Cat island trip

[english]

Just returned from a 6-day bonefishing trip to cat island , had a great time :)
Only met one other angler there .....
Found fish whereever I looked , no monsters but to around 6lb (average around 2 to 3lb). Fish seemed to respond well to most flies , I tended to use something a little darker and smaller during the day and fish with something a little more garish early morning and evening. The fishing seemed harder and the fish where scarcer during midday low water conditions(I definitely think the water temperature was at the bones higher limit some of the time). The fish in some areas were a little warier than others , they had obviously been some pressure in these areas before . Other places I fished the bones where definitely naive , which suited my poor casting ability! I saw some sizeable sharks cruising the creeks at night.
Did not get to use my inflatable kayak I took..my luggage (bar my rods and reels that I carried as hand luggage) turned up 2 days late , delivered personally by the nice lady from New Bight airport customs. It appears that Cat island air bumps luggage when the plane gets full! When I arrived at a creek to explore and pumped up the yak it was doing a very good job of a Jacuzzi, I guess where it had been dragged across the runway tarmac so many times.

Picking up one lunatic hitch hiker was the only downer of the trip, I was starting to get a little p***ed when he continually kept trying to grab the wheel as I was driving and tried to through his empty beer bottle through my closed window!

I enjoyed Cat so much that I am planning to go back at the end of August and take my brother ( a fishing novice) to explore some of the huge inland lagoons at the South end of the island.

It wasn't just the fishing that I liked about Cat but also the laid back friendly feel of the place, much quieter and less commercial than Eleuthera where I visited in February. Did not have the time to eat out , but lived on cans of Heinz big soup and bars of Cadburys Fruit and Nut that was readily available on the island.
Anyway enough of my rambling ...

Many thanks to Bobg for all his advice and help, gave me a definite head start with the limited time I had available.

[Count]

English,

Thanks for the fascinating report about a fascinating island. Tell us more about Cat Island. Whom did you go through to book this trip? Where did you stay?

And tell us more about this lunatic hitchhiker. He sounds like a character.

Thanks for posting,

Count

[Jim Miller]

English
Thanks for the report. I'd like to hear more about how you compare Cat to 'Lutra.
I saw lots of sharks 2 weeks ago in 'Lutra. I was told they are spawning in the bays now.

[BobG]

english,

I'm so glad to hear it all worked out. Cat is such a lovely place, even without the fishing.
I somehow have a feeling that the real undiscovered jewel in the crown on Cat just might be the Atlantic side. :brow My work schedule only allows us to visit the Bahamas in the winter months. As a result on my trips to Cat, we're constantly subjected to cold fronts, and heavy winds, making the Atlantic side non practical with a fly rod. Hence, all my focus on the creeks systems Caribbean side. However, as Jim will attest, Eleuthera
has some mighty good bone fishing in the surf on the Atlantic side. The Atlantic side of Cat is pristine. Endless miles of pure white/pink sand, and there are several remote, 4wd roads which go across the spine of the island to the other side. Just like Eleuthera, only totally undiscovered. Not even human footprints. In August, I'll bet the surf will be negligable, and very fishable with a fly rod.
When you go back in August, drop me an e-mail, and I'll give you directions to those roads.

[english]

I returned to Cat in late August for ten days and had another great trip.We lost a few days to stormy weather and had some problems with lost fishing poles ! but all came good in the end and other than that things where great !

I took my brother with me who's a flyfishing virgin and it tooks a few days to get him up and catching but he did fine in the end (he does not like to let the fish run and kept insisting on clamping down on the spool with the inevitable results!).

Had a few mornings when we where covered up with tails which was a fantatic sight. Fished the various creeks around the island, one day a creek would be loaded with fish and the next day at the same state of tide and same time of day totally barren. Outgoing or incoming tides the fish seemed to either be there or not.

One thing i did notice was that the tides where much bigger on this trip, this made it more critical at what state of the tide you fished , on my previous trip the water was never too deep to find fish but this time they where often hiding in the mangroves (very frustrating when you can see em but not get at em!).

I tried to take the inflatable kayak up one of the large creeks one day but only made it about 3/4 mile before we came to a dead end and did not see any fish. Was not sure if the boat has sprung a leak or was full of sweat, boy it was hot!

Had a look on the atlantic side for a few afternoons but could not find any fish. Saw the biggest barracuda I have ever seen while snorkling , i 'd guess in excess of 40 lbs , it was spooky, every time I turned round he was there shadowing us, with all the baitfish hanging out underneath us.

I have managed to take a 6 month break from work next year probabley starting march . I'm planning to bum around the world with a tent and explore some fishing . I think New Zealand will be my first stop if the fishing is ok at that time of the year chasing the trout. But also gonna spend a month or so island hopping in tyhe bahamas , will probabley go back to Cat with Ackins , Crooked, San salvador and Mayguana also on the list of possibles.

Any information on some remote island Bahamian fishing/accomodations would be much appreciated!

Regs. English