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Thread: Sea of Abaco

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by murraywader View Post
    Head towards green turtle or great guana cay.
    Lots of youtube spearing videos up there, but that's probably at the upper range of my travel. I'm staying pretty far south of that. The crew is going to want to go to Nipper's at some point though, so I might be able to sneak in some time up there. I calculate about 25 statute miles from our house to Nippers.

    That's why I am kind of wondering about the area out to the east of Pete's (Little Harbor), or south end of Lynyard. I'm only about 12 miles from that reef down there.

    And of course, anywhere along the way between pubs. That's why I am wondering about the "inside". Can you find hogs, nassau under ledges and stuff on the inside? Are there reasonable patch reefs there that are worth jumping in on? I realize that there probably won't be any trophies on the inside, but my wife is an avid diver as well and only really cares about hogfish.

    They will probably let me head out to the ocean side a couple days, but on other days, I will probably need to be opportunistic and hit a few quick spots between bars. At least that is what I envision. Have any of you guys hunted around places like witches point, snake cay, etc?
    Last edited by jasonw; 06-26-2017 at 01:06 PM.

  2. #22
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    I am not a big diver/snorkeler, but I don't think you are going to find much around snake cay and witch point other than triggerfish. That current hauls ass through the wharf at Snake Cay.

    Last summer we hired a lady named Marina in Hopetown and she took us out for conch and lane snapper. Made conch salad on the boat, etc.
    DILLIGAF

  3. #23
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    There is a nice reef in front of Nippers, so take masks when y'all go there. I think most of the places you are looking for will be on outside, but there are tons of diving areas on inside. The problem you will have is....finding them. You might can find GPS numbers for some bigger reefs, but most are not marked so you kinda have to know the area. My suggestion is ask a local when you get there.

    I will be there the following week and will be going to Nippers & Pete's pub, and a few others. It is a great trip, so enjoy!

  4. #24
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    Cruisers guide is your friend

  5. #25
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    Yes, Cruisers guide to Abacos by Steve Dodge is a great book and a must if you are taking a boat. It has all GPS number and all other important info on boating in Abacos. I don't remember if it has numbers for reefs, but I will check and see

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by FHF View Post
    Yes, Cruisers guide to Abacos by Steve Dodge is a great book and a must if you are taking a boat. It has all GPS number and all other important info on boating in Abacos. I don't remember if it has numbers for reefs, but I will check and see
    I've got it. Definitely no "secret spots" on there. I'm not taking a boat, but we are renting a boat there. I'll have my own GPS with me.

  7. #27
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    For something different if you're gonna spend some time around Little Harbor.... Ask for someone to take to swim a bluehole in the pine forest.... Some really cool holes out there!
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by jasonw View Post
    I've got it. Definitely no "secret spots" on there. I'm not taking a boat, but we are renting a boat there. I'll have my own GPS with me.
    Anybody drops out holla and I will go. Been down to Green Turtle along time ago and not a whole lot going on and such but I could spend a month or 12. Reason I ain't been back. Might stay.
    Gettin old is for pussies! AND MY NEW TRUE people say like Capt. Tom >>>>>>>>>/
    "Wow, often imitated but never duplicated. No one can do it like the master. My hat is off to you DRDUCK!"

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by jasonw View Post
    I've got it. Definitely no "secret spots" on there. I'm not taking a boat, but we are renting a boat there. I'll have my own GPS with me.
    Be careful going "outside" in a rental boat. Locals will rat you out
    Them that don't know him won't like him, and them that do sometimes won't know how to take him

    He ain't wrong, he's just different, and his pride won't let him do things to make you think he's right

    They don't put Championship rings on smooth hands

  10. #30
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    I just got back from the Abacos on Friday. Had a good trip, but the crew that I was with wanted to do a lot more drinking than fishing. That being said, I did get to get in the water a few times. We killed several nassaus, a hog, white margate, a mutton and lost a few fish. Nothing really massive. The hog was probably the biggest fish we had around 10lbs. Found most of the nassaus on some of the low relief stuff between the cays (shallower channels), and the hog came from out on the coral heads in front of MOW. The muttons were basically all over, but hard to get close to. I had a 12 lb'er just at the edge of range and I fired the pole spear at him, but it didn't dig in far enough to engage the slip tip. Saw a couple of good blacks, but hard to catch up with. Really, it was about covering as much ground as possible and being opportunistic. Most of the fish we killed were in about 20-30'. Also, I did check out a wreck in the Sea of Abaco. Had some big triggers on it when I first got there. I thought they would stick around as I looked into the wreck for something more interesting, but they don't hang around long. Then, I started to circle the grass probably 20-30 yards outside of the wreck and saw a few more muttons. Again, hard to get close to. Seems like every fish in the area knows what a pole spear is.

  11. #31
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    How did you like the spear you bought?

  12. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
    How did you like the spear you bought?
    Gatku was what I went with. I've only have the cheapy yellow\orange one and the mako to compare to, but overall, I thought it was a good setup. I mean, it's no gun, but I felt pretty confident with it and killed some fish. I hunted with the 9' gatku and got my wife the 8'. There was once when I was diving on a grouper and when I loaded it, the dyneema pulled out of the band and I had to swap it out with her 8' for a second (she was on the boat). I ended up nicking the top of the fish. Not sure if it was because I was used to the 9' at that point, but that is what I am telling myself. Luckily, I always carry extra bands and was able to get mine back in action. The only thing I didn't like about it was after a few fish, the cable on my slip tip got kind of "curly q'ed" which resulted in it not working when I needed it. I shot a small black and made a good shot straight through the body. Slip tip didn't come off and he shook off. I think next time, I will just stick with the dyneema slip tip instead of the cable.

    What I did like about the spear:
    1) The balance was really good compared to the mako. I felt that the mako was end-heavy when "loaded", but the gatku remained balanced, weight wise.
    2) Generally it's lighter (which means less force on impact), but it's slimmer and seemed "fast".
    3) It was fairly easy to aim since you really only pull the band up about half the length of the shaft (i.e. when hand is on the grip, you still have about 3' of shaft out there which makes it easier to aim)
    4) It was well crafted and easy to change tips. I bought the flopper tips, slip tips, and paralyzer. I practiced with the floppers around the dock on mangroves and then switched over the slip tip when out hunting.

    Overall, I will confidently hunt with it again. I will probably pick up a couple more dyneema slip tips to have on hand though.

    PS, I did buy the "G-string" attachment, line holder, but didn't really use it. I found it easy enough to just load right before a dive.
    Last edited by jasonw; 07-10-2017 at 11:27 AM.

  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    alcohol helps talk me into pretty much anything...
    this one time at dental camp.......

  14. #34
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    ^haha

  15. #35
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    JABIII, you ever SCUBA\spear down here? My book of bottom fishing\diving numbers would make saltydog835 realize that he's rookie league... Let me know if you want to catch up on a trip this fall...

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