DIY Andros from Flybox.dk. A good trip with bonefish, sharks and a 12 pound lady fish. Andros… I’m coming for ya!
At the breakfast table we decide to go up the creek and target the large schools of bonefish that is gathering there. After breakfast we go to the store and buy lunch and drinks and then return to Hanks were the boat is waiting tanked and ready to go.
via ANDROS ISLAND – BONEFISH CAPITAL OF THE WORLD – FLYBOX.DK.
That's a good size Ladyfish!
We woke up the last morning at El Pescador knowing the clock was running down. We had to be back and packed by 11:45 before we took the boat to San Padro, flight to Belize City and then to Dallas before we’d go separate ways. Since it was 5:00 AM, we still had some quality fishing time to get after and that’s what we did.
We got the canoe out in the lagoon and hit our favorite spot from the first DIY day. When we got there the water was glassy smooth and, as you might expect, there were a few tails working, easily spotted from a couple hundred feet. It was a nice scenario for our last day.
Glassy
I got to the tails first and managed the first fish of the morning, which was nice. Unlike the last time we had fished this spot we didn’t find large schools of fish, but smaller groups. Shane stuck a couple more and then we moved.
In the transition the weather started to change… up came some wind, in came cloud cover and the threat of rain. We came upon a clearing between mangrove chutes that looked pretty good. Shallow. Good bottom. Spooking fish as we paddles. We tied up the canoe and went to work.
Here, Shane managed one of the better Belizean bonefish we saw. It was a single, cruising the edge of the mangroves. Shane pulled some ninja stalking techniques out and the fish ate.
An honest 4 pounder... maybe 4 1/4.
Shane really came into his own here… seeing fish I couldn’t see and then casting to them and catching them. I walked through the muck to get to another spot and managed to have a decent bonefish come unbuttoned. I also managed to have THREE mojarra beat bonefish to flies… damn mojarra. I managed a couple more bonefish, included one small enough to make me think I was fishing a creek back home.
This IS the other side of the rainbow... it ends in Belize.
Not a big fish... but pretty.
Shane ended up catching something like 15 bonefish just that morning before we paddled back. I caught three. This bit of ass-kickery kind of illustrated exactly how much the Grand Slam from the day before was up to fate and luck as opposed to skill. I knew I wasn’t as good an angler as Shane and this re-enforced that belief. The guy can flat out fish.
The release
Soon we were paddling back across the little lagoon, wind in our face. We made it back with plenty of time for showers and lunch. While Shane was eating lunch I took 15 feet of tippet and a small velcro crab out to the dock. I had a hunch I wanted to test out about those dock bonefish. I managed to convince a little snapper to eat the crab and then I saw a little school of 5 or so bonefish. With the wind to my back I tossed in the crab. One bonefish came right up to the little fly and ate it. I tried to set the hook, lifting the head of the bonefish up, but the hook simply came right out. Damn, I thought… that would have been a good end to the trip!
The trip had been a good one… a great one even. I had caught my first ever permit and my first ever tarpon in a magical day that had landed me a Grand Slam. I had caught my largest fish to date… a 25 pound Jack. I had caught many smaller bonefish to add to my overall bonefish knowledge for future bonefish trips. We had fished through crappy weather and good weather and some tense times with Katchu and fun times with Katchu. I had shared the trip with a good friend in a kind of magical place.
I hadn’t caught as many bonefish as I had really thought I would, but then I hadn’t figured on chasing permit and a day on the tarpon flats, which were both great experiences.
Thank you El Pescador for having us. You have a special place and a special fishery.
As I waited at the Miami Airport to get to Belize, I posted a picture from Facebook showing the bonefish sculptures there. I got a reply that went “Hey, I work there, where are you?” I ended up meeting and talking briefly with Chris, who immediately noticed my Skinny Water Culture hat.
Today, I looked on the Skinny Water Culture blog, and who is it but Chris with about a 12 pound bonefish. Fantastic! Way to go Chris!
I thought to myself, jeez…what am I going to do when I see a bonefish. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the unmistakable, unfamiliar sight of a tail pop up.
via Skinny Water Culture: Monster Kayak Bonefish!.
The weather was set to continue being crappy and that didn’t seem like a good day to go out with a guide, so we decided this would be our DIY day. El Pescador is on the beach, but in the back, it has a small dock that leads to a lagoon… in the lagoon are bonefish. Instead of walking the beach, we set out by paddle. El Pescador has a rough map with some spots marked and we used that as a starting point to get to the fish.
Stormy skies and the red canoe
The first shore we patrolled was devoid of anything resembling a bonefish, so we moved on. Shane moved further down the beach and I stayed closer. Twenty minutes on I saw a bonefish cruising out of some flooded mangroves. I threw a brown gotcha in a #8 and the fish saw it and charged it. I set, the fish was hooked and it started its run. I tried to clear the line, but… well… the line still jumped up and wrapped around my hand. I was now 0/1. Rumor has it that I dropped a couple of f-bombs at this point in the trip, but those reports are unconfirmed. About 5 minutes later and Shane was hooked up… first fish of the trip was in the books.
The seal breaker.
One more move and my rod was finally bent all the way to conclusion.
Get bent.
Well, isn't (s)he cute?
Turns out what you’ve heard about Belize bonefish is largely true… which is they aren’t very large. This little guy was about the size we caught. We did see a few bigger fish and even caught some (mostly Shane), but there are a lot of smaller fish here. They are still very, very fun and it does present an opportunity to down-size on your rod selection. You could easily get away with a six and, ya know… maybe even a 5. That means if you want to get into bonefishing and don’t want to go out and buy a new rod for one trip, you could grab your trout gear and head to Belize. Just say’n.
Out in the lagoon for the rest of the trip we had a simple rule… before you dip into the cooler for a beer, you have to land a fish. So, this was a nice beer.
Mmmm... good.
Belikin is the beer of Belize and we drank a fair bit of it… 58 of them according to the bar tab. Here’s the thing about Belikin… they are a LIE. The bottle is heavy… very heavy… the weight of each bottle is roughly 95% glass and 5% beer. They are about 2 ounces each… or 9.6 ounces as it turns out. You can grab and empty bottle and the weight makes you think it is full… but it isn’t. That is a tragedy. When you have a Belikin you are largely holding glass. Someone said when you buy a Belikin you also buy a weapon… and I can see that. In my totally imagined feud between Kalik and Belikin, I’m going to raise the Kalik on sheer volume. Hope that doesn’t offend anyone, but really… a beer should be AT LEAST 12 ounces… AT LEAST.
I only managed a couple of fish that day, Shane had about 7, which was a sign that things were as they should be. Shane’s a much better angler than I am since he’s a guide on the water about 200 days a year and he has about 350 days of bonefishing under his belt.
It seemed appropriate with it raining that hard... to have a beer.
The rain came and went… and then came again. Our paddle back to El Pescador was a wet and windy one. Just as we got to the mangrove chute we’d take to get to the dock Shane was mentioning that this particular environment looked ideal for baby tarpon. Then I saw one roll. So, we fished for some very small baby tarpon for a few minutes. I cast from the canoe while Shane stood in the back of the canoe trying to locate the fish. I had one eat, but didn’t hook it.
When we got back the light was failing and we were both wetter than seemed possible. It had been a challenging day, but we had made it work. The best time to go fishing, after all, isn’t when the weather is perfect. The best time to go fishing is when you can.
wet, wet, wet
We made the right call and had a fun day under the Belizean clouds.
Small? Sure. Pretty? You bet.
The third day of the trip and the second day in Belize were done. Dinner was fantastic… Lobster and Chicken Parmesan. They treat you right at El Pescador.
The next day was going to be with a guide and a trip to the tarpon flats.
I saw this tweeted recently and had to share… I’m not sure where these guys are… somewhere serviced by the airline from the Cook Islands, which gives me an idea or two, but not knowing is what these guys were looking for. A few very, very nice bonefish in there. Looks like a DIY adventure.
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.
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 a well-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.
Another DIY GBI bonefish
