The idea of fishing Exmouth, Australia is a new one for me.  I’ve been wondering if there was a way to get to the fish without paying an arm and a leg (especially if you just paid an arm and a leg for  the flight there).

There is… you can rent a kayak for a tiny bit of scratch and I’ve been told that one can, indeed, paddle your way to the fish.

Worth a consideration.

Exmouth Boat and Kayak Hire seems a solid option.

Your Australian ride.

Still… even if you get a kayak for $40 a night, it is still $1,000 to fly from San Francisco to Perth (and you still have to get to Exmouth).

Saw a new-to-me Acklins option, Salina Point Lodge.  You’ll actually find them on VRBO and they have a very nice deal going right now.

This won’t be available forever, but they are offering $630 (double occupancy) for a week of self-guided fishing.  They will feed you, house you, drive you out to  a flat, leave you there and pick you up later… and they’ll do that for a week.

If there is a heaven and I go there, it will look something like that.

Basically, you don’t need anything else once you are there (well, except Kalik, which I don’t think is included, so, add another $100).

Go, bring a friend, fish hard, sleep easy and enjoy Acklins.

I wish I was here.

Cheap and Bonefish can get along… see?!  I told you so.

From the wide world of Youtube.

I recently found this interview on Discover-Eleuthera-Bahamas.com, an interesting interview with guide Paul Petty.  Eleuthera is, as you may know, considered a DIY/self-guided bonefishing mecca.  Access is the key… a rental car is your tool to access miles and miles and miles of wade-friendly flats.

Read the interview, learn a bit about Eleuthera.

Paul Petty with an Eleuthera Bone

Paul’s a pretty good deal at $200 for a half-day and $350 for a full.

In my eternal search for bonefish content, I stumbled upon an article in Field & Stream about bonefish lodges by John Merwin.  Now, John Merwin likely knows a thing or two about angling, as the list of books attributed to the name would imply.

The places he lists are probably fantastic.  Most are probably still in business (this was from 2006, so, ya never know).  That said, a couple lines from the article stuck in my craw and annoyed me to no end (well, not to NO end, but ya know… just to be dramatic).

Unless you’re awell-traveled Bahamas veteran, there are two rules to follow. First, go to a well-established lodge. Second, use a reputable U.S. sporting-travel agency to make your bookings.

So says John, to which I say “Bah!”  There are scores of DIY, self-guided folks out there who neither require well-established lodges nor US sporting-travel agencies to make their bookings.  If you have the money to do those things, great, it probably would result in a smoother trip more pointed at the heart of success.  However, you no more NEED to go to a lodge and pay someone to book the trip than you NEED to bring an $800 rod.

I guess that’s one of my underlying beliefs… it doesn’t take $5K, it doesn’t take a Sage or an Able.  Bonefish are within reach if you are OK with a bumpy ride, a lumpy mattress and store bought beer.

Just say’n.

This GBI bone was not caught at a lodge and the trip was not booked by an agency.

One of the most common searches I’ve seen landing folks here on Bonefish on the Brain is  “Los Roques DIY.”  So, I decided to look into it.

Los Roques is hard to get to, that seems clear.  I found a great little story from the NYT about Los Roques, complete with a quote from a Maine Game Warden who bonefishes there every year.  The article says you can hire a boat, find an island and be alone with your thoughts (and bonefish).  The details on how one does that, of course, is where the real questions have to be asked.

I have read at least one account of folks catching bones in the harbor and also read that flats around the main town get hammered.  You need a license, there are prohibited areas… sounds like you can certainly get yourself into trouble.

Oscar Shop, according to the NYT, can take you out to uninhabited islands, that sounds like the best bet to me (but what the hell do I know?).

There are tourist “posada” on Los Roques that range from $45 to $400 a night, I’m sure they very dramatically in quality, as you’d expect.

Now, it’s great to get a room for $45, get a boat to take you to some isolated island for $20-80 a person, but the real problem seems like the transportation there… Kayak puts a flight to Caracas from SFO at about $1,200.  The puddle jumper is about $220.  The budget angler might need to re-think Los Roques as a DIY location if just getting there will cost you $1,400… you end up at $2,000 pretty fast and if you are going to drop $2,000, you might as well get a guide.

Los Roques... looks nice. Wish it cost more like $140 to get there instead of $1,400.

I am still looking for where exactly I’ll be headed for my 2010 Bonefishing trip.  I had been looking at the Bonefish Whisperer out of Miami (his rates are pretty hard to beat), but in the end, I need to catch fish and the FL bonefish game just seems a bit too iffy for my taste (at least at this stage of my fixation).  I’m going to keep him in mind for the future…  that future being after 2010.

A reader I’ve been exchanging emails with had a list of low-cost options that included an outfitter with several budget bonefish destinations.  The operation is Cattaraugus Creek Outfitter.  They have packages on Acklins and Eleuthera that both sound pretty good.  Acklins takes a little too long to get to, so I was keen on the Eleuthera option.  Eleuthera is known as a DIY island. It’s a long island with lots and lots and lots of flats the self-guided angler can walk out on.  Cattaraugus Creek would get on the phone with you before your trip and Google Earth you onto some promising spots.  Their package includes lodging, meals and rental car with prices from $1,500 to $750 for a 7 day trip.  Shorter stays are possible.  I emailed with Vince at Cattaraugus and he was very willing to work with me on a shorter trip and gave good advice.

I was ready to hit the “go” button but the airfare sitch has tanked that particular effort.  I’m using frequent flier miles and it did not seem that there was a way to get to Eleuthera with my Alaska Airline miles (they have relationships with lots of carriers, like Denta and Continental).  In looked like I was going to have to burn a day in Nassau either coming or going and maybe  both.  That cuts too much into on-the-flats time.  I need to be fishing the day after I depart and I need to be home the same day I start my return.  Why it costs $350 to get from Miami to Eleuthera I have no idea.

Oh Grand Bahama, I think I’m coming back!

I’ve been intrigued by the idea of bonefishing in Puerto Rico, namely Vieques.  I’ve also been a fan of the Vieques Angler blog, one of the few with a decidedly bonefishy slant that I’ve run across.  So, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Vieques Angler bust out a good self-guided option for the angler on a budget (here’s that story).

I’ve been steered away from Vieques and Puerto Rico in general by some folks who insist the fishing there is far from what it could or should be due to netting practices of the locals.  I can’t speak to that, I have no first hand and very little second hand knowledge of that.  It does  make me curious though, and I’d love to hear more if you know more.  Seems like something that some legislation might help address, but again, I really don’t know.

What I do know, is the value of a bonefish… that value far outweighs the… well… the weight of the fish as sold in any market.  In the Keys that number is something between $3,500 to $75,000 per fish.  The bonefishing industry in the Keys kicks down an estimated $1B (maybe a bit less this year?).

So, Vieques may not be the world’s best bonefish destination but I’m 100% positive that it is better than, say, New York or Colorado.

Belize… a magical land of lots and lots of bonefish and lodges that are all shiny and wonderful.   Seems the lodge game is the current approved route, as opposed to DIY.  The Ledger.com ran a story about heading down to Belize that was a decent read.  Find it here.  The way the guide and client are not on the same page about the stripping speed made me think  of Shane Kohlbeck‘s article here a couple weeks ago.

Here’s a random guy fishing  in Belize.  His guide is very different from the guide mentioned in the Ledger.com article.  Seems like a cool cat, really.

Yeah… the “catch as many as you want” line got me wondering if A) that were true, and B) if this guy was in the sun too much… or C) A little of column A and a little of column B.  Having not fished Belize, I’ll have to wait until I  make the journey.

DIY may actually be a possibility, upon a little digging.  Bite me Belize offers three different options on a sliding scale from Kayak rental to flats wading to skiff fishing.  Check out Bite me Belize and you may just be thinking Belize-me!  This looks like a really good option and one that I’m certainly going to be checking into.

This could be your Belize Bonefish ride.

As I started this blog about a week ago, one thing became very clear… Deneki Outdoors puts out some great info.  From rods to reels to tips on wading, they just keep giving good info.

Here is a primer on… on everything bonefish related.

Deep Deneki Knowledge.

It seems that the bonefish game is primarily dominated by destination resorts and guides.  The DIY seems to make up a smaller percentage than, say, for trout.  Seems bones that get fished over get really picky, so folks are less free about the where and the what than with the more trouty fishing pursuits.  That’s another reason I’ve liked Deneki’s blog… there is a lot there for folks looking to get better… to grow as an bonefishing angler.