We left Royal Island early in the morning for the 10hr trip to the Abacos through the deep water of the Northeast Passage where the Mahi-Mahi live, feeding on flying fish and other sealife.
The sailing was slow going 3-4kts as the wind was directly behind us and less than 10 knots. Eventually we had to start the engine and motor, resulting in a 6 k speed, ideal for trolling.
Within an hour we had a fish on the line, on our blue and white lure which simulates a flying fish. It was this large bull Mahi. He measures over 56 in from nose to tail tip - the largest I have caught. Weighed about 40 lbs or so.
I had just finished filleting the bull Mahi and thrown the carcass overboard when Sue yelled we had another fish on the other line. This one did not fight or dive, it floated on the surface and, we initially thought we had hooked the carcass of the first fish, but as we pulled it in we could see it was another Mahi. This is a female, probably the mate of the male we had just caught. We caught it on a yellow and green lure simulating a squid.
Note the green bottle on the deck, that is our spray bottle of alcohol (usually cheap gin or vodka) that we use to tranquilize the fish when we get them onboard. We lost it overboard while landing this second mahi, and had to do a man (bottle) overboard drill while getting this fish onboard. Since we didn't have a dedicated crewmember to keep a visual on the bottle we lost sight of it and figured it was lost (better it than the mahi) but, once we got back on course for the Abacos, there was the bottle in front of us on our route. Scooped it up with our crab net and we were back in business.
I cut the fillets off the fish, then Sue finished them up removing the skin. Next time we may just cut some of the fillets into large steaks and grill them with the skin still on them.
We now have multiple meals of mahi-mahi onboard in the freezer and will bring some back
to Yorktown with us. And still have several days of fishing opportunities in the Gulf Stream along the way home, although last year we never caught a fish after leaving the Bahamas.
By dinner time we had arrived at Little Harbor, Abacos. After several days of light winds it was no trouble motoring in through the cut and to the anchorage.
At Little Harbor, Pete's Pub is the place to congregate and we dinghied over for a hogfish sandwich and Kalik beer. Back to resort prices but the food was great and beer cold. Its on to Hopetown and Marsh Harbor next.
