Time 17:21 local
Lat: N 22° 19.8′
Long: W 73° 28.1′
Abrahams Bay, Mayaguana, Bahamas

We are safely anchored in Abrahams Bay on the south side of Mayaguana. The sun is setting, the water is gin clear and flat calm, and there are dolphins playing around the boat. Pretty perfect.

We had an uneventful trip last night sailing when we had wind, motoring slowly when we didn’t. We arrived off the northeast corner of Mayaguana at sunrise as planned. Most of the morning we spent fishing while. waiting for the sun to get high enough in the sky that navigating into the shallows around the reef by eye was easier. On our first pass by the south west corner of the island we had a strike on one of the deep lines. We got the boat stopped, and Karen took care of the other lines while I held on and watched my line disappear off the reel–very, very fast.

Nothing to do but hold on as 1000 yards of 50 pound test line scream out into the ocean. The amount on the spool kept getting smaller and smaller. I have never had a fish take all of my line before, and this one looked like it was setting up to do just that. Seeing no evidence that this freight train was even thinking about slowing down, I tightened the drag, risking breaking the line, but hoping to turn him around. Nothing changed… so I tightened it some more… still no change. Now I am down to the last 50 yards or less of line, when everything stops and goes slack. He’s gone. Even empty, reeling in all the line from the spool is tiring. When I get to the end, there is the whole lure and rig, slightly chewed up, but otherwise none the worse for wear.

What was it? I have no idea. I have caught really large wahoo, and they are that fast, but have no where near that much stamina. A big billfish? Or large tuna? All possible, but it will just stay “the one that got away.”

Later in the morning we caught a small albacore, and a skipjack tuna. Fresh fish for dinner!