By: Jim Weix
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is the time of year that Treasure Coast anglers often make a fishing trip to the Bahamas. The Stuart Sailfish Club is already planning several flotillas over.
Jim Hummel, of the Mad Hatter, makes several trips each year. His normal destination is Rosie’s Place, on Grand Cay, which is about 108 nautical miles from Stuart. Rosie’s has a marina, fuel, and even cottages that you can stay in. There is also a small restaurant and store, but bringing your own food is strongly suggested.
Most of the trips I have taken with Jim result a full fish box every day. A recent trip with Jim, his son Jamie, and Stuart area residents, Jim Foth, Tom Russell, and Jim Grzybowski resulted in a box full of dolphin, wahoo, mutton snapper, yellow eye snapper, grouper, or yellow tail snapper each day.
However, it was blue marlin that made this trip exceptionally memorable. I caught my first blue marlin on this trip, and it was a nice easy one, as it weighed only about 160 pounds.
That was not the case with the one that Jim “Griz” Grzybowski, of Palm City, had on however. This monster hit the bait and showed us all 600-plus pounds of himself!
Jim battled the blue marlin for over an hour, before it finally tail wrapped itself. This occurred when the fish suddenly came out of the water and apparently decided to try and get onboard.
Needless to say, there was a lot of screaming “Go faster!” as everyone ducked for cover. I think it would be safe to bet that Grzybowski, who was strapped to the fighting chair, was wondering if this was how things would end. You can see it at: http://bit.ly/1Li8dpb.
It was an exciting trip and our freezers have plenty of fish. We use a guide named Curtis Russell. A knowledgeable guide can insure plenty of fish and save a lot of time looking for them. Curtis can be reached at 1-242-353-1354.
Publisher’s Note: Jim Weix is the Broker/Owner of The Real Estate Company, Inc., located on Colorado Ave., in Stuart. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Stuart Sailfish Club. Many anglers also know him as the Weigh Master at various fishing tournaments. He can be reached at jimweix@jimweix.com.
