Bahamas Reef bait

[Jim Miller]

When I head to the Bahamas in June I hope to try fishing the Atlantic side reefs for jacks, grouper, barracuda, tuna etc. Here are some pinfish and other reef baitfish patterns I'm hoping to try. Approx. 3" long on size 2 hook. Also will be tying clousers.
Anyone have any success doing this...... and if so what flies did you use? :-%

[ruge13]

Granted I have only been here once but...

Jim you fishng from a boat or hitting them from shore? Reason I ask is because outside of cudas who may be lying on top (you will see half beaks and needles galore if you watch the surface while snorkling) many of the fish I saw and caught came off the reef edges a bit deeper. I fished from shore so I was casting to water that in some cases was maybe 5ft deep and some close to 20 or so.

If you fish from the rocks you can find deeper 20 ft+ water within an easy fly cast and with relatively little surf in those areas can effectively fish deep with a sinking like. Most of my fish came while coming up the walls at the end of the strip in, not out in the open deeper water although I was hitting bottom. They seemed to hug tight to the walls around the reefs which was expected I guess. The wave action hollows the volcanic rock walls so you get a situation similar to roots over a stream where fish will hide and travel.

From the sand hitting coral heads I did best dropping weighted flies in the blue water deep pocket holes that wave action over the reefs created. Same deal though, if I wasn't hitting the deeper sections of those areas and close to the walls I was not getting fish. The eddys in those areas are strong so you can usually keep a fly in those holes for a while bouncing it around. High surf kept me from being able to fish in front of the reefs in deeper water unfortunately.

Because of that I fished clousers and half/halfs all the time, and decievers when I could get through the surf (was a bit windy when I was there). Best producing flies were flashy chart over white in the 3-5" range, how borring.

I remember wishing I had some larger obnoxious poppers too. Just to see what I could draw up, especially in the deeper water areas.

You can very the species you catch by where on the reef you drop a fly. Jacks came mid water column about 3-5ft out from the wall. I never really picked anything up further from the walls over sand. Snapper and Grunts closer and deeper near where the sand meets coral. If you hit the coral, grouper. Most were in the 3-5lb range but with the wind I was never able to hit deep water further in front of the reefs and water that wasn't really stirred up by the high surf. No doubt would have done better in better conditions tossing larger flies. If you snorkle the same areas you will see larger fish all over, but the abundance of fish is tough, the little ones are far more aggressive.

Most people don't bring a stripping basket to an island. If you are fishing from the atlantic side in the surf or especially from the volcanic rock you will want a basket. Its worse than fishing from a boat with 50 cleats on the deck. The rock eats fly line and will leave you very frustrated without one. Unless you are good at bundling line in your hands, I am not. Its not like a flat where line can float behind you.

If you bring your kids fishing the Atlantic side on the rocks, have them bring a container of some sort. The pot holes on the rocks, ever futher up away from shore are full of water, bait fish, crabs, stars etc. Will keep them busy so you can fish longer playing with what they catch.

[Jim Miller]

Thanks Shaun
That is very helpful info. I plan to fish from shore, But I will have a kayak to use to get out to the outer reefs on a calm day(about a 1/2 mile out in Winding Bay). Also we may rent a small boat or zodiak for a few days.

For the outer reefs (and deeper water) I hope to use a sinking line with some of those pinfish pattern flies. Hope fully there will be some bigger critters out there. (bringing the "American wire" leader material too! It's amazing how the water drops from 20 feet to 2000 feet in a miles distance (Eleutherea drop). Talk about a wall! I'm hoping to get a shot at tuna, kingfish, grouper etc. :eek:

As you suggest, I will bring epoxies, deceivers, clousers etc. to mimmick the glass minnows, pilchards, needlefish bait..... Big poppers are a great idea also! (thanks). I'm also bringing a spinning rod & associated plugs, jigs etc.

Only problem is I will need a separate duffle for all the fishing stuff! :-% Maybe if I lose some weight... I can bring more stuff on the plane? (#$119)

[BobG]

Jim,

On all my trips. I've had a lot of fun just using my standard clousers and deceivers on small to medium cudas. The same flies I use on bass.
Small to medium barracuda (18"-6-7lbs) are realy not all that tough to find in the Bahamas. Just look for drop-offs, or around the mouths of estuaries or creeks that have a fresh flow of water to the open ocean, and you'll usually find some cudas hanging around. They also love hanging around coral heads, and any structure they can hide them while they wait to ambush a meal.
Once you find them, they're laughably easy to catch, but murder on your flies. It's pretty much one fly-one fish. I also carry those short single strand wire leaders as their teeth are like razors.