AnAngler’sJournal

By Mark ambert

Deep dropping for yellow eyed snapper.

West End Bahamas

West End is a magical place and just a stone’s throw from either Palm Beach or Jupiter Inlets. In fact – it’s the closest Bahamian destination from southeast Florida. At just 70 miles from Jupiter and 66 miles from Palm Beach, in a fast boat on a calm day, the one way is easily doable in an hour and a half. And with pre-customs now available online, it’s a breeze to check in and fish for the weekend. June and July are the transition months to try your luck fishing the Bahamas as the weather settles into predictable summer patterns. We just completed such a trip combining a bit of everything. Fishing and snorkeling in some of the most bountiful and pristine waters within reach of our coastline. Here is my journal of the trip.

Every excursion begins with a trip to Costco. Wednesday evening was spent getting prepped for my Bahamas weekend with these guys — Brian Meade, Brian Nisula and Rob Christoffers. We were heading out Friday with expectations of mutton and yellow tail fishing, deep dropping for yellow eyed snapper and some snorkeling for hogfish. What’s not to LOVE!

I was the “new guy” on the trip and with a very experienced crew. The last new guy got booted for buying and bringing seaweed sandwiches from Costco — lol. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake, so lots of goodies were purchased. Everything bought was divvied up cost wise and four ways.

It’s the night before and I can’t sleep. To say I’m excited is an understatement. Wish I had just slept on the boat. Woohoo and yeehaw!!! Can’t freakin wait!!!

Thursday dawns bright and clear with perfect sea conditions. The tunes are cranking, and we leave Palm Beach Inlet quickly behind us. Our chariot for the trip is a 37’ Intrepid CC with triple Mercs. We are absolutely flying and arrive in a little over an hour and a half. With a quick customs check-in at West End Marina and a fuel top off we are ready for our twentyminute ride to check into the Blue Marlin Resort and secure our slip, unload unneeded gear and head out fishing!

Day One - Our first day which was mostly a travel day is now in the books and we had a blast! Did a bit of everything — snorkeling, spear fishing using a Hawaiian sling, rod and reel fishing and we stayed out on the water until 10pm.

We had a cooler full of good eats and smiles all around. After a quick meal and shower it was off to bed. It’s days like these that make for great friendships and forgetting about things that really don’t matter. The highlight for me was running the reef at 40mph by the light of the moon and trusting these guys completely. We will be fishing friends forever. And we caught a ton of fish! nOte – Please read up on and understand all current fishing and diving regulations in place beforehand. For example – the Hawaiian sling is the only approved spearfishing device. Use of scuba gear or an air compressor to harvest fish, conch, crawfish and other marine animals is prohibited. Day twO - Friday dawns and we get an early start. Today was the day the gremlins came. For everything that went right yesterday — it went equally wrong today. From storm fronts chasing us north and off our chosen fishing grounds to engine, steering and anchoring issues — we were tested every step of the way. This is what makes or breaks a team, and you find out a lot about who you’re with. Suffice to say we pulled thru the difficulties because we came together. We ended the day with a full cooler and making the most amazing meal including a BBQ lunch on the boat! Dinner included homemade conch fritters and cero mackerel ceviche — everything fresh cooked and caught!

These guys are like brothers now. Can’t wait for tomorrow! Day three - Sharks are everywhere today and we spend the day on the move. Almost everything caught got eaten. We finally got into a cooler full of fish by deep dropping in a thousand plus feet of water. It was my first time using electric reels.

Glad we figured it out and had our best fishing day of the trip. We caught a bunch of different species including yellow eyed snapper which I’d never caught before. For tonight’s dinner we had battered and fried strawberry grouper — it was delicious!

Heading for home tomorrow and will be sorry to leave but happy to see my home port and my fam.

Day Four - It’s Sunday and our final day. We decided to just head for home port due to continued electrical problems. We passed many promising weed lines on the way, but safety and prudence come first.

I’m home now from the Bahamas and this is what’s for dinner. My first ever yellow eyed snapper! Even though they were caught in the Bahama’s these are a cold-water fish living over a thousand feet under the ocean. It’s 60 degrees down there and the diet? Fresh shrimp and squid all day long. This fish is as tasty as it gets and my wife’s new favorite!

The trip is a resounding success and absolutely amazing. Thank you, Brian, Brian and Rob, for sharing an amazing