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Captain Allen's Weekly Fishing Report Archives |
July 2000
| July 2nd - Blue Marlin are still #1 on the Bermuda fishing scene, although there is some good chumming for Blackfin Tuna & Rainbow Runners. The Yellowfin are still quite spotty at best with a few 40-60 pounders being caught here and there. The whole fleet is reporting good Blue Marlin action, getting on average about 2-5 shots a day, with more and more fish over 500lb being seen. I would like to congratulate Max Todd on his Blue Marlin release ( 200lb ) on the first day of his retirement. Now that's the way to do it!! Max, I hope this is a sign of all the good times to come. Next Tuesday is the Worldcup Tournament, held every 4th of July. Wish me luck and stay tuned for next week`s report. |
| July 9th - Well, the week sure started off great with Dr. Luftig Monday`s trip on the Mako, releasing a 550lb and a 150lb Blue Marlin, plus having two other Blue Marlin shots. Tuesday was the World Cup Tournament and 17 boats were entered locally. All in all, it was a great Blue Marlin day with over 30 Blues hooked, 8 released and 2 boated (397lb & 401lb) - not a bad day`s effort. The winning fish was 631lb, caught in Hawaii. The rest of the week was a little slower than it has been, with only 1 or 2 Blue Marlin shots a day but, with the coming of the moon, I am sure next week we will get back to the hot Marlin bite. Still just a few Wahoo and Tuna being caught - mainly Blackfin Tuna, although the "Reel Action" did manage to catch a 130lb Yellowfin, plus a few 50 pounders this week, so maybe things are looking up. |
| July 16th - The early part of this week remained slow but, as the week progressed, the Marlin bite improved, with catches like our Friday trip going 2 for 4 on Blues, releasing 150lb & 200lb Blues (congratulations to Rob & Deirdre!) A few large Yellowfin Tuna are starting to show up, as I mentioned in last week's report. This week, we caught a 109lb Yellowfin, plus the "Trick Shot" caught a 120 pounder. Large Yellowfin, like these, normally show up in August. This is a good sign!! Not only has the July full moon brought the Marlin bite back, it has also brought lots of wind and rain. Only the BIG boats & the hearty crews fished this week. Well, with Monday being the start of the back side of the moon, anyone who has Marlin fever will be fishing, rain blow or shine!! Should be a great week... stay tuned! |
| July 23rd - STILL MARLIN!!! Yes, the only game in town is still the Black Marlin fishing. The Blues have gotten better and so has the weather with winds 5-10kts this weekend (now that Capt. Stormcloud went home!). The catch of the week goes to the "Sea Wolfe" with Thursday`s catch of 3 for 5 on Blues, releasing a 500lb+, 350lb & 250lb. Great Catch!! On the Mako, our most rewarding day was on Wednesday, when we were able to put Mr. Mike Ciravolo on his first Blue Marlin (200lb) after a 6-year wait. Mr. Ciravolo is paralysed from the waist down, but that does not stop him from fishing. In fact, he runs a charter fishing service for disabled anglers, called Hydo-Therapy, out of New York. Email him at LIMike74@aol.com GREAT JOB, MIKE!! |
| July 30th - A slow week by Bermuda standards. Blue Marlin bites down to 1 or 2 a boat, but the good news is a few schools of BIG Yellowfin were spotted today (120 - 200lbs) with a few being caught. Everyone will be rigged up and ready for them tomorrow. Next week should be good with these big Tuna around, plus the Marlin Tournament running from Thursday thru to Sunday. Congratulations to: Mark & Greg Kressin, Juan Prado, Larry deSouza & Mike Schaad for their Blue Marlin releases on the Mako this week. On the Wahoo scene the "Reel Action" has been steadily picking at them with 9 Wahoo being the best catch of the week. Look for better Wahoo fishing to start mid August with September & October being the main months. BIG MARLIN REPORT: The Eureka had a shot at a Blue 1000lbs + but missed on the hookup. Tough luck guys... maybe we`ll see her in the tournament!! |
August 2000
| August 6th - Congratulations to the "Treasure Isle" crew, Allan DeSilva & Mark Koren (Chops), for winning this years Marlin Tournament. With Chops at the helm and Allan in the chair, the two were an unbeatable team, releasing 5 Blues in the 4 days of fishing. To make the victory even sweeter, one of the Blues released was 600lbs. The Tournament has a 500lb minimum and you receive one point per pound for a boated fish, and 500 points for a released fish. Allan believes in a total release format and so all "Treasure Isle" fish are released. I commend Allan for his stand and together we are going to try to make next year's Tournament a total release event. "Triple Play" was a close second with 4 releases and 1 boated fish that did not make weight (443lbs). This cost them the 500 points. (Should have released him!) There was a total of 20 boats in the Tournament with most boats only fishing 3 days. All other boats reported slow action. It was a 2-boat event from the start. Largest boated fish was 504lbs on the 'Finally." Last Sunday, I reported about the big Yellowfin showing up. Well, they were gone by Monday... too bad!! Hope they return soon. |
| August 13th - Well, the Blue Marlin fishing is steady, with a few good sized fish being released, like the 600 pounder released by Mr. Clark Jackson on the Mako 4 on Monday. The good news is that some big Yellowfin Tuna have been caught this week (60-110lbs). Most of this action is taking place in the chum on the northern side of Challenger Bank. The "Playmate" has opted to forget about the Blues for awhile and, as a result, has had a few good catches of Yellowfin. The Wahoo fishing has also improved, although the size is still small(12-20lbs). Congratulations to Jeri Pierce for her first two Blue Marlin releases on the Mako 4, plus her sister Beth`s (Dorothy) Wahoo catches. |
| August 20th - This was a great week for big Yellowfin Tuna. Everyone has had success with them, ranging from 65lbs. - 120lbs. Chris Silvester caught the best one on the Mako 4 this week with his 117lbs on 30lbs test line!! Ricky Sousa fished with us on Wednesday and had a great catch of an 82 pounder on 20lbs. test line!! He also released a 200lbs Blue Marlin, plus 2 Wahoo, 13 Dolphin & 3 more Yellowfin. As the Tuna fishing has been so good this week, not too much time has been spent looking for Mr. Blue, but the "Sea Wolfe" did manage to go 2 for 4 on Blues one day this week. With some floating debris showing up, good catches of Dolphin & Wahoo are being reported, like "Reel Action's" catch of 16 Wahoo & 15 Dolphin... not bad for finding a piece of drift wood! In the weeks ahead, look for a steady increase in the Wahoo & Tuna catches with a tapering off on the Marlin. On the Blue Marlin count, the Mako is in the lead with 31 releases for 55 hookups. Not a bad hookup ratio, don't you think! On the weather scene, all`s great.... keep them Hurri away! |
| August 27th - TUNA! TUNA!! Yes, the big Yellowfin are still biting. We, on the Mako 4, had a great week with them. Several fish over 100lbs., including this years largest to date (155 POUNDER!!) caught on 50lbs. test standup tackle (by two anglers - the tag team!). We finished off the week in fine form with Shaun Davis` crew today catching 10 Wahoo & 5 Yellowfin (largest 90lbs.). The angler of the week is definitely Mr. Andrew Kidwell. While fishing with us on Tuesday, with his beautiful new bride, Holly, he managed to catch 10 Yellowfin Tuna & 3 Wahoo, with a 100 pounder, a 72 pounder & a 110 pounder being caught back to back on 50lbs. standup tackle! (now that's a pull!!). Yes, the Blue Marlin are still around with the "Sea Wolfe" and the "Reel Action" seeing and releasing a few each. And yes, the Wahoo are biting better day by day. With everything beginning to bite, it must be getting close to SEPTEMBER!! For those of you who do not know, September & October in Bermuda is fast action for Wahoo & Tuna, so do not miss it. Book your favorite boat soon! We, on the Mako, only have a few day open. FYI - the Mako 4 has been sold and will be delivered to her new owners in Va. Beach in November. Last fishing trip on the Mako 4 will be October 24th. DO NOT PANIC!! I am not going any where. It will be business as unusual with the new Mako starting in May 2001. Be sure to check out my site to see her under construction. |
September 2000
| September 3rd - IT AINT OVER YET!!! Who said it's the end of the Marlin season? What a week for the Mako. We started the week with Eddie Schaufler`s 700lb. Blue Marlin release, plus his 112lb Yellowfin Tuna, and ended the week on Sunday with Ken Thaxton`s Blue Marlin release of a 800-900 pounder, plus his 86lb. Yellowfin Tuna. Most of the week saw good action from the Yellowfin, with lots of small football and still some good ones (70-120lbs.), including the 92 pounder caught by Andy Hahn, from Sportsfishing Magazine. The wahoo fishing is still slow for this time of year and, with the Wahoo Tournament this Sunday, things better change soon. With a few big Blues showing up so late in the season, most boats will be very reluctant to pack up the big gear, so standby for some more Marlin stories. With weather and fishing so great, don't miss the opportunity to fish this fall - book soon!! P.S. Sorry for the late report. I took the holiday off! |
| September 10th - Well, this may be the week of the Wahoo Tournament, but the Blues are making it clear that they are still here. While Wahoo fishing this week on the Mako, we managed a 250lb Blue Marlin, released by angler Paul Sullivan. On Saturday, Jim Wilkie released his first Blue on a live bait set out for a Wahoo, plus Brant pulled the hook on a 400lb Blue later that afternoon. Just imagine how many Marlin could be seen if someone was looking for them! Capt. Russell on the "Sea Wolfe" has also had a few Marlin attacks while he has been targeting the Wahoos, plus he released a Sailfish (about 35lb) this week - a very rare catch in Bermuda waters. Today, in the tournament, we managed to catch 8 Wahoo, but the Sharks ate a bit of two of them, leaving us with six whole ones. The best was Ricky Souza's 43 pounder on 12lb test line. Next week is the last full moon in the Marlin season so I'm hoping I have a few Marlin customers and get a chance to spend some time in the deep water for Mr. Blue! The Mako 4 is still holding on to the Marlin release lead, and with a great hookup ratio, I might add - 35 Blue Marlin releases for 60 hookups! |
| September 16th - Short fishing week due to " Florence." The Blues are still here and we had a few shots in the last few days. Best shot was LaLa`s fish, about 500lb. We hooked the Blue on a live Skipjack tuna which was rigged with a 20/0 circle hook. As many of you may have read, fishing with circle hooks is the new thing as they are designed to hook the fish in the corner of the mouth, making a good hookup, plus not harming the fish. Well, this was my first try, but it did not work as the fish spit the bait out after about a 20min. fight, and out came the hook too, right next to the boat!! This would have been an easy release with a standard J hook. Still a lot of Yellowfin Tuna around, but most are very small, 10 - 20lbs., very few big ones! The Wahoo are still not up to par for this time of year. We should be catching 10, even 20, Wahoo a day but instead, catches of 4- 6 are being reported. I think the water is still too warm, keeping the Marlin here and holding the Wahoo back. Maybe "Florence" will shake things up Next week will surely tell!! |
| September 24th - Chumming for Marlin? People are always asking me if I have any good fishing stories, well, I got one for you this week. Most of this week`s fishing has been chumming for small Yellowfin & Skipjack Tuna on 20lb. test spinning gear, plus catching a few Dusky Sharks & Wahoo that cruise thru the chum. The trolling has been very slow this week, very unusual for September!! Well, now the story! While chumming on Saturday, with Paul Miller and his Exel gang, and catching a few Yellowfin & Skippies, a 200lb Blue Marlin races through the chum after a Skipjack. Everyone is surprised at our visitor, including me. I shout to my mate, Bigger James, "Get a Skippy out of the box, I`ll get a leader." I came out of the cabin with a 400lb leader with a 11/0 hook all ready to go. James passes me the Skippy and, as Iam hooking it on, James shouts "I`ll get a 50lb outfit." Not wanting the Marlin to lose interest while James is getting the 50 from the Bridge rack, I decide to throw the bait in the water to tease the Marlin. I throw the bait and am looking to see where he has gone and suddenly he comes from under the boat. Before I can pull the bait in, he has it!! "HANG ON!!" I said to myself as I wrapped the leader around my hand and pull. Luckily getting it in the boat as James comes with the 50, he snaps the leader on, and back in the water goes the bait. Mr. Blue turns around and eats the Skippy! James hands the 50 to Paul. Paul waits until the slack line in the water comes tight and then hooks him. The Blue starts to jump and the fight is on!! But wait... we still have the anchor down!! I run to the bow, tie a fender to the rope and cut it, run to the bridge and start the engines and now we are in business!! About 30mins. later, we release the Blue and resume the chumming. Total day's catch: 16 Yellowfin, 4 Sharks, 1 Dolphin, 1 Barracuda, 12 Rainbow Runners and a 200lb Blue Marlin release. Not a Bad Day!! |
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