figen
02-27-2004, 11:56 AM
Just got back from a week+ of bonefishing on Abaco, and wanted to share with you guys how it was.
Going mid-February is risky in terms of weather, and we did get a few coldfronts. On some mornings, the water temp on the Bight side flats was barely 65, and that's on low tide. We didn't see much fish until it reached at least 70, so there was only some sweet spots of fishing every day. However, we did have times when the bones went absolutely bonanza, with warm water and tide low enough to keep cudas and sharks away. Heck, one morning I even put away my rod for my camera -- that should be an indication of how much fish there were at times.. At the end of the trip, the water temps were good, so this would be an excellent time to go (pending no coldfronts)
Neither of us did land any big ones, but I came really, really close. I had 3 huge bones reject my fly, and I hooked one for a couple of seconds. All of it my own fault (well, who's else would be? ;) ).
We fished mostly up on little Abaco, where we stayed at the usual hotel, which I discovered through this site. Wonderful place. We also had three days in Marsh Harbour with a rental boat, to get to Bight of Robinson and Snake Cay. (thanks to the resident reel-time encyclopedia BobG). Bad weather cut the three days to two, and we still only had a few hours of right tide every day. We saw many nice-size fish both places -- with some more time, we would have done pretty good, I think. It was also overcast and windy both days, so fishing was hard.
We were on a DIY basis all the way, which is the the best way of fishing. You, your rod and a big flat, that's what it's all about. Of course, it took time to learn the areas, even those I've been before. I fished some of those flats back in November, and the fish were nowhere close to following the same patterns in feeding and movement now. Probably because of the water temp. Or the spring tide. Or the cold weather. Or the crazy number of sharks.. Well, as you can tell, theories are in no short supply with me.. ;)
An interesting new thing I've never seen before is "Stealth Tailing". In the afternoon, as the sun was setting on low tide (6-10 inches of water), big numbers of bones would feed on the big shallow areas. But they were incredibly stealthy, even with a mirror-like surface (mini ripple), there was no wake or indication of any kind of their activities. You needed to spot their tail, which emerged for a split second every 3 minutes or so. I found myself several times spooking maybe 5 fish from 30 feet away, or on the luckier occasions, seeing in disbelief a tail suddenly emerging 20 feet in front of me, out of nowhere. Or we would see them as they swam over bumps.
The dark-patched bottom clearly told us that the bonefish were feeding on big areas, this was a bad time to be a crab in that area for sure, but yet the bones were practically invisible on the surface. They were not spooky either, we could get really close (but we also went really slow). In the mornings, they would usually tail normally, moving faster (not necessarily distance, but always shifting position) and being very easy to spot. But the "Stealth Tailing" was something else.. :confused:
I have put up a bunch of pictures also, I take quantity over quality anyday ;) , at my homepage http://figen.com/flyfish/
I'm already considering a weekend in March......
Going mid-February is risky in terms of weather, and we did get a few coldfronts. On some mornings, the water temp on the Bight side flats was barely 65, and that's on low tide. We didn't see much fish until it reached at least 70, so there was only some sweet spots of fishing every day. However, we did have times when the bones went absolutely bonanza, with warm water and tide low enough to keep cudas and sharks away. Heck, one morning I even put away my rod for my camera -- that should be an indication of how much fish there were at times.. At the end of the trip, the water temps were good, so this would be an excellent time to go (pending no coldfronts)
Neither of us did land any big ones, but I came really, really close. I had 3 huge bones reject my fly, and I hooked one for a couple of seconds. All of it my own fault (well, who's else would be? ;) ).
We fished mostly up on little Abaco, where we stayed at the usual hotel, which I discovered through this site. Wonderful place. We also had three days in Marsh Harbour with a rental boat, to get to Bight of Robinson and Snake Cay. (thanks to the resident reel-time encyclopedia BobG). Bad weather cut the three days to two, and we still only had a few hours of right tide every day. We saw many nice-size fish both places -- with some more time, we would have done pretty good, I think. It was also overcast and windy both days, so fishing was hard.
We were on a DIY basis all the way, which is the the best way of fishing. You, your rod and a big flat, that's what it's all about. Of course, it took time to learn the areas, even those I've been before. I fished some of those flats back in November, and the fish were nowhere close to following the same patterns in feeding and movement now. Probably because of the water temp. Or the spring tide. Or the cold weather. Or the crazy number of sharks.. Well, as you can tell, theories are in no short supply with me.. ;)
An interesting new thing I've never seen before is "Stealth Tailing". In the afternoon, as the sun was setting on low tide (6-10 inches of water), big numbers of bones would feed on the big shallow areas. But they were incredibly stealthy, even with a mirror-like surface (mini ripple), there was no wake or indication of any kind of their activities. You needed to spot their tail, which emerged for a split second every 3 minutes or so. I found myself several times spooking maybe 5 fish from 30 feet away, or on the luckier occasions, seeing in disbelief a tail suddenly emerging 20 feet in front of me, out of nowhere. Or we would see them as they swam over bumps.
The dark-patched bottom clearly told us that the bonefish were feeding on big areas, this was a bad time to be a crab in that area for sure, but yet the bones were practically invisible on the surface. They were not spooky either, we could get really close (but we also went really slow). In the mornings, they would usually tail normally, moving faster (not necessarily distance, but always shifting position) and being very easy to spot. But the "Stealth Tailing" was something else.. :confused:
I have put up a bunch of pictures also, I take quantity over quality anyday ;) , at my homepage http://figen.com/flyfish/
I'm already considering a weekend in March......