We're anchored tonight at Georgetown Harbour in the southern Exuma
Islands of the Bahamas. Interesting place, more on that later.

First off, Tim, hope you are safe from the flooding. Is that the
Illinois River that you're concerned about or the mighty Mississippi?

John, sorry to hear that you are getting out of boating. I'm sure
your boat will be a good value to someone and will sell quickly.

Fishing Report - decicedly a mixed bag. The water we have just been
through between the southern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos is some
of the best sportfishing territory in this part of the world. There
are a *lot* of big, well equipped, sportfishing boats near here.
Judging from the chatter on the radio, they are also catching.

We caught a nice Mahi Mahi yesterday, about a 4 ft, maybe 20 to 25
pounds. We cooked up some of the fillets last night and had a shared
fish dinner with some cruising friends that we once again crossed
paths with. That's half the fun of cruising, making new friends and
sharing experiences.

Back to fishing. It has become painfully clear (literally), that I
am not equipped properly, and/or not experienced enough, to boat a
really big fish. We've had our chances but something always breaks
before I can get the fish under control. The last demonstration of
this ineptitude was several days ago. I was trolling one rod, a
heavy duty model with low friction carbon fiber guides. The reel was
a mid-sized Penn-Senator salt water reel spooled up with several
hundred yards of hi tech Spectra braid rated at something like 200
pounds of breaking strength. The "Wahoo Magnet" lure was rigged with
a heavy duty braided wire leader and double hook.

We were trolling the north side of Little Inagua Island in the late
afternoon, just off shore in about 900 feet of water. The fish
struck really hard and screamed off about 100 yards of line in no time
at all while I was throttling back and shifting to neutral. I got to
the rod seconds later and started tightening the star drag as firmly
as I could get it. The fish paused for a few seconds and I briefly
thought that I had a chance of turning him, but almost immediately it
started spooling more line off the screaming reel. You could
literally smell the drag clutch burning and the reel was almost too
hot to touch. I made one more attempt to tighten the drag when
something broke inside the reel and it started free spooling. Within
seconds the remaining line was gone, and the rod which had been bent
at a 90 degree angle, snapped back and clipped me just above the eyes,
leaving a nasty little cut on my forehead. I never even had a look at
the darned fish but it was obviously big and powerful. Unfortunately
it is yet another fish story about the one that got away.

At any rate I need some advice on equipment and technique. What kind
of reel is appropriate for a big, powerful fish? What kind of drag
tension is needed/appropriate with 200# line? How much line do I need
on the reel? What is the right strategy? Are there any good internet
forums for this kind of information? Etc, etc.

Picture of "Wahoo Magnet" lure (not the one that was lost), rigged out
with wire leader, 200# braid and double hook.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/14174o.jpg

Yesterday's Mahi Mahi catch:

http://oi40.tinypic.com/euebdy.jpg