# Bimini, Pocket, Chub Cay Report April 3-7



## Head Kned (Mar 21, 2011)

I sent my boat down to Miami for a Bahamas trip that we have been planning for some time. We decided to tag along with another boat and crew that we met on another Forum. This report will probably be over detailed, but I wanted to share my experience with anyone else who might want to do the same trip. 

Wednesday the 3rd: We landed in Miami at 8:30 and had an SUV waiting on us. My boat was at Rickenbacker Marina by Key Biscayne. We hit Publix and got all our provisions on the way. Got to the boat and loaded and prepped her and were under way by 11:30. Hit the live bait guy on the way out, and out Government Cut we went. We pulled into Bimini at 1:30. Cleared customs and Immigration by 2:30. We had our spread set in front of Bimini just after three. We pulled baits down to Cat Cay and back and picked up one nice Cow 25 lbs or so. We got back to the dock at 6 and hung out and explored the island. 

Thursday the 4th: We pushed off for the Berry Islands at 7am. We ran the Bank to the South of Bimini and were in 10 ft of water the whole time. We cruised at about 40. We went straight to the pocket, and after 70 miles we were there. There were about 10 Sportfishers working it. We got our Dredges out and set up our spread and immediately saw it was going to be a long day. Very bad scattered weeds and though we had the needed SE wind for the Pocket to turn on, it was blowing about 18 knots and it was tough to say the least. Even to big guys were getting tossed around. We saw 2 boats hook up to billfish. Absolut Joy, a 65 or so Jerrett Bay (I think), fought what looked to be a nice fish for over an hour. The next day we confirmed it was a blue they released. But after getting beat up pretty bad and only getting Mahi we called it a little early and ran to Great Harbor where we had the house rented. Note: if you want to fish the Pocket stay in Chub not Great Harbor. It was a 30 mile run each day. 

Friday the 5th: We woke to Thunderstorms and sat around the house. By 11 it cleared and we decided to fish the Stirrup Cays by great Harbor. We got nothing on the troll. We did some bottom dropping and picked up Yellowtail, and nice Scamp, and a Huge Mutton Snapper. Called it after we got chased in by a storm around 5.

Saturday the 6th: Woke to a beautiful day. Got to the pocket by 8:30, the wind had shifted out of the North and completely shut the bite down. There was one other Sportfisher in there along with us and the other boat we were staying with. Worked hard all morning with nothing to show. The north wind pushed dirty water into the pocket over night. We pulled into Chub Cay Marina for lunch. What a place, there were some serious fishing boats in there. We saw Whoo Dat anchored up. I talked to a mate and they were getting ready for the summer in the gulf. However fishing had been slow for them too. They had only one Blue release since February. Ate lunch grabbed some gas and headed out. We heard some chatter about some weedlines in clean water East of Chub so we went to check it out. Found the lines and picked up some more Mahi. No bills to be seen. Called it and got back to Great Harbor at dark. 

Here are pics of the outside Chub and the Marlin statue in the Marina.















Sunday the 7th: We pushed out of Great Harbor at 7 am on a course for Bimini. We ran the bank back it was 88 miles and did that in 2 and half hours. We got a little fuel in Bimini and pushed out of Bimini headed to Miami at 10:20. We used Buoy Weather for our forecasting and they were a little off. they were calling for 4ft swell at 7 seconds, these were more like 6+ at about 7-8sec. So it was not bad, but I have never run swells like that, and until I realized it how to run them I was a little puckered. But we were able to run 30 mph and pulled into Government Cut at 12:10. We got the boat packed away and we were off. 

It was a great trip and great experience. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to do it. The Bohemian people are great and it is truly a beautiful place. 

I apologize for the lack of pics. We did not take that many. I will post more as my crew sends them.


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Great report


----------



## aquatic argobull (Mar 2, 2009)

Nice. Love boating to Bimini. We took the boat from Boca Raton for diving and lobstering and it's always a great time.


----------



## cliff k (Oct 1, 2007)

great report!


----------



## SouthAlabamaSlayer (Oct 13, 2011)

That is some blue water! Great report, hate to hear you didn't catch more.


----------

