kelso
03-19-2009, 07:23 PM
There are always a lot of requests for couples/bonefish locations. So I thought I’d share my recent experience.
My wife and I first went to Fernandez Bay on Cat Island 9 years ago on our honeymoon. Last week we decided to leave the kids with the grandparents and go back to the same place for a 4 day trip. 9 years ago was very early in my Bonefising and saltwater fly-fishing odyssey and though I caught fish last time, I didn’t know really what to expect with regard to fishing.
First of all the place, itself, is very nice. Donna is the manager and ran a first class operation. With both houses and cottages for rent where you can either use the club house restaurant for meals or if you have a house, cook your own. We mostly ate in the club house and all meals were excellent. Slightly expensive like all places on the edge of civilization, but quite good and local. The amenities were also fine. Plenty of bikes and kayaks for exploring on your own, nicely stocked honor bar, plenty of hammocks and beach chairs, etc. Also a 15’ Boston Whaler you could rent. And the beach was huge and one of the prettiest I’ve been on.
Donna’s husband Mark ran the fishing and boating operation. He’d has plenty of options from guided bonefishing to reef fishing to offshore to snorkeling trips to turtle watching. We went out with him twice. Once for reef fishing where we hooked plenty of amberjacks, yellowtail, barracuda, and others. My wife with a spinning rod and me with my 10 weight. The other time for snorkeling and turtle spotting with a little fishing thrown in. He also took the time to take me up to Smith’s Bay (about a 5 minute bike away) for a short outing to show me the lay of it and where to fish based upon tide. Even though I never booked him for a bonefish trip. He also showed me a map of the local creek that you could kayak easily and where to look for bonefish. On my own I caught a good number of 3-4lbers and saw a few that were bigger. He said he caught a 13lber with a German client using a spinning rod last year. I didn’t see any over 10, but saw some closing in on that mixed in some large schools.
Not too expensive and certainly a place that even non-fishing spouses would enjoy completely with easy access to decent fishing. If you book Mark and the wind is down (never was for us) he mentioned epic bull dolphin fishing as well.
Pete
My wife and I first went to Fernandez Bay on Cat Island 9 years ago on our honeymoon. Last week we decided to leave the kids with the grandparents and go back to the same place for a 4 day trip. 9 years ago was very early in my Bonefising and saltwater fly-fishing odyssey and though I caught fish last time, I didn’t know really what to expect with regard to fishing.
First of all the place, itself, is very nice. Donna is the manager and ran a first class operation. With both houses and cottages for rent where you can either use the club house restaurant for meals or if you have a house, cook your own. We mostly ate in the club house and all meals were excellent. Slightly expensive like all places on the edge of civilization, but quite good and local. The amenities were also fine. Plenty of bikes and kayaks for exploring on your own, nicely stocked honor bar, plenty of hammocks and beach chairs, etc. Also a 15’ Boston Whaler you could rent. And the beach was huge and one of the prettiest I’ve been on.
Donna’s husband Mark ran the fishing and boating operation. He’d has plenty of options from guided bonefishing to reef fishing to offshore to snorkeling trips to turtle watching. We went out with him twice. Once for reef fishing where we hooked plenty of amberjacks, yellowtail, barracuda, and others. My wife with a spinning rod and me with my 10 weight. The other time for snorkeling and turtle spotting with a little fishing thrown in. He also took the time to take me up to Smith’s Bay (about a 5 minute bike away) for a short outing to show me the lay of it and where to fish based upon tide. Even though I never booked him for a bonefish trip. He also showed me a map of the local creek that you could kayak easily and where to look for bonefish. On my own I caught a good number of 3-4lbers and saw a few that were bigger. He said he caught a 13lber with a German client using a spinning rod last year. I didn’t see any over 10, but saw some closing in on that mixed in some large schools.
Not too expensive and certainly a place that even non-fishing spouses would enjoy completely with easy access to decent fishing. If you book Mark and the wind is down (never was for us) he mentioned epic bull dolphin fishing as well.
Pete