Wow it has been a pretty wild week down here in sunny Florida. The water temps are finely back to normal and we have some current. The cigar minnows and ballyhoo have been plentiful which sure makes for a super start to the day. We have had some Dolphin, as well as Wahoo this week out in about 200’ of water. It’s been mostly on the troll and pitch baits [live]. Also some small Black fin tunas have been showing up at first light, pretty easy to find, just have to find the big war birds.
The insides we are still having great luck with the Mackerels, all on minnows and Got_Cha lures. Again, I have to give great complements to Penn with their new line of Torque rods. Simply put “OUTSTANDING”.
The reef edge has been very productive with nice 3 to 5lb yellowtails, great time on 12lb test. Live shrimp and ballyhoo stripes seem to work best for us. The best thing is we are also catching a few more Groupers. Phew! Doesn’t seem to be many around though…bait of choice live grunts. The Cobias have really started to push down the reef edge too, again live grunts work wonders. The Sailfish have been spotty at best. I believe Tuesday there seemed to be a little bit of a bite but over all slow for now. We should start to see some African Pompano any day now and I can’t wait! They are super fun on light tackle and they range from 15 to 40lbs.
Well, stay tuned we have a super busy week coming up with lots of Ocean and Backcountry trips!!
Pictured to Right - Nice Florida Keys Grouper and a Cobia!
Bahamas Fishing - Abacos Fishing Report
After nine days of strong winds in the Abacos the weather began to change on Saturday allowing fishing to be possible again out front. Being that we had no charters and Joe being gone I teamed up with some friends in from Long Island to go out fishing with on Saturday and Sunday. Being that there were many thing that the home owners in Treasure had to accomplish we did not put in many strong hours of fishing. Furthermore to add to the lack of fishing time was “Barefoot Man” performing at Nippers on Guana Cay. For Fri through Sunday the Bars on Guana Cay were mob people from all over the country flocked in to see this island inspired band performing live at Nippers. Grabbers had a great band performing who I saw on Sunday from Cocoa Beach, FL. Saturday we went out for 3 ½ hours on a 56 foot Hatteras. There was still a chop out there, that is why we went out on the “big boat”. Unfortunately we were off to a bit of a late start but we managed to go 1 for 2 on Mahi. Nearing the end of the day we had a small bill fish show up. Unfortunately it slapped on long bait with wire and was quickly scared off. Sunday we decided to give it 2 hours of fishing on the 31' Contender “small boat” before going to Guana for Sunday "Funday". Unfortunately the weather went from choppy to nice over night the water was gin clear and no movement on the water. We did see a lot of life, a huge whale. Working the edge and small weed line in the area we decided to call it a short day. Talked with other boats in the area and they were able to pick up Mahi throughout the day but all inconsistent. Monday my friends went out for a couple hours again pulling a couple small grouper and snappers’ deep dropping and again with gin clear water decided to go picnicking at Man Jack Cay. I met with them to go picnicking after attempting to bait fish with no current and ending in frustration.
Tuesday Low Profile went out again and were at the mercy of peoples' schedules and missed the tide but went out there for 2 hours determined to make the most of it. Worked at a large school of skippies with some larger breaks in there appearing to be 20 to 30 pound yellow fin. I changed the baits in the spread trying to hopefully get a yellow fin but would have settled for a black fin or a skip jack only to spend 45 minutes getting nowhere. Often times when we have trouble hooking in to surface action we put small squid skits out there with a ½ oz sinker and a # 6 mustad J hook on 40 or 50 pound fluoro stretched WFB. I had 5 of them stretched WFB trying all the tricks I knew...no loving for Thomas on his first day as Captain of LP without Joe (on vacation). Knowing that our time was limited we decided to deep drop. Deep dropping was difficult due to the lack of current too but when I got on spots was able to grab 5 large button snapper.
Wednesday went out fishing out of Man O War cut for 3 hours. The Pelagic did not want to bite for me today, we tried hard to get them up. Right before giving in we had a break out of the corner of my eye swinging in there the flyers started busting the surface. Doubling back and doubling back we finally had a hit, a 20# Wahoo aired out on the cedar plug chain and unfortunately did not come tight. Wanting to put together some dinner went deep dropping before having to return to shore. First drop was a bust, Second drop was off to a similar start when I saw a huge hit on the rod. In 300 feet of water and a hit that large I knew it was a grouper. That was quickly confirmed when a 30 pound Red grouper came up. Did a couple more drops getting a handful of deep water snapper. Low Profile is looking forward to some busy weeks to come and a better moon phase. The past five days the weather has been superb and hopefully it continues.
Captain Thomas Neligion
Low Profile
What a week here in the Bahamas. We had unseasonably warm weather and May southeasterly winds this week. It is extremely unusual this time of year to get these SE winds for such a sustained period of time and we have now had them for over 6 days. It almost feels like blue marlin weather, however with water still in the 74 degree range we know it is still about a month away.
This week we have seen some nice wahoo hit the dock as well as some nicer yellowfin here in the Abacos. The best action this week was off of Nunjack Channel with some fish hitting the 60 lb mark. Once again the falling high tide is the key. However with this southeasterly flow the fishing has started to taper off towrds the end of the week as it seems we need a change. We are expecting our next cold front at the beginning of the week and that should get the pelagics stirring again. Sometimes its just too calm with no wind here.
This week we came across some more excellent yellowtail spots fishing inside of Guana near the spoil island. There is a beautiful ledge there that comes from 28 feet to 12 feet with great rocky bottom. We hit this spot twice this we easily catching out yellowtail limit in an hours time. Some nice ones were in there , as they were all 2 to 3 lbs. While anchoring on the ledge we are putting out some live baits on the riggers and getting some nice size cero mackerals also. After about an hour it seems the sharks show up and we can tangle with some good size tigers for a while.
All in all fishing was great at the beginning of the week but started to tale off towards the end. It seems we need a wind change as we have now had a Southeasterly flow for over a week. We are getting that change on Monday night and expect good results. When the wind is calm deep dropping and yellowtailing can be at its best. We continue to see some slob red groupers on the ledges in the 200 to 350 foot range .We are back at it every day this week … so until next week tight lines!!!
Captain Joe Trainor
Low Profile
Product Spotlight - New MINI PLB by REVERE
Revere has announced the smallest PLB ever! They have launched, in conjunction with McMurdo, the new Fast Find PLB at the Miami Boat Show! The new Fast Find PLB has many great features to it such as price point, size, looks. It will be the lightest and smallest true PLB on the market which will most definitely put us ahead of the competition and be the leader! ** Pending FCC Approval**
The new PLB has the following features:
1. 5 year battery life
2. SOS Strobe
3. Small and lightweight
4. Easy activation
5. 50 Channel integral GPS
Delivery of the new units is expected in mid-March. Revere is still awaiting the final FCC approval so thus we cannot yet discuss price but we can expect this approval shortly. Our understanding is that it will be a significant discount to their current PLB with GPS ($599.99).
In light of recent tragedies on the water and the heightened awareness to offshore safety issues, this product is worth mentioning. We would strongly advise an EPIRB with GPS as your primary safety device, and for those who desire even more security, a PLB Device attached to each Life Vest, is a great back-up. We do not feel that PLB's are a substitute for EPIRBs!
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