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Captain Allen's Weekly Fishing Report Archives |
April 2000
| April 2nd - Well, half of March is gone already and, as usual, the Humpback Whales are here and the fishing has slowed down. Still mainly catching Wahoo & Yellowfin Tuna but, all in all, the catches are down. The weather is improving everyday with warmer temperatures, plus many more fishing days. Most of the charter fleet has passed inspection by Marine & Ports and are ready to start off the new season, so hopefully the fish will start to cooperate. With April just around the corner, look for an increase in the number of Yellowfin Tuna being caught by chumming. The size will be small (15-40lbs) but great fun on light standup tackle & spinning gear. |
| April 9th - Well, April is here and all of us are ready to start the season. Fishing was good this week with the first Blue Marlin of the year hooked by Ian Flecther while fishing on the Reel Action. Unfortunately, the fish was lost after a 2hr. battle. Ian estimated the weight about 500lbs. Tough luck guys!! On a higher note, Mr. Carey tagged & released the first White Marlin for the Mako this season. Congratulations Richard!! Mr. Carey, who is always lucky, fished two days this week with us and saw good action both days with the Wahoo & Yellowfin Tuna. His biggest Wahoo weighed in at 56lbs. The catch of the week goes to Ricky Lines & crew for their great catch on Saturday, a total of 9 Wahoo & 3 Yellowfin with Peter`s 57lb Wahoo taking top honours. The Seawolf, Challenger & Playmate have all reported good catches this week, so dust off your fishing bag and let`s go fishing!! |
| April 16th - TUNAS IN THE CHUM!!! Yes, summer must be here as the Yellowfin have made a showing in the chum. Best catch of the week definitively goes to the "Dos Diablos" fishing team with 24 Yellowfin Tuna, ranging from 15 to 65lbs. The most entertaining trip was on Tuesday, when we had 7 Humpback Whales circle the boat for about 30 minutes... what a sight!! The "Something Hot" had a few good days with the Yellowfin also and managed to catch one weighing in at 112lbs. That's a big Yellowfin for this time of year, so things are looking GOOD!!! So, if you like chumming for Tuna, best pick up the phone and book a trip or two on your favorite boat soon. The "Sea Wolf" has not forgotten the Wahoo, with Capt. Russell having a few good picks, this week, at them!! All in all, things are looking up. Now, all we need is for the Marlin to show up and we will be in full swing. |
| April 23rd - With Good Friday kite flying (a Bermuda tradition, when everyone flies home-made kites and it is said to be bad luck to fish on this day), plus Easter Sunday, plus with Monday & Tuesday being blowout days, it made for a short week. Despite that, fishing was good. The Yellowfin Tuna & the Wahoo kept the fleet busy, with the Mako & the Seawolf both reporting double digit Wahoo catches. Andrew Mashall, while fishing alone on Saturday on his boat the "Bay Root" caught the first Blue Marlin for the season. He estimated the fish at 250lbs. We on the Mako also had a great day on Saturday with the Fox family catching 11 Wahoo & 2 Tuna, the largest Wahoo weighing in at 60lbs!! Well, I am going away on Tuesday to check out the progress on the new Mako being built in North Carolina (you can check out the progress on my web site) so I`ll miss most of next weeks fishing, but my mate David will keep me up to date. |
May 2000
| May 7th - Things are still HOT on the Bermuda fishing scene!! There has already been a 100lbs+ Wahoo caught, and so many 70, 80, & 90 pounders caught that I have lost count. The Wahoo are biting very well at both ends of the Island (5-20 fish per day), making it easy for both the east & west end fleet of boats to have a good days fishing very close to home. Not to be left out, the Yellowfin Tuna are making a showing in increasing numbers, plus some good size fish (70-120lbs) mixed in with the usual schoolies. To date, this is one of the best starts of the fishing season I have seen. If this is any indication of things to come, WATCH OUT!! You'll not want to miss out on this season!! We'll be talking about this one for quite some time. On the Billfish scene, no change, just a few Whites around. But stay tuned... here comes JUNE!! |
| May 14th - What can I tell you.... the fishing here is as good as it gets! The Wahoo are still biting very well and to make it even more interesting, the Yellowfin have shown up in numbers & size. Not just the odd big Yellowfin, I am talking about most fish in the 40-60lbs range, with a few over 100lbs., ie., my Sunday`s catch of 3 Wahoo & 10 Yellowfin = total weight of 643lbs of fish (caught on 30lb stand up tackle!!). The best Tuna was 84lbs; best Wahoo 72lbs. - both good catches by anyone's standards. Even the Blue Marlin have picked up, with 3 being caught this week. Congratulations to the "Sea Wolfe" for releasing the first Blue of the Season (250lbs approx.)!! And, not to forget the weather, well believe it or not, it`s been great too!! Don't you just love Bermuda! |
| May 21st - Fishing a bit slower than last week, due mainly to the turn in the weather. Yes, I put my mouth on it! I was telling you about our great Bermuda weather on Sunday's report and here comes the bad weather on Tuesday. The good news is the winds died down Friday night and the fishing was good for the weekend. Still mainly Wahoo on the troll with some good size Yellowfin biting in the chum. The Marlin scene is still quiet - just a few Whites around. With the coming week being on the back side of the moon, look for an interesting report next week. |
| May 28th - This has been a good week of fishing. Most boats have been focusing on the Wahoo with the "SeaWolf" & " Something Hot" coming in with some good catches. We on the "Mako" have had a great week with the Yellowfin Tuna in the chum. Starting off the week with Mr. Fuller's trip, on Monday, a catch of 3 wahoo & 13 Yellowfin. Most Tuna in the 50lbs - 80lbs range, with a few small ones which we released for brother John!! With the exception of Tuesday, our only slow day, the rest of the week was the same (just great Tuna fishing!). Congratulation to Jenna for her fine catch on Saturday of 4 Yellowfin on 30lbs test standup tackle, ranging from 50lbs+ up to a 74 pounder (GREAT JOB!!). And, let's not forget the "Chisholm gang" who, on Friday, managed a 16 Tuna catch in just 2 1/2 hours of chumming (these guys are FAST!!). Sorry to report that the Billfish scene is very slow, just a few Whites around. But don`t PANIC.. June is almost here and so are the Billfish! |
June 2000
| June 4th - Boy, what a week... talk about pulling teeth! Yes, the fishing was very slow. Not much of anything happening most of the week. The offshore current (called the tide, by all local fishermen) changed direction on Monday and with it, the fish went!! The good news is some fish started to show up on the opposite side of the banks on the weekend. It is normal for the tide (Current) to change directions and the fish to change sides of the bank, but usually this happens quick and we only get one or two slow days, not a week! Anyway, the fish are on the northern side of the banks now and fishing should get back to normal next week. The weekend did bring an improvement to the Billfishing. On the "Mako," angler Jeff Callahan released a 400lb Blue on Saturday, and Sunday saw the "Something Hot" release a 200lb Blue, plus a small White. There were also a few other Whites released and a few Blues lost. The greatest loss took place on the "Sea Wolfe." Capt. Russell battled a Big Blue (700lb+) for a few hours. The fish went down deep and at one point even got caught in the bottom. After dragging the fish off the edge into the super deep water (6000ft+) it looked as if all was going great, then all of a sudden with most of the line back on the reel, the line broke! What a hard ending to a great effort. TOUGH LUCK RUSSELL!! People often ask why most Bermuda Captains fish with 130lb test tackle for Blue Marlin. Believe me, with all the very big Marlin & very deep water around our banks, when a big fish goes down it is only line that will get the fish up. It is usually a long battle planing the fish up, but it works. |
| June 11th - Well, we had a great day of Tuna fishing on Monday. Left the dock @ 8.30am, returned @ 2.30pm with 11 nice-sized Yellowfin. We all thought the Tuna were back in full force... wrong!! The rest of the week was much like last week with just spotty Tuna & Wahoo action for everyone. The Billfish scene is also about the same with a few Blues & Whites being seen. Congratulations to Mr. Clifford Haley for his fine 300lb Blue Marlin released on the Mako 4, on Sunday. A good way to end the week. The weather has been good, with light winds & sunshine. We just need the fish to come back! Next week is the week of the full moon and you will see an improvement in the Marlin action, so stay tuned as I`m sure I'll have a story or two to tell. |
| June 18th - All in all not a lot of change. We did manage a few good Yellowfin Tuna days on the Mako, but for the most part the fishing is still slower than normal. The good new is the weather is great!! Light winds and lots of sunshine! Plus, the Marlin fishing has picked up with this full moon. White & Blue Marlin are being hooked, released or lost everyday by all the fleet. Saturday was the first time that we Marlin-fished exclusively all day, with the end results 1 Blue Marlin released (125lbs) two Blue lost (150lb & 300lbs) & 1 lost White. The Seawolfe, Challenger & Something Hot all seeing Marlin action this week. With the moon falling back and the continued hot weather, we should see some real good Marlin fishing next week and hopefully someone will get attacked by a sea beast!! |
| June 25th - This was the week of the Marlins - Blues & Whites everywhere! On the Mako, we Marlin-fished Monday thru to Friday and released a Blue everyday and a few Whites. We Tuna-fished the weekend for little results. The rest of the fleet reported about the same with the Wahoo & Tuna fishing being slow and the Marlin fishing being the only way to go. The Seawolf Marlin-fished on the weekend with 2 for 2 on Blues on Saturday & 1 for 4 on Blues on Sunday. The new Chaos released her first Blue (250lbs) and had a bite from a 700 pounder on their first trip offshore - great work Brooks! The Big Blue made it`s first Marlin trip on Sunday, releasing a 150lbs. Blue and spending more than 3 hours on a Blue over 700lbs. As you may recall in an earlier report, I mentioned about the need for 130lb test tackle in Bermuda`s super deep waters. Well, thats what happened. The fish was on 80lb test line and it went down deep and died, and you can`t lift a 700lbs+ fish out of deep water with only 80lb line. Here is how it works... a dead fish is going to weigh about 10% of its weight in water, ie. 700lbs fish weighs 70lbs in water. It is going to take at least 70 POUNDS OF DRAG to plane this fish up! You can`t put that much drag on 80lb line without it breaking. It`s that simple! The other advantage to fishing 130lb test for Blue Marlins is in most cases you can get the fish to the boat quicker and release it before it dies!! Well, all in all, it was a great Marlin week with as many as 4 shots at Blues per boat, per day, and even a few double hookups here and there. Hopefully, I will be able to report some improvement in the Tuna fishing next week. |
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