The goodness that was FIBFest continues to give… this time, it gives another post from Michael Gracie on the Deneki Blog where he takes aim at a few bonefishing myths.

More Bonefishing Mythbusting

Last year I conveyed some myths about bonefishing in The Bahamas, and how those tall tales were nothing but. This time around I’m adding to the list, with more myth busting on guides, gear, and getting to the prime fishing spots.

via Bonefishing Myths Busted | Part Two from Michael Gracie.

Photo by Gracie

It just so happens that there’s a great local bar at the put in. It’s commonly know as the ‘Little Creek Bar’ even though its real name is the ‘New Ocean View’. The Sands family runs the bar, and yes, that is indeed the clan of our legendary guide Josie Sands.

via Little Creek Bar | Local Bar at Andros South.

Yeah… it’s a nice place… a very nice place.  It isn’t really too fancy (or fancy in any way, shape or form).  It is right where you want a bar though… right at the put-in/take-out down there in South Andros.

Those beers taste extra good, somehow.

A beer at the end of the day... nice.

Photo by Cameron.

PS – Today is my first day on the new job… Business Development Manager at Whodini.  I’m guessing there will be fewer co-workers walking around in their underpants than in my last job as a stay-at-home dad… I hope, at least.

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I said more details would come out about Day 1 from FIBFest, but I never really put them out there… the Outdooress beat me to it, putting up her version of that first day of fishing… you can read it through the link below, and I’ll give my own account below that.

One single cast, a few panicked strips of my line, one marginal strip set and BAM….I caught a bonefish on my first try. As my line peeled away I distinctly remember Bjorn behind me saying, “clear your line!” followed quickly with, “beginners luck!”

via And Sometimes, A Fly Fisher Must Self Time Out..while Bonefishing | The Outdooress.

On day 1 of FIBFest I was paired with Rebecca (aka the Outdooress). Rebecca had never been saltwater fly fishing before.  It is safe to say that she had some anxiety about the whole business.  I tried (for a solid 20 seconds or so) to give her the deck first, but she insisted she needed a little time to calm her nerves.

Her nerves were not promptly calmed when we stopped the boat only to see a 5 foot lemon shark (she’s not totally on board with the whole “sharks are cool” thing).  I got up on deck, took line off and stood in the place I most enjoy in the world… the bow of a flats boat.  Ahhhhhhh…

My favorite place

Soon, our guide, Ellie, had spotted the first fish.  I got a follow and an eat and missed the fish.  I missed the second fish.  I missed the third fish.  I was apologizing to Ellie a lot at this point.  Number 4 and I missed it.  I think I hooked a couple of these fish, briefly.  My strip set had about 20% tout set in it and it was just enough to botch the job.

Number FIVE stayed on.  I was on the board, the boat had the skunk off it and we were in business.

Staying on... first fish in of the trip.

It was Rebecca’s turn.  She got up and started getting some line out and doing a little practice casting.  It was not going well… I couldn’t tell what exactly wasn’t going well, but it, in general, wasn’t going well. I could see Rebecca getting really frustrated.  After a few minutes she realized that the help she had received the night before from someone around the Slack Tide Bar in setting up her rig had backfired.  In a Kalik haze, someone had missed one of the guides.  Rebecca was going to have to re-rig.  I was up again.

It didn’t take me that long on the second fish, as I recall, but soon, Rebecca was up on deck again.  I told her that I was sure she was going to stick the very first fish she cast to.  That’s the way these things work.  Beginners Luck is real and I was sure she was going to be dipped in that magical pixie dust to get her first bonefish.

Oddly, I was pretty much spot on.  The first fish she had to cast to she stuck.  That was a very nice thing.

CONGRATS!

I was back up and whacked #3 and it was Rebecca’s turn again.  This is where things started to kind of come unraveled a bit for the Outdooress.  There was some wind and when it came time to make that 40′ cast into the wind the Outdooress hit a wall of frustration and I could see the downward spiral that would take her off the casting deck and install me back up there.  Now, it should be noted that I tried to have her keep the deck, to get through it and stick with it, but it was clear to both of us she really needed a little breather to get her head right.

I’m a pretty good cheerleader and reminded her this was her first day in the salt, that casting like this is not a skill set that most trout anglers can really claim and that it takes time and that she needed to be more gentle with herself.  Bits and pieces of this made it through, but she was having a tough time.

Confidence is a tricky thing.  We build our confidence as anglers by putting in the time and and seeing results.  Most of us do that on rivers and lakes before we try to take it to the salt and when we get there, we often find our skills are related, but not totally what is called for.  We have defined ourselves as anglers and here is something we can’t do.  It is a real “wtf” moment.

The day progressed… Rebecca started cutting herself a little slack and spent more time up on the deck.  She landed three bonefish on her first day fishing in the salt.  I’d call that a good day.

I managed to get some good follows from some lemon sharks on a gurgler, but no eats.  The fish would accelerate on the fly, raise their nose right to it and by that time they would be about 15 feet from the boat and they’d peel off.

One unlucky bonefish became a snack for some of the lemons post release.  Poor bastard.  We were shadowed by lemons with three sharks visible at one time on occasion.

I had one fly we named the 50/50.  I’d cast to one little pod of fish and they’d follow and then bolt.  Ellie would say “Maybe we should change that fly… wait… bonefish, 11:00, 40′!”  I’d cast and this other group of fish would crush the fly.  The fish either loved it or hated it in equal measure. Go figure.

The 50/50, retired.

So… that’s the tale of the first day of FIBFest.

Another FIBFest related post from the good folks at Deneki.

Photo by Cameron Miller

Chasing bonefish had never held huge appeal to me… after all, I’m a steelhead angler that thrives on punishment. Give me a river full of fish and I start losing interest – the hunt is what captivates me.

via Hunting for Bonefish and Steelhead | Tom Larimer Guest Post.

Tom Larimer wrote another good piece for the Deneki Blog about the hunting aspects of bonefishing compared to steelheading.  I have to say, the hunting aspect of bonefishing is something that really grabs me.  That you have to see the fish before you catch it… you have to know where to expect it and when it will be there, then you have to make the cast and get the retrieve right… I love it.

I imagine that it has a lot of parallels to hunting, although I’m not a hunter myself.  You have to know where the elk or deer or grouse are going to be.  You have to get in the right position.  You have to see your target and you have to make the shot.

Of course, you get to let your bonefish go.

This is my guest post for Deneki Outdoors, the owners of Andros South.  Love that place.

Photo by Andrew Bennett, fish catching by me.

While out stalking the phantom of the flats, it turns out you can do more than just catch and release. You can fish for science!

via Bonefish Science | Tagging and Fin Clipping Bonefish.

Tagging and fin clips… two great ways to help the folks at the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.

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On day 1 of Deneki FIBFest at Andros South last month, your fearless editor decided to sport a nice new red shirt that was really going to look good in hero shots. The problem? You have to catch a fish before you can take a hero shot.

via Fly Fishing Lodges | Deneki Outdoors — Blog | Bahamas | Chile | BC | Alaska.

I saw that shirt in the morning and thought to myself “Interesting choice.”  Red is supposed to pop in pictures though… you go through some fly fishing photos and you’ll find some strangely bright colors.

I sometimes wonder if it is a bad thing being tall… 6’3″.  Do the fish see me more?  Do I see the fish more?  There are so many factors to consider… but do yourself a favor… leave the red shirt at home!

A few folks have asked… so… I gave it some thought.  I think this patterns was the one I wish I had more of down there in Andros at FIBFest.

Reverse Gotcha... bunny tail... rubber legs... ya know... "stuff"

Maybe this has a name… I’d think it is just a bit too similar to other patterns to have it’s own.  It’s goodness.  I added some UV Cure whatever to the back of the fly, which is a move I really, really like.  Some folks said it would make the fly land too heavy… I didn’t see that, but it is possible that would be an issue in really skinny water.  This fly is a #2… so… not little, but after reading some of Aaron Adams’ thoughts on the matter, I think we should probably move up a size or two on most of the flies we throw.

Hope this helps.

They said it couldn’t be done.

They said it was impossible.

They called me crazy… or worse.

“You need bait” they said.

I had something they lacked…  I had belief.

I knew it could be done.

I knew it was possible.

In fact, I knew it was inevitable.

Once I had focused in on the task it was going to make it happen.  There was no doubt.

Behold…

Behold...

Photos by Cameron Miller…

OK… maybe it wasn’t the best fish of the trip, but I am the only FIBFester that caught one!  Hand-lined that mo-fo!  Yeah!

Thankfully, I still had a few #8′s on my box from the last trip.  No way those fish could fit a #6 in their mouths.

Bonefish are really fantastic.  I love the stalking, I love the precision, I love the speed of the fish.

Sometimes, though, you want violence and big, pointy teeth.

Enter the Cuda.

While down at Andros South I got a tiny bit fixated on catching a barracuda. I went out every day after we got back from fishing in the hopes of finding and catching one.  I largely succeeded on the first part of that (the finding) and utterly failed in the second (a few flies attacked, but nothing even hooked).

After a few days it was starting to get to me.

I kept after it and I kept mentioning to the guides that I was hoping to catch a cuda.  I had the 10 wt. rigged with 45 lbs. wire leader and either a gurgler or needle fish fly ready for action.  The opportunities just didn’t come or, one day when I had a good shot I put the fly right on the fish’s head and spooked it.

The last day Kyle Perkins and I were teamed up with guide Freddie.  Freddie is the biggest guide at Andros South and has the smallest boat.  He likes getting in the skinnier water.  He also likes to sing and laugh and overall he was a fantastic guide to fish with both in terms of his knowledge of the water, but also his mentality that put a smile on your face even after you blew the cast.

Freddie = fun

That last day we ended up having some prop trouble deep into Deep Creek and when it was clear we weren’t going to get up on plane for the ride home, Freddie told me I might as well break out the cuda rod. This was very, very welcome news for me.  It meant an extra HOUR of fishing.  Awesome.

Now, there are probably people that say trolling isn’t really fly fishing and that this was cheating and that it doesn’t count.  I… don’t… care.

Fishing with a fly, even if you don't call it fly fishing

I took all the fly line off so I had half a wrap of fly line left and we started the slow troll back to the dock.  It wasn’t long before I got a first grab.  Then I got a second.  The third stayed on for four good jumps and a couple nice runs and then it came unbuttoned.  The fifth strike didn’t stick and I missed the sixth.

“Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” goes the saying.  I reeled up, saw that the tail end of the fly was destroyed and decided to cut the fly in half.  It was a long, bright yellow superhair fly with no trailing hook.  The fish were obviously biting the tail and nothing pointy.  With half this fly left I threw it back out.  About 10 minutes later I connected and the fish stayed on.

It jumped in anger.  It made vicious runs.  The rod throbbed from the power of the fish.  This is not bonefishing, but this was pretty much distilled awesomeness.

"Why don't you come home and meet the wife."

The fish got invited home to meet Freddie’s wife.  Androsians will eat a Cuda so long as it isn’t caught off a reef.

Blissed Out

I got a cuda tooth pulled from the fish to give to my daughter, who at four years old has a passion for dangerous and deadly creatures (I love that girl something fierce).

Note to self… next time use more glue… lots and lots of glue.

Glue! I need glue!

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A post from Eric of Moldy Chum about Andros South Guide Norman.  I fished with Norman one of the days I was there… he’s good at what he does.

If I were to guess, Norman is probably in his mid-thirties. It’s hard to tell though, as most guides on the island are in pretty g’damn good shape. When he’s not hunting Walter on the Westside, he owns and operates a nightclub just south of Congotown.

via Fly Fishing | Blog | Photos | Podcasts | Travel | Gear | and More – Moldy Chum – Bonefish, 7 o’clock – 20 feet.

Norman picking out a fly. Photo - Shadow River Media, Cameron Miller

Photo – Shadow River Media, Cameron Miller

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