We have begun our migration south and east from Cape Eleuthera We made a short stop to anchor for the night off of Cat Island, and then proceeded to sail the 75 miles south to Georgetown.

As is our normal procedure when weather allows, as soon as we cleared the reefs and got out into open water, we set our fishing lines. We were targeting wahoo specifically because we find them especially tasty, and this area has been quite productive at delivering them for us.

We had not gone very far, sailing along at 6 knots, when the drag on our biggest rod started to scream. We furled the genoa to slow down, and headed off the wind a bit. By the time I got back to the rod, a LOT of line had peeled off the reel. It was quickly apparent that this was a very big, strong fish.

I had Karen break out the harness that transfers the pull of the rod to my back, instead of just my arms. This rod is spooled with 80 lb test line, and when a large fish is running drag out, there is a LOT of pressure on the rod.

Although the initial run was a fast as I’d expect from a large wahoo, the rest of the fight was very different. Wahoo make 3, maybe 4, really fast runs, and then they are spent. This fight settled into a powerful tug of war. The fish dove deep, and every time I’d get him up close to the surface, he would race down again in a very non-Wahoo like fashion. Each dive became shorter as he tired. And a good thing, too. My arms were getting a bit wobbly!

About 20 minutes after the first contact, I get him close enough that we can see, and my first impression is a long thin fish with blue stripes. At first, I am sure I have a HUGE wahoo, but the tail looks too big… Wait… wahoo don’t have a dorsal fin like that… And it has a bill! It’s a Striped Marlin!

Now most fisherman have a bucket list of fish they hope–someday–to catch. If you fish in the freshwater lakes of North America, it might be a muskie, the largest member of the pike family. Large, rare and hard to catch. For most salt water sport anglers, marlin are at the top of this category. Striped marlin are small as far as this family of apex predators go, topping out at “only” about 400 pounds. The black marlin tops out well over 1500 lbs.

This is our first marlin, so a fishing milestone for Harmonie. I’d guess 7 or 8 feet in length, and 150 to 200 lbs. Although they are very good eating, in the Bahamas all members of the billfish family must be released. It takes us some time to solve the riddle of how to get him unhooked in the water, but we eventually get it sorted out and off he swam.

Every fisherman will want to know what we caught this fish on…

Big baits, big fish! This is a lure out of Australia, a Nomad Minnow DTX 220. A deep diving, beast of a plug. The marlin was caught on a slightly different color, Purple and pink, not the black and purple in the photo. It’s become our goto for wahoo although we have hooked mahi-mahi and tuna on them as well.

While I have known that these lures are used by people specifically targeting marlin, for some reason it never really occurred to me that we might hook one.

Are there more fish on my bucket list? You bet… a swordfish and any of the large, deep-water groupers. I reserve the right to add to the list at anytime!

Georgetown

If you have followed our travels, you might remember that Georgetown tends to be a bit too “people-y” for us. Right now there are over 400 boats here in the harbor. People come here for the social activities, with many staying most of the season. Sort of the very reasons we tend to leave this anchorage as quickly as we can!

We had a chance today to visit the grocery store here in town which is small, but well stocked. Prices are quite high, but not wildly so for the Bahamas. The supply boat arrived yesterday, so the staff was busy restocking the produce section.

From here we will visit some of the uninhabited islands in the far eastern reaches of the Bahamas that are more our speed. If we find a weather window suitable, we will be back here to restock, and jump off for Puerto Rico.