CORNER POCKET

We eased into the Pocket after an uneventful run across the shallows of the Great Bahama Bank from Bimini, and were immediately struck by how textbook-perfect the conditions looked. A south-east breeze had been pushing through the area for a few days, and the flying fish were stacked up thick, right along the edge. A falling tide was pulling water off the bank and sweeping across the deep drop-offs. Frigate birds wheeled overhead, occasionally dipping low to pick off a winged snack spooked into flight by wolf packs of prowling dolphin.

Capt. Skipper Gentry eased back the throttles as Carolina Gentleman, his 60-foot custom Carolina-built charter boat, transitioned into fishing mode. In the cockpit, we barely had the spread complete before the first gaffer-size green hornet pounced on a long-rigger ballyhoo. Deckhand Clay Gaffney made it feel right at home in the icy fish box, where it was quickly joined by several others.

Around lunchtime, we switched gears and put