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FLIBS is the acronym for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

First of all, that is a terrible misnomer.  The most attention getting of the vessels are not boats. (“Boats” by definition are smaller vessels that can be carried aboard ships.) The gigantic floating palaces are ships, that their owners, brokers and crew refer to as mega-yachts and are beyond any reasonable definition of boat.

A 250-foot-long vessel capable of easily carrying a matched pair of 40-foot custom or production sport fish boats does not fit within the boat category. That does not stop many of their owners from fishing off them and I have seen marlin caught from similar vessels when the crew on board has real fishing experience in their background.

When asked “Are they “fishable?”  My answer would be “No, but they could be.” I will write a column or feature article about this in the near future.

This is only my second day at the show and I have already walked several miles (true story) of floating docks.  I have not yet even seen the electronics pavilion of all the new gadgets and widgets that hopeful entrepreneurs are sure to be exhibiting in the smaller, more out-of-the-way booths.

I have seen dozens of so-called, multi-million dollar sport fishing boats that would be pretty useless at catching thousand pound marlin or giant bluefin tuna. But they COULD be great fishing boats with a few modifications.

It’s a great show with something for every boater and no one has enough time to see it all. I will do my best...      -peterb