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Planning a fishing trip to the Caribbean during hurricane season is always a gamble, but I never imagined that two back-to-back Florida storms would challenge our plans. Despite these setbacks, we were determined to make this adventure a success for our clients. While we prepared to embark on a much-anticipated return to the Dominican Republic this past October after almost a decade, Hurricane Helene smashed the west coast of Florida, affecting more than half our field. And then, in the middle of recovery mode, Hurricane Milton decided to close the Tampa airport the morning of our departure. But the show must go on, so our single expedition to the DR evolved into two, and what these trips produced was truly unbelievable.
October 8-13, 2024
With luck and location on their side, longtime clients Judy and Steve Lewis met instructor Capt. Vinny Delgado and me, as scheduled, in Punta Cana. We were fishing on the Doña Lucy, a 58-foot F&S captained by Bryan Ramos, with a crew that has managed to dominate the Caribbean tournament scene for many years. The weather was slick calm and couldn’t have been any more gorgeous, and the bites were just as beautiful, with blues piling on each position like they hadn’t eaten in weeks: picture-perfect flat-line bites, some great teaser bites and sneaky rigger bites with virtually no fickleness. It was a fisherman’s dream, and Judy and Steve took every advantage.
On the first day, we arrived at the boat early, ready to catch as many blues as we could. With just two anglers and two Marlin Expeditions instructors in the cockpit, the next four days felt like a private stand-up learning session. Delgado led the charge on technique while I helped in the hook-setting department, freeing me up to get some great footage and pictures—something I rarely have time for on any other expedition when the bite is on fire.
Day One started with the first of five blues from at least nine bites of the day. While Ramos expertly tracked fish off the FAD, clearly indicated by the numerous bat turns and calls from the bridge, nearly every fish we followed resulted in a bite. Steve successfully pitched to his first blue marlin and quickly realized that the key to this light-tackle fishery is to get the release while the fish is still on top because if you take a break for even a second, these adolescent and angry fish will bolt to the thermocline while you stand there in a state of impasse, trying to persuade them to turn their heads. Forty minutes in a chair is one thing, but strapped to a shoulder harness is quite another. Miss Judy also learned this lesson by watching her husband and adjusted her technique, hoping to make short work of her fights.
As we walked off the boat that evening, Steve noted that they had caught more blues in one day here than in two years of charter fishing in North Carolina, emphasizing that one of his fish was the first blue he’d ever pitched to without assistance.
As the days passed, the bite never faltered, giving us many opportunities at doubles and even a marked—and hooked—triple. The clients loved it; they loved fishing together. In the middle of one of our doubles, the saying “The family that slays together stays together” was driven home. And we have the picture to prove it! To say these two were stoked would be the understatement of the century—the pair going 19 for 29 on blues in four days.
After the first trip’s success, we were eagerly anticipating our second visit to Cap Cana—this time with the clients who had missed out due to the two hurricanes.
October 29-November 3, 2024
Sixteen days later, I found myself back in Punta Cana, where we would face new obstacles but also fresh opportunities—this time with Capt. Keith Bokenhagen on the 65-foot American Custom Yacht Black Gold. In the DR, Bokenhagen is known as the grandfather of the FADs, and he proved it day in and day out when tracking fish with the omni sonar was practically useless due to the big seas.
As if our clients hadn’t had enough wind at home, the wind machine was in full force this week in the DR. As long as the conditions allowed, we were willing to put up with it, hoping it would pay off. And it did.
With repeat clients James “Chef” Barlow; his mate, Zach Maddox; Dustin Martin; Chad Knoerr; and Brett Lindquist, we set off for Cap Cana, reminiscing about the good times we had in Costa Rica this past March. The group was ready to see if the Costa Rican sailfishing skills they acquired could translate to Caribbean blues. Zach came on to learn the ropes from expert mate Jose de Veer, who has been with Bokenhagen on Black Gold for 10 years. When Chef asked if Zach could get some in-depth deckhand training, I knew Jose was the man for the job.
Day One started with a bang. Blowing 20 knots with respectable 7-to-9-footers, the Tampa crowd crushed it, going five for eight on blues, sticking with it even though the barracudas insisted on tearing us up on every pass.
All night, I stared at the ceiling, wondering what would become of Day Two. The wind whistled and howled through the marina, and the rainstorms had moved in. A front had stalled directly over northeast Hispaniola. Just before daybreak, we met at the boat for a safety meeting, where Bokenhagen made the decision to lay. Once again, Mother Nature had made her power known, so without argument, we decided to make the best of it. In true sport-fishing fashion, we immediately had a plan: Go to breakfast and figure it out. The day turned out to be one of the most fun lay days I’ve ever had. After a few games of cards and some Dominican home cooking, we decided that after a super rough first day, it wasn’t so terrible after all.
The wind was still blowing on Day Three, but it was fishable. We ultimately went four for seven on blues and one for two on whites. We chased a grand slam but couldn’t buy a sail bite.
Day Four felt like we’d been teleported to another ocean. The wind all but died overnight, and for the first time since we arrived, the sun peeked through the clouds. Although some rainstorms were still around, they were brief, and one brought us a low-pressure double. We rounded out our four-blue day with another big-swell double where one of our fish needed to be buoyed off and retrieved but landed nonetheless. An end-of-the-day white marlin concluded the trip. Even though we were blown out for one day, we had an epic time, amassing more than a dozen blues and two whites in three fishing days.
We were able to bear witness to a fishery that has continued to develop into something very special, thanks to minimum pressure and coordination between the artisanal fishermen and the sport-fishing community, as well as the talents of these professional crews that possess the know-how to release light-tackle marlin in record time.
Marina Cap Cana has become a gem in the Caribbean for marlin fishing. And as we look back on these two trips, it’s clear that no storm—literal or figurative—can dampen the spirit of this unparalleled fishery. This is the Dominican era, and we look forward to introducing more of our clients to the special place that is Cap Cana.
