Timmy Long (left) and Capt. Allen Mills hold up an 89-pound wahoo. The seventh annual Bluewater Shoot Out out of Fernandina Beach, Florida is this Saturday, May 10.
During May, trolling for big game at the Gulf Stream usually provides a fantastic bite. This is the time of year the big-game reels are screaming with yards of line streaming off due to the bite of a huge wahoo, high-flying dolphin or a bruiser of a tuna. Now is the time to be trolling at the break.
May is the ultimate month to be big-game trolling the Gulf Stream. This is why Capt. Allen Mills chose this the month for the seventh annual Bluewater Shoot Out.
Capt. Allen expects light west winds for Saturday's tournament. The captains meeting will be 6 p.m. Friday at the Amelia Island Yacht Basin. Tournament begins Saturday with vessels exiting the St. Marys Inlet at 3 a.m. Fishing begins at 6 a.m. and the lines must be out of the water by 3 p.m. Weigh-in begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Fernandina Harbor Marina. Capt. Allen welcomes you to stop by and watch the fishing teams weigh in their catch.
This week, anglers have had excellent success fishing the Gulf Stream. Capt. Greg Simmons aboard the Ringleader reported large dolphin and wahoo being caught.
The same success should occur this weekend if the weather prediction holds. Hopefully, marlin and sailfish also will be tagged and released this weekend.
Many of our local anglers choose to troll medium to large ballyhoo with skirts. Sea witches, Islanders, C&H Flames and Wahoo feathers are some of the most popular lures to troll ballyhoo this time of year. You may rig with a double or single hook; that is a personal preference. Another popular method for trolling is using a wire line with a No. 3 planer to keep your bait deep with the other lines trolled on the surface.
I used to spend a lot of time at the break, trolling at approximately 4 to 6 knots, depending on how rough the seas I'm trolling are on any particular day. If the seas are sloppy, you may have to troll just a bit slower.
To win a tournament, you must have a crew that is in tune with each other. When that bruiser strikes, each crew member in the cockpit must have a task, know their task well and get it done quickly and carefully. Lines must be reeled in quickly to prevent tangles, the deck must be secured, and the fish must be gaffed efficiently and carefully. You also need an experienced boat handler at the wheel. Whatever your job, you must work together like a fine-tuned crew. Be prepared and make every strike count.
By all means be careful. There are too many ways an angler can be seriously injured at the break, and it is a long run back to the Fernandina Harbor Marina with an injured crew member on board.
George Lawrence and crew aboard the X-treme are the team to beat this year. They are the winning team from last year's tournament with a first-place sailfish. Good luck and good trolling!
Until next time ... Capt. Jim.