�Go With The Flo� In
the BVI
The morning started as
you might expect in the
British Virgin Islands around Easter. Calm, quiet�tropically
warm
in the high 70�s, but not hot or humid, almost surreal with the exception of
large slurping noises coming from around the marina as 25 to 50 pound tarpon
were sipping crabs and baitfish from the surface much like a trout on a pond
here on Long Island. It was still dark at 5 a.m. as I entered the marina and
walking down to the �Go with the Flo� charter boat you could hear these
�slurpings� all around you and seeing them in the marina lights was amazing.
I was meeting the crew
of the �Go with the Flo,� a 53 foot Viking convertible that was fully air
conditioned
and
piloted by Capt. Kawazi, a.k.a. �King Kawazi,� a local legend here in the
Islands on the wahoo circuit. I was to be a guest �crew� member for the
Spanish Town 11th Annual Wahoo Tournament. Slipping through the many
reefs surrounding
Virgin Gorda and the
Virgin Gorda Marina, we made our way past the last �marker� and as
Captain �King� Kawazi gave thrust to the engines it was like taking off in
an airplane. You hear the engines softly whine their way up to cruising
speed, almost without noticing the power or the speed being developed while
under way�like riding on a cloud and a truly amazing vessel to the spend the
day on.
Our goal today was the
king of the fishes here, the speedy wahoo. Sure they have all the members of
the
marlin
family, huge mahi-mahi and both yellowfin and blackfin tuna as well, but it
is the wahoo that drives the locals whacky down here and brings in people
from all over the world to tangle with the �bullet� of the oceans. Trolling
is the name of the game in the
BVI and it is a rare day indeed when one can�t find some sort of action
on the Caribbean or the Atlantic side of the Islands and as I had hoped
witnessing a spectacular sunrise�today was no different as we had plenty of
action.
Using standard stand up
tackle as we would here in the northeast, it was almost exclusively Penn or
Okuma 50�s
with the 5-1/2 foot stand up rods. I was surprised to see the locals� love
the fighting chair and all the wahoo I witnessed caught and all the captains
I interviewed, all seem to love the fighting chair and rarely does anyone
native to the region stand up to fight fish. So when in Rome do as the
Romans�do so I fought my fish from the chair as well�it was weird feeling
but I got used to it and actually enjoyed it as the sun was bight and hot
that fine day. If you have never experienced it�there is nothing quite as
hot as the sun in the Caribbean at Easter�except for maybe September and
I�ve been to
Virgin Gorda both times of the year so bring the sunscreen and wide
brimmed hat.
The trip also employed
the standard fare of trolling lures with green machines, jet heads and the
like and
of course
perfectly rigged ballyhoo fish on the rigs. It wasn�t long before we had the
first strike and action was sporadic, but steady the rest of the day and
while we had long periods of inactivity, as is usual for trolling for any
fish around the world, when the strike occurred it was spectacular and I�ve
never seen a fish so fast, peel off so much line is in such a short burst of
time...it was incredible.
Capt. Kawazi is a master
at the helm and taught me much of the wahoo�s �social graces� and
idiosyncrasies
this beautiful day and I was able to land a few wahoo and
small tuna this trip. It was fascinating catching my first wahoo as the
power and speed is unmatched to anything I have previously caught in any of
my trips around the United States�it was superior fishing and the crew
awesome. As the gentle rocking of
the ocean and cloud like ride of the 53 foot Viking lulled us into a state
of total relaxation, bordering on nap time, it is the scream of the reel
that jolts you back to reality and let�s you remember why you are there�to
do battle with the bullet of the ocean and to win the major tournament of
the
BVI for the season. As my turn in the rotation came about, I anxiously
waited on the scream of the reel and it wasn�t long before the opportunity
presented itself.
Jumping from my near
slumber I grabbed the rod and set the hook hard. Not once, not twice�but
three 
times
setting the steel into the maw of the toothy speedster and feeling the rush
of adrenaline from the both of us transferred through the 80 pound mono as
if a direct line of current flowed between us. If I remember correctly it
took 15 to 20 minutes to subdue the beast as run after run was made by my
adversary as he took off first in one direction, then another and then a
third�all the while King Kawazi worked the boat to perfection never needing
to bring in the other lines. When it was all said and done I had a wahoo in
the boat hovering around 50 to 70 pounds! Our trip
also caught some small ocean barracuda of 5 to 10 pounds, some mahi but also
a white marlin around 60 pounds or so which we released and it was an
awesome sight to see. A beautiful specimen and in all we had about a dozen
wahoo and missed winning the entire tournament by less than 2 pounds! I was
awarded an official �Go With The Flo� crew golf shirt with an invite to fish
with them again�which I am certainly going to take them up on!
You can contact the Go with the Flo at 284-441-3589 (cell) or the
main line number at 284-495-6050 or e mail Capt. King Kawazi at
kingkawazi@hotmail.com
