jason:
Barracuda: 1 kept, 5 released
Sand Bass: 1
Calico Bass: 1
Sculpin: 1

Myself:
Barracuda: 1
Tree Fish: 2
Sculpin: 1

Another great trip. Been lucky the last few times out, no big crowds and good fishing. The twilight boat was looking very crowded that night (big crowd when we got in), hope they did well. Liked the new shirt that Ap3xPr3dator sent out to me, comfortable and had a few people ask me about it on the boat. My full review will be on my site under product reviews. Got the first blood on it today with the cuda as well, not tuna, but still a good test.