ALL WE COULD HAVE HOPED FOR:-)

I believe that's the words Dr. Dave used to describe our Wahoo fishing trip. 21 fish from 20 to 50 pounds, over 500 pounds total. Over 150 pounds of fillets. It was hard to keep track of as we ate 8 to 10 pounds per day, gave away some and brought 104 pounds of fillets back to Islamorada. The only thing we lacked was the "Big Guy". We saw a 101 pounder, caught by some guys in a boat next to us. They had a few other smaller fish as well. Other than that, we were probably the "High Hook" every day.

Now for the details. We read many articles and watched all the videos we could find on Wahoo fishing. I bought a couple of "the Wahoo King's" high speed trolling lures and several more trolling feathers. I had extra trolling leads, extra trolling wire, extra shock leaders and new wire line trolling rods. Don and I drove all over Islamorada looking for "Horse" Ballyhoo and found, at the best, only medium size. One guy at Bud-n-Mary's bait shop even told us, with the Sailfishing going on in the Keys right now, we were probably the only two guys looking for Horse Ballyhoo. I called Freddie, our fishing companion in Bimini, a couple weeks ahead of time to tell him we were coming. He said he was headed back to Andros soon, but he would wait for us.

We pulled out early Thursday morning for Bimini. We cruised up the inter coastal waterway to Key Biscayne and headed east. The crossing was uneventful. We got situated at the Big Game Club, cleared customs and relaxed with cocktails on the FF III. Late that afternoon, Freddie showed up and looked through all the tackle I had and said, we needed heavier hooks. The 10/0 hooks I had were too light duty. And, we really needed bigger Ballyhoo. He didn't care for the $60 lures I had bought from the Wahoo King but he liked the new wire line rods. So let me tell you, you can read all the articles, watch all the videos and buy all the "HOT" lures, but the proof is in the puddin'. Freddie's way worked, of course it always does. The fishing was nothing less than spectacular.

CJM has covered the daily catches but just so I can log the methods for next time, here is how we did it. Two mornings we were out by 7ish, one about 8 and New Year's Day we didn't go out until 9. Not sure why, none of us made it until midnight the night before. We caught our first fish about 8 and then most days had a lull until 10. From 10 until 2, 90% of the fish were caught. I think it was mostly due to the tides. It seemed like the tide was between low and high at 10, and hit high around 1:30. The moon was in the first quarter and the best bite was on the choppy days. We fished from 300 to 500 feet deep along the edge, same as for Grouper, just a little deeper. We trolled at around 2100 rpm's which was about 9-10 knots into the gulf stream and about 12 knots with it. We used double hook rigs, #12 wire and large Ballyhoo with various skirts. Skirts involving pink seemed to be the best. Some sparkle was usually involved. We ran the two wire lines on the corners with a 16 ounce trolling lead on one and a 32 ounce on the other. We trailed a naked lure on the shotgun far behind. We only caught one fish on the shotgun so the last day we left it out of the spread. We trolled a total of 256 NM. The down side was it took 487 gallons of diesel to high speed troll that distance.

We broke the cardinal rule of cruising when we crossed back to the USA. The rule is, be patient, pick your day and wait out the weather. Well, we haven't quite gotten that part down just yet. We crossed one day too soon and had to ride out our roughest crossing EVER. Windguru said 3-5 seas, higher in the gulf stream. Those 3-5's were most likely 6-8's with a few 10 feet+ from time to time. All in all a GREAT trip. Can't wait till the next time we can muster the time and energy to make a winter crossing and go after the "Behemoth Wahoo".

So until the next time I shall quote the pirate "Don Julio". I'm sure he stole it from someone so I shall steal it from him because that's what pirates do. "Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit and I'm a pirate, a weather beaten pirate, am sailing forever. So, I think we shalth batten down the hatches, get yer sea legs about ya, put yer big girl panties on, grab the rain slicker and the rubbers and head to the sea because the rougher the seas, the smoother the sail."

CTM

PIDDLEDICKIN'.......

A cold front moved through on Monday night so we spent the next two days "piddledickin" around as my good friend Lynda calls it! First order of business...we rented a golf cart and cruised up to Bimini Bay to check on Dave and Mary Ann. Not so good....Mary Ann was all bundled up and looked like Rudolph! She had contracted a bad cold :(

From 2012-01-04

Another day in paradise......NOT!!!!!

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We cut our golf cart cruising day short as we couldn't take the cold temps and decided to head back to Dave's hotel where we all thawed out with a beverage of choice while the boys cooked fresh Wahoo....AGAIN!!!! It was delish....AGAIN!!!!

From 2012-01-04

From 2012-01-04

"Piddledickin...Day 2" Wednesday we said "goodbye" to Dave. He flew back home and left us in the cold and wind to continue "piddledickin" before heading back to Islamorada.....

I need a new truck at OCG so spent part of the day looking to purchase this beauty. I would have pulled the trigger if it hadn't been for the broken windshield :)

From 2012-01-07

What do you do on an island on a windy day? Looper mixed up yet another batch of his famous Love Potion and we polished off yet ANOTHER GALLON!!!!!!

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And...."Love Potion Number 9" :)

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A word of advice, Jeannie. Take enough wine next time for the WHOLE trip! Have you ever seen a $40 bottle of wine that has a screw off lid? :) OK....maybe it actually had a cork but a $5 bottle of wine at best!!!!

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"Last Night In Town Syndrome" :) :) :) :)

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From 2012-01-07

Thursday we checked the wind and decided to make the crossing. Our gut feeling was that it wasn't going to be pleasant but was doable. Well....the reason there are no more pictures for this post is that we were all HANGING ON! The forecast was 3 to 5 foot waves but "higher in the Gulfstream." I guess we missed that part of the forecast :( WOWSA!!!! We made it back to Islamorada around 4ish, crawled out of the boat, kissed the ground, and went out for a steak!

Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM

FOURTH AND FINAL DAY OF FISHING :(

We decided to head out early as the forecast was for the north wind to pick up around mid day ahead of an approaching cold front. Jeannie caught a beautiful Bimini sunrise..... We weren't the only early birds that day.

From 2012-01-03

First hit came at 8:00 a.m. and it went on and on and on and on....

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From 2012-01-03

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From 2012-01-03

Nine Wahoo later the lid barely closed on the fish box! TIME TO GO IN!!!!

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WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

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"Meeting of the minds"....who's doing what?????

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O.K....Looperman, quit screwing around and get back to work!!! :)

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Phew!!!! 70 1/2 pounds of filets!!!!!

Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM

DAY THREE....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Here we go again!!!!!

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And again!!!

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And again!!!

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And again!!!

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And again!!! Five more Wahoo....and 28 more pounds of filets!!!

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More fresh Wahoo...yummo!

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Stay tuned for the grand finale! Catch you on the flip flop...

CJM

DAY TWO....NEW YEAR'S EVE

We headed out early because "the early bird catches the Wahoo!"

From 2012-01-03

From 2012-01-03

While we were trolling our "High Water Alarm" went off....YIKES!!!! For the first time EVER it became important to me to locate the emergency gear and lifeboat! CTM hurried below into the engine compartment. He quickly confirmed that one of our bilge pumps had malfunctioned but that there was no water in the bilge....PHEW!!!!

We continued "The Hunt" and boated a total of 4 Wahoo.....25 more pounds of filets!!!! What a way to end 2011!!!!!

From 2012-01-03

Dave and Mary Ann White joined us again for fresh Wahoo. We cooked at Dr. Dave's since he had kitchen facilities.

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The Looperman reliving that big catch....

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We got in on the Bahamian Junkanoo....

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Jeannie joined the parade :)

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A PERFECT end to 2011 :)

CJM

DAY ONE....FISHING FOR WAHOO IN BIMINI

CTM and I have talked of trying to get to Bimini to do some Wahoo fishing for a long time and now our dream had come true....we were finally headed out with Freddie and our boat mates, The Loopers, to fish for Wahoo in Bimini :) Ten o'clock....BAM....first "FISH ON!"

From 2012-01-03

We had boated our first Wahoo :)

Before eleven....BAM....second "FISH ON!" CTM was a happy camper :)

From 2012-01-03

The first day we boated 3 fish before noon. It looked a little bit like we had butchered a hog in the back of the boat before the day was over but we were happy hog butcherers (??? Jabet, is that a word?) :)

Nice catch!!!!

From 2012-01-03

25 POUNDS OF WAHOO FILETS!!!!

From 2012-01-03

Caldwell and Kate's Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Dave came by the boat and enjoyed cocktails with us and Dr. Dave arrived around 6ish. We took several pounds of fish to the Sand Bar where we celebrated Dr. Dave's birthday with one of our favorite waitresses in Bimini....Millie....

The Birthday Boy!!!

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We left our "mark" at the Sand Bar :)

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A good time was had by all.....

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THE END....DAY ONE OF WAHOO FISHING IN BIMINI :)

CJM

DAY ONE, TWO, AND THREE....PREPARATION & CROSSING

CTM and I arrived mid-afternoon and The Loopers arrived late on Tuesday, December 27th....Day One. We had a late Happy Hour. Day One was fairly uneventful...drinks and bed.

Wednesday, Day Two, was spent provisioning the boat. Jeannie and I ran down to Marathon for groceries while the boys continued readying the boat. Since we anticipated catching mass quantites of Wahoo we decided to load our small chest freezer to take. We transported a whole deer from Pontiac to Islamorada to take to Bimni to share with Freddie and others. By mid afternoon we were ready to roll so headed out to run a few errands and in search of "horse" ballyhoo prior to Happy Hour at Island Grill, Hog Heaven, and Whale Harbor for that "1st Night in Town Syndrome."

Day Three....THE CROSSING....We headed out at daylight up the Intercoastal Waterway to Biscayne Bay then turned east toward Bimini. The winds cooperated and we had a GREAT crossing (other than suffering from that 1st Night in Town Syndrome)!! We arrived in Bimini around 3ish, cleared customs, touched base with Freddie, drank some rum, had dinner at Bimini Big Game Bar & Grill, and hit the hay for an early fishing day on Friday.

Stay tuned for fishing reports :)

CJM