Philips Reef is an Anglers Treasure Chest - Record Wahoo Caught!
Author: Fuzzy Davis
Date: 12/18/2006
Where can you fish for giant wahoo, dorado, tuna, black and red snapper and whale watch at the same time? If your visiting Ambergris Cay, the answer is easy, Philips Reef. Philips Reef is a spectacular natural reef located approximately twelve miles offshore of East Caicos and is only a one-hour boat ride from Ambergris Cay.
The same shoals of Phillips Reef that claimed scores of sailing ships during the 18th and 19th centuries attract a myriad of game fish that are sought by modern day sport fisherman. The eastern edge of the reef drops from twenty feet to three thousand feet. This reef wall creates habitat and current eddies that are ideal for salt water game fish and it is also an attractive feeding are for the giant humpback whales that migrate down the coast in Winter and early Spring. It’s not uncommon to have the whales breech in close proximity to the fishing boat.
During a recent visit to Ambergris I had the pleasure of fishing Phillips Reef with Capt’s Byron and Martee. Chef Bernie, fly fishing pro Raz Reid and our friend Trent Malphrus were joining us and were our designated anglers. The day was perfect with light off shore wind creating only a slight ground swell. I had fished Phillips during May and we targeted snapper and grouper but this trip the quarry was wahoo. There are several times during the year that the wahoo school on the reefs at Turks and Caicos and we had gotten the word from several local anglers in Providenciales that “the bite was on”.
Once reaching our destination at Phillips Reef various shapes, colors of trolling baits were quickly put out behind the boat and the game was on. Byron, scouring the horizon for any signs of activity, spied a solitary frigate bird tracing a figure eight about fifty feet above the water. “Keep your eyes on the frigate” Byron exclaimed “don’t loose him there are fish right under him” Just as the shadow of the bird passed over our deck three rods went down. “Dorado!” yelled Byron “fresh grilled mahi-mahi tonight” The dorado were boated. What a great way to begin the day!
We stayed with the frigate hoping he would give us continued luck. He led us to a corner of the reef that was no more than one hundred feet deep. The more shallow areas are usually home for the pesky barracuda and we were reluctant to get into the shallows and spend thirty minutes unhooking barracuda. The frigate had brought us good luck and against our gut feelings about the cudas we followed the bird. The depth finder read ninety feet when the rod tips bent to the gun whales and the reels began to scream. “That’s wahoo” Martee shouted, the first fish, a forty pounder was boated after a ten-minute battle. The second fish, much heavier was lost after twenty minutes.
Getting two simultaneous strikes meant that we were in the wahoo zone and all eyes were focused on the rod tips as we made another pass over the same location. Once again two rods went down. To our surprise the first wahoo boated was a beautiful ten pound fish. Photos were taken and it was quickly released. The second fish almost brought Capt Byron to his knees as it burned off three hundred yards of line. “This is papa bear,” said Byron “ definitely the biggest wahoo I’ve ever battled” The fish was close and kept making power runs under the boat. Byron leaned back with the rod touching the water and took a few deep breaths. Suddenly the rod tip lifted and Byron began to gain line. The giant wahoo broke the surface and we all knew that Byron was correct in his assessment. It was Papa Bear! A giant ultramarine blue wahoo lay along side and was over six feet long. Two gaffs were made ready and Byron’s trophy was brought into the Amber Cat.
Yelps and screams could have been heard all the way back to Ambergris Cay. A record wahoo for the Cay a personal best for Capt Byron. The wahoo weighed one hundred and fifteen pounds, which is a tremendous wahoo in any ocean. The best thing about catching a wahoo this big and beautiful is off course the battle between angler and fish. The second best thing is having a master chef such as Chef Bernie aboard who is preparing a seafood extravaganza for us as we travel back to the dock. “How about we start with wahoo/mahi sashimi and finish with sautéed wahoo steaks,” said Bernie. Everyone signaled Bernie with a thumbs up! Another fantastic day on Ambergris Cay and another wonderful trip to Phillips Reef.
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