May 15th WoundUp Bermuda Fishing Report

[Otoro]

May 15th Fishing Report – “A Great Week in Bermuda...”

Another Blue Marlin for the “Indigo Blue” ...Wahoo Records fall... We continue to pick away at the Tuna and the Bonita (Almaco Jack) and Amberjack are filling in the gaps...

The breeze came last weekend and as usual this time of year, the Wahoo kicked into high gear. Those who braved the weekend and early week weather were rewarded with Wahoo catches that approached and surpassed double figures on most days. That is common this time of year. What’s not so common is 2 of the first 3 Blue Marlin being caught by the same boat, and a weekend warrior at that, and neither fish was a fluke as both the ‘Indigo Blue’s’ inaugural Blue Marlin on March 25th and their 450lb fish on Sunday, May 6th were targeted with Marlin gear and fell for the same $3 eBay lure, which helps the old theory that if you drag it in front of them and they’re hungry then there going to eat it! Big congrats to Capt. Colin, Jimbo and the rest of the ‘Indigo Blue’ crew. Wahoo’s as predicted in last weeks report are the big story of the week, I didn’t realize how big of a story... Capt. Cragin and his mate Nick went commercial fishing on Wednesday expecting a decent haul... 43 WAHOO... a shot at a Blue Marlin and a NEW Bermuda Record had been set for most Wahoo in a day! What a catch! Many of you have been with us and seen the work involved in putting up #’s in the mid and upper 20’s, even into the 30’s. Can you imagine 1 Captain, 1 Mate and only 1 Angler? A phenominal achievement! A very deserved congrats to Capt.Curly, New Nick and Smiley the crew of the ‘Reel Addiction’.


By the end of the week the wind had laid down to a flat calm and the Wahoo bite fizzled. Time to target the Tunas again... so Friday’s trip with Jonathan, Alicia and their son Charlie was enlivened by the presence of the infamous Dr. Neil Burnie (of Shark Cage, Trans Atlantic Powerboat Record and Alaskan Glacial Heli Snow Boarding Fame) so after catching a few decent Tunas and deep jigging a few Amber and Almaco Jacks (Bonita’s) the Wahoo settled into the chum and as they so often do on a calm and clear day, they feasted on everything we threw at them that did not have a hook in it. Many of us Bermudian’s take great pride in our ability to catch Wahoo and have quite an arsenal of tactics to out smart these keen eyed predators so after only a few unsuccessful attempts by Jim and I, Neil looses his patience and enters the picture, actually he enters the water in a blue camouflage wet suit armed with a 13ft pole spear. Positioned right off the ‘Wound Up’s’ transom, the mad scientist lays waiting, facing aft, 2 perfectly positioned chunks of marlin meat by my mate Jim and it’s LIGHT’s OUT for a 24 lb Wahoo! The First Wahoo in Bermuda to ever die at the end of a pole spear, ”Another Bermuda Wahoo Record”, Dr. Neil declared, and one that would not last long, a few pictures, a slight adjustment in team strategy and back in the water he goes again. Within 30 seconds here comes a slightly better fish, a little teasing by Jim and a few more perfectly placed chucks and you got it, LIGHTS OUT AGAIN !!!! Both the 24lb'er and this 43lb 12 oz Wahoo never flinched, Stone Dead! One time, by two perfectly placed spinal shots that had a paralyzing effect on the first 2 Wahoo speared in local waters. Not wanting to miss out, Alica capitalized on the 3rd Wahoo of the morning, a 37lb fish that took off on a typical Wahoo sprint before being subdued with the assistance of a 30 lb outfit loaded with spectra. What a morning! One none of our team will forget anytime soon... I was curious how many more tuna’s we might have caught if the adrenaline junkie and his 13 ft spear weren’t terrorizing our chum slick... Thanks Neil! Never a dull moment!!!


After declaring he’s never going fishing without a spear again, Jim shows up on Saturday morning empty handed and it’s flat calm, "let’s go tuna fishing..." and a great crew we had for it... Dennis, Velcro, Velcro’s Dad, F.K. and F.K.’s Sister, always a great day with this crowd. After catching a tuna on the first line in the water, the tuna bite died and was replaced by a wide open Amber and Bonita bite. Eventually our patience paid off and the tuna’s kicked into gear and we abandoned our efforts on the smaller game. A great afternoon was capped off with a fine 80 lb Yellowfin taken by Dennis, a personal best, that put us at 10 Tunas to finish off an already stellar day. We ended the week with the Island Glass crew on Sunday. Another fun day down on the banks with a couple of Tuna, Larry’s Blue Shark, Larry’s Bird, both successful releases..(must have been the t shirt) and 56 Ambers and Bonita’s…the electric reel, the spinners and bait casting outfits all got in on the action as the rain approached, up came the anchor. I brought out a couple of marlin lures and Jim brought out the downrigger rods... guess he wanted me to hug the edge. Not wanting to mess with team karma (or piss off my mate), I stayed a lot tighter to the bank than I had originally intended and it didn’t take long... a double of Wahoo, a san cocho, followed by a 45 lb fish. Thanks Jim!!


A great way to top off another killer week of fishing in Bermuda, surrounded by Good Friends, Great Music, Cold Drinks and a Great Mate!! The catching part, that’s the bonus and one we strive to achieve each and every trip...

Cheers,
James

* The marlin pictures above are the March 25th trip, the fish had an unfortunate encounter with the boats propellers.
** Apologies if you tried to email me on info@woundupbermuda.com, this email is not in use.

[lilharcher]

Awesome report and pics.....Bermuda is on my to-do list.....can't wait to get out there!

[islandshark633]

its always sad to see wahoo just slaughtered like that.. you think that is some kind of achievement?

the so called commercial boys do that here in Nassau a couple of times a year and think they are some kind of big shit for doing it. You mention the wahoo bite fizzled.....wonder why?

[Wound Up]

Alan.. There are more wahoo's there than you could possibly imagine...The bite dying out had nothing to do with the amount of fish there...We're in the water with them and loose count !! Pretty hard for a lure maker to be knocking the commercial fisherman...who also happen to be charter fisherman that work their asses off to make a living and pay over $6 a gallon for diesel...in a place where the average house is $1.8 mil.....

[Aleta]

Thanks for the report. It is great to get reports from another place in the world.

Regarding the 43 wahoo commercial take, if the boat is within applicable commercial catch regulations, it is their lawful choice. But Bloodydecks typically does not get a lot of commercial reports - the vast majority of BD users are recreational and the reports pertain to recreational catches. As the purpose, methods and end result for commercial catch can be far different from recreational fishing dont be surprised if the responses for commercial catch reports are different.

[Wound Up]

Clarke, The only difference from our commercial fishery and our charter fishery is the departure time and the lack of sponsorship......we fish exactly the same way... they're all rod and reel caught fish using downriggers,out and center riggers..a combo of rigged natural baits and artificials...come check it out..bring lilharcher...the fishing's on me.....
and belive me...the wahoos we bring ashore aren't even the tip of the iceberg..

[islandshark633]

so having a charter licence entitles an individual to catch an unlimited number of fish?

here in the Bahamas a charter fisherman's limit is 6 pelagics excluding tunas which come under ICAAT. Commercial fishing int he Bahamas does not include taking paying passengers out.

Yes, I do understand you are not in the Bahamas....I am just curious for a comparisson. I still think 43 wahoo is grossly excessive.

[Mega Byte]

Have another Dark and Stormy for me.
Cheers

[Wound Up]

Alan.....

[Wound Up]

Alan.. Belive it or not...if there is such a thing, i am a charter boat capt. , commercial fisherman and conservationalist.....in the world we live in and especially the island i live on (i used to live on your island too), one must do whatever it takes to survive.. (w/out compromising ones beliefs/morals ..)..i do not want to get into a pissing match, but must stand up for what i believe in and what is right...we are not the problem..we're trying our asses off to be part of the solution..please feel free to call (441) 737 9985 or email/pm.....all the best ....james....

[lilharcher]

[QUOTE=Aleta;678458]
Regarding the 43 wahoo commercial take, if the boat is within applicable commercial catch regulations, it is their lawful choice. [QUOTE]

Alan, I respect much of what you contribute to the board (and you make some killer lures) but I can't see your point in this case. Like Clarke mentioned, James has a permit to commercial fish and was within his legal limit. Do you actually think they caught all the local stock and shut down the bite......remember, they were just trolling around, using conventional methods (no different than a charter I imagine)? Does that mean we should all be pissed off (and boaycot) at all the restaurants that serve Ono, Dorado, Tuna, etc.......because without these establishments, there would be no market for it, hence there would be no insentive (especially at Bermuda gas prices) for James to catch it!

BTW, if you think that James's hual had anything to do with the bite shutting off, you are mistaken! If they were able to conventional catch 43 wahoo in an area, there must have been hundreds, hell, even thousnads of them around. Do you SCUBA or freedive? I do, and can say that I have found many places at the islands that have large schools of resident fish. No matter which day I dive, I always see the same school of fish. Coincidently, I also try to catch some of those resident fish and somedays, I am able to catch all I want (C&R) and on others (although they are still down there), they refuse to bite anything I offer.There are literally hundreds of factors that affect a fish's eating habits! Now factor in that Ono are Pelagics......those fish could have moved 50 - 100 miles over night, only to come back a day or two later.

For the record, someone with his own board here on BD just went out on a commercial trip of his own and I didn't see this type of reaction on his post.........

[islandshark633]

Call me what you will but seeing a boat full of wahoo next to a picture of a dead marlin just ticked me right over the edge. Yes, they may well be within the legal limits with 43 wahoo in one day ( tho I have not had a response yet to my question of what the limit is there ) but that does not mean I have to like it. I dont like PLL's either wether they are fishing legally or not.

I have witnessed charter boats in Nassau quite literally catch all the wahoo in the area in one day, about 2 years ago they massed here and by the radio chatter we estimated 150-200 wahoo were killed that day, nobody caught any for some time after that.

The lament of the commercial fisherman " oh, there's thousands of them, we'll never dent the poulation" has to be the all time lamest and most ignorant and inaccurate excuse for killing excessive quantities of fish ( or anything else ) for that matter. We humans are capable of catching all the herring in the North seas, all the cod on the Grand Banks, all the plains buffalo yada yada yada this is too long a list to even attempt completeion.

We are all a part of ensuring the long term sustainability of the pelagics we all love to catch, you, me, James - all of us, and I just feel that was a good example of what should not be happening, legal or otherwise. If my point of view ignites some debate - great!

Finally as a lure maker I do not therefore support commercial fishing, I would not knowingly sell my lures to anybody I thought was going to use them to do it. Or kill the marlin they catch for that matter.

I welcome opposing points of view and definately do not want a pissing match either! Peace.