JetBoaters.net Bimini Fling July 9th to 14th 2018

[James R Whitten]

We’ll be sleeping in 14B so try and keep the noise down.

Nope. Gonna be no sleeping!

 

[Speedling]

Nope. Gonna be no sleeping!

I'm in 7Q so it'll be muffled. Oh wait.... I have 3 kids, sorry about that sleep thing!

 

[Water Girl]

JerseyYami has registered to captain PropLess with a crew of 3 adults and 3 children. They hail from the home port of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The crew is described as:

You can register for the event using the form at
https://jetboaters.net/forms/bimini-2018-registration-june-25th-to-30th.8/respond for June 25th to 30th
or
https://jetboaters.net/forms/bimini-2018-registration-july-9th-to-14th.6/respond for July 9th to 14th

Greetings! Towing out of Philly!

 

[Mainah]

I suck at fishing and am hoping that I can get a few pointers in Bimini this year. I would even love to try and catch Tuna as well as small stuff if that is possible. That said I have no idea what kind of rod/reel setup I will need for ocean fishing. Currently I have many open face lake bass setups but my guess is that those are insufficient for ocean fishing. Hoping someone can give me some info on what to get to outfit three people keeping in mind I don't want junk but also don't need top of the line. I know it is still early but I am that kind of guy that jumps on things when I see them and take the time to do the needed reading so I have half an idea of what I am doing.

 

[Andy S]

I suck at fishing and am hoping that I can get a few pointers in Bimini this year. I would even love to try and catch Tuna as well as small stuff if that is possible. That said I have no idea what kind of rod/reel setup I will need for ocean fishing. Currently I have many open face lake bass setups but my guess is that those are insufficient for ocean fishing. Hoping someone can give me some info on what to get to outfit three people keeping in mind I don't want junk but also don't need top of the line. I know it is still early but I am that kind of guy that jumps on things when I see them and take the time to do the needed reading so I have half an idea of what I am doing.

During the summer, fishing for decent size fish in Bimini is kind hit or miss, that is why all the big fishing tournaments are in the fall and winter as the fish are migrate back south to warmer waters. However, reef fishing is always good. For reef fishing you can use medium weight spinning rod/reel with 20# line, just make sure you buy saltwater gears. Frozen squid, which you can get at the Bimini Sands store, is good bait once thawed out. Also, thawed squid is a favorite food for the stingrays at Honeymoon Harbor.

 

[Bruce]

@Mainah, Finding that tuna is going to take time and effort. Most of the bigger fish are caught after time spent trolling.

I like to catch reef fish. For example yellowtail snapper are easy to catch and great eating.

Penn makes some good combos that are not redicilosly priced. I keep two penn spinning reels with 25 pound line and two old penn conventional reels with 80 pound line on the boat. Most of the time we only use the spinning reels.

 

[CraigAR]

Not sure what the regs are over there but here in the gulf you need to use circle hooks when reef fishing.

 

[D3nN1s]

Got booted from Condo 4b, apparently the previous owner sold that unit and the new owner is not renting it anymore? New room is going to be 1b

 

[Bruce]

Got booted from Condo 4b, apparently the previous owner sold that unit and the new owner is not renting it anymore? New room is going to be 1b

Both are on the water, no big deal.

 

[Bruce]

Not sure what the regs are over there but here in the gulf you need to use circle hooks when reef fishing.

Fishing regulations are posted at https://jetboaters.net/threads/preparing-for-bimini.3800/#fishing

Circle hooks are not required in the Bahamas but I like them and use them anyway. Just don’t try to set the hook.

 

[James R Whitten]

I'm wanting to go lobster spear fishing. Looking at picking up a Hawaiian sling spear.

 

[Andy S]

I'm wanting to go lobster spear fishing. Looking at picking up a Hawaiian sling spear.

Lobster are not in season while you are there, August 1st the season opens.

 

[robert843]

I'm wanting to go lobster spear fishing. Looking at picking up a Hawaiian sling spear.

If you do happen to spear a lobster accidentally just don't pull it out of the water and start screaming as loud as you can while all the locals watch it may cost you a few hot dogs isn't that correct @Ramblin Wreck

 

[Bruce]

I'm wanting to go lobster spear fishing. Looking at picking up a Hawaiian sling spear.

As others said, the season is closed. I would not buy a spear just for lobsters. They are widely available at all of the eating establishments. Some inexpensivly and boats may come by selling summer bugs that taste like lobster.

 

[James R Whitten]

That figures.

 

[newbote]

I suck at fishing and am hoping that I can get a few pointers in Bimini this year. I would even love to try and catch Tuna as well as small stuff if that is possible. That said I have no idea what kind of rod/reel setup I will need for ocean fishing. Currently I have many open face lake bass setups but my guess is that those are insufficient for ocean fishing. Hoping someone can give me some info on what to get to outfit three people keeping in mind I don't want junk but also don't need top of the line. I know it is still early but I am that kind of guy that jumps on things when I see them and take the time to do the needed reading so I have half an idea of what I am doing.

As everyone mentioned reef fishing/bottom fishing is the best way to catch fish - trolling is a lot more involved not to mention difficult to catch any fish. If you want a versatile real that is not too heavy I would pick up a few 4000 size reels - penn fierce, shimono Sedona, or even the cabela salt striker if you want to go slightly cheaper is a decent reel for the money. I would not buy anything else cheaper then these. Like everyone else mentioned just use some squid or even put out some chum and you will catch fish.

Also - the dolphin run the Gulf Stream in the summer. I will have a similar sized spinning reel rigged with a flutter style jig on the trip over and back. If you see birds diving or a weed line there may be dolphin hanging around. It would take a bit of luck to find one but they are around that time of year.

 

[Mainah]

Thanks for all of the replies. The knowledge sharing here is great. Guess I will have to book a sport fishing charter later in life to catch the big tuna. I have ordered some circle hooks for my tackle boxes. I am considering a 10ft collapsible rod and reel combo I found on Amazon. I get that the quality may not be great but I love that it will stow easily and I can just keep it on the boat full time. I don't fish a lot so I am wondering if this will suffice for reef fishing while in Bimini. I know that I will also need to purchase good line.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074W11HWP/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I2521BXJ9OS5DX&colid=3TVH4ZJW91LWP&psc=1

Thoughts?

 

[Andy S]

Thanks for all of the replies. The knowledge sharing here is great. Guess I will have to book a sport fishing charter later in life to catch the big tuna. I have ordered some circle hooks for my tackle boxes. I am considering a 10ft collapsible rod and reel combo I found on Amazon. I get that the quality may not be great but I love that it will stow easily and I can just keep it on the boat full time. I don't fish a lot so I am wondering if this will suffice for reef fishing while in Bimini. I know that I will also need to purchase good line.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074W11HWP/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I2521BXJ9OS5DX&colid=3TVH4ZJW91LWP&psc=1

Thoughts?

For occasional saltwater fishing, it seems like a nice setup.

 

[AndyD]

Got booted from Condo 4b, apparently the previous owner sold that unit and the new owner is not renting it anymore? New room is going to be 1b

Shit! I'm in 4b for the June trip. Guess I need to call and update.... surprised they haven't reached out yet

 

[AndyD]

Shit! I'm in 4b for the June trip. Guess I need to call and update.... surprised they haven't reached out yet

Just called and we got bumped to 1B too.