BERMUDA REPORT – MAY 29TH Spring fades into Summer as the water temperature rises and Bermuda’s fishing continues to be RED HOT!

We fished 7 of the last 9 days continuing where we left off last week with good friends and great fishing… Let’s start with Ken Winford’s 2nd offshore experience. Ken is a former Canadian Box Lacrosse star and is now a Bermuda resident. After trading bumps, bruises, slashes and cross checks with Ken in our winter indoor league I offered to show him another Bermuda experience… His first trip a few weeks ago was a great induction to Bermuda’s fishery with a solid mix of Wahoo, Tuna and smaller game. Round 2 can only be described as unique as he was the guest of honour of a true ‘Wound Up’ experience. Entertainment was constantly supplied by the ‘Controversy’ crew and a seriously inspired / handicapped Captain (courtesy of the Pickled Onion’s staff)… Let’s leave it at that… and say the fishing was great and the entertainment even better! We continued the week with the full intention of following up on successes with the Yellow Fin Tuna… the Wahoo however had other ideas. Curtis Power’s trip with his brothers and buddies Dennis and Dan started as a high-speed steam down the northwestern edge in search of blue water and eventually on to the banks to Tuna fish. Eight miles short of our destination, a few birds, a slick (“el slicko”) and purple / blue water forced me to pull the throttle back and point her into the wind as we deployed 4 artificial’s and turned back towards the edge… we didn’t even make it. With ‘Morning Dew’ cranked up on the stereo, the right rigger came crashing down and Curtis made quick work of a fine 45 lb Wahoo. A double, 4 out of a quad, another double followed by 3 out of a triple… By 10 am we had 15 Wahoo !! Everyone was content and we were heading through the rocks by 10:30 am, a quick tour of the islands and we had the boy’s back in time for fresh fish sandwiches at Rustico. James - You run a tight ship and your attention to detail is impressive and no doubt the key to your success (your taste in music isn't too bad either!). It was a great day and one that we won't forget. Dan and I are already talking about booking another charter later this summer. Curtis Power , CA , Manager , Ernst & Young Bermuda The breeze gave us a couple of day’s off and by Friday we were back at it again with Capt Rich Adler (who runs a charter boat in NJ) and Greg Thummel (who owns a charter boat in Costa Rica). They didn’t tear us up as they did on Curtis’ trip, but a steady bite with one double and the rest singles produced 20 Wahoo and a Yellow Fin Tuna out of 24 bites….. However, the catch of the week has to go to Capt. Blake West’s charter boat ‘Troubadour’ who’s 28 Wahoo had him and his son heading home at 11 am. Not bad for ‘Team Shelly Bay’! With June right around the corner, most of us will be packing up the downriggers and breaking out the 130’s, some boats already have! There have been Blue Marlin encounters each and every day and with the water temp on the rise we should see the Wahoo bite moderate and the Blue and White Marlin bite become more and more consistent. Scoring Blue Marlin releases in the last few days were ‘De Mako’ and Mark Munt’s ‘Tantrum’. The infamous Capt. AJ Card on the ‘Challenger’ was real close to a release of a 700 lb Blue before the fish went down and died, only to be replaced by a DOA Blue Marlin that measured out at a respectable 530lb. As I sit here at the end of another sweet stretch of fishing with our 2 month old daughter on my lap listening to The Grateful Dead, Barton Hall, May 8th 1978 (Scarlet > Fire > Estimated > St. Steven > NFA > St. Steven > Morning Dew) I can’t help but realize there’s so much more to life than just fish stats and making $’s. We all owe it to ourselves and to the future generations to give something back, to help preserve the precious resources that have been left for us. One that mankind’s done such a fine job of exploiting…                                                                           Signing off for now,                                                                                                       'Wound Up'

May 15th Fishing Report – “A Great Week in Bermuda...”

The breeze came last weekend and as usual this time of year, the Wahoo kicked into high gear. Those who braved the weekend and early week weather were rewarded with Wahoo catches that approached and surpassed double figures on most days. That is common this time of year. What’s not so common is 2 of the first 3 Blue Marlin being caught by the same boat, and a weekend warrior at that, and neither fish was a fluke as both the ‘Indigo Blue’s’ inaugural Blue Marlin on March 25th and their 450lb fish on Sunday, May 6th were targeted with Marlin gear and fell for the same $3 eBay lure, which helps the old theory that if you drag it in front of them and they’re hungry then there going to eat it! Big congrats to Capt. Colin, Jimbo and the rest of the ‘Indigo Blue’ crew. Wahoo’s as predicted in last weeks report are the big story of the week, I didn’t realize how big of a story... Capt. Cragin and his mate Nick went commercial fishing on Wednesday expecting a decent haul... 43 WAHOO... a shot at a Blue Marlin and a NEW Bermuda Record had been set for most Wahoo in a day! What a catch! Many of you have been with us and seen the work involved in putting up #’s in the mid and upper 20’s, even into the 30’s. Can you imagine 1 Captain, 1 Mate and only 1 Angler? A phenominal achievement! A very deserved congrats to Capt.Curly, New Nick and Smiley the crew of the ‘Reel Addiction’.


By the end of the week the wind had laid down to a flat calm and the Wahoo bite fizzled. Time to target the Tunas again... so Friday’s trip with Jonathan, Alicia and their son Charlie was enlivened by the presence of the infamous Dr. Neil Burnie (of Shark Cage, Trans Atlantic Powerboat Record and Alaskan Glacial Heli Snow Boarding Fame) so after catching a few decent Tunas and deep jigging a few Amber and Almaco Jacks (Bonita’s) the Wahoo settled into the chum and as they so often do on a calm and clear day, they feasted on everything we threw at them that did not have a hook in it. Many of us Bermudian’s take great pride in our ability to catch Wahoo and have quite an arsenal of tactics to out smart these keen eyed predators so after only a few unsuccessful attempts by Jim and I, Neil looses his patience and enters the picture, actually he enters the water in a blue camouflage wet suit armed with a 13ft pole spear. Positioned right off the ‘Wound Up’s’ transom, the mad scientist lays waiting, facing aft, 2 perfectly positioned chunks of marlin meat by my mate Jim and it’s LIGHT’s OUT for a 24 lb Wahoo! The First Wahoo in Bermuda to ever die at the end of a pole spear, ”Another Bermuda Wahoo Record”, Dr. Neil declared, and one that would not last long, a few pictures, a slight adjustment in team strategy and back in the water he goes again. Within 30 seconds here comes a slightly better fish, a little teasing by Jim and a few more perfectly placed chucks and you got it, LIGHTS OUT AGAIN !!!! Both the 24lb'er and this 43lb 12 oz Wahoo never flinched, Stone Dead! One time, by two perfectly placed spinal shots that had a paralyzing effect on the first 2 Wahoo speared in local waters. Not wanting to miss out, Alica capitalized on the 3rd Wahoo of the morning, a 37lb fish that took off on a typical Wahoo sprint before being subdued with the assistance of a 30 lb outfit loaded with spectra. What a morning! One none of our team will forget anytime soon... I was curious how many more tuna’s we might have caught if the adrenaline junkie and his 13 ft spear weren’t terrorizing our chum slick... Thanks Neil! Never a dull moment!!!


After declaring he’s never going fishing without a spear again, Jim shows up on Saturday morning empty handed and it’s flat calm, "let’s go tuna fishing..." and a great crew we had for it... Dennis, Velcro, Velcro’s Dad, F.K. and F.K.’s Sister, always a great day with this crowd. After catching a tuna on the first line in the water, the tuna bite died and was replaced by a wide open Amber and Bonita bite. Eventually our patience paid off and the tuna’s kicked into gear and we abandoned our efforts on the smaller game. A great afternoon was capped off with a fine 80 lb Yellowfin taken by Dennis, a personal best, that put us at 10 Tunas to finish off an already stellar day. We ended the week with the Island Glass crew on Sunday. Another fun day down on the banks with a couple of Tunas, Larry’s Blue Shark, Larry’s Bird, both successful releases... (must have been the t shirt) and 56 Ambers and Bonita’s. The electric reel, the spinners and bait casting outfits all got in on the action. As the rain approached, up came the anchor, I brought out a couple of marlin lures and Jim brought out the downrigger rods... guess he wanted me to hug the edge. Not wanting to mess with team karma (or piss off my mate), I stayed a lot tighter to the bank than I had originally intended and it didn’t take long... a double of Wahoo, a  san cocho, followed by a 45 lb fish. Thanks Jim!!


A great way to top off another killer week of fishing in Bermuda, surrounded by Good Friends, Great Music, Cold Drinks and a Great Mate!! The catching part, that’s the bonus and one we strive to achieve each and every trip...

Cheers,
James

* The marlin pictures above are the March 25th trip, the fish had an unfortunate encounter with the boats propellers.
** Apologies if you tried to email me on info@woundupbermuda.com, this email is not in use.

Wound Up 2007 - May 3rd Fishing Report – “We’re off to a great start!”

Okay, here we go! The official 2007 season is finally underway with the spring weather on the upswing, and if the first week is any indication of future results, we should be in for a good year! Our first efforts saw us fishing 8 out of 10 days starting April 21. This tactic of getting out on the water as much as possible has paid dividends, as we’ve been able to stay on top of the fish pretty well. The weather is just perfect at this time of year – sunny and comfortable conditions offshore.


We began the week with a solo scouting mission and found a bit of action with 5 Wahoo, 1 Yellowfin, and some valuable Intel. On Tuesday (22/4) the previous days scouting trip paid off as we ended the day with 1 Wahoo, 1 Mahi, and 13 yellowfin. Charles and Dave are currently looking for extra rations of wasabi! On Wednesday, we had Sean and Evan aboard and stuck to the program searching for the tunas. It was a bit slower, but we still managed to catch 5 nice sized ‘hoos and 2 Tuna’s, one of which was 66lbs.


The following day we fished a short day with Mike and caught another 5 Wahoo’s. Speaking of Wahoo, both Capt Allen on ”DeMako” and Capt Blake on “Troubadour” have been doing pretty well on the edge with catches of 6 to 8 fish and it’s only a matter of time before we start to see double digit hauls and some nice large fish! We were back out on Friday with Quincy and Ricky and had a good spring day; 1 Wahoo, 7 yellowfin, and a mess of Ambers and Almaco Jacks. To make the day even more interesting, the Whales and Porpoises were out in full force. Between watching Whales breach, Quincy set his own personal best for Yellowfin and Wahoo, Sweet catch Quincy!

James, Thanks again for an awesome day. It was, honestly, the best day I have ever had out there. There were several firsts – the tuna jump, Wahoo’s “finning” as Hamish calls it, my biggest fish ever, the electric reel .. The boat is set up perfectly. I’m gushing here but seriously, that was idyllic and I am truly grateful. Look forward to fishing with you soon. Would love to take my boys out with you. Glenn Clinton (Quincy) Vice President, Underwriter IPC Re Limited

We finished the week with Robert and crew catching some nice tuna including a hot double of 55 and 49 pounds. Over the last couple days we had some productive trips with Ken’s first-ever offshore charter on Tuesday producing 7 yellowfin, a Blackfin, and a bunch of Ambers and Almaco Jacks. Yesterday (2/5) I was out with good buddy Sean Symonds and we struck gold again with 10 hefty Yellowfins and a 45lb Wahoo and arrived back in time for happy hour at Woody’s.


There you have it. The season officially started with great weather, great friends, and some decent fishing that was hard work at times, but we were nevertheless rewarded each day! As you can see, we have already had a busy start with the charters and the book is filling for May and June (Prime Time). Give me a call or drop an email and you can set aside some dates to get in on the action!!!!

See you out there!
James