By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com I can’t think of too many outings more fun in winter than going patch fishing off Islamorada. While you are almost certain …
Bimini Big Game Club’s New Year’s Three Peat Package Includes Free Room and Free Airfare
18 Dec 201011:45 PM
Get your New Year’s Game On at the legendary Bimini Big Game Club. Get yourself and your friends to our “New Years party at the end of the world” in the original party town, Alice Town.
Got plans? Change them!! Bring the party with you! Have we got an offer for you! We call it the New Years Three Peat Package, because we love those Miami Heat…
Book three rooms for a minimum of four nights, checking in anytime between Christmas and New Year Eve, and we’ll give you one of the rooms free! And, there’s more! There’s also 2-for-1 airfare…now, getting to Bimini is as cheap as a drive to Key West!
Take charge. Get your friends off the couch. Get your Game On…at the Big Game Club. Guaranteed more fun and less money than staying at home stateside, and no risk of a late night run in with the law!
Join us New Year’s Eve for the 1st Annual Bimini Boat Parade and Pool Party. Cruise the harbor with the Scuba Radio Mermaids on our 60′ twin deck party machione, M/V Bimini Blue. Then, join us poolside for live music by Mango Man, and drink specials till midnight when we ring in the New Year.
On New Years Day, its Rum Bloody Marys and football – all the games, all day long.
For all the details and to book your group’s Ultimate New Year’s Three Peat Package, call the Big Game Club today at 800-867-4764.
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![](mailto:?subject=Bimini Big Game Club’s New Year’s Three Peat Package Includes Free Room and Free Airfare&body=Get your New Year's Game On at the legendary <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a>. Get yourself and your friends to our "New Years party at the end of the world" in the original party town, Alice Town.
Got plans? Change them!! Bring the party with you! Have we got an offer for you! We call it the New Years Three Peat Package, because we love those Miami Heat...
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/drink.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-380" title="New Year's Party, Bimini Style!" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/drink.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="366" /></a>
Book three rooms for a minimum of four nights, checking in anytime between Christmas and New Year Eve, and we'll give you one of the rooms free! And, there's more! There's also 2-for-1 airfare...now, getting to Bimini is as cheap as a drive to Key West!
Take charge. Get your friends off the couch. Get your Game On...at the Big Game Club. Guaranteed more fun and less money than staying at home stateside, and no risk of a late night run in with the law!
Join us New Year's Eve for the <a title="New Year’s Boat Parade & Pool Party, Bimini Style!" href="http://guyharveyoutpostnews.com/2010/12/09/new-years-boat-parade-pool-party-bimini-style/" target="_blank">1st Annual Bimini Boat Parade and Pool Party</a>. Cruise the harbor with the Scuba Radio Mermaids on our 60' twin deck party machione, <a title="The Big Game Club’s Name That Dive Boat Competition is Over! It’s…Bimini Blue!" href="http://guyharveyoutpostnews.com/2010/10/15/the-big-game-club%e2%80%99s-name-that-dive-boat-competition-is-over-it%e2%80%99s-bimini-blue/" target="_blank">M/V Bimini Blue</a>. Then, join us poolside for live music by Mango Man, and drink specials till midnight when we ring in the New Year.
On New Years Day, its Rum Bloody Marys and football - all the games, all day long.
For all the details and to book your group's Ultimate New Year's Three Peat Package, call the Big Game Club today at 800-867-4764. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/bimini-big-game-clubs-new-years-three-peat-package-includes-free-room-and-free-airfare/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Follow the Yellow Brick Road&body=<img class=" size-medium wp-image-3226 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/p1010298.jpg?w=225" alt="P1010298" width="225" height="300" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
I can't think of too many outings more fun in winter than going patch fishing off Islamorada.
While you are almost certain to catch big numbers of yellowtail snapper, plenty of other species either hang out or pass through these miniature ecosystems at the same time.
On a late December outing with captain Greg Eklund and mate Cory Nelson on the charterboat Cloud Nine out of Bud n' Mary's Marina, our group of four anglers boated nearly 40 yellowtail and gray snapper, a handful of cero mackerel, and the broad head of a big red grouper that got cut in half by a suspected shark. We also released about dozen and half undersized mutton snapper. We couldn't lower our baits into the current without getting a hit.
"Yellowtail is one of the most important species we have," said Eklund, a 21-year veteran captain. "They're delicious. abundant, and fun to catch."
Check, check and check.
The fishing grounds Eklund chose was a sandy plain in the ocean off Islamorada about 20 feet deep with scattered patches of coral reefs to the north and south. He dropped the Cloud Nine's anchor in the sand up-current of the live bottom.
"You don't want to damage the reef by anchoring on it," Eklund explained. "You don't want to damage your tackle on the bottom and lose fish on the reef. You bring the fish to you."
Nelson deployed a chum bag on the transom and prepared a bucket full of raw oats mixed with the oily fish parts. For bait, Cloud Nine had brought live shrimp threaded on 1/4-ounce knock-off Hook Up jigs.
"Live shrimp is a very effective bait in wintertime because a lot of shrimp are going under the bridges," Eklund said, referring to the spans dotting U.S. 1 that separate the ocean from shallow Florida Bay waters.
The captain said fishing for yellowtail with live shrimp on the main reef tract further offshore doesn't work as well as it does on the patches because the fish aren't used to seeing them in wintertime. Most of those migrating crustaceans get picked off by predators long before they make it to the open ocean. Live pilchards, he said, are the preferred bait in deeper waters.
The captain tossed out a cloud of oats and chum from the stern of the boat, waited a few beats, then sent out another one. Within a few minutes, he pronounced, " I can see them; they're swarming."
Flashes of dingy yellow appeared in the green chum slick as Eklund baited my jig with a live shrimp. I lowered it into the water, watching for the line to start zipping through the rod guides. It didn't take long.
"You're on," Eklund said.
I slammed the bail of the reel closed, and came up tight on a feisty fish. It even made the drag sing a little. Within a minute or two, I swung a 14-inch yellowtail over the transom.
My fishing companions--Bud n' Mary's owner captain Richard Stanczyk, tackle shop manager Stephen Byrd, and North Carolina charterboat captain Dave Peck--all joined the action, which was constant and frenzied for several hours. Mixed in with the tails was a handful of mangrove snapper; quite a few muttons too small to keep; and several ceros. A heavy bottom outfit yielded the partial grouper.
The weather was bumpy the day we fished, so we pretty much had the area to ourselves. No commercial boats plied the area for yellowtail because NOAA Fisheries had closed that fishery Oct. 31, projecting that the total annual catch limit of about 1.6 million pounds would be reached. Commercial fishing re-opened on Jan. 1.
Yellowtail is considered a success story by both fishers and fisheries managers. Unlike some grouper/snapper species, the stock is not in trouble from overfishing.
Eklund said part of the reason is all the chumming that goes on in the area.
"It's like a small farm," he said. "[Yellowtail] will gorge themselves on chum, then go to the rocks and regurgitate and it feeds other fish."
We scored a cooler full before noon, and I went home with plenty of five-star entree fare to serve at holiday feasts.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/follow-the-yellow-brick-road/){kind=link}
![](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/billfish-invitational-auction-spotlight-the-blue-a-bronze-casting-by-kent-ullberg/&media=https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/billfish-invitational-auction-spotlight-the-blue-a-bronze.jpg&description=Billfish Invitational Auction Spotlight – “The Blue", a bronze casting by Kent Ullberg){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Billfish Invitational Day 1 – Scuba Diving?&body=During this week’s Billfish Invitational tournament, Fred Garth, Editor-In-Chief of <a title="GHM web site" href="http://www.guyharveymagazine.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Magazine</a>, will be filing a series of dispatches from tournament headquarters at the Bimini Big Game Club.
The day began with sunny skies and nice reggae music playing at the open air <a title="About the Big Game Bar & Grill" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/bimini-bar-grill.htm" target="_blank">Big Game Bar and Grill</a>. I munched on eggs and bacon and slurped down mucho coffee after a big night of festivities at the <a title="Billfish Invitational web site" href="http://www.billfishinvitational.com/" target="_blank">Billfish Invitational</a> opening celebration. (Note to self: avoid Appleton’s Reserve Rum in the future – stick to virgin Coca Cola).
We set out after a hearty breakfast for a few scuba dives with <a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey</a>, his son Alex, Steve Stock (GH Inc, President), Frank Johnson of <a title="Mold Craft web site" href="http://www.moldcraft.com" target="_blank">Mold Craft</a> and sculptor <a title="Kent Ullberg's web site" href="http://www.kentullberg.net" target="_blank">Kent Ullberg</a>. Fishing boats headed out into a glassy sea and negligible winds – 12 boats in all – to try their luck with the wily billfish. A full report on that will come later tonight or tomorrow.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/stevekentguyalex11.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-737" title="Scuba Diving at the Billfish Invitational!" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/stevekentguyalex11.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="366" /></a>Left to right: Steve Stock, Kent Ullberg, Guy Harvey and Alex Harvey
The weather is absolutely and positively PERFECT with zero wind or waves. The scuba trip was also stellar. Saw lots of cool critters – turtles, rays, grouper, permit, and the rest of their slimy brethren. But no sharks. However, Guy Harvey is not the kind of dude to be disappointed. He gathered four mahi-mahi carcasses yesterday for a chum fest this afternoon on the shark dive.
That report as well as fishing results will be coming later, that is, unless the song of the Appleton’s Reserve fills the air with its sweet music before I can jump into the blogosphere. We will see what wins – rum or blog. Place your bets!!
Garth Out! https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/billfish-invitational-day-1-scuba-diving/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=The Edible Sinking Christmas Tree&body=<img class=" size-medium wp-image-3198 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/xmastree.jpg?w=225" alt="Xmastree" width="225" height="300" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
Back in the mid 1980s--nobody really remembers exactly when--members of the South Florida Dive Club were gathered around the Christmas Tree at their annual Yuletide party when someone wondered aloud what to do with the tree afterward.
"We were imbibing," admits past president Joe Smariga of Fort Lauderdale.
But the question persisted after everyone had sobered up and "a bunch of us got together the next Saturday and sank it," Smariga said.
The inaugural sinking didn't go too well; the dive boat they used had to pull the tree down to the bottom. But thus began an annual holiday tradition that was repeated again last Saturday when the club deployed a live spruce to the deck of the Merci Jesus-- a shipwreck that sits 70 feet deep off Fort Lauderdale.
"We look forward to it. Fish love it," Smariga said.
Fourteen club members chartered the Fort Lauderdale dive boat Sea Experience to transport tree and divers to the artificial reef site. Christmas music played over the boat's sound system as the group donned scuba gear accented with Santa caps and Christmas-themed boxer shorts .
Smariga and club member Eric Rohde had placed the tree in a 120-pound concrete base rigged with two lift bags to control its descent. First off the boat, they took about five minutes to get the tree to the bottom. Then the rest of the group followed carrying bags of edible decorations-- frozen pilchards; radishes; carrots; sliced sweet potatoes; and a head of lettuce to crown the tree.
Club members shot stills and video of their friends who were decorating; a few curious fish hovered in the background watching the process. When all the garnishes were in place, the divers moved back to watch how the local residents would receive their gifts.
It didn't take long. A gang of grunts quickly swarmed the tree, snapping at a shiny garland of pilchards and fighting each other for the fishy tinsel. A couple of small grouper drifted in, scaring off some of the smaller grunts and making off with the bait fish bits. They were joined by a couple of small hogfish and mangrove snapper.
When the pilchards were gone, tussles erupted over the vegetable ornaments with fish chasing each other around in a rugby-like scrum.
In the midst of the commotion, a three-foot spotted moray eel appeared on deck flexing its jaws and looking confused. It slithered between a diver's feet and circled the base of the tree. It made a circular ascent through the branches almost to the top, then descended and swam away without eating anything.
Divers looked at each other and shrugged.
As the divers' air supply dwindled, they made a slow ascent back to the dive boat, leaving the tree at the disposal of the fish.
The needles would be gone in a few weeks, and after a year or so, only the concrete base would remain-- sitting next to the remnant of a long-gone tree of a Christmas past.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
**********
Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts.
https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/the-edible-sinking-christmas-tree/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Fish Panama This Spring and Summer!&body=Yellowfin tuna greater than 200 pounds; both blue and black marlin; and all the sailfish you want to release.
These are among the sport fishing highlights you can enjoy on Panama's Pacific coast from late March through the end of July with Captain Hennie Marais and Panama Yacht and Fishing Charters-- an exclusive Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition.
In the remote Coiba Islands, a national park located off Panama's southern coast, Marais will slow-troll live bonitos along the gamefish-rich Hannibal Bank where the baits get crashed by huge yellowfins and black marlin. Your floating base camp for this adventure is a comfortably-appointed 66' Buddy Davis sport fishing yacht that can accommodate parties of up to six. You have the option of an additional battle wagon too-- a swift 37-foot Strike with top-of-the-line tackle and equipment to hoist huge tuna up from the depths and subdue greyhounding marlin.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0377adjusted.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4589 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0377adjusted.jpg" alt="IMG_0377adjusted" width="1739" height="1159" /></a>PHOTO: Your floating base camp - a 66' Buddy Davis luxury sportfishing yacht with the optional 37-foot Strike.
Or Marais can escort your group east to the Gulf of Panama where the waters around the Pearl Islands and Pinas Bay further south provide abundant opportunities offshore for tuna, marlin, sailfish and mahi. Inshore, you'll get shots at feisty species such as roosterfish, snapper, and amberjack. On this expedition, you can stay at a private resort and make day trips, live aboard the luxury yacht, or arrange a combination of the two.
"Fishing in Panama is exotic, with beautiful warm weather and beautiful scenery," Marais said.
Book your adventure now at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com">GuyHarveyOutpost.com</a>, or call our travel desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/fish-panama-this-spring-and-summer/){kind=link}
TRAVEL DESK : 800.513.5257
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