Fishing the Sea of Abaco

[JimiJohnB]

Hi all,

I've signed on within the past week for a trip to Abaco. We'll be staying at Turtle Rocks on the main island, about 15 miles north of Marsh Harbour.

First off, I've never been to Abaco, and I LOVE to fish. We have rented a 20' Albury brothers for 3 days. I understand that we cannot take our boat on the ocean side (nor would this be safe), so my question is this: are there good fishing spots within the Sea of Abaco itself?

I've read Dr. Ralph's fishing information and watched his videos, but most of what I see seems to pertain to fishing the reef (which I would love to do). As I understand it, the reefs are only on the ocean side, which I can't go to in our boat.

I'd much appreciate any advice, knowledge, etc. We will be practicing ONLY catch and release.

[SamFamAustin]

Yes, you can troll the inside, all those sounds and seas west of the outer Atlantic side and such, which is very fun. Pick a nice path in deeper water and troll away, nice and slow maybe 6 MPH. You may have more luck around the passes such as MOW North Channel or Tilloo, or cross some "honey holes" as well. I think you can "stick your nose out" into the Atlantic a little when it's totally flat calm, but the sea can change fast on the tide and near thunderstorms so don't wander off ... troll back in the passage and you're safe again. Relax, have a Kalik, and enjoy. I hope you get some grouper or mutton snapper! ;)

[JimiJohnB]

Thanks Sam. I'm not sure my tackle is going to be heavy enough to do much trolling (12-pound class reels), but I may give it a try anyway if I bring plenty of extra line.

Figured my best chances would be bottom fishing, perhaps at the entrance to some of the channels at the tide change. I'm really praying I can find a copy of Dodge's Cruising Guide in Marsh Harbor - hear there are some very good charts in the back showing fishing spots, including inside the Sea of Abaco, which would be perfect.

Also looked at a few weather sites....pretty darn windy today from the looks of it.

[SamFamAustin]

I would suggest 25 to 30 pound stuff for trolling, so yeah, switch up your strategy to casting the weeds. One secret area in hear Tilloo that has rocks, sandy areas, and patches of weeds. Aim for over the weeds and let it drop, or right at the edges. BAM, a fish might come out to investigate your offering. Look for the structure and the weeds is my suggestion. We definitely like our BAM as I'm sure you can tell.

Folks like R, CR, and other repeat Abaconian visitors have other secret honey holes they don't even tell me! They will say that the barracuda is sometimes a pain, since it is hard to cast light line with a wire leader - I use a short leader of flurocarbon myself. I also have switched to braided line such as Power-Pro, which has a very small diameter and can cast a mile - 20# strength line only has a diameter similar to 8# monofilament line, something like that.

Here's a tip from those that swear by the Berkely Gulp (http://www.tackledirect.com/berkley-gulp-saltwater.html) soft plastic lures (click the underlined link). The shrimp, yellow mullet, and jerk bait are the best (yellow-charteuse should work excellent in the Abacos, tan-brown shrimp better in Texas). You just get a bag of plastic bait with these, so be sure to pack quite a few jig heads, a good idea because you're going to hang up or get broke off. I only mention this because you can get a dozen in a package instead of a hard plastic lure for about 6 bucks or more. -sam

[Marty]

The gulps look great, but I think I'll order one of these.:D

http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/tackle_2056_52738125 (javascript:changeImg('imgmainimg0',imgmainimg0lar ge,document.getElementById('imgplaceholder'));)

[PELLUCID]

Also watch where the locals are handlining, that's your tip to good bottom fishing. Point Set Rock, outer point of Marsh Harbour entrance, off Cistern Cay, south of Man-O-War, and other spots where there is stuff on the bottom. The fish move around, so the locals do too.

[Abaco Blue]

Berkley gulp great bait. If you can't go outside then the ships channel is a great spot to fish. Follow the markers that Disney put up SE inside of whale. Depending on the tide it goes from 20 to 28 to 35 feet in spots. Fish close to the markers if you don't have a bottom finder. You should be able to see the ledge. No luck then grab a spear and dive down all the hogs and grouper you can shoot.

[JJ]

We fish the dark spots (rocks) in and around the passes between the cays. We usually just drift over the dark patches, floating with the current. If a spot is no good or the barracuda start taking our catch before we do, then we move on to another spot. For bait, we bring frozen shrimp in our cooler from the states then make cut bait out of some of the fish we catch.

[SamFamAustin]

For bait, we bring frozen shrimp in our cooler from the states then make cut bait out of some of the fish we catch.

I've always wondered if somebody could bring over a load of large or even jumbo shrimp in the live-well of a boat, like one equipped with a good water pump, strainer, and an aerator. There's an old adage that "shrimp are always looking for an excuse to die" which is why the reproduce in millions. There is not a fish in the sea that can resist a live shrimp, even if they're not "local." When they get nervous, they "pop" with their tails like a crawfish.

It's sorta cheating, and I mostly use artificial lures, but shrimp works especially when drifting as you mention. The "free-lining" method involves no weights at all, just a hook with a large, live shrimp that is carefully hooked through the "horn" on its head so you don't pierce it's puny brain or heart. Trust me, the large and jumbo shrimp cast just fine without any weight, and they will attempt to swim down to the bottom.

As I said, fish simply can't resist this ... it's not very fair, really. For dead shrimp, you have to work at it a little harder, since "they ain't got no pop." :eek:
sannie

[vharrison]

Honestly, anywhere we dropped a line in the Sea of Abaco, we caught fish. It was amazing.

[Megalops]

We did really well trolling the smallest braid runner lures in the sea of abaco. Caught Muttons, grouper, tons of ceros and barracuda. 50 lb mono leader, trolled at our cruise speed mostly, which is 7.5 knots.

One of the few lures you can pull at that speed in shallow water.

[Hank g]

Yozuri Crystal Minnows, Rapalas, similar swimmers if you want to troll. Short, 2' or so, 20# fluoro leader. 8# braid. Same for drifting and casting, but add some 1/4 oz bucktails in all yellow or yellow/white. Fish generally outside the cays, but still inside the outer reef, over combo hard bottom/heads, grass and sand. Depth anywhere from 7-8' to maybe 15-20'. South of MOW works, but many other places will too. Yellowtails, muttonfish, small groupers (must be at least 3#), Ceros, Spanish, various jacks, barracuda and a few more kinds from time to time.

Good luck.:)

[SamFamAustin]

Megalops - do ya mean BraidRunner lures like available on AllTackle.Com? They look pretty good for hardbaits -- I was thinking "braided" and saying "Huh?" but these are very pretty lures. Get the yellow/chartreuse/pink one!
-sammie

[BahamaAngie]

Sammie, I think you better go fish for wahoo.....I will send you the shipping money!!!!