Travel-Fishing Day to Rose Island

Ambler Isle
V and S
Sat 30 May 2009 01:04
25:03.90N 77:13.40W
Exiting the Norman's Cay Cut, we zig-zagged north for 5 hours. Karen and I
sat on the bow under the shade umbrella, enjoying the light breeze. She
pointed to birds, a good sign of fish present. Next, she saw a big Mahi
swim along side the boat at the surface. In no time we heard, "Fish on!" We
had triple hits! As we pulled the first fish in, the others got unhooked
and got away. Valt gaffed our fish and a huge bull mahi leaped out of the
water striking our hooked mahi.. Was he trying to help it escape? Or
trying to steal the bait from it's mouth? Who knows? Angry, he bit another
hooked line, but broke the line before we could land him. Wow, what
exciting fishing. Several; other mahi were swimming around us. In no time
we hooked another Mahi and brought it in. By now it was time to start our
run to the south side of Rose Island, some 30 miles away. We got in at
5:00pm and anchored just as a rain cloud dumped on us. The night was very
rolly from the ocean surge. By morning we were ready to move. We went
through yet another cut and fished past Paradise Island, home of the
Atlantis Resort. What a sight! No luck this time, so we anchored on the
north side of Rose Island and were able to snorkle on the nearby reefs. As
soon we we entered the water, we saw an abandoned 100' anchor chain and
anchor. David and Valt amused themselves bringing it up. Several tour
boats came and put snorkllers in the water. They also had jet
skis,something we have seldom seen in the Bahamas. It was noisy, but fun to
watch all the activity. David dived in from the back of the boat and went back in for more snorkeling, and soon
Valt and I joined him, there was so much to see. Angel Fish, lobster, trumpet fish, jolthead porgys, and more. The last tour boat pulled
away and we started supper. The only other boat in the anchorage was a 112'
sailboat from New Zealand. They came over in their dinghy to say hi. It
was the owner and four 20 year old women. One dived into the water and swam
to the Amber Isle, insisting she had to shake our hands. The girls were all
British, and enjoying their first day in the Bahamas. They could not stay
out of the water, rolling off the dinghy and laughing. What fun!
We were sad that David and Karen would leave in the morning.