REPORTS FROM THE RIP: Deserted Islands and sea grapes

Matt with a 100 pound class Yellowfin tuna

Deserted uninhabited islands always bring to mind visions of castaways and head hunters. We saw none of them at Samana Cay. But I will get to that in a minute. On Friday, we left from Turks and Caicos. We had 15 miles to go to get to Samana Cay, Bahamas. ( not to be confused with Samana Dominican Republic. ) We stopped to fish along Mayaguanna island and off the easter point we found 500 birds working above a school of Tuna. We had not had the lines in the water 10 minutes when a big Yellowfin Tuna piled on to a long bait. As the rest of the spread was cleared, the tuna steadily peeled line off the 50 wide Tiagra reel. Matt had only the rod butt gimbal out. So he began the fight with the rod still in the holder. After a bit the fight dictated that the rod be take out of the holder and that Matt fight it stand up style. He did great till the last 100 feet. Then the fish started the classic tuna death spiral. The death spin is when they just sit straight down and do a death spiral. A big circle. The angler normally only getting a few inches of line at a time. in this case, it took Matt 40 minutes. Matt is a strong guy, but this fish kicked his ass. Im glad he was on the rod and not me.
After that fish we made our way NE to Samana Cay. The seas were calm so we trolled a better part of the afternoon. The Se point of Samana Cay provide fruitless. But as I trolled up the island towards rudder cut, I found some birds working above some small skipjack tuna. Just as I got to the birds Something piled onto a St Thomas Prowler that matt was dragging short behind the boat. It was a very large fish. By the time the rest of the lines were in, The line went slack and the fish was gone. I doubt it was a tuna, If it was it would have been a monster. There was no damage to the skirt on the lune so that rules out giant wahoo. My guess is it was a Blue marlin. Oh well

Sandy Point, San Salvador YES the water really is that color

As late afternoon approached, We made our way into Atwood harbor at Samana Cay. The entrance to that harbor is aptly named " Propeller Cut". It is a tiny zig zag cut through a treacherously shallow reef. Add to that the sparkling clear water that makes it look like the water is only feet deep, and even the most experienced captains butt will pucker. Once into the harbor, the water is 20 feet deep and crystal clear. We anchored the boat and enjoyed the scene. Samana Is completely uninhabited. The beach is beautiful. Although we did not go ashore, it appears to be quite nice. If you stare at the beach there long enough you can only imagine what it would be like to be marooned there. It was also hard not to sit there as the sun was setting and imagine you are the first person to ever see this island. It was very beautiful and tranquil. Then just as Matt and I relaxed with an adult beverage and the small gulls were flitting around behind the boat, a sea hawk swooped in and snatched a gull out of the air with an explosion of feathers. Wow what a way to break the serenity. The rest of the evening was quiet.
The next morning, Matt pulled the anchor and we deep dropped on 700 to 1200 feet for a bit. We caught some Yellow eye snapper and a yellow edge grouper. it was a bit slow so we made our way to San Salvador. It was only 60 miles away so we trolled some of the way. We did not see a billfish but did find a few Dorado.
There are about 8 boats here so far for the season. Fishing has been hit or miss from the talk on the dock. Two days ago there were a few Blue marlin and a few white marlin caught but yesterday was slow. Like one of the bahamian captains said to me this morning. " It be turning on here in da next week" He says that " Da sea grapes ah still on da bush an not quite ripe as yet. When dey be ripe da marlins dey be coming" ..........Hmmmmm? I guess we will see!