Mid-February Yellowfin Tuna Appear in Current Edges Between Great Isaacs Light, Lucaya

Boats crossing into Bahamian waters in mid-February found a measurable early-season yellowfin bite along the current edges between Great Isaacs Light and Lucaya, with local reporter RJ Boyle saying, “The boats that traveled over to the Bahamas last weekend were greeted with some fantastic yellowfin tuna fishing.” Boyle’s February 21 column puts the average tunafish at about 40 pounds and names live bait as the top tactic: “The tuna bite is best with live bait but chunking will definitely get the job done.”

The week running up to those weekend trips was volatile. Boyle wrote that “Up until Wednesday of this week, the fishing has been brutally inconsistent. Local divers were telling me about a batch of cold water that moved in locally and it sure did have a negative effect on the fishing. Most boats were struggling to even get a bite over last weekend and into the beginning of the week.” By the weekend, however, he reported that “Most of the bigger fish were caught in the current edges between Great Isaac Lighthouse and Lucaya,” signaling a quick rebound tied to current placement.

Oceanographic analysis from Roffs frames why fish showed up where they did. Roffs called it “a GOOD start to the Bahamas fishing season this late winter and early spring especially in the Abaco areas as SST is warmer compared to last year but normal to slightly above normal to the 20+ year mean.” The Roffs note adds that eddy and current placement can rapidly change productive zones and that recent setups have pushed larger amounts of “blue marlin water” closer to eastern islands, a development Roffs called “a GOOD sign of better fishing action to start the main fishing season.” Roffs also recorded “A number of reports of good early season tuna and white marlin with a few blue marlin mixed in north of Walkers to the Corner and within the Channel north of Berry Islands.”

Anglers should also be watching the Northwest Providence Channel for mahi-mahi and other pelagics. Boyle wrote, “The mahi-mahi fishing will also start to get really good in the Northwest Providence channel as the edges increase,” a point corroborated by Nassau Fishing Charters, which lists mahi-mahi as “present in good numbers, often around weed lines and debris.” Nassau’s January dock reports cited “scattered Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin tuna, Blackfin, and Skipjack Tuna” on offshore trips and noted tidal conditions with “highs around 3-3.5 feet and lows near 0 feet, creating good current flow for baitfish movement.”

Wahoo action and bottom structure also matter this spring. Nassau’s forecast summarizes wahoo as “Wahoo, Peak season – fast, powerful runs and excellent table fare; target with high-speed trolling near drop-offs.” SaltwaterSportsman ties the bite to geographic features, writing, “Well within the channel itself, numerous canyons, mounds and radical bottom structure provide feeding stations for yellowfin tuna,” and adds seasonal timing: “Mahi on the Move. Spring is king here. Dolphin migrate hard through the Bahamas, with blue marlin bird-dogging them. It’s also prime time for yellowfin tuna, because temperatures are still cool enough to hold them in the upper part of the water column.”

For live updates and local color, RJ Boyle plugs his radio spot: “For an up-to-the-minute fishing report, tune into Big 105.9 FM for the Papa’s Pilar Fishing Report with RJ Boyle, Fridays at 6:10 a.m. Tight lines!” Oceanographers at Roffs cautioned continued monitoring, “We will continue monitoring these ocean conditions within the Bahamas region closely over the next two months”, and Boyle’s on-the-water reporting adds that the average 40-pound fish “should get much bigger” as the season progresses into March and April, when Roffs and SaltwaterSportsman expect the pulse of tuna and dolphin fishing to intensify.