Weekly Fishing Report

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The Wahoo fishing remains your best bet, with the best of it taking place right on the edge.  Yes, the Wahoos are starting to bite up north and all the way through to the south shore. This is normal for the spring run, but the size of the Wahoos are not spring lizards! We caught a double header on Tuesday, both over 60lbs, plus a few in the 40’s.  We finished up with 9 Wahoos for the day, all caught on Sally Tuckers.

We finished up the week with the Collier’s doing a ¾ day trip with us.  It was the boy’s first fishing trip offshore, and they did well. Both Jack jr. and Ford catching their first ever Wahoos and, to top it off, they got to see a Humpback Whale jump out of water a few times!

The water temperature is still at 68!  So, it may be awhile before we see the first Blue caught!

All the bait and action has moved to the northern side on both banks, with the best of it on Challenger.  Chumming is your best bet, although we have had some success with the slow trolling.

As you can see from this report, the Wahoos have slowed down, but standby - the spring run is about to get started very soon.  It is still a good idea to troll a bit before chumming, as it will all change overnight!

This was definitely a Wahoo week, although a few Yellowfin were caught on Challenger bank, but most of the good action was taking place up on the Edge, with the Wahoos.  As I predicted last week, the spring run has started.  Although still spotty, with some days only producing a few fish and the next day you can fish in the same spot and catch a dozen!  Most of the spring fish are small, however, we are still seeing some nice fish... 50-80lbs.  Remember: this is the time of year when someone usually gets lucky and catches one over 100lbs. Between the big Wahoo strikes and the first Blue Marlin bite coming, you best make sure your reels are full of new line.

“De MAKO's” best catch of the week goes to the ICFIGIN gang, with 13 Wahoos - the largest at 68lbs. Great day guys, see you next year!

May 10th - It is starting to heat up offshore!

There is a good Wahoo bite (8-12 fish) on the SE side of Challenger & Argus banks, with some nice ones mixed in (60-80lbs.) There are also some signs of Tuna activity on the inside edge on Challenger, with more and more bait showing up everyday.

For you avid Tuna chummers, the place for you is over the north side of Argus.  You will find some pretty decent Yellowfin Tuna fishing there, fish averaging 30lbs. with a good number of them in the 50lb range.  The last few days have been great for chumming with a light tide and light winds and plenty of sunshine... yep, summer is here!

Only problem, the water temperature is still cold - it just made 70° today.  This may lead to a late start for the Marlins.

May 16th - One day it’s Wahoos, the next it’s Tunas!

The fishing is still good offshore, but changing everyday. One day, the bite is good on Challenger, the next, Argus is the hot spot. One day, we do good with the Wahoos, the next, it’s time to break out the chum and fish for Tunas. You have to leave the dock with an open mind and be ready for anything.  The tides and winds have been very light, making it easy for all kinds of fishing, so try some new tricks.

The honour of the first Blue, for the season, is still open.  Capt. Peter, on the “Overproof,” and Capt. Keith, on the” Playmate,’ both had shots this week, but both Blues managed to escape. The first Blue will be caught before my next report, for sure!

Catch of the week once again goes to Coxy & Hamish’s trip, on Friday (Black Jack day), with 21 Wahoos - largest @ 68lbs.  Lots of action!

May 24th - Just another good week in May!

The good weather and the good fishing continued into this week.  We fished everyday, down on the northern side of Argus, starting out on the edge, trolling our way through Challenger and finally ending up on Argus. The ride out would produce a few Wahoo, anywhere from 1 to 10, depending on the day.  But the big story was the chumming on Argus. Although the bite was a late one, starting about 2.00pm., it was worth the wait. Both the “Playmate” and “De Mako” did the late bite thing and, in turn, we both ended up with some long days, but some good Tuna fishing! Strangely enough, no one saw or caught any Marlins.  Very strange for this time of year to be able to troll so many miles everyday and not get attacked!   Don’t worry - they may be late, but they’re coming!

This week’s #1 catch on “De Mako” goes to the “Head Bangers” on Sunday, with 11 Wahoos, 11 Tunas and many Rainbow Runners!  A great day with great people!

May 31st - Slow fishing & rough weather - that about sums it up for this week!  No real big catches this week, just a few Yellowfins here and a few Wahoos there. Catches averaging 3-5 Wahoos, with 3-5 Tunas and maybe a few Bonitas & Rainbows mixed in.

The only good spot for fishing was on the eastern side of Argus - not a place to be in this week’s weather in a small boat and, for that reason, “De Mako” fished most days, solo!

Can you believe it?  Still, no Marlins! It has been many years since a Blue has not been caught by the end of May and, with a few of the early U.S. boats coming soon, we may see the first Blue for the season caught by a foreign boat - that will be a first!

We on “De Mako” started off the Marlin season with a major battle.  With angler “Skipper Larch” & side kick “ Keen Andy” on board, on June 1.  After a great day of Wahoo fishing, boating 9 Wahoos and releasing 1 small one, we were attacked by a large Blue, in the 600lb range, on our 50lbs class Wahoo outfit.

Right at the bite, I knew we were not dealing with a Wahoo, and I immediately turned the boat to start the chase. We should have been in good shape, as James & I are always prepared for Blue Marlin attacks, when we are Wahoo fishing, i.e. Spectra backing & long leaders.  But, it was not meant to be!  The fish had jumped over the leader and got all tangled up in it.  With no leader to grab, there was no way to release the fish.  We had the fish within 10 feet of the boat, three times in an hour, plus battle, but it was no use and we eventually broke the line.  (see photo of high vis line going direct to the fish, no leader in sight!)

Saturday, June 5, would be the day the first Blue, for the season, would be released by “Thee Mighty Treasure Isle.”  Many congratulations to Angler “Skittles,” "Capt. Heads” 1^st mate “Spike" & leader man “Dillon” for their 400lb release!

Guess what...  even the Yellowfins have shown up in force on Challenger Banks! Forget the catch of the week - the catch of the year goes to Andrew Cook’s team, on Sunday, with 18 Yellowfins, 2 Blackfins and some Bonita’s.  What makes this catch so special is the size of the fish.  We had 10 Yellowfins over 50lbs., giving us a total weight of just under 900 POUNDS.... that is a lot of fish for 4 guys to wind in!

Bad weather hampered the latter part of the week, but we did manage a good catch of 8 Tunas & 37 Bonito, on Friday, with the very lucky William catching three of the four largest Tunas (45-52lbs.).

The bad new is the Marlins seem to have disappeared again, with not a one seen this week.  Hey, it is the middle of June, time for those Blues to start playing!

This week marks the beginning on the International Light Tackle Tournament, so we will see a lot of focus on the Tunas, but not much towards Mr. Blue.  We may have to wait another week before any good Marlin stories.

The Blues are still few and far between, but we did raise a good one on Thursday, approximately 500lbs +, but she would not eat.  The only success story this week, with the Blues, was the 650lbs release on Capt. Craigin’s new charter boat, the “Reel Addiction”. 

The best catch of the week was on Wednesday, with the twin Tallaban's aboard, Hamish & Herbert, managing a haul of 15 Yellowfins and an assortment of Blackfins, Bonitos, Rainbows and a Wahoo!  A great day was had by all, including my relief captain, “Heads.”

Many thanks to Allan & James for putting them on the fish.