The Chum Line August 2008
Welcome to the August 2008 issue of The Chum Line. In this issue we report on:
- Summer and Fall Fishing
- Club News
Summer and Fall Fishing
With August now upon us we would normally expect our fair share of slick calm days, blazing sunshine... and the meat fishing in the doldrums. But at the time of writing (early August) the weather seems to be providing us with plenty of unwelcome wind and some welcome rain.
Those boats that have ventured out during the weather windows have been scoring with Wahoo, Bonita and some Blackfin Tuna.
Size wise the Wahoo have been a real mixed bag - while there are plenty of summer lizards around in the 15lb to 20lb range, there are also some nice fish in the 30lb to 40lb range to be had as well.
Club member Brice Pursell nabbed a 20.6lb Wahoo on a recent half day trip out to Sally Tuckers. With some bigger Wahoo on his mind David Lines Snr recently landed two specimens that tipped the scales at 35.5lb and 45lbs respectively. Visiting angler Bert Crinks fishing aboard a club member's boat bagged his first Wahoo which tipped the scales at 37.9lbs. This was Bert's first time fishing - ever!
Summer Wahoo can make for frustrating targets, especially as they glide by in the chum slick refusing any bait rigged on wire. Sometimes a live robin will do the trick. Other times a set of mackerel gills from a freshly caught mackerel will fool the Wahoo into eating. Perseverance is the key!
On the Blackfin Tuna front Captain Keith Winter and Playmate recently scored a very nice 30lb Blackfin off the kite and pulled the hooks on a substantially bigger tuna the same day.
Speaking of big tuna the big news over recent days has been the capture of some very large Yellowfin Tuna. These fish have been caught on trolled marlin plugs. Paradise One's fish weighed 181lb and De Mako's fish went 171lbs.
Continuing the mega tuna theme, Somerset boat Mega Bucks accounted for a rather unusual capture - a Bigeye Tuna that weighed 211lbs.
Bigeye Tuna or Thunnus obesus for those of you with a scientific mind, are not a common capture in Bermuda even though their range is reported as covering the entire Atlantic from 50° N to 45° S. From time to time they do put in an appearance in local waters. That said they are tough fish to target as they seem to turn up "whenever".
While the major billfish tournaments on the island are all over for 2008 there are still plenty of marlin to be caught for those of you who want to tangle with a Blue or White Marlin. Overproof released a nice Blue Marlin in the 550lb range on 5 August on 50lb tackle. That's nice work!
There have also been pulses of Dolphin (Mahimahi) moving through Bermuda waters with some catches coming from Sally Tuckers. Some of these fish have been very small - one club boat recently reported a double strike of Dolphin where the fish were only marginally bigger than the trolled marlin plugs they attacked!!! Both Dolphin were released, probably no wiser for the encounter.
Before we know it summer will be on its way out and fishing talk will turn to the fall Wahoo run. It can be exciting fishing so dust off those Wahoo lures and make sure the downrigger is working - it pays to check for flaws in the cable and the connections to the downrigger ball. Cable and connection failures on the downrigger during a hot Wahoo bite will test the patience of even the most chilled out club member!
Club News
As you'll remember from the July newsletter the 2008 BFCAT and BAC Annual Tournaments were fished on Sunday 29th June.
The results for both tournaments have been compiled. In the BFCAT this year BAC headed off Sea Horse Anglers. Here's the results achieved on what turned out to be a very tough day for fishing:
- Steven Antonition
- High Point Fish on 12lb test line with a 18.6lb Blackfin Tuna
- Richard Lee
- High Point Fish on 16lb test line with a 16.1lb Wahoo
- Joss Lines and Noah Lines
- tied for High Point Angler with 675 points each for Blackfin Tuna releases
- CS Endeavour
- High Point Boat with 1350 points
BAC took out High Point Club on 12lb and 16lb test categories as well as Overall High Point Club.
In addition to the above results, in the BAC Annual Tournament, the anglers on Bobby Rego's Sandpiper took out the following honors:
- Bobby Rego
- High Point Fish on 20lb test with a 22lb Wahoo
- Richard Ricca
- High Point Fish on 30lb test line with a 24lb Almaco Jack.
There are two BAC fun tournaments in August, one on 10 August and the other on 24 August.
There are also a number of Junior tournaments this month with the Blue Water Anglers Club Junior Tournament (10 August with the alternate on 17 August) and the ever popular Flybridge Tournament, scheduled for 17 August. These two are OPEN - so tell your friends and rustle up those children to get them interested in fishing. The Flybridge Tournament is loads of fun for the kids - keep your eye on the newspaper for more information on that one.
As some of you may have heard The Blue Water Anglers Club recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with club member Richard Lee representing BAC at the 50th anniversary celebrations. That's quite a milestone - our congratulations to Blue Water Anglers.
And from the travelling angler file, club members Bobby Rego and Danny Fox have been over in Florida harassing the local Snook population....with some success, providing they could keep the hooked Snook away from the marauding Dolphins (of the mammal variety). Inside sources tell us that Bobby accounted for the largest Snook of the trip....by a mere inch!
Club Catch Records
Finally remember to email Francis Patterson with your catches as they come to hand. Francis needs to know the species, the line class, and the weight of the fish, the date and the boat on which the fish was caught, along with any method of catch (fly, spincast or spinchum) other than conventional. Francis' email is fhpp@northrock.bm.
Contacting the Club
If you need to contact the Club just email us at bermudaanglersclub@bermuda.com.