New to the forum - visiting June 2008 fishing help needed.

[Snookhunter72]

I will be visiting for a week starting june 14th, 2008. We are bringing our own boat. We are staying on /or near green Turtle Cay. we've rented the Escape cottage. Would anyone have fishing spots for us? we will be targeting all large game fish. we will try Marlin, Yellow and black fin tuna, dolphin kings,'hoo and ETC. we will also bottom fish. any hints on lure or bait would help too.

For sure i will take pics and post a trip report. any help is appreciated.

Chris " Snookhunter72" McFarland

[Jerry S]

Welcome to the Forum Chris:)

[Snookhunter72]

thanks Jerry

[vharrison]

Welcome to the forum Chris! A couple of things I have learned on this forum are:
1. Get the Steve Dodge Crusing Guide to Abaco http://www.wspress.com/

2. You should bring your own bait {ballyhoo, chum} and plenty of tackle.

3. The cuts that lead to the outside can get very rough.

Catchem up while you are there!

Oh, and I grew up with some McFarland's in Miami, your dad didn't work for Exxon did he?

[DrRalph]

Check out Fishing in Abaco (http://www.drralph.net/FishininAbaco2005.html).

[SamFamAustin]

Great advice. I think many use Islanders with ballihoo or nekked ballihoo, including an assortment of the regulars like cedars, wahoo rigs, Mann Stretch 30 divers, maybe some feathers, and perhaps a few of those newfangled Yozuri tuna lures. That's pretty standard for a trolling spread although everyone is different. Don't forget some chunking jigs and tuna poppers if the action is on top and fish are jumping around the boat - rare but hey it happens.

One effective strategy is to catch some bonita, blue runner, or other non-sport fish and use it for bait. Blue runners are sometimes common and are perfect with just a circle hook, maybe a weight. Bonita or other tunnies are good as chunk, chum, or using to troll with a whole fillet side. Beware these can attract shark as they are quite bloody.

The ballihoo seems to be the preferred bait as they are greasy but not bloody. I have not heard an success stories about catching Abaco sword on large frozen squid but they do seem to be coming back in the offshore Gulf and the humps off Atlantic Florida. Am I dreaming? Yup, wish I was doing that right now! -sam

[Snookhunter72]

Thanks V. Harrison. We are coming via West Palm in a 265 CC Edgewater. we are coming the the Edgewater owners group. Twenty plus boats in the armada. this boats should handle the passes ok. We are excited about the violent passes because the bait confusion will attract larger prey. we are bringing all the frozen bait we can carry. As far as tackle goes 10 new rods we just made. we may be a little undersized ( not me personally 6'1, 285 lbs) We will have mainly 30-60 lb gear. We have hire Rick @ abaco flyfish connection for our first full day there. Rick will going out in our boat to show us the lay of the land. Your forum seemed very informative and I thought I could better prepare my self for the trip. As you can see by my Screen name I do more inshore fishng. I Live 25 minutes from he Mosquito Lagoon. This will be a great trip for us. The Captain of our boat has made the trip before so all will be fun. I love takinf action shots show i will have plenty of pics.

[Snookhunter72]

Welcome to the forum Chris! A couple of things I have learned on this forum are:
1. Get the Steve Dodge Crusing Guide to Abaco http://www.wspress.com/

2. You should bring your own bait {ballyhoo, chum} and plenty of tackle.

3. The cuts that lead to the outside can get very rough.

Catchem up while you are there!

Oh, and I grew up with some McFarland's in Miami, your dad didn't work for Exxon did he?
I have no family from Miami. My fathers is from South Georgia and raised in Orlando. He is still here. I wished he worked for exxon it would help wih feul the boat for our trip , lol


Chris

[HALF-A-HAMIAN]

Don't be too excited by the violent passes, as the Whale Cay passage has swamped and overturned some mighty good-sized seaworthy vessels. This was one of the main reasons Disney's 'Big Red Boat' stopped coming in to Bakers. No safe anchorage or turning during a rage. Be VERY respectful of them! Now go catch some biguns.

[Snookhunter72]

Sam, Thanks for that. We will definitely use ballyhoo we have tons plus we will attemple to bridle some Blue runners and smaller bonita.

Are the Tuna really plentiful there? We are going out next week on a group test run. We are going to the east sde of the Gulf stream on Saturday from West Palm Beach.


See there is 5 of us going and i only know one of the guys. Go thing I am friendly and I think they invited the Fat guy because they heard I can cook.

[Snookhunter72]

Respect is all we every give the sea. Never take the deep blue for granted. we shall use what is given to us between our ears to be safe and hopefully have an experience of a life time!

[haziewaller]

Escape cottage is near Gillam Bay. Keep an eye out for the pelican there, he will show you where the baitfish are.

[SamFamAustin]

You know I'm not sure if there are loads of YFT (yellow-fin tuna) out east of the Abaco. Yes they have been caught in good numbers and weights in the past, but this year has been a strange one - even the legendary Midnight Lump off the Mississippi was way off this year.

There are some excellent lurking fishermen on this Forum who maybe can help with that question. My understanding is that dodo and wahoo are fairly dependable although scattered, with a few reports of OK spring marlin. One trend might be that the tuna and marlin water is more to the south, such as below Cherokee.

I did hear a story that some newlyweds went out fishing with an offshore guide and bagged a juvie YFT ... I think some excellent meat was given to some Forum members. So they must be there ... but suspect that some tubes of Wasabi and dipping sauce might have gone unused so far.
/sammie

[Snookhunter72]

Thanks hazie, for the bait reference. Sammie thanks for that. I think we have a trip planned for cherokee , well south of there. We are headed out this weekend from West Palm Beach and headed to the East wall of the gulfstream looking for yellows. we will just chase birds on the radar Saturday. I would love any suggestions for sure.

[concheyjoe]

Snookhunter when are you crossing & from which port? I am planning on crossing the 15th from Stuart

[Rock Steady]

...four oz. cedar plugs ....also a small bird chain in yellow....make that your WWB....then fish the others further back than you think you should.

Oughta work.

Luck,

rs

[Snookhunter72]

Snookhunter when are you crossing & from which port? I am planning on crossing the 15th from Stuart

Concheyjoe,

we are leaving from west palm on the 14th at 6:30 am. If the seas are as calm as they were this past saturday we will make it over in record time. the gilfstream was only 1-2 on the way to the east wall saturday and 3-4 on the way back. it was like a lake for most of the day. Too bad we had too light of tackle with us. broke of some kings and tuna for sure. we had some success finding tuna under the birds just past the east wall of the gulf stream east of ft. pierce.


We are getting ready and are gonna bring heavier line with us.

Snookhunter72

[SamFamAustin]

...four oz. cedar plugs ....also a small bird chain in yellow....make that your WWB....then fish the others further back than you think you should.

Oughta work.

Luck,

rs

Man, you giving away the farm or what? Them's secret weapons! :D

[Rock Steady]

...maybe I'll get some points for that...but if'in the boys find out...I'm toast. While I'm at it though...think small...noth'in need be larger than a nine inch blue and white Hawaiian Eye...the smaller islanders are great lures...pick your poison in purple/ black and red/ black for the morn'in and lighter colors as the sun rises. I also like a Braid off a clip and a corner fished back 'bout sixty feet and on a planer if you've got one...just past the white water from your propulsion.

I also always fish a naked ballyhoo w/ a four to five ounce sinker next to the bill...about in the middle off the second and closer outrigger...port side...that's it...I know I'm gonna hear about this.

rs :cool:

[SamFamAustin]

LOL, I'm still learning, Rock Steady ... much of what you say about cedars, Islanders, and nekkid Ballyhoo sounds real familiar. I think some might add a diver such as a Mann Stretch 30 but they sure seem to pull hard and sometimes run funny in the water (dang weed, can't tell if you hung any!).

Anyway, the strategy is to (a) work the water at various depths, not just skittering the top and (b) make like a school of fish with some short and some long - meaning distance off the stern of the boat. It turns out there are almost an infinite number of ways to do this depending on wind and wave conditions, what's hitting, last night's alcohol consumption, Yahoe, etc. It's more the presentation of the spread, not one lure as you say...

For example, when trolling with the wind on the beam, some will run shorts on the windward side and longs on the lee side. I don't know how those captains figure it out though ... some secrets just never come out, do they RS?

Here's to that buzzing sound the reel clicker makes when you get a hit! Get all lines clear, poles out of the way, and watch for the jump - they will try to spit the hook right at ya! Now that'll get the old ticker going...
-sammie

[Snookhunter72]

you guys have really gave me something I can work with. what size tackle should we use. We broke off so many fish Saturday. what pound test and leader shold we use.

[CR]

30 to 50 pound test will handle most fish - 130 - 200 pound mono leader, or 124 pound if using wire.

Use reels with enough line capacity and let them run, you got all the time in the world.

Make sure your drag is set properly and you should have very few break-offs.

Regards,

R.

[Rock Steady]

think like a fish. Run a modified V or W pattern in your spread. This negates fish missing a bait when crashing the spread. You do, as Sammie, so eloquently states, want to fish the entire water column...as far down as you can to the surface. Big yellowfin typically are deeper bites...that said, get somethin in front of their nose...wahoo, too, like baits fished down. Keep'em in the water...use fresh, clear ballyhoo that wiggle...ya gotta bend and nurse them a bit with kosher sea salt...and get after it.

Ya can't check your baits enough...few do...

Luck,

rs