West End update and fishing trip to Bootle Bay

dzank

The "UpTick" crew flew into the strip at Old Bahama Bay on 12/3 for a little winter time fishing as well as to get a feel on the impact of Hurricane Matthew which put a nearly knock out blow to the village of West End in early October. As we left OBB on the way to Bootle Bay the short ride through the village was eye opening and very sad as most of the homes and businesses in the village are in very bad shape. Power is still a problem as the power company will not turn power on to many of the homes due to the damage. Thanks to everyone who helped with the relief efforts but I must say there is much more to do. As we proceeded to Bootle Bay while we noticed plenty of damage in the Bootle area luckily the Lodge escaped most of the worst from the hurricane. As it turned out it was time to replace the shingles on all of the villas and main Lodge anyway and the storm provided a good excuse to get that work done which has now been completed. The Lodge is in great shape. After dropping the Ocean Master in the water we ran up to OBB to put on fuel (cash only at this time FYI) and ran back south to a spot near the Lodge where we landed some nice lane snappers for dinner that night. Sunset that night was spectacular. . The next day provided breezier conditions which prompted us to stay near the Lodge but we did very well with some terrific schoolmaster snapper and were lucky to land a 50 LB class king fish that chewed a live yellowtail on a stinger rig. . . Monday morning was beautiful with light E/SE winds but the forecasts called for high SW winds in advance of a cold front later in the afternoon. We ran north of Memory to a wreck and caught some terrific muttons as well as AJ's which provided the usual tug of war. . . The winds began howling that afternoon as predicted and the ride around the corner from West End down to Bootle was "sporty" to say the least. Poor weather on Tuesday kept us at the Lodge as well as a quick run into Freeport for some supplies but dinner at Bootle never is a disappointment. Danny Boy Wright brought a few conch from his pen and we celebrated his birthday on the closing night as fishing was slow on Wed. West End is on a long road to recovery so anyone that runs across that can bring much needed supplies will be met with open arms.

century7

Great report

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Plane Fish n

Dennis,

Great report and you got some terrific fishing in as well.

The crew was contemplating a winter run to Bootle but I've got to time it with my trips abroad and more importantly, the weather.

We will keep you posted but in the meantime, I am living through your reports

Thank you

Cheers

dzank

Good to hear from you Eric and thanks century7 for the comment. Hopefully you guys can make a run across and hunt down a wahoo or two or simply catch a few snapper or grouper for dinner. We are scheduled to try to fly in again on 1/18/17 for five nights. While the weather is certainly tougher at this time of the year maybe you get lucky and catch one of those 3 day weather windows that works.

Plane Fish n

dzank wrote: »

Good to hear from you Eric and thanks century7 for the comment. Hopefully you guys can make a run across and hunt down a wahoo or two or simply catch a few snapper or grouper for dinner. We are scheduled to try to fly in again on 1/18/17 for five nights. While the weather is certainly tougher at this time of the year maybe you get lucky and catch one of those 3 day weather windows that works.

Dennis,

Greetings from Tel Aviv.

We will take a look at the weather during the time you will be there.

It would be great to meet up over there and besides, you owe me a Diet Coke!!!! wink

Take care buddy and Happy Holidays.

Cheers

dzank

Diet Coke's on me! Safe travels.

schmaltz~herring

Dennis, these are great and informative threads, p.s. Courtney has his new to him Jupiter up and running.:fishing

dzank

Awesome. Keep me posted.