Grand Cayman Fishing Report. It was our plan to be ready to fish at 12-Mile Bank Grand Cayman by first light. The Fishangler App reported that Dawn Nautical Twilight was at 6:06 am. Roshad and Rick motored out of Governor’s Harbour on Makeover, Roshads 21′ Mako at 5:00 am. The weather was cooperating, and the wind and seas were calm. Everything was lining up for a good morning fishing.
We reached 12 Mile Bank just before 6:00 am. It was too dark to check the current. Accordingly, we decided to troll for NorthEast Corner, hoping for a Wahoo. First, it was the wireline with ballyhoo, a blue and white Islander, and a Cayman Crusher rig. Next, Roshad set the downrigger with similar bait. Five minutes into our first trolling pass, the Shimano Tiagra 50W started to sing loud! Fantastically, we had a 37-pound Wahoo in the boat within a minute! It’s a great start!
Next, with the sun over the horizon, it was time to check the current. To clarify, to increase the chance of finding feeding schools of Yellowfin Tuna, it is essential to know which specific area of “The Bank” the current is pushing the bait towards and, therefore, the feeding tuna.
A common current checker is made up of approximately 150′ of fishing line tied to a 1 or 2-pound weight with the other end attached to a bleach bottle. Near the bottle, tie a streamer torn from a plastic grocery bag. The bag should be a few feet under the surface. First, position your boat on the top of “The Bank,” where the depth is between 100′-130′. Next, drop the weight. Once the weight hits the bottom, watch the plastic streamer that is now pushed by the current. Line your boat up with the streamer and check your compass. For us, the current was running about North 30° East.
Roshad positioned the boat in 1300′ of water and began to chum with Sprat chunks. We each had a whole Sprat on our circle 5/0 circle hooks and fed out our line to keep our bait drifting with the chum. Over the next 2 hours, we had boated 2 25-30 lb Yellowfin. We lost 1 Yellowfin close to the boat and twice had our line bitten off by Wahoo.
After that, we returned to Governors Harbor with our fish bag stuffed with a nice Wahoo and 2 Yellowfin.
If you want to fish a 12-Mile Bank for Wahoo, Yelloroute wfin Tuna, Mahi or Marlin, plan on a 6 or 8-hour Grand Cayman deep-sea fishing charter. A 4-hour deepsea fishing charter does not allow enough time to get to 12 Mile Bank. All charters leave from points around North Sound. The route to the closest point of 12-Mile bank is over 18 miles. It is typical for the trip to take between 45-60 minutes.
