bonefish, bonefish, bonefish

I do love some Kalik.  It means I’m in the Bahamas.

Now, this guys is saying “Kal-eek” but I’ve only heard the locals say “Kal-ik.”

Either way… it is a great beer when in the Bahamas.

I just read an article about a new bonefish stamp coming out in the Bahamas.  Since I love all things bonefish, I went looking for it.  What I found was a little more retro.

Now, people just have to start sending letters again.

The pic of the new stamp is a little less clear… but it is a bit more modern.

Scott Heywood has a new blog (Fly Paper)… and the first post I looked at was pretty much right in the zone. Check it out.

Prior to 2008, Grand Bahama Island’s Northern Horn was a tough spot to reach. Several well known operators on Grand Bahama, namely the Pinder Brothers and Greg Vincent from Pelican Bay Resort fished this area, but it required long boat rides for visiting anglers (45 minutes at a minimum) which chewed up valuable fishing time. In the fall of 2008, this problem was solved by long time Grand Bahama resident and superb bonefish guide, Sidney Thomas. Sidney and his family took the task of renovating the small bonefish lodge on remote Water Cay that was destroyed in the fall of 2003 by a series of devastating hurricanes. Along with a few experienced anglers, Sidney and his brothers knew the bonefish treasure that swam in and around the flats of Water Cay.

via Fly Paper.

Check it.

Yeah… Nonouti… I had to look it up. Nanouti is part of Kiribati and a part of the Gilbert Islands.

A little about the fishing…

That doesn’t look totally like my kind of fishing.

This looks a bit better.

Ran across this story on the Sage Facebook page yesterday… pretty funny stuff.

This is the victim rod, a new, first time fished Sage ONE. At one point is was a four piece, eight weight, now I’m no longer sure. Between these two pieces was about six inches that has been chewed and gone. Notice the gnawed-off cork handle; yum! To add insult to injury, the fly line on the reel was chewed through and gone. So what is this mysterious monster Potcake that consumes fly rods?

The season for shows, that is.  Anyone going to any of The Fly Fishing Shows?  My local isn’t for another month plus, but I’m looking forward to it.

I’m wondering if any of you are headed to your local shows and if so, what are you looking to go for?  Fly tying, cast a new rod, talk to one of the legends they roll out?

I’ve loved these shows for a long time.  At first there was the Sportsman’s Expo, but that kind of died out here and it has been replaced by The Fly Fishing Show. The fly specific show has been a good format and it has grown in popularity.

I mostly go to the show to see old friends.  Having been a guide for a very brief time I still have good friends that I like to catch up with. Nice to see a new rod or two and turn the new reels over.  There aren’t really many deals to be had and I don’t make big purchases, but it is fun to see all those rods all lined up, looking new and expensive.

So… use the comments section to say if you are going and why you go. Love to hear your thoughts.

More on casting in the wind… which is one of those critical skills for bonefishing (and flats fishing in general).

Just got a new issue of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters (thanks Steve) and I was pleased to see a piece on Aitutaki.  For those of you not familiar, that is an atoll in the South Pacific, a part of the Cook Islands.

The fish there are few in number and large in size.  It isn’t a place you are going to run up the score, but it is a place you stand a good chance of finding a 10 pound bonefish.

The atoll has received a bit of press because of the movie made about taking a local net fisherman and turning him into a fly fishing guide.  There were some big names involved in that project in terms of companies throwing their weight behind it.  There has been a guide working Aitutaki for a number of years that didn’t make it into the movie, but did make it into the story, which was nice to see.  That is Butch Leone, who I did an interview with.

Fly Fishing in Salt Waters is just a solid mag.  You should check it out.

Hey, look. It’s Andy Mill talking about casting in the wind.  That’s probably a good thing to watch.