Abaco Offshore Fishing Forecast – September 2011

MJ Lowe with a 19.5 pound hog fish.

Chris Higgs, Harbour Master at Abaco Beach Resort at Boat Harbour, reports wahoo are still being caught off and on, but the dolphin bite has slowed significantly. If you are serious about catching dolphin, don’t fish until you find a weedline or other floating structure. If they are around that’s where they will be. There are scattered blue marlin catches still being reported and the occasional blackfin tuna. September seems to be the traditional lull in the offshore fishing calendar. As a result, many visitors to The Abacos switch gears and spend their time reef and bottom fishing for table fare, with snapper, grouper, triggerfish and yellowtail being the primary catches.

Cliff Bootle from Treasure Cay Resort and Marina shared the same general thoughts; however, he reported that many of their guests are actually trading rods and reels for spears and doing more fishing the Bahamian way. So, rather than sitting in the boat and waiting for a bite, they’re under the sea in full pursuit. Cliff also shared an interesting story about a guest arriving at Treasure Cay Resort at the end of July with a blue marlin tied to the dive platform of the boat. Seems they were returning from a tournament in Bermuda and were trolling along when they hooked up and caught her. Forty hours travel time later, to everyone’s amazement, they pulled into Treasure Cay Marina with the blue, still in intact with no shark bites. She weighed in at 927 pounds. Estimates are that she would have weighed in at over 1,000 pounds had she been weighed shortly after being caught.

Captain Perry Thomas of Marsh Harbour is also reporting that reef fishing and deep dropping are the way to go if you are heading to The Abacos over the next several weeks. He also said the action will begin to pick up toward the latter part of September.

Forecast compiled by CAM Staff.

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