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.
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.
I was checking the footage on the hand held video camera and we got a great clip of Karen Sealock catching her Blue Marlin back in the Blast tournament. I also found the slow motion feature on the video processing software so you are all going to have to put up with my overuse of the feature until the novelty wears off.
I spoke about the weed situation last week. It is no better. It is making trolling very difficult. We have been spending most of our time on the Tuna instead. We have had some really great days. The medium size Tuna are being very cooperative this year. One day last week, in an attempt to combat the weed we put marlin lures on the downriggers to try and keep them below the worst of the weed. We got a little dolphin, but it didn’t work on Mr. Marlin that day.
The weather sure seems to have settled into normal August weather – hot and calm. These calm days are great for kids. We had a trip last week where a couple of kids kept themselves busy all day with the Ocean Robins (Speedos), tuna, barracuda and Mackerel (Little Tunny). It is a nice change to see someone get so excited about catching half a Speedo because she couldn’t reel faster than the barracuda could swim.
We will be out quite a bit this week with no holidays to interrupt us. Let’s hope I have lots of fish stories for Sunday.
It never fails. The tournaments over, Colin Barnes went out on the Indigo Blue and it took him 20 minutes to get a bite from a fish he figured would have made the minimum 500 pound weight had it been a day earlier. MAKO took Sunday off but we were out on Monday and had similar action. We went 1 for 4 for the day. That included a doubleheader of blues each over 500. They both came loose, but it sure was fun for a while.
I gave Mate Peter Lewis kudos a few weeks back for pitching a Blue on a big lure so it is only fair that I relate a story from this week that went the other way. We had a fish come up in the spread that was hot. It went after my bridge teaser very aggressively and I felt confident we would get a bite out of her. Peter had the pitch bait rod ready and dropped back to just before the second wave so that when the teaser disappeared and the fish turned, she would see the pitch. All went well except the fish did not seem at all sure about that pitch lure. In fact, after following the pitch for what seemed like a minute, she cut over and ate the short right lure – which was covered, covered, covered in weed. So much for that pitch attempt. At least we got a bite!
The weed is really, really bad on both banks. So bad that trolling is awfully difficult. Normally, the weed starts coming in in September and gets really bad by December. Who knows why this year is so much earlier – but we all wish it would go away. If you are trolling 5 or 6 lines, it feels like half of them are covered in weed at any one time. Later this week the Sea Toy and Challenger went down North of the island and found some relief from the weed. As I recall, they both got a fish up there; Challenger might have caught two.
While the weed is the bad news, the Yellowfin Tuna remain the good news. On the outside edge of Argus you can see them on the surface in pretty good numbers. A good class of fish too, 50 to 100 pounders. Live Robins fished deep seems to be the best way to get a bite. It sure is fun fishing and those Tuna can PULL!
Most of our firends on the visiting boats have made their trip home or will do so this week, we wish them all safe trips. It was great to have you here. It’s going to feel empty out there for a while.
I got an email from my friend and Black and Blue member Mike Sandusky that said the bite is on off Hatteras. They had great weather this week so I look forward to hearing all the stories out of the Outer Banks.
The pictures were kind of sparse this week. We will do better next week. Talk to you next Sunday.
So ends the tournament season in Bermuda. MAKO managed a 9th place finish. Not great, but not terrible. Congratulations to Bree, the big winner!
Our Sea Horse tournament was a challenge. The first day we went 0 for 4 on whites. The second day, “everyone’s favorite redneck”, Todd Holleman put on a one man show catching a White and then a Blue. We managed to catch a lot of the activity on the boat cameras. Look up by the time and date to see that Blue put on a show on top. The third day was quiet again, I think we missed two bites, on a white and one a suspected Blue. We had a big fish come up on the shotgun – at first, I thought the shadow was a Manta Ray – that is how big it was. As is so often the case, this big fish PILED on the shotgun with water splashing everywhere and a huge hole in the water and…..missed the darn lure completely. Ah well, next time.
Just before the tournament the tide (current) switched and is now running into the East. As the bait and fish adjust to this new tide it will take a little scouting to find out where they are living now. It will be interesting to see if the Tuna, which have been great this year, set up again in such good numbers. They tend to get scarce around mid-July, but every year is different.
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.
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.
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.
Welcome to the first fishing report of 2009 and the first fishing report from the bridge of the new MAKO.
I know this is a fishing report, but the process of bringing in a new boat, clearing it through customs, getting it inspected, getting it licenced, getting the tackle on, etc. involves a lot of non-fishing time. Anyway, that is my excuse for why it has taken so long to get this report out. It just so happens that the timing of this report coincides with news of MAKO’s first Blue Marlin release…pure coincidence, I assure you.
When I was helping to finish the boat in North Carolina in May, I kept hearing from people back home how dry a May Bermuda was having. At the time I remember thinking…uh oh…bad news for me in June. Well, I was right. It has been an unusually rainy and windy first half of June. If it keeps up, I am going to officially designate June 2009 as “El Mes de Culu Mojado”. That is Spanish for the month that I have been rained upon frequently.
The fishing overall has been pretty good. The yellowfin tuna found Bermuda again after a three or four year absence and they seem to be congregated around the NW of Argus. Interesting, because all the Shearwater (birds) are on the Northern side of Challenger. Everyone I have heard of that stopped and chummed there thinking that the birds do this for a living and must know what is going on, have not had much success. Anchoring over the past week has been generally difficult with the tide running into the wind. Drifting if the breeze is up is also challenging. When the conditions are right, the tuna are there.
Wahoo have started the slide to summer lizards. The last one we caught was about 20 pounds. Last week we had a couple of days where we able to catch a few. This is always the pattern, as summer comes on strong, the Wahoo get small. Still, nice pull and good to eat. Just don’t cut up those new Marlin lures, Mr. Wahoo.
Speaking of marlin, the Whites seem to be showing up. We have not caught any but have had some suspected bites. They are pretty sneaky sometimes and you are never sure what it was that took a swipe at that shotgun rod.
Up until the 18th we have had some hard luck on the Blues. They are being caught in increasing numbers, but all of our bites had come loose before we could catch them. On the 18th, we had pretty good luck with a bite on Louis Point around 9 in the morning. The fish was good sized – call her 400 – and she put on a show greyhounding the same direction as the boat after eating a Evil on the left rigger. Unfortunately, part of the show included the lure flying out of the fish and the water and tracing a 20 foot arc in the sky. A good memory, but no release.
That first fish was also unique in that it was the only fish Jeff Radke did not miss that day. For example, a little later, we had a marlin that was FIRED UP come up on the long left teaser. Pete did a perfect job teasing the fish in closer and the fish actually started after my bridge teaser for a while. When we got that out of the water the fish turned and did a perfect circle back to Radke’s pitch bait. With a pretty aggressive bite, I thought we were off to the races but no. The tension went out of the pitch rod and Radke had another San Cocho to brag about.
Luckily, the fish went after a Yap on the long rigger and ate. Brandon was in the chair watching Radke give the fish away and he was up to the task. The fish was foul hooked and Brandon and Pete did a great job getting the fish up and reviving her. When Pete turned her loose she had her color back and was swimming well. All of this was captured on MAKO’s new camera system. Check it out!
You might have to watch it a couple of times to see the fish up the side of the boat actually grab the squid chain teaser. Hopefully we will have lots of interesting footage by the end of the year.
Later on in the afternoon we had another fish come up on the teaser. Again, a great job by Pete. Again Jeff pitched and…..missed. At least this time he let the Marlin eat all of the bait but the head so I guess he is getting better. In the course of the day, we picked up a small tuna and a small wahoo. So we managed to catch and release the first Blue Marlin, feed ourselves with the Tuna and Wahoo and practice our pitch baiting. All in all a very successful day.
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