The Wahoo continue to please. Early in the week we were having good luck on Challenger Bank trolling with dead bait for Wahoo as well as chumming on the NW side of the Bank. In the chum, there were a fair number of little Yellowfin Tuna, huge numbers of Skipjack Tuna as well as the odd Rainbow Runner and Tiger Sharks. All in all, made for a few interesting days.

We fish for Wahoo in the chum using spinning gear with a short trace of wire just above the hook. The particular fellow I am holding above hit my bait (yes, I was convinved to try a drift or two with the rod in my hand) like something very small. As I was reeling the fish in easily, someone hooked a Yellowfin just above my fish. Well, that sure woke up the Wahoo and he went around the bow in a flash. After 10 or 15 minutes fighting him from the bow deck, I figured that I must have a Wahoo that was converted in to a Tiger Shark. I put the max drag on and start to work the fish to the boat thinking I will either catch it or break it off and finish this one way or the other. Well, he was a nice surprise when he came to the gaff.

Later in the week the bite on Argus was good. I think we ended up with 15 Wahoo on Saturday. Ricky Lines and his guests did their usual great job and we had two great days out.

September-October fishing in Bermuda….nice weather, lots of action, lots of fish to eat!

I am going to be in Costa Rica this week checking on Capt. Mike and Chowie, the other half of Black & Blue Fishing. As a result, the next fishing report will be from the Pacific.

Talk to you then.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

Whoa! Too much for one report so we are going to do two this week. Had a pretty good week this week. The Blue Marlin bite is hanging in there and you tend to get a shot or two a day. Friday Colin Barnes got four shots and caught two.

Depending on your personal preference, what might be more exciting is to talk about those big Yellowfin Tunas that I mentioned last week. They are here. While the numbers of fish in the schools are not as big as one might hope, with a little luck and a lot of concentration and patience you can get one or two. The way fishing for these bigger tunas works is you drag baits – beg enough ones to entice Blue Marlin close to the boat and smaller ones further back on the riggers. Way back. Spectra helps a bunch when your baits are so far back there.

You put the boat in 100 – 500 fathoms off the Bank and wait for the school to come up and crash baits. Sunday they were eating these little things we call “redfish”, Saturday they were eating flying squid. Whatever the bait of the day is, when the Tuna drive it to the surface and they are feeding you have to have your baits in the school quickly because they tend not to stay on the surface for long. These Tuna are big for Bermuda – all over 100 pounds. When you get a bite (we got a triple on Thursday) it is a case of hang on and hope for the best! These fish pull hard and fight for a long time. A really rewarding catch for the angler. Gets me all fired up just talking about it.

Our AON trip were the big winners this week catching two of the three big Tuna hooked (one was lost right at the boat – hard luck!). The fish were 120 pounds and 180 pounds. That is a lot of cassarole or sushi or tuna steaks.

Earlier in the week we caught a frisky Blue with Bruce Dilke. What he lacked in size, he compensated for by the jumps. Danny Forchic came fishing for a couple of days with two friends and they both got a Blue Marlin. Congratulations guys! Just as an aside, Danny might have missed his calling. He loves to fish and ski but check out his form with that tag stick…I think the javelin might have been his real calling.

Check out the footage below.

So, for the week a few Blue Marlin, two big Tunas a smattering of Wahoo and Skipjack Tunas. It is August…the seas are flat and full of life. Makes it fun to go out every day wondering what we are going to see today. As I dated this fishing report, I realized that September fast approaches. September is a very interesting month in Bermuda. It is a little cooler, the seas tend to stay flat but the water temperature changes just enough to make it the only month where you can catch every species Bermuda has to offer. Sittting here thinking about what is available in September I come up with the following list:

1. Blue Marlin
2. Wahoo on dead bait
3. the occasional Dolphin
4. Yellowfin Tuna
5. HUGE Tiger Sharks
6. Wahoo on live bait
7. Barracuda
8. Amberjack
9. Little Tunny
10. Skipjack Tuna
11. Blackfin Tuna…you get the idea.

I hate being ashore during September with all that stuff out there to catch. Call and book a trip!

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

All the photos from this week: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackandbluefishing/sets/72157622056702652/

The weed has retreated.

Go Laura! Nice Wahoo

The weed has gone back to wherever it came from, letting the fleet have a reasonable chance at trolling for Marlin again. The bite is pretty good and seems to be improving slowly. MAKO was able to convince seven of those Blues to eat this week. We released three of them.

Woody's Marlin

We had Guy Harvey and his son and daughter (and a film crew) on board for a couple of days this week. Guy wanted to catch a Tiger Shark and Blue Marlin. I have to say I was getting a little nervous on the Marlin front, but we were able to pull it out at the end and Master Harvey caught a 200 pound Blue. This release was a little unusual as it involved Guy and his daughter jumping in to film the fish! I am sure we will all get to see that footage when Guy’s project is completed.

If you think that is interesting, young Master Harvey also hooked, fought and landed an 800 pound Tiger Shark. Again, at the release, the Harveys were overboard filming. I know he is the expert, but the Marlin filming didn’t make me as nervous and the Tiger Shark filming did.

In other news, AON ran a trip on Thursday and we caught a couple of Wahoo. We went 1 for 3 yesterday and 1 for 2 on Friday.

The tuna are much harder to find this week. They took the Robins (speedos) with them wherever they went. It is a more typical August now…Marlin and Tiger Shark fishing are the main activities, at least until the guys find the next hot spot for chumming the Tuna. I thought things were going to get real interesting when there were a couple of sightings of bigger Tuna, part of the near-annual run of larger Yellowfin Tuna (over 100 pounds) that Bermuda enjoys. They are also hiding now. I sure hope they show up this year.

Until next Sunday…

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

We finally were able to fish Panama when the water conditions were right. It is always tricky when there are weeks between trips to keep track of fishing conditions. Schedules being what they are, you have to find a gap in the work schedules and hope for the best.

Well, we got lucky. Four of us flew down last Wednesday, took the 20 min taxi ride to the boat from the airport, hopped on the boat and ran 60 miles to San Jose Islands. We anchored up for the night there. The islands are essentially empty but provide a great way to break up the run (I think of it as South but it is really mainly East) to the fishing grounds.

We woke up early Thursday and ran another 20 miles to fish down towards Pinas Bay. The first day we went 9 for 12 on Sails and caught a few nice Dolphin. Day Two we worked the Zane Grey Reef for a while, trolling live baits for Marlin while catching Yellowfins and Amberjacks with poppers cast from the bow. Later on in the day we moved offshore for a bunch more Sails, big Dolphin and an estimated 250 pound Blue Marlin. We had a great dinner on De Mako and had a few cocktails as day turned to night and recounted all of the stories from the day.  Not a bad day at all!

Friday (Day 3) was “The One”. It made the trip! Like the previous day, we started off live baiting the reef in hopes of a big Black Marlin and we got her! Captain Mike Springer, who has caught his share of big fish, estimated her to be 700 pounds. On a 50 pound outfit. Stand up! I fought her for close to three hours and we got a great jumping release. I sure was glad to have a trained professional along (Kenny the dentist) to take care of all those teeth I had ground down to nothing during the fight.

We moved offshore, caught a Sail quickly and then caught an estimated 500 pound Blue to complete the De Mako’s first ever slam! I won’t go on and on about the Blue because I was not the angler.

Day Four consisted of a bunch more big Sails and Dolphin and finished with the heart breaking loss (because I was the angler) of a 200lb class Yellowfin after a three hour battle with under-matched spinning tackle (looks like I am going shopping!!).  Overall, an amazing trip!

I am really glad Black and Blue had a great trip in Panama to make all of us anxious to return next year. De Mako is making the trip up to Los Suenos shortly so that the boat is in place to fish the Marlin run off Flamingo in September / October.   By December (hopefully November) the action should be heating up off of Los Suenos. I know we are all anxious to make it back to Costa Rica this winter.

So anxious, in fact, that the days are being booked faster than I would have expected. If you are a member and have not picked your days for this winter, I would suggest that you take a look at the calendar and start picking. If you have been waiting to join, we have a few more months before we close out the “Founding Member” category (they get first cut at scheduling days), so you might want to get in touch and become a member before that ends.

- Jason Doyle

Sunday. The rest day after the Bermuda Big Game Classic. Dan Jacobs and his team pulled off another great one – thanks to all of you.

I am pretty sure that Bree won the tournament. We will know for sure tonight at the awards banquet.

MAKO had a tough tournament, releasing a Blue in three days of fishing. We missed two bites on the first day and one sneaky White Marlin attack on the third day. Things were quiet for us, but we could have done better. That is what suckers you into going out and doing it next year!

There is one more tournament in Bermuda next week…the Sea Horse Anglers Club. We are looking forward to that.

Finally, the wind has died down. The last day of the Classic was nice and it is really nice today. Let’s hope it holds.

Tuna fishing remains hot on the North side of both banks. I am not aware of anyone who tried tuna fishing on the North side of the Island, but that might pay off too. MAKO’s calendar for the rest of the summer is looking pretty good, so with the right weather we ought to be able to provide some pretty regular advice as to conditions.

Talk to you next Sunday.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

As I was getting the cameras, etc. ready for the Bermuda Billfish Blast and the World Cup, I happened upon these clips from last year.

From 2008 Blast

A day late and a dollar short….

I hope you enjoy watching them. The first fish on the video was caught a day late…after the World Cup.

I will let you know what we see during the tournaments.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

Good lord! This wind.

Last week was had a few good days weather-wise but tournament day was howling when we woke up. Sacha and her team of Nicole and Karen (of Sam and Omie’s fame) got on the boat with their hair streaming behind them and a grim, determined look on their faces. Oh, and a blender.

Well, the day went pretty well. We got shoken up on the way to the north side of Challenger Bank where much of the action has been lately with the tide running to the Southwest. Things started pretty quickly for us with a bite on the shotgun. Karen was quick to the rod, despite the rotation previously agreed with her teammates. The fish jumped and it was clear it was a Blue Marlin. The cooperative fish stayed on top and we were able to back down pretty quickly, despite the rough weather. Karen did a great job keeping up with the boats and before too long a very wet angler and mate had the fish to the leader. Pete did his usual great job and we got the pictures required in the tournaments. The fish was about 200 pounds and 500 points. MAKO was on the board!

We high-fived each other, got the spread back out and continued trolling. The long right rigger came down within 10 minutes with a fish that ran off enough line to make us wonder what kind of marlin we had. Sacha did a great job getting the girt 130 outfit into the chair all on her own and she made short work of the White after that first run. We had good luck, the fish stayed hooked and we didn’t make any mistakes. One White Marlin relaease for 700 points. MAKO in the lead!

Well, I would love to tell you kept up at that pace, but it did not. We had another bite or two that came unstuck and did not get an angler in the chair again.

About 2 pm the blender came out and the Beast Wackers started to flow. Boy, was that ice machine a good idea on the new boat. We ended the day in second place but we entered Level One and Level Two, while the high point boat chose not to do so. What a break and a nice way to start the July tournaments.

Sunday was quiet for us and the fleet. We did not catch anything the second day and ended up in Fourth Place, or so. The weather improved and the blender still worked so it was not a total loss.

Three comments worth making:
1) A huge congratulations to James on the Wound Up. He won the Blast and the World Cup with a nice big fish on Saturday. As James said, “Beware the Lobster Boat”!
2) If you are in the Outer Banks, swing by Sam and Omie’s for breakfast. If Karen is there, she can tell you all about her Blue Marlin. Get the Country Ham. It was great fishing with you, Karen.
3) The yellowfin Tuna fishing is as good as it has been in several years. With fish in the 50 to 60 pound class, it is really great fishing. Northern side of the Banks, plenty of bait and tuna around. Go give it a shot or come with us to catch some.

And girls, see you next year, I hope.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

Wind and plenty of it.

Look at all that breeze on the map above!  Not a normal June, that is for sure.  The weather kept us tied to the dock more than I would have liked this week.  But we did manage to get out a few days. 

Amy and Steve Fass toughed it out with us for two days.  The first day was quite rough, rainy and quiet.  They were rewarded the next day when the sun came out and the wind laid down for us.  Amy caught a Yellowfin around 60 pounds and Steve caught a nice Wahoo.  Both were taken on live Robins.  Steve got his on a mono leader – that does not happen very often.

We were two for three on Blues for the week.  On Friday we caught a small Blue on the shotgun rod and also had a nice fish – 450 pounds or so – come up on the teaser.  You have got to love those teaser bites!  Mate Peter pitched the fish a Blue Breakfast with two 11/0 hooks to her and she ate.  Everything stayed tight during the fight and we were able to release her as well. 

 Saturday and Sunday was the new release tournament in Bermuda.  We had a trip with Colin Barnes on Sunday.  It was slow for us and the fleet.  We released a White and I think the total catch for the fleet on Sunday was 1 Blue and 2 Whites.  Congratulations to Waste Knot with 3 Blue releases in the tournament.

With some days off, I was able to take care of a few little gremlins in the new boat – loose connections, unbalanced Ethernet networks (whatever that is) and a few bolts needed tightening.  I was also able to take some pictures of the inside of the new boat – we are STILL waiting for a nice day to take some running shots of her.

Each week we are taking the photos of that week and putting them on our Flickr site.  You can get to them by clicking on the photo gallery on this site.  We are trying to use only a few pics in the actual fishing report, there are a lot more in the gallery – go check them out.

Dan Jacobs and his team from Marlin magazine who organize the Bermuda tournaments are installed in the Hamilton Princess for the month of July.  The visiting boats are in and PW’s is starting to look like Pirate’s Cove Marina.  We have tournaments for each of the next three weeks and will keep you advised of how things go. 

The tide continues to run hard into the SW.  That is keeping fish on the North side of both banks.  I can’t wait to see what Bull on the Sea Toy does with this tide – will he give up his spot on the South East corner of Challenger Bank??????  We will see.

Wish us luck!  Talk to you next week.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

MAKO finished the crossing late this afternoon. For a new boat, things worked really, really well. A few bugs to work out, but that is expected. We are ready to GO!

The weather for the trip was much better than expected. We left North Carolina in calm conditions with the ocean like glass. We made good time that first day, despite all the fuel weight aboard. We averaged in the low 20 knot range all the way until dark.

View MAKO’s First Crossing in a larger map

We had a quiet night making about 10 knots until dawn. The new Garmin electronics sure performed well. More on that later — Garmin is a new brand to me and relatively new to the sportfishing market but I think they have a really good set of products and I want to do a report on just that in the coming weeks.

Around 6:00 am we sped her up with about 220 miles to go to Blue Cut (the most direct cut in the reef system). Things continued to run well, with an average speed again in the low 20s to conserve fuel. We pulled into the customs dock on Ordinance Island around 4:00.  Not too shabby!

To the crew at Briggs Boat Works, thanks for building such a great boat. We cannot wait to put her through her paces in Bermuda.

Joe, Brian, Peter…thanks.  It was a great trip.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

It is true!  Mako went overboard on May 15 thanks to all of the guys who really pitched in to get an awful lot of work done in a shiert period of time.  The crew at Sunny’s, James and the guys at Electronics Plus, Bobby and Wayne at Bluewater, Joe Moore and a lot of other people deserve a gigantic thank you.

Coming to the end of finishing a boat consists of trying to get a thousand details remembered and completed.  That is what we will be up to over the next week or two until we bring her over to Bermuda.  We are dying to go fishing!

Thanks to all the friends that have been calling to arrange their trips.  I can tell you that you will enjoy the new ride!

- Capt. Allen DeSilva