Oh Grand Bahama, I could never be mad at you…
Here’s a video of some guy, who isn’t me, landing a nice little bone. Obligatory Caribbean music included.
Fish Tails
29
Aug 09
Kiwi's Crushing Big Bones
Found this little video about some Kiwi’s roaming around French Polynesia… looks very nice, really. Prolly another one of those places I won’t have the fundage or time-age to get to… but I can appreciate that these blokes did and it looks like good times.
28
Aug 09
See dem bones?
It was December, Grand Bahama, East end of the island. We were floating in maybe 2 feet of crystal clear water, turtle grass gently swaying in the current below us as we rode silently on the tide. This was my first time in a flats boat on my first Bahamas trip. My dad was in the boat, the guide was on the poling platform and I was up. My rod was poised, the fly was between my fingers, I had line out and ready and my eyes were scanning the water in front of us behind my polarized lenses. I was ready to make this happen.
The guide suddenly speaks, “Bones, sixty feet, do you see dem?” he asks, pointing in the general direction.
“No” I say… I see nothing… just the uneven patchwork of the bottom… I see nothing.
“Right der,” says the guide, “moving left to right, twenty fish.”
“I don’t see them” I say… again… nothing. I’m starting to feel equal parts nervous and stupid.
Then… the guide says it… maybe the best line to a rookie bonefish angler in the history of bonefishing.
“Ray Charles could see that school mon!”
Suddenly, I see the fish… all of them. How did I not see them before?
The cast is made, the bone is on the fly, the fight is on and the fish is landed.
In this picture, Ray was tracking a school of bones just off camera.
That Ray Charles line still cracks me up. The main issue for me continues to be just seeing the fish. I can make the cast, I have confidence in the tackle, but if you don’t have a target, you are just standing there with a stick in your hand.
27
Aug 09
Old Timey Keys Bonefishing
This = Totally Ruling
Old school… vintage video of flyfishing for bonefish in the Keys. I can only imagine…
26
Aug 09
Pirates of the Flats
No, not the Disneyland ride or a blockbuster movie. This is a new TV show, a bunch of legends, idols and… well, and an actor, out on the Flats fishing for bones, talking ecology, talking about their amazing lives… this is going to air on ESPN of all places, starting 12/27/2009 in January 2010. ESPN is starting to air more soccer and now fly fishing… now if we can just get Yvon Chouinard on Sports Center and Jim Rome eaten by a Bull Shark.
Check out the Tin Shed at Patagonia.com for all the goodies (they seem to have taken that down)! You not only see the trailer, but also photos by Val Atkinson (who is simply bad-ass at what he does, check out the link, as it is his own website and slide show of the Pirates).
The show has even linked up with the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, so they are really hitting on all cylinders.
Tom Brokaw quoted about the project in USA Today:
NBC News’ Tom Brokaw, in doing his first TV fishing series, says he “didn’t quite know what I was getting into, except it was a chance to go fishing with my friends. … I belong to an informal fishing posse, kind of an aging boys club. You end up in these fishing camps where the emphasis is on good fishing, good wine and lots of good storytelling.”
In Pirates of the Flats, an independently produced series that ESPN will announce today and will debut in January, the posse — including actor Michael Keaton, mountaineer Yvon Chouinard and author Thomas McGuane — went to the Bahamas in search of the elusive bonefish. And don’t get the wrong idea, says Brokaw, just because bonefish can weigh just 3-5 pounds: “It’s not just blind casting. You’re stalking the fish. … They’re ghostly, quite primordial.”
Update – turns out this is filmed mostly in the Bahamas.
25
Aug 09
Charlie + Bones + Video = Ruling
Flatswalker.com has a great video from a trip to go see Big Charlie Neymour. It’s a good little clip to get your heart racing and get you imagining yourself in a fierce wind casting to massive bones.
Check out the video here… couldn’t get the embed to work.
24
Aug 09
Happy Holidays Island (ya know… gotta be PC)
Christmas Island is, by all accounts, a really amazing place.
I found this report about a Xmas Island trip… http://tiny.cc/9JuD7
Christmas Island is a place that has everything the bonefishing angler could really want… mainly just a ton of bones with the possibility of a GT thrown in. However… there are drawbacks… like the 2 days it takes to get there, the charter flight required to get there and cost… yeah, it always comes down to cost for me. It’s spendy. If I sold my daughter I could probably do it, but, I’m mighty fond of her. The girl may only be 2.5, but can already identify a bonefish, tarpon, rooster fish and trout. She has recently been asking me to tell her fish stories… so… I can’t really sell her off… no one else would listen to my fish stories.
If you make it there, take some pictures, let me know how it went and I’ll throw up a story about it so I can live vicariously through your experience.
23
Aug 09
The Math of a Bonefish Trip – Part 1
I have come across a fascinating mathematical truth. As one approaches the needed number of frequent flyer miles to get a free ticket to somewhere bonefish exist live in abundance, the mind sees a corresponding increases in bonefish daydreaming activity. When I finally do get enough miles, I’ll be forced to go bonefishing immediately because I will not be able to think of anything else (which would be bad… especially if I stop thinking about feeding, bathing, dressing and entertaining my 2.5 year old little girl, or to a lesser extent, feeding the dog).
So, it is for the sake of my daughter, my family, friends and pooch that I will be forced to head off for warm and tropical climes once the threshold of frequent flier miles is reached.
Bonefishing Math
Notice that I seem to have a rather high baseline of bonefish daydreams, so others, with a lower base level, may not experience this same confluence.
23
Aug 09
A First Florida Bone
This was sent to me recently and I thought I’d share. I’ve been fairly scared off of DIY Florida bones after hearing countless assertions that the FL Bones are smarter than most, less numerous than many and just plain tough to find in the first place. So, it gives me heart to relay this little tale from Vince Stanley.
This June after years of blown casts, broken leader, and fouled flies I finally landed my first Florida bone at Islamorada, the PHD capital of bonefishing. For several mornings as we prepared to go tarpon fishing a very large school of double digit bones appeared around the condo dock. This little flat is a flats boat magnet. We had a “Captain” fish over us as the jerk stated we didn’t have a chance in this wind.”
After our engine took an unscheduled vacation I had time to really pursue this action. I noticed the bonefish favored one little sandy hole. They would turn on their side and flash as they ate SOMETHING. I had a MOE size #8 in my “possible” fly box. It was tied from junk cluttering up my tying bench. Third cast, 6 pound bone. No guide, no boat, no sweat until it made a run to go under the dock. My host snagged him with a huge net.
And so, there you have it… the tale of Vince’s first Florida Bone, caught on a self-tied fly.
The Junk Fly
