Point The Bow To Bermuda

Mix British culture with a tropical setting and add a splash of great fishing. The chum flowed steadily in the water for less than 10 minutes when all of a sudden our Captain Joey Dawson yelled, "Blackfin in the chum! Nice blackfin tuna in the chum!"

The huge pelagic speedball gobbled his fly and headed into the depths with 300 yards of backing, and I watched Flip’s 15-wt. fly rod bend double. Against maximum pressure – all that his tackle and tippet would allow – Flip’s fish seemed intent on reaching France before noon.

The strike occurred while filming an episode of the Walker’s Cay Chronicles, Flip Pallot’s popular TV show, as we anchored on the edge of Challenger Bank just off Bermuda. It’s an area noted for hot tuna action, and Flip quickly could see why.

Eventually, good angling skills won the day and the blackfin came aboard. The fish weighed 31 pounds, 8 ounces – a potential world record on 16-pound-class tippet, but our only thoughts at that moment centered on getting lines back in the water.

In short order, we enjoyed a double hook-up, this time to even tougher foes: a yellowfin tuna and an almaco jack, both fish of trophy proportions. We boated those beauties as well and went on to experience non-stop throughout the day, with a bevy of rainbow runners, horse-eye jacks and more tunas to test our skills and stamina.

By day’s end, an arm-weary Flip passed his rod to James Pearman, the island’s premier bonefish guide, who decided to take a busman’s holiday and mate for us. Flip headed to the galley to munch a sandwich, only to run back when hearing James screech in frenzied delight as his fly disappeared into the mouth of a feisty yellowfin.

When brought to gaff, it cleared 51 pounds – our biggest of the day.

Our cameraman later commented, “We couldn’t have scripted it better.” However, as a veteran angler of Bermuda, I knew that this level of action typifies the great fishing action often encountered here.

The fact that all this drama played out around a beautiful cluster of islands some 600 miles off the eastern U.S. coast is reason enough to visit, but when we beheld the gorgeous deep hues of blue and green waters and experienced the charm of British ambiance, we quickly saw why first-time visitors return again and again.

Bermuda, shaped like a fish hook, offers some of the best angling opportunities in the western hemisphere. A multitude of game fish can be found on flats, reefs and offshore. From bonefish to blue marlin, I’ve matched skills with fish on light tackle and fly, and challenged big tuna, wahoo and billfish on conventional gear.

We found the best bonefish flats off the western shoreline, although good results can be found at virtually any point around Bermuda. The surrounding reefs are but a short boat ride out. Offshore, two broad seamounts southwest of the island – Challenger Bank 15 miles out and Argus Bank another 10 miles – rise to about 200 feet below the surface. The vertical current created by the banks and the steep ledge drop-offs represent ideal locations for chumming, drifting or trolling in pursuit of tuna, wahoo and the like. Billfish, mostly blue and white marlin, can be found off the south shore of the island as well.