We were out a fair amount this week.  We lost Thursday to weather but that was it.  Wednesday we were out with George Dragonetti and friends and was it ever rough.  About as much as you would want to deal with, that is for sure.  They were troopers and we managed to catch a reasonable number of Wahoo.  Well done guys, way to hang in there.  By Friday the wind had quit and all we were left with was the swell.  Much more comfortable, but still bumpy.  We had Argo out and we were able to catch enough Wahoo and Yellowfin Tuna to keep the day interesting.  The Wahoo we are catching trolling dead bait are in the 20 – 40 pound class.  We have not been catching many Wahoo bigger than that over the past couple of weeks.

Note how trim the shirtless one looks!

The tuna catchers. Good job, Miss Makenna!

With the tide running to the West, the action in on the Eastern side of Challenger.  Argus has produced a number of good days for other boats, but we focused on Challenger this week as the bait moved from the Southeast corner to the Eastern turn and even to the Northeast corner.  By Sunday the bulk of the bait had moved north from the Southeast corner and we were doing better with the Wahoo and Tuna up that way.

Way to go Mr. Rhyn!

Want to feel like your boat is bigger? Put these two in the cockpit.

What we did find on the Southeast corner were Robins, and lots of them.  We had Rhyn and Makenna Bearden out and they put a hurting on the Robin population, filling up the livewell and then the chumming box.  Later in the day we were able to cash those live Robins in for some much nicer Wahoos.  i think we ended up with two fish in the 60 pound range and one in the 50s.  Fishing with live bait is great fun as long as you don’t focus on how many fish you lose, but instead enjoy the larger size of the ones you do catch.

We are going to be out of commission for a little while pretty soon as we bring MAKO back to Carolina for some odds and ends to be done.  We will be back to Bermuda in time for January which, last year at least, produced really great fishing for Yellowfin Tuna and Wahoo.

We will be able to sneak in another week of fishing before we depart.  If your freezer is empty, call and book a trip.  The Wahoo fishing remains consistent.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

As the weather moves towards Bermuda’s fall pattern, so are the fish.

In late September and early October a typical year would see a migration of “Ticker Mackerel” (that is what we call them in Bermuda, they are actually small Little Tunny or, thanks to the Florida Museum of Natural History, Euthynnus alletteratus) moving from the Harbour out to the Edge and the Banks.  Don’t ask me why they move from inshore, where they are the top of the food-chain to offshore, where they are everybody’s favorite snack, but they do.  These baits are small enough that they are bite sized for Yellowfin Tuna and especially Wahoo.  2009 seems like it will shape up to a year with a poor live bait season.  Those Ticker Mackerel are not to be found offshore – at least yet.  The only spot we have found them reliably is one small section of Bermuda’s Edge.

The lack of Ticker Mackerel, together with a strong West tide, is making live bait fishing an unproductive use of time.  There is a bonus to all of this, however.  The lack of bait has made the Wahoo ready to bite and bite well on the troll.  Similarly, the Yellowfin Tuna that are around are ready to eat.  This has added up to a number of pretty respectable catches this week.  It seems like the Eastern Turn to the SE Corner of Challenger is holding the most fish lately.

Friday – Monday we had the Radke boys fishing with us and we produced a pile of Wahoo and a pretty good haul of Yellowfin Tuna.  I love fishing in October as the Wahoo strikes often come in doubles or triples (we had two quadruples this weekend).  Calling Wahoo fishing exciting for the guys in the cockpit is an understatement.  There is plenty of work for the Mate, the customers and the Captain.

We will try to get out a fair amount this week – weather permitting.  I hope to have more of the same to report next week.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva