I found this little video about Grand Bahama Island’s Deep Water Cay.  I’ve never fished at the lodge, but I’ve fished the waters around DWC and I’ve been past the lodge.  I think the piece might overstate things a bit… the lodge certainly didn’t look like it was in “disrepair” when I went past it and I’ve talked to folks that have fished it in recent years.  The piece makes it sounds like the thing had vines growing on the buildings and rust overtaking anything metal.  They got a new owner who revamped things, but the place wasn’t a ghost town.

It has had its own landing strip for a long time… that’s not new.  I don’t think there’s any time in my life when I’ll be landing on that private landing strip… that’s not the tax bracket I’m in.

Still… it is a storied lodge in a place that is kind of awesome.

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Trouble in paradise (if Paradise is Deep Water Cay).  Guides fired, legal teams brought in, meetings called.

A meeting is scheduled for sometime today with bonefishing guides of the Deep Water Cay Resort and owners to hopefully bring some resolve to a pending legal matter.

via The Freeport News – Deep Water Cay owners to meet with bonefishing guides today.

Here is how the whole thing started.

Now, I don’t know the people involved and my only experience with DWC is catching my first bonefish about 100 yards from there with an independent guide not associated with the lodge.

I guess we’ll see how things play out.

On that first trip to Grand Bahama I met a guy in the airport who was wearing the uniform and had a rod tube.  We started talking.  He told me he was flying to DWC on the East End.  When I told him I’d be fishing the East End as well he told me I must have been mistaken… he seemed under the impression that if you weren’t staying at DWC you couldn’t fish the East End.  He, of course, was an idiot.  You can fish wherever you damn well please, so long as you can get there.

Every time I see a plastic bag or bottle, I think of that whale skeleton at Warderick Wells Cay in the Bahamas’ Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. From a distance, the skeleton looks a little bit like someone misplaced half a brontosaurus on the beach. The 52-foot sperm whale washed ashore in 1995 after it died from — no suspense here — ingesting plastic garbage.

via The Nature Conservancy in the Bahamas – Whale and Plastics.

It seems a little drastic to say if you put your six pack of Newcastle Brown Ale (yummmm) in a plastic bag means you are killing a whale, granted.  Still, it’s a pretty easy step to take to bring those re-usable bags with you and you’ll look all hip and green (a greenster?).

I think back to my last trip in Grand Bahama and the amount of trash on the beach I frequented most (I could tell you the name of the beach but others would likely kill ME, and that would really get in the way of planning my next trip).   There was a lot of trash… bags, bottles, scraps from this thing or that.  Sure, some of it came from the good residents of GBI, but some of it came from parts further East… and I don’t mean Cuba.

So, ditch the plastic bags (although I need some to pick up after my very regular dog, Lassen).  The move to reusable might just make your next flats fishing experience a little less trashy.

My one reason to have a couple of plastic bags around.

There’s a blog called The Bonefish Flat.  He and I have a couple things in common… one, we really like bonefish and two, we don’t get fishing as much as we’d like.

He recently made a trip to Grand Bahama with his dad to do some bonefishing.  Fish were caught, memories made.

Check it out.  The trip report is in three parts.  You can start at part 1 and go on from there.

Bonefish Flat gets a bonefish

Some bits and pieces floating around.

• I got out again today… trout, Upper Sacramento, two hours, 4 trout.
• New Flatswalker
• New Bonefish Flat post.
• I’ll be at the Pleasanton Fly Fishing Show for the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust… let  me know if you’ll be there.
• Colton Bay Outfitters, a wedding and A LOT of bonefish in Grand Bahama.

I found this little written tour through the history and present of Grand Bahama.  It makes for an interesting read and I’m really glad I get to absorb all this before I head to GBI for the second time in January because lord knows when I’m there I won’t be looking or thinking of anything but bonefish.

Some interesting cultural, social and political context for what might be your next bonefish adventure.

This is from Bahama Pundit and author Larry Smith.

I found this Bonefish quiz on Field and Stream.com.  Kind of a fun little bit that includes…

2. Bonefish offspring/juveniles have been located as far north as (or farther than) Long Island, New York…

5. Bonefish can live at least 20 years…

6. A bonefish’s diet changes as it grows; under 16″ fish primarily eat worms and clams; over 16″ fish eat shrimp and crabs; over 24″ fish eat other fish, like toadfish and gobies (choose your fly accordingly!)…

The link at the top will take you to the rest of the quiz.

I kind of forget about Field and Stream since I’m not too interested in the “Field” part of the magazine.  I recall my dad subscribing during my childhood (100% for anything about steelhead).

A search for “bonefish” turns up 210 entries at F&S… whoa.  Who knew.  Might be mining some more gems from them down the road.

Other Updates:

• I now have water again at the Sierra Bonefish Headquaters and have used that water to wash myself in all the important places (and unimportant ones)…
• I discovered that I cannot make it up my street in 4×4 High, but can in Low…
• This guy went to GBI just recently and caught some fish… promising, since I’m going to GBI in just over a month…
• Coach Duff sent a couple pics of a NOICE bonefish (11.5 pounder) caught by client Luke on Coach’s 1/0 “Plate Lunch” crab pattern… one of those pics is below.

That is some nice HI bonefish that in no way would make a good fish cake

Also, I’ve just hit 7,000 views on this little endeavor of mine (up since August).  Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing and I hope we meet on the water some day (unless you are a total a-hole).

(Field and Stream quote used with permission from F&S)

Booked my trip to Grand Bahama today… January 13-18.  Oh… I can almost taste the Kalik.

UPDATE: I’ve now booked my hotel… for $58/night.  Used Kayak.com.  On the hotel’s website the rate was $89/night.  The whole stay will be about $250 for lodging.  The countdown is 61 days!