Bluefish60657
06-02-2006, 07:36 PM
I just got back from Grand Bahama for a wedding and managed to sneak in a bone trip just beforehand (I made it to the wedding w/15 min. to spare).
Here's how my first Bahamas bonefish trip went.
After an hour long cab ride to from Freeport to the far east end of the island we arrived at bone-guide-ground-zero. Dozens of guides all hovering around the same dock waiting their turn to pick up clients.
After a brief intro and 15 min. run to a huge/expansive flat my buddy Dave and I decide to split up. I decided to wade and he to stay with our guide on the boat poling. The guide says "keep the sun at your back, it's easier to see 'em and cast 5 ft. in front of anything you see. Also keep you rod tip low to the water to keep the line straight and strip, pause, strip, pause . . . and you should be OK. Make sure to keep the rod low and strip strike." Great thanks.
After walking a couple hundred yards away from the boat I see the first fish of the day cruising. I take a couple of false casts and whack the line on the water. Miraculously the fish doesn't spook and I pretend to know what I'm doing (keeping the guides advice in my head). The fish follows but no luck.
I rapid fire back to him and spook him for good this time. I'm 0-1.
15 mins later I come upon about a dozen fish cruising slowly. I take a cast and my fly lands two ft. ahead of them and I strip . . . strip . . . . strip . . . BAMO fish on! Little bastard strips of 50 yds. of line in 3 seconds and it's off to the races. Tan/Pink gotcha was the morsel of choice. After about a 5 min. battle my first 25 in./ 4lb bone is landed. After resuscitating the fish, I got back to the area that was holding fish and they are--apparently not spooked by my presentation or commotion caused by their hooked bretheren.
Two more casts and I'm onto my second bone. An identical twin of the first. I go back to the well for a third time and they're gone. Saw many, many other fish throughout the day but as the sun got higher and the tide slowed the fish became R_E_A_L spooky. I was using a 15ft., 10lb leader and most of the fish were spooked on the cast. I teamed back up w/Dave and the guide and it's decided to move on to another spot.
We head to the backcountry and start fishing. Fishing in the mangroves pretty much suck*d b/c if you hooked a fish it ran into the mangroves and busted you off---if you could get them to take a fly.
Overall it was a good day and we had many, many shots at some spooky fish but the ones on the flats were the most friendly. If I had to do it again (which I will do soon), I'd do the flats in the morning and then fish for some other deeper water fish in the afternoon--like permit or cudas or head a little offshore. Final tally was two caught/landed bones on my 8wt, both caught on tan/pink gotchas. Also caught a small (18") cuda on the same fly. The cuda was an accidental catch as I though I was casting to a bone. Also two caught/landed by Dave on a spinning rod with a dead/whole shrimp.
Needless to say, I'm fired up to do it again.
Of course I have a limited number of pics since I was alone for a couple of hours without water, food or a camera. Not a good idea when the temps 92F and the dewpoint is somewhere in the low 70's. I guess adrenaline got the best of me and I was letting my rod do the thinking.
I will upload more pics when I get them from my buddy Dave (pictured here)
bluefish
Here's how my first Bahamas bonefish trip went.
After an hour long cab ride to from Freeport to the far east end of the island we arrived at bone-guide-ground-zero. Dozens of guides all hovering around the same dock waiting their turn to pick up clients.
After a brief intro and 15 min. run to a huge/expansive flat my buddy Dave and I decide to split up. I decided to wade and he to stay with our guide on the boat poling. The guide says "keep the sun at your back, it's easier to see 'em and cast 5 ft. in front of anything you see. Also keep you rod tip low to the water to keep the line straight and strip, pause, strip, pause . . . and you should be OK. Make sure to keep the rod low and strip strike." Great thanks.
After walking a couple hundred yards away from the boat I see the first fish of the day cruising. I take a couple of false casts and whack the line on the water. Miraculously the fish doesn't spook and I pretend to know what I'm doing (keeping the guides advice in my head). The fish follows but no luck.
I rapid fire back to him and spook him for good this time. I'm 0-1.
15 mins later I come upon about a dozen fish cruising slowly. I take a cast and my fly lands two ft. ahead of them and I strip . . . strip . . . . strip . . . BAMO fish on! Little bastard strips of 50 yds. of line in 3 seconds and it's off to the races. Tan/Pink gotcha was the morsel of choice. After about a 5 min. battle my first 25 in./ 4lb bone is landed. After resuscitating the fish, I got back to the area that was holding fish and they are--apparently not spooked by my presentation or commotion caused by their hooked bretheren.
Two more casts and I'm onto my second bone. An identical twin of the first. I go back to the well for a third time and they're gone. Saw many, many other fish throughout the day but as the sun got higher and the tide slowed the fish became R_E_A_L spooky. I was using a 15ft., 10lb leader and most of the fish were spooked on the cast. I teamed back up w/Dave and the guide and it's decided to move on to another spot.
We head to the backcountry and start fishing. Fishing in the mangroves pretty much suck*d b/c if you hooked a fish it ran into the mangroves and busted you off---if you could get them to take a fly.
Overall it was a good day and we had many, many shots at some spooky fish but the ones on the flats were the most friendly. If I had to do it again (which I will do soon), I'd do the flats in the morning and then fish for some other deeper water fish in the afternoon--like permit or cudas or head a little offshore. Final tally was two caught/landed bones on my 8wt, both caught on tan/pink gotchas. Also caught a small (18") cuda on the same fly. The cuda was an accidental catch as I though I was casting to a bone. Also two caught/landed by Dave on a spinning rod with a dead/whole shrimp.
Needless to say, I'm fired up to do it again.
Of course I have a limited number of pics since I was alone for a couple of hours without water, food or a camera. Not a good idea when the temps 92F and the dewpoint is somewhere in the low 70's. I guess adrenaline got the best of me and I was letting my rod do the thinking.
I will upload more pics when I get them from my buddy Dave (pictured here)
bluefish