What is going to get packed is packed. The rest of the time before I take off is really just moving from one place to another. The trip is more or less set in motion.

The last reels arrived a couple days ago and yesterday was supposed to be the day that I got backing put on all those reels.  Then… call from my daughter’s school that she was sick. So, I scavenged. I managed to pull backing off a few of the reels staying home and am now fully set.  Here’s the reel list…

For the 8′s (Sage One, Mystery Prototype)

• Orvis Mirage
• Ross F1

For the 10 (Orvis Helios)

• Ross Momentum
• Ross CLA
• Orvis Mirage

For the 11 (Redington Predator)

• Redington Delta

The lines are a mix of Orvis, Rio and SA lines and for the tarpon rods (the 10 and 11) I have both floating and either clear int. sink tips or full clear int. sinks as well.

I’m feeling fairly well equipped. In fact, I may be over-equipped and I’ll have to consciously switch reels and rods from time to time to make sure I get some time with different rigs.

Four rods. Six reels. Seven spools/seven lines.

I’ll be carrying on the rods and the reels and I’ll be hoping the rest of my stuff makes it there.

Tomorrow morning I get on a flight for the first leg of the journey.  I’ll meet up with the others down in Mexico tomorrow night and from there, the adventure begins.

I actually didn’t tie a single fly today.  I feel like that’s a step in the right direction.  Instead, I tied up some leaders.

I’m not buying a single leader for Cuba. I’m tying all of them… the bonefish leaders and the tarpon leaders.

I’m trying bonefish leaders that are about 9 feet, 40 pound butt down to 15 pound fluoro.

For the tarpon I’m trying 9 footers, 40 pound butt down to 50 or 80 pound shock.

The general formula is 4′ of 40#, 2′ of 30#, 2′ of 20# and then either the shock tippet on a bimini or the 15# tippet.

I’ve used this formula before and haven’t had any issues with it. I like it because it is simple. I like simple. Simple is better than, well, not simple, which I kind of hate.

So… any fatal mistakes I’m making?

Yup… this time next week…

Pointed out by Davin at Flatswalker… Knowledge.

Of course, Tory is a guide at Andros South. I know that beach. The Slack Tide bar is about 40 feet to the right of the camera. Love that place.

Last year I had the privilege to be part of FIBFest at Andros South.  Along on that trip was Tom Larimer.

Looks like Tom just made it back.  He took a hosted trip to Andros South and despite some less-than-ideal weather, they had a good time.

I envy him for getting back there… for hanging out at the Slack Tide Bar and chatting with the guides on the ride out to the West Side.  Of course, I can’t complain. I’m headed to Cuba here in about 2.5 weeks with Yellow Dog and that does not suck.

One of the things about fly fishing that I love is that you both get to see new and wonderful places and you also get to develop some “home water.”  For trout I have home water on the Upper Sac and McCloud.  For Carp I have Calero. For bonefish I don’t have a place that I know well, a place I keep coming back to.  I’d love to have South Andros be that place, but that seems financially and logistically out of the question.  Glad that Tom is getting a feel for South Andros and maybe beyond swinging for steelhead in Oregon he’s getting a sense of the moods of Andros.

The Bonefish Flat recently went to Long Island to the Long Island Bonefishing Lodge.

The Long Island Bonefish Lodge is a whole new bonefishing experience that I think those who have some experience under their belt would enjoy.  The lodge itself is located on what must be a hundred square miles of pristine bonefish flats.  It consists of three duplex style cottages that can hold eight anglers.  The main lodge is where you eat and stock up on Kalik at the end of the day. 

The Bonefish Flat walking a Long Island Flat.

Davin over at Flatswalker not only has a pretty fantastic blog (one of my consistent favorites), but he also has some knowledge to drop.

Pretty cool.

Kirk Deeter just got back from a week in Long Island (the better of the two so named locations).

I just returned from a remarkable bonefishing trip in the Bahamas–Long Island, to be specific. It’s a stripped-down, do-it-yourself deal, involving big bonefish (a 5-pounder won’t bat an eye), unspoiled flats that most people don’t have the stamina to walk across in a week, let alone fully explore (I’m talking miles and miles of knee-deep water), great food and wonderful cultural experiences.

The story can be found at Fly Talk.

Truth told, this opportunity landed in my lap about the same time Cuba did and I had to decide which one to do, not being wealthy or idle. Long Island has long drawn my attention, so I’m fairly jealous I didn’t make the trip.  It still stands out as a pretty sweet DIY friendly location.

The place he stayed is the Long Island Bonefishing Lodge, a new place that is focused on the budget and DIY crowd.  The cost for a week is about $1,600, which is a fair deal.  You don’t get guides, but you get brought out to where the fish are and let loose.

The price is a good one and is probably value for money.  If and when I make it to Long Island, I’ll certainly look at this as a real option.

One option I had looked at before was staying at a hotel that was about $100 a night.  That didn’t include meals or transportation to the flats, so the $600 rate of lodging would probably easily get close to $1,600 without the certainty or pointing-in-the-right direction that this place would offer.

I love the coming together of cheap and bonefishing and while $1,600 isn’t “cheap,” it does get a bit closer to cheap than something around $4-5K.

When I was at FIBFest last year, one of the pleasures of being there was meeting Kyle who just happened to do a guest piece over at Deneki. A good read for those heading out to chase bones for the first time.

Check it out.

Kyle, on deck.

No one is going to go out and travel specifically to Costa Rica to go bonefishing.  That would be pure foolishness.  However, they are there.  Of course, they are also in Panama and have been caught off the coast of Texas, but that doesn’t mean they are there in great numbers.  I keep getting surprised about all the places bonefish turn up.  I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about bonefish being caught in Haiti or Louisiana.

Here’s a story about bonefish in Costa Rica from Costa Rica Outdoors:

Some months ago, we had a bit of controversy going here regarding bonefish, and whether we have any in Costa Rica waters. We never were able to determine whether the species, popular in Florida waters and traditionally caught on the inshore flats on a fly rod or light tackle, had actually been caught here.

So… they are there, which is good to know.