Fish Bermuda - July to September 2004 Fishing Reports

July 5th - This week, I'm providing a report on the annual Bermuda Big Game Classic, prepared by the producer, Dan Jacobs. Things are really busy in Bermuda, on the fishing scene right now, so I'll be back next week to give the usual update. For now, here's Dan's report:

The July 4th World Cup has been blown wide open by a huge fish in Bermuda. At press time Bermuda's Captain Andrew Dias aboard his 35' Off Soundings Triple Play weighed in an 1189 pound beast to take a commanding lead. If it holds Bermuda will take the World Cup for the second year in a row.

Since the inception of the Bermuda Big Game Classic producer Dan Jacobs has been promoting fishing the World Cup in Bermuda and then sticking around to fish the Classic noting Bermuda's ability to produce consistent large blue marlin. The result in 2003 was a record twenty one boats fishing the World Cup from Bermuda and twenty eight boats fishing the Classic. Mike Nichols Oppositional fished an won both tournaments in 2003.

Someone must have been paying attention as this year saw a record field of 34 boats fishing the World Cup in Bermuda with both foreign and local boats hitting the water for the 8:30 a.m. lines in. Several fish were caught but none boated through the early afternoon. With only an hour to go Dias and crew hooked up at 3:30 p.m. when a nice one piled on the Big T Leopard as they crossed the SE corner of famed Challenger Bank. Angler Martin Estes of Bermuda was in the chair and no stranger to fighting large fish as both Dias and Estis teamed up to win the Seahorse Anglers Club tournament with a 731 pound blue in 2003.. The fight lasted 45 minutes before Lewis Crews was able to grab the leader. Gaff man Andrew Farias finished things off and the crew struggled to pull the fish on board. As word spread across the fleet and island a crowd gathered at Waterfront Marina. Captain Dias conservatively called the fish at 750 pounds over the radio. Cheers, fog horns and partying ensued when the weigh master called to fish at 1189
pounds. If it holds this will be Bermuda's third World Cup and first back to back win.

On a side note Dias was totally focused on a home building project and hadn't wet a line or run the boat at all in 2004. When I spoke to him at the reception held at the Hamilton Princess I asked if the wheels still turned. Andrew replied, "I fired the boat up the other day and looked at my top shots, everything looked OK" This morning he turned the key and the grunt of a dead battery answered. He called his friend Captain Andrew Card who promptly loaned him a battery and off they went.

The bite in on in Bermuda and things are looking good for the 4th annual Bermuda Big Game Classic. The island is a buzz with expectations for a record turnout at the Classic. Stay tuned I'm sure there are more fireworks to come.

Thanks for the report, Dan!

July 19th - July is in full swing - Marlin fishing, Marlin Tournaments & visiting Marlin boats! The Marlin action has been good, with plenty of good sized fish around. Lots of 500 pounder’s, some 700 pounder’s, all the way up to the 1189lbs, which was caught on the “Triple Play,” this July 4^th. There has even been a few other Grander hook-ups, like the ones on the Challenger, De Mako & Treasure Isle.

“De Mako’s” luckiest angler, this week, has to be my friend, Keevin.

Keevin fished with James & I for three days, raising five Blue Marlins and releasing all five - never missed a bite! Keevin, we needed you in the Classic, as we went 2 for 7 on Blues, jumping off a 700lbs on the last day!

The Tuna bite is still crazy... how many do you want to catch? East side on Argus or SE corner of Challenger, just drift and start catching 40 - 70lbs Yellowfins!

With the coming of the next full moon soon, we should see an increase in the Marlin bite, plus look out for the BIG Yellowfins. I mean 100- 200lbs class of fish. These Tunas usually show up the first week of August and are usually caught by slow trolling Ballyhoo & Flying fish... Don’t miss it!

July 26th - Yellowfin Tuna bite still hot!! Eastern side of Argus bank and SE corner of Challenger still the hot spots. 40-80lbs fish on both Banks, but watch out on Challenger for LOTS of big ones (400-800lbs.) Tiger Sharks ready to eat your Tunas. As soon as you get hooked up, tighten up the drag and put the boat in gear - you need to get the fish off the Bank. Get the fish outside the 80 fathoms line and you’ll be fine... drift on top of the Bank and you are asking for trouble.

Marlin bite remains slow - there are some good-sized fish around, just not a lot of bite... 1 to 3 a day, if you are lucky, with more bites getting off. With the full moon at the end of this month, we should see the bite get better, plus, as I mentioned last week, watch out for the BIG Yellowfin coming very soon!

With most of the visiting boats heading back to the mainland, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the owners & crew for making the long trip to Bermuda. It is always a great pleasure to fish with so much talent. We wish them all a safe trip home and look forward to their return, next summer.

August 3rd - This week, leading up to the full moon, was awful - SE winds & no Marlins & no Tunas! Just a very tough week.

The full moon, on Sunday, changed everything. We have our SW winds back, and the Marlin bite has been great the last few days. I hope it will last through this bad weather spell we are going to get from the remains of hurricane Alex, in the next few days.

The Tuna bite has slowed down a bit and the big Yellowfins have not shown up yet, but we are seeing a good Wahoo run. Catches in the double figures, (10-15 fish) a day, are being caught on the southern & eastern sides of both Banks, with a few Wahoos being caught on Sally Tuckers... very unusual for this time of year.

With Alex between us and the mainland, we see a few visiting boats stuck here for a little while longer than planned, but hey, there are worse places to be stuck in, so guys keep your rods out and keep on fishing!

August 11th - A much better week! We have seen a pretty good Blue Marlin bite, this week, with most boats getting 2-4 shots a day. Although most of the fish have been small (125-250lbs), it has been a fun week. James & I had the pleasure of fishing with Rich Keller for the last 4 days, catching and releasing 5 Blue Marlin and a Spearfish - * a very good time! *

The Wahoo fishing remains good on the SW edge, Challenger and Argus, plus a few Dolphins and seaweed have started showing up. Guess what... the Tunas are back and still on the south & eastern side of both Banks. Two size ranges this time - some big fish, 50-80lbs, and the very small ones, 8-15lbs.

A few real big Yellowfins have been taken, from time to time on the troll, like the 120 pounder caught on the “Reel Action” today, but still no sign of the big schools. All in all, the fishing is quite good right now, which is more than I can say for the weather: rain, rain & more rain!

Well, there is sunshine in the weekend’s forecast, so I hope to see you out there!

August 18th - Great week! The Marlin bite remains strong, plus the schools of big Yellowfins have shown up. The biggest Yellowfin caught this week was the 173lbs. caught by “Over Proof” on Argus, yesterday.

The big Tunas have been seen on the SE corner of Challenger & down on the SE side of Argus. These fish have only been taken on the troll, so you need to slow down, rig up some baits and look out for the schools. Don’t run through them, just slowly go around them with your lines set way back and, if you do it just right, you’ll get a bite, and then hang on! These are big Yellowfins (100- 200lbs) and the Blue Marlin are mixed right in with them, so don’t put any light lines out unless you are up for a long battle.

On the Marlin scene, “DeMAKO” was 5 for 9 with the Blues, this week, plus a 110lbs. Yellowfin caught by Leo, yesterday.

Congratulations to all of our Marlin anglers this week, especially first timers, Kenrick, Julie & Mark.

Many thanks to Danny for bringing the lucky crew with him, this week. We had a great time - see you in September!

August 24th - It was a different week for “De MAKO”, as she stayed dockside. I flew to Virginia Beach to fish the inaugural Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament. Jeff, Dave, Bruce, Mikey & I had a great time catching up with good friends and meeting new ones, plus we got to fish a 1^st class tournament. Although this is primarily a White Marlin event, we chose to target the Blues. To say the least, we stood out. Docked alongside boats all rigged with TLD 20’s and small ballyhoos, there we were with four bent butt 130’s and all big lures! Hey, our plan worked! We took the Blue Marlin jackpot with a 582lb blue caught by Dave Youens and placed 4^th overall. It was just like fishing at home! All the people were so friendly and truly happy for us. What can I say, this is a great tournament, hosted by some of the nicest people you’ll meet anywhere! Check out their website at http://www.vbbt.com for all the results. Hey, you may want to add this one to your fishing plans for next year.

This tournament is a 2 out of 3 day event, and we fished the Friday & Saturday. Fishing starts at 8.30, but you are fishing 85 miles from the inlet. That is like going to Argus 4 times before you put a line in the water. It’s crazy, but these guys do it everyday! We hooked our fish at 11.30 am. and boated it 2 hours later, and then we ran for home! The second day, we missed two Whites (damn seaweed!) and caught a 60lb. Wahoo.

Bigger James stayed at home and did some fishing with his good friend Jamie, on the Insta-gator, catching his first 100lb plus Yellowfin. Offshore, there is still a few of the big Yellowfins around and a few Blues, but it is getting time to gear up for the big Wahoo run, so stay tuned for next week’s report!

August 31st - A mixed up week! Good Wahoo fishing, at the start of the week, slow trolling and in the chum no less, plus some Yellowfin Tunas. By the weekend, everything had disappeared, and I mean everything! The last few days, we have seen a good Blue Marlin bite, plus some nice-sized Yellowfins. Most of the Marlin bites have been between the bank and the edge. We had 3 bites, yesterday, just off Sonesta.

The best Yellowfin spot is on the northern side of Challenger. Some caught slow trolling, but your best bet is to chum. Nice class of fish too - 50–100lbs., but when you get hooked up, don’t forget to get him off the edge, as the Tigers are back on the attack!

This is the last full moon for the Marlin season so, if hunting those Blues is your game, best get out there this week, for next week will be too late!

Congratulations to Lou Panas on his first Blue Marlin release today!

September 8th - Calm seas, great fishing... what are you waiting for?

The nice sized Yellowfins are still biting on the north side of Challenger. We had Ricky & La La out fishing, yesterday, catching 7 Tunas and a Wahoo, the three largest weighing in at 72, 74 & 78lbs. - all caught in the chum!

Yes, the Tiggers (Tiger Sharks) are still there, too! We had an angler, on Sunday, that wanted to give one a go. James quickly rigged up a standup 50 with a long wire leader and dropped over a big bait. Five anglers later, we released a nice 300lbs. Tiger, with two other Tigers following the hooked one. No swimming on Challenger!!!

We had to bring out both of Bermuda’s best good luck charms so as to catch our next two Blue Marlins. On Saturday, we had both Brooks & Foster on board, and guess what? We released two Blues!

This makes 30 Blue Marlins, this season for “ De Mako,” out of 82 bites. Not the best hookup ratio, but not a bad count considering this years below average showing.

Today was “De Mako’s” first all-day Wahoo trip for the fall run and we got off to a good start, with a 15 Wahoo day. I guess James still knows how to trick a 'Hoo' or two!

Don’t forget some of the years best fishing is just ahead. Late September and October can be as good as it gets, so keep those golf clubs in the bag for a few more months! Hope to see you out there!

Hey,” DeMako” has 8 days open this month, so call soon before it’s too late!

September 13th - Calm seas & great fishing continue!

Great Wahoo bite... “DeMako” catches 47 Wahoos in our first three Wahoo trips!! Our best day was on Thursday, with 21 Wahoos and we jumped off a Blue Marlin. On Friday, we caught him - a 200lbs Blue Marlin, released by Rob Hamill, on 50 standup tackle! Great Job Ron!

Can you believe it, they postponed the Wahoo Tournament for this Sunday. The guy making that decision must have been in a box with no windows. You could not have asked for a better day, with maybe only 5kts. of wind; they will not find a better Sunday this year! Postponing a Tournament like this messes up everybody’s plans. Most people live pretty busy lives these days and, by postponing it, many people can’t fish it the following week. Just look what happened to the Bacardi Tournament, scheduled for May 30^th and not held until mid July, with less than 10 boats. A suggestion... how about leaving it up to the weather people! If a small craft warning is posted on the 5.00 am forecast, then the tournament is postponed. It’s that simple.

Good luck to all of you who fish next week’s tournament - IF they hold it!

September 22nd - A slow start to the week, for “De Mako”.

We had a few days ashore, and the first few days, we did fish were not too hot! The Wahoo bite slowed down, almost as if they knew the Wahoo Tournament was coming up.

Still, some nice size Yellowfins on Louis point, averaging 60 to 80lbs. and, yes, the Tigers are still there! There are lots of live baits around, but the bites on them is not fast & furious. We had a change in weather on Monday, with some breezy NE winds and a drop in temperatures, and the Wahoos love it!

We produced 18 Wahoo’s today, with a noticeable improvement in the size over last week’s summer lizard. With the water temperatures cooling off, we see the start of the larger fall and winter fish. Today’s catch consisted of many fish over 40lbs., with the largest coming in at 67lbs.

Hey, check out the new photos. You know the Marlin fishing must be slow when you see the new “Treasure Isle” chumming for Tunas!

Look out for some great Wahoo fishing over the next few weeks, as the water cools off.

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