The Tribune

By PAUL PERRY

ASK any angler and they will lament that time, or lack thereof, is one of the biggest challenges to successful fishing.

Be it weather, work or equipment failure, numerous obstacles stand in the way of backing down on the drag of a screaming reel while heels disappear into the sandy bottom.

As anglers, we mitigate these obstacles with both prayer and technology while simultaneously seeking means and methods to increase our time on the water and the chance of a sound hookset. After all, a fresh Grouper filet over white coals does not come by chance.

The curvilinear archipelago of the Bahamian chain rests snugly between two distinctly different bodies of water, the wide, tepid green expanse of the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the blue calm of the Caribbean Sea to the west. This complex relationship provides a thriving ecosystem that supports remarkably consistent fishing grounds.

It is here, a short 45-minute flight from mainland Florida, that anglers find the holy grail of time. It is here that anglers can flip the hourglass not once, but twice, and fish longer and more intelligently by using “dual tides”.

A dual tide is one that can be fished up to four times in a single day. Of the more than 700 islands that make up the Bahamas, dozens offer the possibility of fishing the tides of the Atlantic and Caribbean in a single day.

Hemingway knew it, and so should you. The ‘dual tide’ is a banger of an opportunity.

For a sample of the spectacular fishing to be had in The Bahamas, expert advice, tournament dates and results, informative features and photo galleries visit the Bahamas Sport Fishing Network (BSFN) page at tribune242.com or www.bsfn.biz.

BSFN’s fifth slideshow with US Today Travel can be viewed on USA Today’s website in the Travel section at experience.usatoday.com.

• Paul Perry is a research expert with the Bahamas Sport Fishing Network.