Here is my most recent video – North Andros 2014. It’s hard to believe the 2014 bonefishing season is over. My last trip of the year was spent on North Andros from Dec. 1 -7 where four of us stayed at the Mt. Pleasant Fishing Lodge. The property is managed by Stacy Taylor and has been in the family for over 100 years. The lodge is perfectly located on White Bight, just north of Cargill Creek. When I say perfectly located, I mean walk out the front door and go bonefishing on flats that will take you days to cover by foot. The lodge holds up to eight anglers and provides three delicious meals a day. They can arrange for guides and car rentals, making it a one phone call “planning” trip. I honestly think that North Andros is best fished with any of the world class guides that either own or work out of the lodges locally, but it is also an honest to goodness destination for the DIY guy. The perfect trip is to walk and wade on your own for four days and go out with one of the guides for three. So rent a car, hire guides and then just rotate your group through the Guide/DIY days. That way everybody gets plenty of time on the front of a boat and lots of time to walk on your own. And every morning as you are sitting at the breakfast table, that little voice in the back of your head is saying “maybe today is the the day.” That is the lure of North Andros, you just know that by the time you return back to the lodge, you may have landed the largest bonefish of your life. We had a great week to end the season on. The fish were cooperative, we caught a number in the 7 – 9 pound range and discovered a few new spots that require more investigation. Angler success varied, but there were plenty of 10+ days. In addition to our normal “Google Earth and hike” exploring we rented a boat and fished the Fresh Creek system with moderate success. Another day we hired a boat to run us out to Wood Cay for the day, which I would recommend. Wood Cay, located between the North and Middle Bights is an unbelievable fishery and there are miles of shoreline and interior creek systems to explore. For this trip we didn’t stray much farther north than Fresh Creek and stuck predominantly to those waters south of the airport, concentrating in the creek systems, hidden lagoons and ocean flats. Some of the creeks are a little small for four anglers while others are gigantic and go for miles. The ocean side flats of White Bight and north to Man-O-War Sound Settlement will keep a couple of anglers enthralled for a week. Fish here tend to be a little larger than normal and don’t fear your fly, so I take larger flies with more bulk, flash and wiggly parts. Size #4 flies work great. These are still much smaller than the guides like for the North and Middle Bights but worked well for us. So if you are planning a few guide days in the trip make sure you have your “guide boat” box with you loaded with big weighted flies. I don’t bring a kayak to North Andros any more but if you are staying at Fresh Creek and want to fish some of the larger creek systems to the north you might find it useful to bring your inflatable. If you want to fish both south and north then staying in the middle of North Andros around Fresh Creek is ideal. There are cottages like the Treasures of Andros, a houseboat moored right in Fresh Creek and individual rooms at Hank’s Place. From Fresh Creek even the more northern creeks are only an hour away. A last thought. North Andros is one of the more northerly islands in the Bahamian chain so cold fronts throughout December and January are a real possibility.
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North Andros Bonefishing – Video
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Guest Blog – Abaco
Here is a great “Guest Blog” from Greg Kaltenecker who I had talked with earlier in the year. He was looking for a place for him and his wife to spend some relaxing vacation time with maybe a few hours of bonefishing thrown in. By the way, the majority of emails I get follow a similar line, “where can my wife and I go?” Most then also have a follow up line something like “would be nice if there were some bonefish around, but don’t tell my wife I mentioned it.” “My wife and I spent a nice 5 days at Chad’s place in Casuarina Point (Sand Dollar Cove Cottages). I wanted to thank you again for the recommendation and the fishing information. Chad’s place was very nice, he was friendly and welcoming, and the beach and area were serene and awesome. I was struck everywhere we went on Abaco just how relaxed and uncrowded it was. No one on the roads, even Marsh Harbor was quiet. We never felt unsafe and no place we went had that yucky ” Touristy” feel. As to the fishing, well, we were only there 5 days and it was an anniversary trip, so I feel like I never really got into it, though my wife might disagree. The first morning we walked the beach to the south for about 2 miles but there was a good chop coming in and the water was pretty murky along shore. When we got back it was low tide and I fished the flat at the mouth of the little creek just south of the house, next to the point with the cabana on it. Visibility was good and I spotted a single tailing fish right away. It came over and took my fly on the first cast, charged me, almost running between my legs, then dashed off for deeper water. My line was wrapped around a strap on my fishing bag and it promptly broke off when it came tight. We spent the rest of the day going into town and shopping, lunch, snorkeling, etc. so no more fishing. The next day I took the boat out by myself to the Duck Caye flats. It was low tide at daybreak, slick calm, and overcast. Beautiful! Bones, big ones, were tailing everywhere. But holy crap, are they ever tough! It’s almost ridiculous. They spook if the fly or line lands anywhere within 20 feet of them. I had to stalk and get on my knees, cast way ahead of them, and hope they swam near the fly. They would spook from seeing the line or leader moving, even from the fly moving on several occasions. I did manage to set up one large bonefish perfectly, though. He swam over the fly, I twitched it slowly and he followed, then took. He shot across the flat and was 150 yards into my backing within 2-3 seconds. Pretty fun! But, for no apparent reason, the fly came out so I didn’t land it. This was the 5+ lber I wanted to land, too……. I fished to tailing fish all morning, they were everywhere. It was an awesome experience. These fish were all averaging big, too, huge tails, many singles or small groups. They were all ridiculously tough. The next morning I went with the neighbor fellow, who was also fishing. This second morning we fished the “Point of Spit” flats again at low tide with almost no wind. Again there were bones everywhere, tailing, waking, feeding. We did a little better. I landed one and hooked another two. I think Steve, the other fellow, landed three. These were smaller fish but still solid 2-4 lbers. Next day we went out again into a later tide, rain, and a driving wind. They fish weren’t there, even on the same tide. Wind was howling whitecaps across the flats, visibility was horrible. We only saw a few tailers. Steve landed one. Well, all in all, even though these fish were tougher than most permit I’ve fished to, I wanted to fish flats covered with tailing bonefish, and I did. It was beautiful, thanks again for the recommendation. Just thought I’d give you an update and say thanks again.” Thanks Greg
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DIY on Eleuthera – Guest Blog
Thanks to Dan Kozel from Missoula, Montana for his guest blog detailing his recent trip to Eleuthera. The trip had an unusual start to be sure and is well worth the read. I have stated this before in blogs and articles about DIY fishing on Eleuthera. Of all of the places I have fished, I’ve had more 0 – 1 fish days there than anywhere else. And in theory I know what I’m doing. Here’s Dan’s report: “I wanted to thank you for all the advice you shared with Taylor and I. I also wanted to provide you with a summary of our trip to the island of Eleuthera. Eight hours prior to our departure from Missoula Airport, my fiance’ and I discovered that our 8 year old yellow lab had consumed the $1200 in cash we had saved over the past year. We had to rush her to the emergency vet in order to again “withdrawl” our funds.Long story short we got the money back but had leave it in Missoula to dry out while we were gone. Quick FYI, if your dog eats your money and you’re able to retrieve it, it is returnable as long as you have 51% of the bill and the serial numbers are legible. We were thrilled to land in Rock Sound Airport after multiple layovers and spending a night in Nassau.We had found lodging through VRBO and settled on a carribean house in Rock Sound. The house was perfect and had all the necessities. We were very comfortable, however the weather the week before our arrival had sparked a massive sandflea and noseeum population explosion. These unwanted pests made our seaside backdeck useless. Nothing seemed to deter the little bastards and they made a feast of us on more than one occasion. None of us had any experience pursuing tropical salwater species on the fly. However, we had spent countless hours reading “DIY Bonefishing”, listening to saltwater related podcasts, and gaining insight from some seasoned veterans. So we felt pretty confident. Seeing that two of us brought our significant others with us on the trip, we were obligated to split our time on the flats with fun spousal activities. It was often difficult to the leave the flats and creeks, but we managed to pull ourselves away in order to go on beach excursions and travel the island from top to bottom with the ladies. Our only full day of fishing was spent with a local guide. Our success was limited as we weren’t seeing fish. I’m not saying we couldn’t “see” the fish (which we did struggle with because the damn things are basically invisible, especially on windy days), I’m saying the fish were few in numbers, so our shots were limited. Two of us were lucky enough to hook and land our first bonefish. They were small but we were ecstatic. We spent the next 11 days waking up before dawn to explore areas like Deep Creek, Plum Creek, Hatchet Bay, Winding Bay, and Savannah Sound. Despite our efforts, we were each getting about 1 shot at bones per day with occasional jack crevalle and baraccuda mixed in. We’d then return to headquarters, cook breakfast, and pack the car to take off for the remainder of the day to probe the many unnamed dirt roads and small communities. After a week of unsuccessful mornings on the flats and late evenings spent pouring over Google Earth, we decided to make a trip to the Cape Eleuthera Institute. There we met some leading flats and bonefish ecologists. It was here we were informed that during full moons in the months of November to March, the majority of bonefish travel offshore to spawn in 60+’ of water.Something we had unfortunately not come across in our research. According to these experts, the likelihood of locating schools of bonefish during this time were slim… Still, we pressed on morning after morning. As the days passed further from the full moon and closer to our departure date back to frigid Montana, we began to see more fish. Before we knew what happened our last morning on the flats was upon us. While sipping on my morning coffee I began flipping the pages of our DIY Bonefishing book and reread the “Walking the Flats” and “Seeing Bonefish” one last time to see if there was anything we had forgotten to do. We arrived to the flats at around 7:30am and were greeted with 30mph winds. As a trio, we decided to follow Rod’s advice to find a sandy point and wait for fish like a heron. This tactic proved to be the most productive. We were rewarded with our largest bones of the trip and an unexpected hookup with a 4 ft lemon shark, which eventually cut the 18.5 Seagaur tippet after a 5 minute battle. Our vacation on the island of Eleuthera served as a wonderful getaway for everyone in our group. We experienced beautiful beaches, stunning sunsets, hours of walking the flats, and interactions with the friendliess population of people on the planet. Our trip was everything we had hoped for (minus the noseeums/sandfleas) and we’ve already begun to discuss the location of our next DIY adventure.” Thanks Dan for a great report. Hardly wait to hear about your next trip.
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DIY On New Providence
As I wind up my trip to Tasmania it’s time to turn my attention back to what I’m supposed to be doing……writing about bonefishing in some far off tropical land. And what better hotspot to focus on then the island of New Providence, Bahamas. That’s right the “Disneyland” of the Bahamas. Where cruise ships dock by the dozens, the T-shirt hawkers are everywhere and massive resorts line the beaches. This is not where I would go for a bonefish specific trip but periodically I here stories of vacationers and locals actually doing fairly well along the beaches. Here is a great guest blog from Guy Jacobson of Washington State who took his family to New Providence for a family holiday over Christmas. Proving once again, there is nothing wrong with putting your fly rod in one of the suitcases when heading to the tropics for a family vacation. “Hi Rod, Just wanted to say thanks for the excellent info from your website. It really helped, both with trip planning and fishing. When it really mattered I was prepared when a very unexpected opportunity presented itself on Yamacraw Beach on SE New Providence. This DIY bonefish was icing on the cake for what was intended as a mostly kid-centered, splash-and-giggle family vacation. I figured the “real” fishing was done after getting back to Nassau from a 3-day side trip to Eleuthera with just my son and daughter (who are decidedly more outdoorsy than my wife and her 3 girls). The research I had done on fishing New Providence didn’t leave me hopeful for catching anything other than some small jacks or needlefish off the public beach a short walk from our rented house south of Nassau. At least without the assistance of a guide. And yet, on Christmas afternoon with the tide going out, I spotted 3 sizeable bones. Through sheer luck, or a massive accumulation of fish karma, (probably both) I managed to hook two of them. Seeing the first bonefish only 10 feet off the beach rooting in wave-stirred sand seemed too good to be true and it took a few seconds to sink in that I actually had a shot. And not just at catching a bonefish, but a respectable one at that. Somehow it didn’t spook, and I fired a quick cast with an epoxy crab – once reality finally set in. The next thing I know 50 yards of my backing is gone and the fish is off due to a straightened hook. Thinking that was my one shot (and happy at that) I continued walking down the beach to meet my wife and girls who were just setting their towels on the sand – when I spotted a 2nd larger bone. Unfortunately, my lingering disbelief at the presence of good-sized bones kept me out of full stealth mode, and it spooked before I could pull my head out of my posterior. The girls did a good job of feigning interest while I yammered on with my slimy fish story. Then tied on another crab pattern (with a heavier hook) and walked the beach again. This time much more carefully in full-on Elmer Fudd wabbit hunting mode (at one point I saw the girls snickering at me out of the corner of my eye). Halfway back down the beach, I spotted the third fish in roughly the same area as the second. A nice 2′ deep, semi-sheltered sandy flat protected by a limestone shelf a 100′ or so off the beach. Initially, I thought I spooked it too as it was moving slowly away at a right angle to the beach. Fortunately that put me in it’s blind spot so I laid out a quick cast in front, and to the side, of where the fish was moving. The fish passed the fly as it was sinking, then with one short strip it did an immediate 180. On the second strip I could feel a slight resistance, but just barely since the fish was moving straight towards me at that point – and waited a very long second for it to turn. Just as it did, I gave one solid strip-set and it was game on. Several blistering runs later I was holding one of my best Christmas presents ever.” Thanks for a great story Guy. I look forward to hearing from other subscribers who may have had some luck on New Providence.
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Puerto Vallarta
Though not a traditional bonefishing destination I get many requests from subscribers for fishing information on Mexico’s west coast. Typically associated with a family holiday and the often asked “should I pack my fly rod?” I’ve fished the Pacific side a couple of times and always been able to manage a few fish (jacks mostly), but I’m far from an expert and appreciate any reports I can pass on. Thanks to subscriber Mark Davis, what follows is a great report on his recent trip around Puerto Vallarta. So the answer to the question is: Yes, pack your fly rod. “We stayed at a hotel right on the beach called Costa Sur, which is a few minutes south of town. The hotel has it’s own breakwater that they set up to provide a safe snorkeling area for guests. We did snorkel there one day and saw quite a few fish a few of which would have been legitimate targets for fly fishing, but it felt a little like fishing in someones aquarium so I didn’t fish in there too much. I did fish off the rocks just north of the lagoon, and caught one nice jack there. We fished off the shore a few other places including the pier in Yalapa (you can only get there by boat) where there were schools of small jacks that would attack anything that moved and we found ourselves trying to keep our flies away from the very small ones. Other than that fishing from shore was really hit or miss. About 15 minutes by bus (8 pesos per person) south of our hotel is a small picturesque fishing village called Boca. We went there to explore one day and spoke with a couple of different guys with pangas. We agreed on 400 pesos per hour (they were asking 500) and then set up trips for later in the week. Both of these guys had taken fishermen out before but never fly fishermen. When we arrived for our trips later in the week I explained what we needed, as in the shade cover needs to come down, and that we needed to be fairly close to the action in order to reach by fly casting. These guys figured things our really fast including that they had to get a bit closer for my wife to reach than they did for me. Then I relied on their fishing knowledge to find the fish. Gilberto and Yoari know were the bait (sardines) hang out so that’s where we looked. We caught fish in places where the bait was hanging around rocks and such. We would catch a few fish in those spots but we would also see places where the pelicans were diving into the water and motor over to those areas. There we would find fish, mostly jacks of all sizes attacking bait that they had corralled up agains the beach or the rocks. Then for a period of 15 to 25 minutes it would be a feeding frenzy at that spot and you would get a hit or a fish every cast. I landed jacks up to about 8 or 10 pounds and had one on that would have been well over 20lbs but did not land it. My wife and I often had fish on at the same time. When the action would die down we would look for more pelican action and motor over to a new spot. In some cases the sea was a bit choppy and standing on the front deck of the panga was a bit challenging. In some cases we were positioned just a few feet from shore riding the waves in the middle of a jack attack. The best flies were just about any baitfish pattern that was tan and white or just white. Other colors such as chartreuse or blue or orange just did not seem to work as well. Light olive was the next best, but the tan and white always worked the best. I generally used a 7wt or 8wt from shore and we used 9wts in the boat. Most of everything we caught could have been easily landed with a 7wt but the few bigger fish we caught or had on made you glad to have a heavier rod on the boat. Each day out we ended up with 11 fish in the boat which we gave to Yoari and Gilberto, except for the fish that they prepared for us at one of the beach cafes in Boca, set up by Yoari. We did this on 2 different days, once for almost 5 hours and once for 3 hours. All together we paid about 3500 pesos for both days which is around $250.00. We tipped each of them several hundred pesos on each occasion, but they didn’t seem to expect that. If you are headed down that way you can contact Yoari Estrada on Facebook. We also went out the first day with his cousin Gilberto.” Thanks Mark
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Turks & Caicos – Report
Here is a great report from subscriber Craig Dumesnil on his most recent trip to the Turks & Caicos. He has captured the essence of Provo and North Caicos and I totally agree with his assessment of Bottle Creek and the fishing on Provo itself. I have also stayed with Barry and Marta who own and operate Harbour Club Villas and can absolutely recommend it, you will not meet better hosts. There has been no further news from the government on opening the restricted areas to catch & release fishing, so I can’t provide any more direction on fishing some of the more popular areas that are clearly within the zones. Here is Craig’s report: This being my fourth wintertime visit to the Turks and Caicos, TCI, I thought I might opine for a moment on what I see as the pluses and minuses in hopes that it might be helpful to anyone contemplating a vacation or wondering how it compares to other destinations. First and foremost, you can count on the weather being delightful regardless of what’s going on back home. Daytime highs in the low 80’s and balmy nights in the low 70’s. Since it’s often breezy in the evenings, having a light sweater and jacket is a must. International air travel from Atlanta, Charlotte, Philly, New York, Toronto and Montreal is non-stop and most flights arrive Providenciales (Provo to the locals) in time for a late lunch. A word about the airport: On your day of return, arrive early and grab a seat. The airport has recently been expanded and modernized, but the throngs of vacationers returning stateside, especially on a Saturday or Sunday can be a little overwhelming. The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) were once politically connected to Jamaica but with Jamaican independence, TCI became a British Overseas Territory. An interesting bit of political history is its hundred-year flirtation with Canada. Suffice it to say that the famous Grace Bay beach is one of the prettiest anywhere and is only one of several beautiful beaches surrounding Provo. Sunbathing, snorkeling and scuba are the main activities along with charter fishing and sailing. More recently, Provo has become a popular kite board destination with Long Bay Beach being the center of activity on windy days. Provo is certainly “spouse friendly” and is a popular destination for newlyweds. Accommodations range from hotel rooms and time-shares to lavish, over-the-top 10 bedroom oceanfront vacation rentals. The Amanyara Resort on the West side is particularly lavish and popular with those not on a budget. Dining out options abound. Be sure to pick up one of the free visitors’ guides that advertise many of the local restaurants. We have several favorites in the Turtle Cove Marina area that we return to each year. Truth be told, TCI can be pricey: Virtually everything is shipped in from Miami, 600 miles to the Northeast. On my first visit, several years ago, my only guided bonefish charter ran $800 plus tip and is the main reason I started to DIY fish, and the first bonefish I ever caught DIY was here in Provo. This February, we flew into Provo but continued on to N. Caicos Island by ferry. The half hour ferry ride crosses shallow, gin-clear water to the Sandy Point marina with several daily trips back and forth. For three nights we rented a private home in the Bottle Creek settlement owned by Scooter Bob of Scooter Bob’s Car Rentals over on Provo. The house is situated directly across from the Bottle Creek flats, several square miles of wadeable bonefish habitat. Bob has kayaks for getting around on the flats and we used them to move from place to place out on the flats. The bottom is mostly firm with a few exceptions and we spent most of our time wading. Walking the lee side of several small islands in the morning, we saw numerous tailing fish and my first day out I hooked up with a career fish in the 12 lb. range. We returned to Provo after 3 nights on N. Caicos and stayed a week at Harbour Club Villas and Marina in the Turtle Tail area of Providenciales away from the hustle and bustle of Grace Bay. This was my third visit to Harbour Club and as usual our accommodations were immaculate and our hosts, Barry and Marta, were most accommodating with the most recent dining and fishing suggestions. Barry told me about a new way to drive out to Bonefish Point, which avoided the bone-jarring, unmaintained road I used to take. Whether you fish or not, Bonefish Point is one of the most scenic coastlines anywhere and is well worth the half hour drive from town. I fished either side of the low and had shots at cruising and tailing fish in the 5-7 lb. range. The bottom is uneven and wave-swept. I found it easiest to wade out to a 12-14 inch depth and just wait for fish to come by in addition to walking the shoreline and watching the water in front of me. Each morning, I waded right out front of the Harbour Club in Flamingo and Turtle Lake. Although I caught my first DIY bonefish in Flamingo several years ago, I spent most of my time kayaking around Turtle Lake where the incoming tide produced many tailing fish in the early morning. In fact, I am already planning a return visit next year to coincide with an early morning incoming tide. All in all, Providenciales is a great winter getaway spot, very “spouse friendly” and a good choice for DIY fishing when you don’t have all day to fish.” Thanks for the great report Craig.
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Aitutaki Update
Here is a nice report from subscriber Gary Kemsley on his recent trip to Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. Gary has fished Aitutaki many times and has become a “go to” resource for information on Aitutaki. For those of you who are new to the area, it’s known for holding some really big bones and from the reports I am getting, the fishing is getting better and better. For many years the area was netted by the locals but that seems to have almost completely stopped and the traditional stocks are coming back. It bodes well for the future as the population continues to grow. Here is a video on Aitutaki that was recently taken supporting Gary’s remarks about the size of the fish and the quantity. “Aitutaki, Cook Islands continues to improve as a bonefish destination. The netting of bonefish has been ceased now for nearly four years and the signs of increased bonefish population is evident. We stayed at the Inano Bunglaows near the airstrip and were guided for three days by Itu Davey and his team. This is well worth while before heading out on your own. We had three days on our own as well as the guided days. The Inano Flat right in front of our accommodations was busy with bonefish every day. Tailing fish lured us out morning and evening. All flats were holing fish including the Samadi Flat in front of Samadi’s bar and restaurant. There are those two good flats, as well there is an ocean flat that holds all sorts of species as well as bonefish and the channel between two islands all within five minutes walking distance on Inano. A short ride away is the famous Town Flat and a hundred little beaches and coves. To get to the southern end of the atoll and the most exciting water you need to employ a guide and boat This is still only ten minutes run from accommodations. There is one area where access is with a guide only so you need to identify that before wandering off too far. Meals are available at The Boatshed and Samdai Restaurant and breakfast and lunch at Koru Café, makers of the coffee you usually miss while travelling. They are also just walking distance from the bungalows. Small bones are showing up in catches now which indicates a new generation of bones coming on. The monsters are still there and you can count on seeing, or if you are lucky catching a ten ponder or better most trips. Feel free to contact me rodseller@hotmail.com for more info.” Thanks Gary
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DIY Is Not Just Wading
I was reminded recently by my friend Jim Shafer that DIY is not just about wading on your own, it also includes heading out in a boat, kayak or SUP without the benefit of a guide. Jim and our mutual friend John Sally have the enviable lifestyle of wintering in the Keys with their flats boats moored in front of them. So when the water temperature, wind conditions and “hankering” to get out all merge, they go explore the vast waters that surround them. Obviously that is DIY fishing. My position on the whole DIY definition is, anything you do short of staying at all full service lodge qualifies in some measure as DIY. Even when including an independent guide for half the time, you still had to organize the accommodation, car, food, DIY fishing spots, gear and flies. Planning a trip where you have most of the responsibility to make it a success qualifies as a DIY adventure in my book. DIY is not about wading, but about the “process” of planning and fishing. Many of the places I have visited include renting boats, kayaks and SUP’s to expand the geographic reach. I seldom recommend boat rentals because that assumes the “renter” is a boater and can deal with both unknown territory and the tribulations of renting what the locals call a serviceable boat. (Boy do I have stories about boats). I have owned a motorized boat since I was eight years old, so have some comfort when behind the wheel and do enjoy getting out beyond where my feet or kayak normally go. But I have replaced several props (expensive) had my wife help push the boat 1/2 a mile of a quickly drying flat (very expensive) and sat in the middle of #@%&! nowhere when the motor just wouldn’t start. Much more fun to go out with friends who have their flats boat sparkling clean and ready to go. Anyway, my opinion is DIY is anything short of jumping on a plane and spending seven glorious days pampered and fishing alongside a professional in a lodge setting. Make no mistake, I like that as much as the next guy and do it 2 – 3 weeks per year. But there are a bazzillion guys that write about that. Here is what Jim had to say: “Thanks for including me with all your great DIY information. I really enjoy your posts and thank you for sending them. Don’t forget that DYI can include boating adventures also, as John Sally and I can attest. We went this week back into Rankin bight ( East of Flamingo on the southern tip of South Florida) and caught some monster red fish. These fish were way over the slot of legal fish of 18″-27-” . We released them, and didn’t measure them or weigh them, but they were easily 32″- 36″ fish in the 12-16 lb. range. No guide just me and John. We fished on a falling tide and were in no more than 16″ of water using artificials exclusively. Almost all of your DYI adventures are of people waiding, or kiaking, but I think that many great adventures of DYI could be had by boaters also, going out on their own. On our recent trips we have seen bald eagles, the everglades kite (I think an almost endangered species due to its limited feeding range), many osprey, sawfish, porpoise circling mullet, sharks decimating schools of pilchards, and many other aquatic mammals and fishes that may be of interest. If hearing about these trips this would be of interest, let me know and I will send you some posts.” Thanks Jim. You and anyone else with DIY stories from the boat….send them along. I will make sure we get some of them published.
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News From Long Island
Getting a lot of reports each day from subscribers who are doing what I wish I was doing…..walking the flats looking for bonefish. It’s interesting from my perspective to see how everyone is doing and there is a wide range of success stories ranging from “it’s so nice to be here (that means no fish)” to “greatest fishing of my life ( I’ll let you fill in the blank)”. Over the next few weeks I’ve got stories and blogs to follow from Acklins, Eleuthera, Los Rogues, Turks and Caicos, Exuma and Abaco. These should help in your trip planning for this spring. Following is a nice story from subscriber Roland Schnapka who just arrived home from I think we would all agree was a very successful trip to Long Island. He is an experienced angler and we communicated back and forth before his trip. I asked him to keep the exact flat where he caught the fish pictured out of his story, but can tell you the location is in the book. It’s one of my favourite spots on Long Island and I even think I know that fish by name. From Roland: “We have just returned from our family Holiday to Long Island. Your book gave me the motivation to try a couple of places off the beaten track that I have been meaning to fish for several years now. I’m grateful I did as it resulted in me catching a cracking Bonefish. The morning started well with us spotting a few decent Bones almost straight away as they moved out on the ebb tide and although the wind was strong we were optimistic to soon get hooked up, however almost as soon as we started seeing fish big clouds rolled in making spotting very difficult, I opted to wade a very skinny sand flat in the hope of being able to make out a shadow every now and then. It proved to be a good move as almost instantly I saw a big bone moving in from my right, I placed a Gotcha nicely in his path and instantly he switched on and came after the fly. I strip set and he held still before tearing to my left, right at my colleague (Richard). Richard thankfully ducked as he then tore off into the Blue behind Richard and my Fly line almost took of Richard’s head ! After a few pics we let the Bone gain strength before swimming off onto the Flats.” Thanks Roland, that is a beautiful Long Island bonefish.
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Fly Fishing The Southern Yucatan
Over the last nine years I have fished the Southern Yucatan many times. In fact I had a regular trip for six years in a row. Those years were focused in the Mahahual to Xcalak area but I’ve also spent time fishing Boca Paila and the Biosphere. When you mention The Southern Yucatan, Ascension Bay and its lodge fishing get most of the press (rightly so, it can be fantastic) but there are a variety of independent guides and DIY options up and down the coast that are fantastic in their own right. My next book, Fly Fishing The Southern Yucatan is now in the “drafting” stage with a final two weeks of research to do in May. A good friend and great fishing buddy, Nick Denbow makes his living as a full time guide, headquartered in Mahahual. This is one of the few places I know of in the world where you have a legitimate chance of landing a permit, bone, snook and big jack off the beach in the morning and jumping back into one of the many lagoons to finish the day off with a tarpon. Nick is going to help write the Mahahual south to Belize section of the book and what follows is a small sampling of the fishing that can be expected in the area. Nick Denbow, The Western Caribbean Fly Fishing School, says: “March 10th, Mahahual, Southern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Really tough week from a guides point of view. The cold north wind 10 days ago pushed the Permit further off shore and rapidly dropped the lake temp 10 degrees significantly decreasing the Tarpons aggression. Following this the strong winds and wave height have made the wade and walk fishing for Bones on the ocean side difficult to impossible based on casting ability. This with the addition of a bumper year for floating Sargassum weed and it all amounted to a guides nightmare. We usually say that when the going gets tough we can still achieve 10 grabs a day on the lakes and always show you Permit off the beach. These last few days have really made me work hard! Alex Beck and Ryan Henderson from Colorado with Duncan Matthews from England fished with me last week. First day we were on a rocky point surrounded by bait, diving birds and lots of floating weed but we managed to get a good sized Horse Eye from an aggressive gang who charged around us trying to corner the baitfish. Every wave showed us Permit who were apparently surfing in to feed on the fry. Every cast was a shot and shot after shot we had no follows, this lasted a good 5 minutes until the school left us and moved on. Back in the lakes and we scored heavily on young Snook and a few small Tarpon. After a couple of hours we were all still thinking about the Permit in the waves, so we returned to the beach (as always trying to complete the super slam). Walking in on a rocky point mid-afternoon with the sun behind us and Alex spots a Permit in the waves, 3rd cast and it rushes the Shrimp. Alex’s 43rd Permit might not have been his biggest but it was as emotional as the 42 before it. We celebrated momentarily and the sent Alex off to look for the Bone to seal the deal as we were against the clock. Tough days fishing the Yucatan repeatedly offer more options than other locations. The variety Mexico has to offer is still really hard to beat.” Thanks Nick
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SUP For Bonefish – Boca Paila
Here is a nice report from my friend Rhett Schober, highlighting a day that he and a client had while fishing from a SUP south of Tulum, Mexico. I love using an SUP (stand up paddleboard) and Rhett is one of the few guides I know who actually uses them with clients. Not only is he a good guide, great fisherman and fun person to spend a day with, he owns and operates Akumal Villas. So if you need a place to stay while visiting the Caribbean side of Mexico, visit his website and see his vast array of accomodations. “March 11th, 2015 trip at Boca Paila: It goes without saying that any day on the flats is better than a good day at the office. Today was one of them as Jon Connor and I paddled around the Boca Paila flats for an exciting day of Bonefishing. As one of my great Yucatan guiding friends, Nick Denbow, recently commented, the water has been cold recently. Thus, we didn’t see the larger numbers of Bones nor any Permit. However, there were enough to keep us happy. More interestingly, Jon is an avid fly tier and happily provided some very good mantis shrimp variations with which to trick those wily Bones. I particularly love guiding the flats here by way of SUP and with a single client, we can both get on and quickly move over the canals to another area and hit some new waters. Impressively, Jon was here for his 70th birthday and was as spry and nimble as I could ever hope to be at that age. So, we loaded the SUP and headed out up Permit Ally to see what the day would bring. Our first creatures of the day were a pair of nesting Osprey and from the sounds coming from the nest, it seemed that there were one or two little babies about. As we glided onto the first, and best, central flat we spooked several Bones and multiple large schools of Mullet. We anchored the boat and started a loop around the shallowest part of the flat. We had several shots at some singles and doubles but they were rather spooky and hard to see as the sun was still relatively low. Nonetheless, a few fish later, Jon put out a beautiful cast to a “Suicide Bone,” and we were on with the first fish of the day. Later we moved over to the largest flat at Boca Paila and hit an area where there have been some larger pods. That area is good on an incoming tide as there is a canal coming in there from the mouth by the bridge and the bones are eager to see what the tide has deposited on the flat. After hooking and landing another 3.5 pound bone it was time to take a break and talk about the morning. Boy, I wish I was the guy who invented those folding camping chairs and I would like to thank him. With a LMB, (late morning beverage) in hand we settled down to discuss the morning and talk about fly tying. As the day progressed we headed back to the central flat and did a few rounds. In one instance, Jon tied on another pink variegated Mantis Shrimp variation which seemed to be very popular. While casting to a six fish school, we watched as there was a mad dash to gobble up the fly and we were on again. I love it when there is competition! To finish the day, I paddled Jon out to a secret spot that many people know but wouldn’t necessarily fish. I will officially call it CROCODILE POINT as this is the area where there is often a pretty large Caiman hanging out. We ditched the SUP in the mangroves and proceed to walk up to the point. The view is spectacular especially when there are 4 large Bones tailing at the tip. Unfortunately, they were very spooky as this flat is extremely shallow and they didn’t cooperate. Anyway, it was a great last attempt to finish a wonderful day on the flats at Boca Paila with Jon Connor.” Great story Rhett. Thanks to you and Jon.
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A Full Moon and Bonefishing
To the best of my knowledge there is no “scientific” evidence proving that bonefishing is more difficult during a Full Moon then it is during other moon phases. But before I get into it, let me say this. If you only have one or two weeks to fish in the tropics per year, check the moon phases FIRST, your bank account SECOND, your wedding anniversary THIRD……..then book your trip. Make sure you are not away on your anniversary, you can afford the trip and you will be fishing during a Neap tide. Over the last ten years I have fished a ton during full moon phases. Why? Because I’m on the flats for so many days, some of them are bound to be during a full moon. I have had plenty of good days during a full moon, but I’ve had lots of crappy ones as well. The subject comes up once again after receiving an email from my travel buddy who is currently on Abaco. He fishes every bit as much as I do and is certainly as good a fisherman (don’t tell him I said that). He says: ” I really think the full moon @#$%& the fishing. I fished the lagoon south of the boat channel around the full moon and struggled to hook 3 fish. The fish just refused to eat the fly and , in fact, would not even follow it. We went back to the lagoon yesterday and it was a completely different story. I did not see very many fish but I caught every fish I saw. I love it when the fly lands, even if it almost hits them on the head, and they turn and attack in some ravenous feeding frenzy. I have never paid that much attention to full moons before but I can see the wisdom of organizing a fishing trip avoiding a full moon unless it is a trip like this one where we are here for 5 weeks. ” And I have had similar experiences during full moons as well. I remember asking a very experienced guide in Belize during one of my early bonefishing trips, whether he thought full moons were negative for bonefishing? He was convinced it was the worst time of the month to plan a trip. And I have asked every guide since. It’s not universal but most believe the fishing is better on a Neap tide. There are two different theories as to why Full Moons and Spring Tides are detrimental to fishing. One is that the Spring tides accompanying a full moon allow fish to access areas farther back into the mangroves and creeks making them inaccessable to fisherman. Second, that bones feed all night during a full moon and they just aren’t hungry or aggressive during the day. I have found both to be true. As a walk and wade guy I am certainly okay to go back into the mangroves to find the fish and have done so successfully on many occasions. High tides aren’t great, but you can find fish. But when they won’t eat like my buddies comments above, it can be down right frustrating. The subject of moon phases and bonefishing have been covered in my book and those written by Dick Brown, Chico Fernandez and Randall Kaufman. I’m not saying they can’t be caught during a full moon, but if possible, book your trip during a Neap tide.
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Sunscreen and Bonefish
Have to thank my good friend and fishing buddy Davin Ebanks of FlatsWalker for bringing the subject of sunscreen and the handling of bonefish to my attention. I remember in the early days guides telling me they hated sunscreen and some wouldn’t even let me tie on my own fly if I had applied sunscreen to my face. To this day I wash my hands after applying sunscreen and only use a “no touch” applicator when re-applying. Of course my buddy applies it moments before hitting the flats and catches just as many fish as I do. And I talked with Aaron Schultz of the Eleuthera Institute about this exact subject several years ago and even then he was convinced it makes no difference to a bonefish. Now it looks like there is some scientific evidence which concludes sunscreen does not negatively affect a bonefishes desire to eat a Gotcha. So having sunscreen on your hands may not impact whether a fish bites, it certainly appears to have tragic results when handling a fish. The article that Davin brought to my attention in FlyLife magazine seems to clearly show that not only do we have to be really careful when handling fish our hands should be clean, wet and devoid of sunscreen. So, I haven’t put sunscreen on my hands for fifteen years. Turns out it was the right thing to do, just for the wrong reason. Let’s handle and protect the fish in the manner they deserve.
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Guest Blog – Andros
Here is a great report from one of our subscribers Brett Coakley fishing along side is wife Jessica while staying at The Treasures of Andros. Sounds like they had a wonderful time with guide Tommy Kee on the west side. I have not fished with him but looks like someone I should try out. Thanks Brett and Jessica. “Hey Rod. Back from the islands! I wanted to send you a note to summarize our success/failure. In short, we had a great trip. on our own, we found fish almost everywhere, got casts to some, made lots of bad casts, got wrapped up and tangled in lots of flyline, hooked ourselves a few times, made good casts to few, MISSED a ton of fish, but hooked and landed our share. Jessica did great overall, but struggled in the wind at times, which was relentless- and got worse each day as the week wore on. Although I’m not a bonefisherman per say, I am a pretty good fisherman overall (I think) and was able to put 2+2 together and figure things out. We found fish in the channels like you recommended, but I failed to make it happen with any of them. The fish just seemed to be on the move too much. The tide would mess with my presentation too much as well. On cruising fish I did much better, and by the last day was very efficient with them. I was over 50% on the fish I had shots at that last day. We did book a day with a guide, and went to the west side from the village of Red Bay. Boy, what a cool place and well worth the $$$. Lots of dumb bones too, which helped us a lot. Jess lost a really nice one over there when her NEW gel spun backing got bound up on her reel. Luckily our guide poled us after the fly line that was now zipping across the flat. We lost the fish, but got my new, 60$ line back and re-attached it. Over the course of the week we saw some true lunkers, but I think the biggest one we landed was about 5#. Man did I miss a lot of fish over the week. They would follow, I’d feel the bump, make a strip strike, and miss them. It happened over and over. It had to be in the dozens when I think of the number of fish I truly missed strikes on. Of the 150 flies I tied for this trip, we used 3. J A light, almost white gotcha with lots of flash on the west side, and a Verkas mantis shrimp, and tan gotcha with an orange butt non the east side. Anyone need to by some flies? Aside from watching Jessica catch a 5# bonefish, I had two truly special, private moments there. The first happened on my first day, and the second happened on my last…. I walked up from our rental to a small flat at a creek mouth after dinner the first day since I knew the rising tide and low light conditions would likely bring a fish or two onto the flat that was dry earlier in the day. Sure enough, a nice bonefish was grubbing bottom right next to the beach, but I spooked him as I foolishly bumbled along the shoreline. I gave him a few minutes and came back, only this time a little more stealthily. There he was, same area. I made a short cast from the sand way ahead to keep from spooking him and gave a small strip, followed by a long slow strip when he got closer. He rushed in, and nearly ate my Verka’s mantis shrimp on the beach itself. He was off like a rocket; I soon realized I had WAY too little drag pressure on him… However, I was able to slow him down and finally get my hands on my first Bahamas bonefish. The last of our two days fishing were spent in a rented kayak in Fresh Creek. We found plenty of willing fish, and most importantly, a nice flat where we could put the sun and wind at our backs. Jess and I waded parallel to shore about 100’ from each other in the prime cruising zone. Near the end of the flat we split up, since I wanted to explore a small cluster of mangroves at the mouth of a creek, and she wanted to check out a little bay separated by a small spit of sand. I saw a dark spot in the water that I thought was a patch of turtle grass at first, and worked slowly toward it. Then I saw what it was, about 6 bones mudding and tailing along, their tails looking like beautiful crystal sickles dancing in the sunshine. I crept up to about 60’ and made a cast near them. But the mud from their roto-tilling kept them from seeing the fly. They were now at 50’, I made a cast, but again, they didn’t see the fly. They were now at 40’ and didn’t see the fly. Now 30’. Again. Now 20’. I squatted down and got as low as possible and barely flicked a cast beyond a rods length next to them. Right as it was sinking, I saw one break rank and inhale it. He was small, maybe 2#, but the experience will be with me forever. We stayed at the Treasures of Andros . Although far from luxurious, it was clean, and bug free (most important). Hot water availability was spotty as was the WIFI. Trevor (owner) and Mario (manager/caretaker) were super friendly both before and during the trip. The Ford Escape they rented us was the perfect vehicle for the island and its crappy roads. We fished the west side with Tommy Kee, an independent guide recommended by Trevor. He was 100$ cheaper than other guides, so I was a bit skeptical at first. […]
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My Winter On Grand Bahamas – Guest Blog
Have to thank Kevin Becker and his wife for such a wonderful report on Grand Bahama. There couldn’t be an easier location to get to, it has all of the services a person could want. And has a wide variety of lodges, independent guides and DIY fishing opportunities. My Winter on Grand Bahama Island – 2015 Research “Since my Wife and I are both retired, I began searching for a place in warm weather that we could escape our Minnesota Winter and catch some fish while doing so. Preferably Bonefish that I did not have to have a boat to fish. We also wanted a bit of infrastructure as we were going to be gone for over 2 months. Having been on some remote islands of the Bahamas such as Exuma and Abaco before, we both knew we would have a hard time spending that much time on a remote island. So, we looked at Grand Bahama Island, which had Freeport, a ‘City’ of 55,000 plus people. This would offer us decent Grocery Shopping, restaurants and other amenities that other Bonefish locations would not. We were perfectly willing to accept less than ‘Ideal’ fishing conditions to make a ‘comfortable winter home. Using VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner), I booked a place called Dolphin Cove Apartments in Freeport. The Apartments only had 12 Units and was about 2-3 Blocks from the Ocean on a Saltwater Canal. We ended up renting a One Bedroom unit for about $2,600 a month. It was furnished very nicely with Stainless Steel appliances, granite counter-tops. Top notch furniture and furnishings. Wains-coatings and crown molding and exquisite tile flooring accented the apartment with a Balcony that over looked the turquoise waters of the Canal. It also had high speed internet and 2 Flat Screen TVs to keep in touch with the ‘Outside World’. I also needed a Car for our 2-3 month adventure, so I contacted Brad’s Car Rental in Freeport and arranged for a Compact car at a monthly rate of about $1200. The car insurance would be handled by my credit card company, rented on 30 day contracts. Now I needed a Bonefish Guide to get me into the remote Bonefish Flats and maybe some Permit Fishing. And my goal was to DIY Bonefish after I honed my skills. Searching the internet I came across ‘Firefly Bonefishing’ and a guide named Whitney Rolle. I read his Bio and learned that he had been a guide at Deep Water Cay Bonefishing Lodge for 19 years before venturing out on his own with a couple other guides. Whitney had guided quite a few celebrities such as Prince Phillip of England. He also guided many other Fly Fishing notables such as Flip Pallot and Andy Mill. I contacted Whitney by e-mail and asked him if he would consider guiding me without staying in his Lodge, as I had an apartment in Freeport. He agreed, since I was fishing from January through Early March, this was his non busy time of the year and he would be open quite a bit. I told him that I would contact him when I arrived in Freeport in January of 2015. He also asked me if I was interested in Fishing Permit as he knew where some hung out. Interested, I said ? …. I am ‘All In’ on the Permit Fishing! Arrival We arrived in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas on Dec 30, 2014 to a wonderful 77 degrees, which was a great respite to the Minneapolis 5 degrees that we had left that morning. We arrived at our rental apartment in short order and were busy setting up our home. In my younger years, I may have been stringing up a fly rod and heading to the beach, but I had 2 ½ months to enjoy this island and I was going to be patient, thinking of the ‘long term’ rather than the short term. And I might also mention that my intent was not to fish the entire 2 ½ months on this island. I did look at the weather forecast and it looked warmer than normal for Freeport and Sunny Skies and light winds. The next day I contacted my guide, Whitney and asked if he wanted to go fishing on Sunday, January 4th. I needed a guide, as I had not been Bonefishing for 5 years as I have been concentrating on Tarpon and Redfish and was really ‘Rusty’. So, I knew I needed help in spotting fish, getting my Strip and Retrieve down and a tight line for some confidence. Whitney sent me an e-mail in short order and we were booked for Sunday. The next few days I spent with my wife grocery shopping and setting up the household for our winter home. I was proud of myself for not stringing up a fly rod and running down to the Ocean 2 blocks away and flailing away. I even saw a school of 5 Bonefish in our Canal in the Backyard and I left the Fly Rod in the apartment. The apartment owner told me that they always swim up and down the canal. Here is a picture of our Apartment and Saltwater Canal. First G.B.I. Bonefish On Sunday, January 4th my wife and I had to drive to the East End of Grand Bahama Island to meet Whitney, my Bonefish Guide. It is about a 55 Mile drive to the East End of Grand Bahama Island to Mcleans Town (Conch Cracking Capital of the World). I met Whitney at the Dock and we headed out for about ½ hour onto some remote flats. No other fisherman in sight, as this is January and a low season, so I pretty much had a few hundred miles of flats to myself. My wife does not fish, but enjoys a day in the boat to see the flats and wildlife, shells, birds, sharks etc. And it is Sunny and not cold winter like Minnesota! In the first […]
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The Joulters – North Andros
Thanks to Glen Ueda for providing this recent report on his visit to North Andros and the world famous Joulters. For those of you who have not been to the Joulters yet, put it on the list. Glenn’s report covers everything you need to know about the area and guides while describing one of the Bahama’s “must do” destinations. The Joulters is not a standard DIY destination as a boat is required to reach the flats, but makes a perfect location to include in a dual trip. Three to four days fishing the Joulters with one of the professional guides and then a few days farther south around Fresh Creek to walk and wade on your own. “Just thought I’d pass on a report having spent six remarkable days with three buddies wading the seemingly endless flats and cays of the Joulters off North Andros Island in the Bahamas. We were blessed with lots of sunshine which made stalking and sight casting to the many bonefish a real pleasure. The usual east wind blew hard gusting to 25mph the first few days and it made the fish reckless and of course helped mask the sound of wading feet and the splash of an errant cast. We had a west wind on our last day and that did affect our fishing but in a positive way as it helped hold water on the flats we fished. Our wonderful guides were Elias Griffin and Louvan “Skeemer” Seymour and as in years past, they were outstanding. Their ability to synthesize wind, current, tide, depth, and a host of other environmental factors was key to our success as the so-called tide tables could not have been more inaccurate. A veteran angler and I chose the “DIY-assisted” route, choosing to fish alone once our guide’s Maverick flats skiffs were parked on a selected flat. The two of us love the challenge and satisfaction that comes from spotting our own fish even if it means the possibility of less opportunities. This arrangement worked well, as it allowed the other two less experienced anglers to be accompanied by our guides throughout the trip. Physically demanding, we waded an average of 8-10 miles a day and would rarely have to “double back” to the skiff thus allowing us to always cover “new” water. One of the wonderful things about the Joulters was that there were always flats to wade regardless of tide. Our days were wonderfully long beginning with a 7:30 AM launch from Lowe Sound and often ending twelve hours later. To say the fishing was epic would be an understatement as every day was filled with double digit quantities of good grade bones averaging three to four pounds for each angler with a few larger fish to 7 pounds. Some of the most exciting fishing was casting to wave after wave of bonefish draining off a flat as the tide fell. If you played it properly, about the time you landed one, you would be in a position to make another presentation to yet another shortly thereafter. Almost all of my fish were caught on my Solomona fly a combination of light brown rabbit, tan Holofusion, root beer Krystal Flash, and bright orange Sili Legs. Tailers, cruisers, or pushers, they all seemed to respond well if the cast was on the money. Towards the end of the trip I encountered some spooky tailers in skinny water in glassy conditions and did well with a small soft-landing tan or white yarn crab on an extended leader. This was only the second trip for my G. Loomis NRX 8wt and it along with my venerable Cross Current GLX performed flawlessly in a variety of conditions and distances. Ditto for my smooth running Galvan Torque 8’s. My fly line of choice remains a Wulff Bermuda Triangle Taper which I upline to WF-9-F for quicker loading. There were a couple of tips that I wanted to share with your readers that helped me tally a few extra bones. Firstly, wearing a stripping basket was helpful as it prevented my fly line from tangling on my feet while wading or getting tangled when navigating a mangrove covered shoreline. I had numerous fish eat then charge right past me on the strip strike creating slack in the fly line as there was no way to strip fast enough to keep up. After losing a couple on this day because the hook never penetrated, I remembered a tip from a guide friend and kept my rod tip buried in the water which created line drag until the fish removed slack and was on the reel, the hook firmly buried. Lastly, try and position yourself so that you are casting directly in-line with the fish’s path. I had a few instances where I knew I had made a good presentation based on the fly’s splash but felt the fly had been dragged out of the feeding zone of the fish (no reaction) due to the fly line being “bellied” in the wind/current due to my oblique casting position. Sometimes this cannot be avoided as there is no time to reposition yourself so an angled cast must be made. Other times, I was able to spot fish well away, assess their trajectory, and adjust accordingly. Aligning yourself with the fish’s path also serves to keep the fly in the zone longer which should account for a few more bites. Tight lines” Thanks Glenn
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Now This Is A DIY Trip – Cat Island
As Blogs go, this is a long one, but I had to print it in its entirety because it tells such a wonderful story. Really this is the “Poster Child” blog of why we do what we do and why the Bahamas is such a perfect place to take our families. It is so reminiscent of my favourite fishing experience with my son, so many, many years ago. Mine was on Long Island and I stayed at Stella Maris with my wife and eight year old son. I had been bonefishing for five years at this point, always out of a lodge and with guides. We had a remarkable time, to many great experiences to list here. But suffice it to say it set the course for my bonefishing journey, love of the Bahamas and its people. I spent two terrific days being guided by Docky Smith but as great as those multi-fish days were they paled in comparison to the other five days fishing alone with my son. Each morning we would mount the balloon tired bikes owned by Stellas Maris, ride down the hill to Adderley Bay and walk the flats on our own. Sometimes we just held hands and walked, often times he would point out a tail, but mostly we were just together. What follows is subscribers Greg Olson’s account of his families recent trip to Cat Island, Bahamas. “Over the past few years, every March I have heard the same three complaints from my teenage son and daughter (15 and 13 years old): they never go anywhere for spring break (all their friends do), they have never seen an ocean (I used to get by, showing them Lake Superior), and they have never left the country (again, all their friends have). As of last week, I was able to “kill three birds, with one stone” after taking a family trip to the Bahamas. I have been to the ocean only a handful of times myself and since taking up fly fishing ~ 10 years ago, I have been dreaming of fishing the salt. A guide would definitely have lowered the learning curve but that was not in the budget. So I started poking around the web for info and found Rod’s website and book. I ordered his book and found a wealth of information inside. After reading the descriptions of the Bahamian islands, we settled on Cat Island. When we vacation out West, my strategy has been to rent a cabin or campsite on fishable water. Family vacations are not “fishing vacations” as my non-fishing wife is fond of saying, so this way, if there is any down time, I can grab my rigged up fly rod and step into the water without any travel time. Also, by not chasing new water every day, I can take what I learned the day before and apply it, thus doing more fishing and less head scratching. Orange Creek Inn on Cat Island with Orange Creek across the street fit this description and our budget. Our hosts, the Cleare family, were wonderful and having a grocery store on the premises and kitchenette in our room, held down costs too. They arranged for a rental car for a couple of days and had bikes and kayaks to rent. Peaceful Cat Island with beautiful sand beaches was loved by every member of the family. While reading Rod’s book, he made the point that creeks can be easier to fish than flats for the DIY angler and I was so naïve to salt water angling that I thought to myself, “trout creeks in the Driftless area of WI and MN is what I fish all the time, that will look familiar.” I was taken aback when I saw what Orange Creek opens up to! So with travel, we only had 5 whole days on the island. On the first full day, we had a few hours in the afternoon, I forget what stage the tide was at, and my son Brian and I headed out into the vast creek. We actually fed a couple flies to barracuda before we realized those were not bonefish. Rod had recommended bringing a wire leader, which we did, and had a good time catching ‘cuda, but we did not see any bones. That night I looked through Rod’s book and he had quoted long time Orange Creek guide Willard Cleare as saying that he preferred to fish the creek on an incoming tide on through to high. Rod drove home the point the importance of fishing the incoming tide when the fish are hungry, as well, so I decided if we were going to fish only 2-3 hours a day, it had better be those times. The second day we got out there just when the tide turned. We saw tails in the air, just like some photos in Rod’s book! They were already feeding. I would echo Rod’s comments about getting into the creek/flat at low tide, before it turns. We were amazed how soon the bones would show up as the water started coming in. Finding tailing fish, was huge. Standing on the road along Orange Creek, I could see in the water pretty good, standing in the creek was a whole new ball game. I got to where I could pick up the bones out to 50 feet on sand, but when they got to the turtle glass they disappeared for me. Tailing fish were the best and we could see more tails on the other side of the creek channel, but that would have to wait for the next day, unless we wanted to spend a lot of fishing time hiking around the now deep channel. We had a couple of shots, but came up empty. The third day, we are on the far side of the creek channel where we saw all the tails the day before, well before the tide turned. As soon as it did, we were surrounded […]
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In Search Of Grande
Pretty sure I have never recommended a movie before , but Alex Beck sent me his latest film titled “In Search Of Grande” which totally captured my imagination. Not exactly bonefishing but the film epitomize’s the spirit of DIY. As they say early on in the film ‘we aren’t fishing, we are hunting.” And hunt they do, for rooster fish off the beaches of the Baja. I understand that many of you are not there, but I found my “fishing soul” when I started exploring, hunting and stalking on my own. Nothing excites me more than finding an overgrown two track road, barely worn path or hearing the whispers of a local, all of which hold the promise of a fishing hole I have never seen. Of course I am lucky to have friends who like to do the same things and a wife who tolerates the hours of endless driving down roads that go no where. If the truth be known, most of our treks down the “left fork” end up at an impenetrable mangrove swamp…..but what if we take the “right fork?” So often these days the fish I catch, nobody will see. Don’t need hero shots any more. At this stage of my journey it’s not the catching, it’s the adventure. And In Search Of Grande takes you on the ultimate adventure. I invite you to see how Alex and his friends have captured the essence of “we aren’t fishing, we are hunting.”
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Turks & Caicos, My First Bonefishing Trip
Thanks to subscriber Paul Grandly for his report on his recent trip to the Turks & Caicos. I am still waiting to hear if there has been any progress made on the proposed legislation to allow catch and release fishing in the National Parks and Preserves. “Inspired by Rod Hamilton’s book “DIY Bonefishing,” my wife and I planned a family Spring Break on TCI as my upcoming 50th birthday present. I spoke with my friends who have done tropical trips and the great staff at Fish Tales and Iron Bow Fly Shops in Calgary, bought the basic gear and tied a couple of boxes of flies. It seems that many of the guest blog articles have been written by experienced bonefishers, so I thought I’d share some of my newbie experiences, in case they might be useful to other newcomers. We arrived at our resort, near Grace Bay on Providentiales (“Provo”) on Saturday afternoon and I headed out in our rental car to catch the low tide at Bristol Bay with the family. As expected, I didn’t manage to spot any fish and looked forward to some tips from my guide the next day. I headed out from Leeward Marina with Darin Bain at 7:20 the next morning, excited and ready to learn everything I could from a pro. Darin put me onto fish right right away and called them out with the clock system and distances. I did my best to cast where he told me to, even though I initially couldn’t see the fish. I wasn’t getting my casts out quickly or accurately enough (sometimes confusing 9 and 3 o’clock in my excitement and finding it hard to keep track of directions in a drifting boat). We relocated to a bay on Pine Cay and before I could strip off any line or step up onto the bow of the boat I clearly saw a big bonefish less than 30 feet in front of the boat. Needless to say, it wasn’t there long enough for me to have a shot at it, but I had seen it. We proceeded into the bay and Darin called some fish at 9 o’clock. I made a good cast and followed Darin’s instructions to strip. I saw two good fish fleeing the scene, but Darin kept telling me to strip. I felt the take, didn’t “trout set,” and was into my first bonefish at 8:10. It was the runt of the group at only two or three pounds, but it was a perfect starter for me. My wife came out on that trip and took some of the fantastic photos you see here, including some great iPhone panoramas We saw a lot more fish that morning, including a couple of schools. I ended up hooking six and boating two, the second a feisty five-pounder which took me well out into the backing several times. I guess I was having some difficulty getting the strip set right, because two came unstuck and I managed to break two off on 10lb flouro. I had seen many of the fish Darin pointed out but not without him spotting them first. He gave me some helpful casting pointers and told me he’d e-mail me if he had any openings later in the week. The short version of the story is that I did a bit of DIY fishing each day (Discovery Bay, Long Beach, Stubbs Cove, Flamingo Lake, Cooper Jack, Bristol Bay again and Juba channel), but really didn’t get a shot at any bones. We rented stand-up/sit down paddleboards from Howard at Last Chance on North Caicos to explore Bottle Creek for a few hours with my family. During the trip I did see barracudas, boxfish, baitfish, needlefish, turtles, a nurse shark, a stingray and a couple of spooked bonefish, but I clearly haven’t mastered the art of stalking and spotting bonefish. I tried my best to wade with stealth – which isn’t always easy in soft-bottomed flats – but I guess either my spook range currently exceeds my visual range, or I wasn’t in the right spots at the right times. Maybe I should have covered more territory in prospecting mode, or stopped more to wait for fish to come to me. I guess I was “paying my dues” and accruing experience, which will hopefully pay off in future adventures. Darin e-mailed me to say that Thursday afternoon was available, so I splurged on a second half-day trip (guides are expensive in TCI). We saw loads of bones (I even saw a couple that Darin didn’t call to my attention) but for some reason the fish were particularly restless and skittish that afternoon, making it really hard to get a fly in front of them. Ultimately I did about as well as I did on the first trip, boating two nice fish and losing two more (one came unstuck and one managed to get into the mangroves, in spite of my best efforts to steer him away). Here are some more observations: You drive on the left in TCI, usually in right-hand-drive cars, which takes a bit of getting used to Although it’s a British Colony, the currency is USD, which sucks right now for Canadians with the low price of oil and poor exchange rate My family and I felt safe on the islands, with the exception of the time I took a wrong turn and drove down a dead-end street in Kingstown and had groups of men walking into the street and jeering at me. There are quite a lot of stray/feral dogs on some parts of Provo, which can be a bit of a concern, although I never encountered any that seemed aggressive. Apparently the poor beasts suffer terribly from malnutrition, fleas, flies and ticks. In case you are interested, there is a charity on Provo called “Potcake Place” (www.potcakeplace.com) that exists to rescue feral puppies and put them up for adoption. If you are there with your family, the […]
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Mahahual, Mexico – Cruise Ship Stop
This report comes from subscriber and acquaintance Jay Majhanovich. I met him when visiting the Turks & Caicos where Jay was vacationing with his family. He caught a magnificent bonefish on his own while there, which ultimately made it into my book. We have stayed in touch since then as his cold winters tend to drive him for a week or two south where the sun shines and the bones swim. When looking at their cruise itinerary Jay saw the ship landed at the small Mexican port of Costa Maya. So with five hours to kill he could either go to the beach with his family and buy a “bucket a beer” for ten bucks or go fishing. Why don’t we let Jay tell you what his decision was. “My family and I recently went on a Caribbean Cruise for Spring Break. I took this opportunity, as I do anytime we venture out, to look around for various fly fishing opportunities. I know well enough that any fishing excursion offered by or associated with a cruise ship is actually going to be merely a boating trip at best. So I took it upon myself to search for a possible options. I discovered that not many fly fishing guides are interested in dealing with cruise ship clients due to the logistics of the timing of the arrival and departure of the ships. This was the case in all of our ports that I was familiar with. As luck would have it, there was one port that I was unfamiliar with. By another twist of luck, there was only one fly fishing guide that I had heard of in that region of Mexico. I had heard of Nick Denbow (Western Caribbean Fly Fishing School) both from a mutual fishing acquaintance and from Rod Hamilton’s DIY Bonefishing book. I had actually been attempting to get down and fish with Nick for several years, but it just hadn’t worked out. I knew that Nick lived and worked out of the town of Majahual. The name of our mystery port of call was Costa Maya. I decided to check the proximity of this port to Mahahual. I was pleased to find that they were basically one in the same. A series of emails to Nick, a very reasonable PayPal deposit, and a 7 minute taxi ride form the cruise ship dock, and my daughter and I were meeting Nick Denbow at a great little restaurant directly on the beach of Mahahaul. Thirty minutes later, we were launching our boat in one of Nick’s many Tarpon/snook haunts along the coast. The preceding several days had been quite rainy and had noticeably discolored the water. Due to this fact, Nick was highly disappointed in the action that day, but I did manage to land my first Tarpon (3 in fact) and had multiple shots at snook along the mangroves. We fished this location for several hours and had a great time. We then decided to head back to the beach and do a little wade fishing in an attempt to land my first Permit. I did not get the job done! However, my 12 year old daughter did manage to land one, along with a small bonefish and serveral other fish. I caught a very nice bonefish and decided to end my day on that note. I had a couple of beers and chatted with Nick (planning when I would get back to join him on a longer fishing trip) while my daughter played along the beautiful beach in Mahahaual. All in all, due to the arrival and departure time of the ship, our fishing excursion lasted only about 5 hours. Nick, however, managed to use that short amount of time to provide us with an excellent fishing adventure. I can’t say enough about Nick and his personality and professionalism. Aside from showing me some very good fishing, I was also very impressed by how conscientious he was about making sure my young daughter enjoyed herself and that we made our cruise ship with time to spare. If you happen to be on a cruise ship and Costa Maya is one of your ports, booking a fishing trip with Nick is a no-brainer. Heck if you are just looking for a beautiful, laid back, relaxing out of the way vacation spot to spend a week, you can’t beat heading down to Majahual and hooking up with Nick. “ Could you have a better shore excursion than that? Thanks Jay
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