A-Fishing We Will Go
Ambler Isle
V and S
Sat 30 Apr 2011 22:04
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Although it was raining, grey and miserable outside, we
weighed anchor and headed out Conch Cay Cut to Exuma Sound. Sad goodbyes
followed us, many would leave on Sunday. Who knows when we will
return? We set our course for Calabash, Long Island. Jack and Judy
were eager for an ocean trip. We dragged three lines behind. Would
we ever start catching fish again? Halfway across, we hooked a wahoo, the
first ever on the Amber Isle. We got it up near the boat before it
jumped the hook and swam away. Disappointed, we re-rigged the line and
went on. An hour later we hooked a big mahi. It fought and fought,
repeatedly dragging out line and making us reel it in again and again.
Fishermen became exhausted from the fight. Finally it was landed and in
the boat. It was a 52', 25# female. Of course, it hit on the
pink and white lure, as had most of the mahi we'd caught so far. We'd
enjoy fresh mahi a few day, first just pan fried in olive oil, then maybe
concocted into mahi burgers. The rest would be frozen for another day.
But, no, WHAM!!!! Another fish knocking at the door. Although we were
in over 150' water, normally too deep for a barracuda, we'd hit one. You
already know about ciguatera, the toxin carried by overlarge reef fish.
This barracuda was not too big, nor was he living on a small reef. But
we'd eaten barracuda this month, and try to limit our intake of even the smaller
ones to 1-2 times per season. Catch and release was the motto of the day
for this one. But the fun of hooking 3 fishing, and fighting them was
great. Especially after such a fish "drought" we'd suffered for the past
month. This brought our fish count to 8 mahi for the
season. We eased into our anchorage at Calabash, Long Island,
dropped anchor and sat dumbfounded at the beauty of that wonderful place.
A big 6 legged sea star welcomed us back.
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