BobG
01-27-2004, 09:37 AM
This was our third trip to this lovely, remote "out island". Virtually nothing has changed since we were there 18 months ago. The events of 9/11 brought what little tourist trade they had to a standstill. Many old-timers we spoke with likened the past two years to the 50's and 60's, when it was a rare event to see a tourist.
Many local people still draw their water from a well with a bucket and a rope. We still saw old men and women walking very long distances with huge quantities of vegetables and straw on their head. Gas is in very short supply, and very expensive ($3.85 a gallon).
Cat Island is unique among other islands in the Bahamas. It was no organized bone fishing. There actually are no flats surrounding the island such as those found around the Abacos. the Exumas, Andros, Long Island, etc. Rather, all the bone fishing is confined to the many creeks which are scattered throughout the island. As hard as this might be to believe, many of these creeks are still virgin territory. Places such as Hawk's Nest creek, Springfield creek, and even Bennet's creek never get fished. The creek systems are expansive. Foot access is just not there. A local fisherman showed me several ancient "fishing trails" that locals have used for generations to fish for food. They would walk down these tiny, rocky, narrow trails for almost a mile, and then wade another 400-500 yards through the mangroves to fish for bonefish, crabs, and sharks. I tried it once on Bennet's creek. After a 2 hour death march through the rocky trail and mucky mangrove, I finally reached the creek proper. I took a couple bonefish immedietly. Then, the tide came up, and I was almost trapped. I ended up getting back in chest deep water on a still rising tide. Forget that! :rolleyes:
As a result, I decided to concentrate all further efforts on the area I knew well, Orange Creek.
Orange Creek is an interesting place. It's a large, shallow creek. As a result, it can't be effectively fished by boat. But, the advantage is, almost the entire creek can be fished on foot even at high tide.
My fishing partner for this trip was my old friend Willard Cleare. Willard guided on Andros for almost 15 years when he was young. He now lives right on the creek, and works as an electrician, and part time guide. But he and I fish as buddies.
The cold fronts which were clobbering the Northeast United States were having an effect on the central Bahamas also. Several cold fronts came through the 15 days we were there, and the wind made fishing difficult at times. As a matter of fact, we lost 5 days entirely due to high winds and heavy cloud cover.
During our first few days of fishing, Willard and I noticed the cold fronts, and the cooler than normal January had an effect on the bonefish. Gone were the large numbers of 2-3 pound fish we'd seem together in previous years. We were only seeing 20-40 fish per outing. However, the fish we were seeing now were significantly larger than previous years. Most were pairs, and small pods of 5-7 pound bones. The interesting thing here was, these fish were very hungry, and very aggressive. They refused almost nothing. Especially my new fly I tied just for this trip. I called it the "Cat Island Silli-puff". I'd be happy to post a pic and a recipe should anyone ask.
If presented properly, this fly almost never got refused. If they saw it, they ate it.
Initially,we were fishing the way we normally did. The last 2 hours of the outgoing tide, and the first couple hours of the incoming. As in previous years, the plan was to get the fish filtering out of the mangroves on the dropping tide, and following the secondary flats and small channels back to the mouth of the creek. We were wading in ankle to knee deep water. To cross the small channels between the flats, the water would be about waist deep. Then, we'd try and catch the fish again as they pushed their way back onto the flats as the tide began to rise. During this time, the main flats are completely dry.
But Willard had an idea. He figured the cold fronts and high winds had lowered the water temps a bit. He suggested he try fishing on the high tide with the idea being we'd find slightly warmer water, and more fish.
High tide the following day was about 1pm. So we were on the creek about 11am. The water depth on the main flats was about waist deep. A bit deep under normal circumstances. The only dicey part would be crossing the small channels which connected the flats. The water was now chest to shoulder deep. So anything you didn't want to get wet had to be held above your head as you crossed the channel. The other dicey part here was the sharks. We did encounter a couple of nurse and black-tip sharks during the high tide stage. Willard explained that they were looking for bonefish. "don't bother them, they won't bother us", he said.
However, the hard, hot white sand still made spotting bonefish pretty easy. Since the wind almost every day was 15-25 out of the N/E our plan was as follows. We wade the flats in a diagonal approach, keeping the wind to our right, and the sun on our left shoulder. Willard and I hadn't gone 75 yards from the jeep, and we were both spotting fish all over. Willard's plan was correct. The bonefish were coming up from the creek, seeking the warmer water to feed.
They presented us with easy targets. The fish were approaching us from our left, and were crusing with the tide, and into the wind. All we had to do was, spot a fish or a pod of fish, make one false cast, and lay the line out effortlessly with the wind. The fly would land several feet in front of the cruising bones, lay there until they approached. Two or three strips, and it simply got inhaled. It was almost that easy.
We finally did see the small bonefish on the second to last day I was there. The fish were behaving in a very peculiar manner. We'd often spot large schools (100-200 fish) of 2-3 pound bonefish crusing aimlessly across the flats. Almost as if they were being pursued by some unseen predator. We both had many shots at these small fish. But as soon as you even had your line in the air, they'd erupt in sheer horror, and head for parts unknown. I was wondering if the cooler than normal water temperatures was effecting their behavior? It was just real odd behavior for small, normally dumb bonefish.
Fishing highlight of the trip was a perfect double Willard and I hit. He and I were wading back to his house about 3pm. We were wading about 25 feet apart, talking as we went along. I spotted a large pair of cruising fish headed our way. When the fish got within distance, we both threw. My fish turned right and drilled my fly, at the same instant, I hear Willard say he was hooked up also. Fifteen minutes later we both landed a nearly identical pair of 7+pound bones. Both were released unharmed.
I also had some fun with small (16-24") barracuda on this trip. I brought some of those short, single strand Orvis leaders with me just for this purpose. You'll often find these areas where the creeks and the channels connect. This convergence creates small, but deep holes way up inside the creeks. These areas are natural sanctuaries for small barracuda. I would simply throw our standard Half & half, or chart clouser into the hole, make a few strip, and have it attacked by hungry cudas. It's fun, but murder on flies! :eek:
So, that's about it. I wish I could supply more fly information, but on the entire trip, we both only used that one. Even in spite of the less than auspicious start, things turned out pretty good.
In closing, I should mention there is a small, very clean place to stay right on Orange Creek. It's Called the Orange creek Inn. We stayed here once a few years back when we arrived early, and our home was not yet ready.
The reason I throw this out there is, this presents a perfect, inexpensive oppurtunity of some successful, affordable DIY bone fishing. The Inn rents for $69 a night. 2 beds, AC, a kitchen, sat TV. It's 1/2 mile from the flats on, and overlooks Orange Creek. Hire Willard for $125 on your first day, and you're good to go for the rest of your trip.
I know the lady who owns the Inn. She's a local, and her name is Margaret Cleare. She's a real sweetheart, and a bundle of local information. Plus, she also owns a small market and vegetable store on the first floor.
Many local people still draw their water from a well with a bucket and a rope. We still saw old men and women walking very long distances with huge quantities of vegetables and straw on their head. Gas is in very short supply, and very expensive ($3.85 a gallon).
Cat Island is unique among other islands in the Bahamas. It was no organized bone fishing. There actually are no flats surrounding the island such as those found around the Abacos. the Exumas, Andros, Long Island, etc. Rather, all the bone fishing is confined to the many creeks which are scattered throughout the island. As hard as this might be to believe, many of these creeks are still virgin territory. Places such as Hawk's Nest creek, Springfield creek, and even Bennet's creek never get fished. The creek systems are expansive. Foot access is just not there. A local fisherman showed me several ancient "fishing trails" that locals have used for generations to fish for food. They would walk down these tiny, rocky, narrow trails for almost a mile, and then wade another 400-500 yards through the mangroves to fish for bonefish, crabs, and sharks. I tried it once on Bennet's creek. After a 2 hour death march through the rocky trail and mucky mangrove, I finally reached the creek proper. I took a couple bonefish immedietly. Then, the tide came up, and I was almost trapped. I ended up getting back in chest deep water on a still rising tide. Forget that! :rolleyes:
As a result, I decided to concentrate all further efforts on the area I knew well, Orange Creek.
Orange Creek is an interesting place. It's a large, shallow creek. As a result, it can't be effectively fished by boat. But, the advantage is, almost the entire creek can be fished on foot even at high tide.
My fishing partner for this trip was my old friend Willard Cleare. Willard guided on Andros for almost 15 years when he was young. He now lives right on the creek, and works as an electrician, and part time guide. But he and I fish as buddies.
The cold fronts which were clobbering the Northeast United States were having an effect on the central Bahamas also. Several cold fronts came through the 15 days we were there, and the wind made fishing difficult at times. As a matter of fact, we lost 5 days entirely due to high winds and heavy cloud cover.
During our first few days of fishing, Willard and I noticed the cold fronts, and the cooler than normal January had an effect on the bonefish. Gone were the large numbers of 2-3 pound fish we'd seem together in previous years. We were only seeing 20-40 fish per outing. However, the fish we were seeing now were significantly larger than previous years. Most were pairs, and small pods of 5-7 pound bones. The interesting thing here was, these fish were very hungry, and very aggressive. They refused almost nothing. Especially my new fly I tied just for this trip. I called it the "Cat Island Silli-puff". I'd be happy to post a pic and a recipe should anyone ask.
If presented properly, this fly almost never got refused. If they saw it, they ate it.
Initially,we were fishing the way we normally did. The last 2 hours of the outgoing tide, and the first couple hours of the incoming. As in previous years, the plan was to get the fish filtering out of the mangroves on the dropping tide, and following the secondary flats and small channels back to the mouth of the creek. We were wading in ankle to knee deep water. To cross the small channels between the flats, the water would be about waist deep. Then, we'd try and catch the fish again as they pushed their way back onto the flats as the tide began to rise. During this time, the main flats are completely dry.
But Willard had an idea. He figured the cold fronts and high winds had lowered the water temps a bit. He suggested he try fishing on the high tide with the idea being we'd find slightly warmer water, and more fish.
High tide the following day was about 1pm. So we were on the creek about 11am. The water depth on the main flats was about waist deep. A bit deep under normal circumstances. The only dicey part would be crossing the small channels which connected the flats. The water was now chest to shoulder deep. So anything you didn't want to get wet had to be held above your head as you crossed the channel. The other dicey part here was the sharks. We did encounter a couple of nurse and black-tip sharks during the high tide stage. Willard explained that they were looking for bonefish. "don't bother them, they won't bother us", he said.
However, the hard, hot white sand still made spotting bonefish pretty easy. Since the wind almost every day was 15-25 out of the N/E our plan was as follows. We wade the flats in a diagonal approach, keeping the wind to our right, and the sun on our left shoulder. Willard and I hadn't gone 75 yards from the jeep, and we were both spotting fish all over. Willard's plan was correct. The bonefish were coming up from the creek, seeking the warmer water to feed.
They presented us with easy targets. The fish were approaching us from our left, and were crusing with the tide, and into the wind. All we had to do was, spot a fish or a pod of fish, make one false cast, and lay the line out effortlessly with the wind. The fly would land several feet in front of the cruising bones, lay there until they approached. Two or three strips, and it simply got inhaled. It was almost that easy.
We finally did see the small bonefish on the second to last day I was there. The fish were behaving in a very peculiar manner. We'd often spot large schools (100-200 fish) of 2-3 pound bonefish crusing aimlessly across the flats. Almost as if they were being pursued by some unseen predator. We both had many shots at these small fish. But as soon as you even had your line in the air, they'd erupt in sheer horror, and head for parts unknown. I was wondering if the cooler than normal water temperatures was effecting their behavior? It was just real odd behavior for small, normally dumb bonefish.
Fishing highlight of the trip was a perfect double Willard and I hit. He and I were wading back to his house about 3pm. We were wading about 25 feet apart, talking as we went along. I spotted a large pair of cruising fish headed our way. When the fish got within distance, we both threw. My fish turned right and drilled my fly, at the same instant, I hear Willard say he was hooked up also. Fifteen minutes later we both landed a nearly identical pair of 7+pound bones. Both were released unharmed.
I also had some fun with small (16-24") barracuda on this trip. I brought some of those short, single strand Orvis leaders with me just for this purpose. You'll often find these areas where the creeks and the channels connect. This convergence creates small, but deep holes way up inside the creeks. These areas are natural sanctuaries for small barracuda. I would simply throw our standard Half & half, or chart clouser into the hole, make a few strip, and have it attacked by hungry cudas. It's fun, but murder on flies! :eek:
So, that's about it. I wish I could supply more fly information, but on the entire trip, we both only used that one. Even in spite of the less than auspicious start, things turned out pretty good.
In closing, I should mention there is a small, very clean place to stay right on Orange Creek. It's Called the Orange creek Inn. We stayed here once a few years back when we arrived early, and our home was not yet ready.
The reason I throw this out there is, this presents a perfect, inexpensive oppurtunity of some successful, affordable DIY bone fishing. The Inn rents for $69 a night. 2 beds, AC, a kitchen, sat TV. It's 1/2 mile from the flats on, and overlooks Orange Creek. Hire Willard for $125 on your first day, and you're good to go for the rest of your trip.
I know the lady who owns the Inn. She's a local, and her name is Margaret Cleare. She's a real sweetheart, and a bundle of local information. Plus, she also owns a small market and vegetable store on the first floor.