My Bonefish senses recently tingled letting me know  that a bonefishing story was on the web that I hadn’t read.  Thanks to Google Alerts I soon found it.

The Canyonwren Travels blog has a couple of recent stories about bonefish from Spanish Wells.

Now that I have finally got this figured out a bit, we have to leave tomorrow. I have learned quite a bit about fishing the flats for bonefish. There is a lot to it.

Dean is the guy who did the figuring out.  He’s from Idaho, spending more time on rivers than flats, which I have some understanding of.

Nice bone Dean.

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.

My last trip to Grand Bahama I managed to find some flats to drive to/walk on.  However, I have a very clear recollection of a little trough I couldn’t get across with a massive flat on the other side.  Made me think a bit about how nice it would be if I could get on the other side.

Enter my portable, packable, piscatorially perfect little flats transportation platform… a borrowed inflatable kayak.

My borrowed flats transportation

A mesh float tube anchor will ensure it doesn’t go floating away on its own.

Sticking to the mangrove lined coast should ensure I’m not pushed out to sea, never to be heard from again, fading away into fly fishing lore.

Not going to fish from the thing, just use it to get from one flat to another or to skirt the mangroves  in search of better fishing grounds.

My mind is absolutely bouncing around inside my skull with the possibilities.

The thing packs down pretty well and weighs about 40-50 pounds, I figure.  I’m going to have to pay something for bringing this along, I’m just not sure how much.  There are other makes/models that weigh less or pack down smaller (probably both), but this little IK should work wonderfully.

My daughter very much enjoyed jumping on it too… good indoor play structure for the cloudy, cool days we’re having here in the Sierra.

Thanks Tim and Serena!

UPDATE:

In the end, I didn’t use it.  Luckily, it didn’t cost ANYTHING to bring along on American Airlines… second piece of checked baggage. The wind just was too much on the day I was really looking to use it, blowing 20-25.  The fact that it was so easy to bring along as me thinking of places I should bring it, but this trip wasn’t the trip.

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!

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.

• Found this article from www.reel-time.comm that is a few years old, but continental drift probably has not carried off any of these places just yet.

• If you still unsure how to catch bonefish, you can check out this article from a home improvement website about DIY projects… How to catch bonefish in 5 easy steps.

A little video of Long Island, Bahamas bonefishing for you lazy Sunday afternoon…