I got my F*ck BP shirt, so I’m glad to have been part of this! Way to go Skinny Water Culture!
F*ck BP
Just a little update on the F*ck BP shirts!
Proceeds from June alone we’re able to donate $995.00 to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. If you would like to know more about the organization please check them out at http://www.seabirdsanctuary.com.
First, I need to say, I never would have bought these glasses. I am cheap. I break things. I usually buy sunglasses that are polarized and less than $30 so when I break them or lose them I don’t stroke out.
You know that feeling you get when you realize that you just broke or lost something that was valuable? I buy cheap sunglasses so I can confine that head-hanging feeling to my skill at destroying or losing waterproof digital cameras (I’m on number 4 for the past 6 years).
However, currently, I have a pair of Costa Del Mar Zane’s (Matte Black finish, Silver Mirror Glass).
These shades were given to me to sport and review and my cost was $0. These shades retail for a pretty penny, something around $239, making them two Benjamins more pricey than I’ve put down for sunglasses in a while.
That said, these glasses = sweetness. I wear them just about every day and certainly every time I go fishing. I have not had a chance to get them out on the flats just yet, but I have had them in still water, urban streams, mountain streams, Disneyland, swim lessons, various parks, one princess birthday party for a three year old and a couple thousand miles of highways and freeways.
The construction of these glasses is superb. The lenses are glass, although they don’t feel heavy. My lenses are unscratched and the frames look as if they just came out of the package. They look great, they work well and they are my constant companions.
I understand why someone would buy these glasses. I might even recommend that YOU buy these glasses. If you do, you’ll be supporting a company that has gotten behind conservation in Belize and the upcoming film project project Itu’s Bones, just to name a couple of their very cool projects (another would be the Permit tagging program with the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust). I’d be a fan of Costa Del Mar even if I didn’t have my Zane’s and I was sporting a pair of whatever was cheapest and polarized up at the Ted Fay Fly Shop.
This is how I roll... for a 3 year old's princess party.
Costa Del Mar… I’m a fan.
A nice story about customer service from Lamson-Waterworks via the Chucking Line and Chasing Tail blog.
When I tell people outside of the fishing community why I choose to spend so much on my gear, it tell them without a doubt…it’s all about the warranty
via Chucking Line and Chasing Tail.
If memory serves, Lamson is the preferred reel of Dr. Aaron Adams from the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.
For me, the warranty is pretty key as well. I break things. I have, in my life, broken rods at least 10 times. I’ve sent boots back at least 4 times. I still have a broken reel I’m procrastinating on sending back. I even have three rods right now that are just a little broken and I’m still using.
This stellar tale of customer service makes me want to get a Lamson… and that’s pretty much the point.
There probably isn’t anyone that knows as much about bonefish as Dr. Aaron Adams. As Director of Operations for the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Aaron is at the heart of the body of knowledge being built on bonefish. He’s an author, a TV Star (kidding, but he was in Pirates of the Flats) and an angler. Aaron agreed to answer some questions about bonefish. These questions were given to Dr. Adams before the BP Oil Spill, so there are no spill related questions included here, although you can keep up to date on the spill at BTT’s oil spill news page.
(you can follow Dr. Adams on Twitter and he has his own website, A Fisherman’s Coast)
Aaron, as Director of Operations for the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, you have a really unique perspective on the state of Bonefish. What does the big picture look like?
Well, we are working hard with others to make sure it is a good outlook. Some areas have seen a reduction in the numbers of bonefish, and at least some of this looks to be the result of habitat loss or degradation. We are working hard to obtain the information needed by resource management agencies to come up with effective conservation plans. It is encouraging to see that countries like Belize see the big picture, and have taken actions such as making bonefish, tarpon, and permit catch and release only. Now we need to help them find funds for enforcement and education. We definitely need to do a better job of getting the fishing industry involved, after all, their business depends on healthy fisheries. It will be a long-term, and ongoing effort, but overall I think things look good as long as we able to keep up the momentum we’ve developed. I think one of the keys is that we have developed Research Frameworks that help guide our efforts, focus funding, and be proactive.
http://www.tarbone.org/research-programs/research-frameworks.html
Pirates of the Flats was a great program. Do you have a favorite memory from that experience?
I’m glad you like the series. They did a fantastic job with it, especially incorporating the conservation message in a low-key way. I hope that the success of Pirates will serve to change the way other fishing shows are produced. A second season is being shot this summer, to air on the Outdoor Channel in early 2011. Stay tuned to www.tarbone.org for updates.
While filming, two things made the show work – the easygoing nature of the celebs and the amazing professionalism of the camera crew. The celebs were fantastic at getting the message across without being overbearing, and were great in dealing with the camera crews. Each fishing boat had two anglers, and was shadowed by a second flats boat that had two camera guys. At times, a camera guy transferred to the fishing boat to get close-ups. As you know, stealth on the flats is essential, but the camera guys were so good that this was never a problem. It was also nice that the weather during the filming days was perfect.
I really enjoyed the fishing on the Abaco marls. Although the fish are not typically large, they do come through in schools, as tailers, as singles and pairs. So they provide perfect opportunities for sight fishing. It was common to get double hookups, or be tagging a fish as the guide says to hurry up because more fish are coming.
As I’m sure you saw on the Pirates series, my blown shot at a huge bonefish was caught on tape. I was hopeful that they wouldn’t include that in the final cut, but they did, so now everyone knows about the big one that got away. At least I have witnesses.
Aaron as a Pirate of the Flats
I’ve found your book on saltwater prey very helpful for fly tying. Out of all the prey species in your book, what would you say is the most overlooked?
I don’t know that any particular prey species is overlooked, but rather the connection between prey species and habitat is not well understood by many anglers. For example, there are enough mantis shrimp patterns on the market now that people know that bonefish eat mantis shrimp, and many anglers have mantis shrimp patterns in their fly box. But many anglers tie on a mantis shrimp pattern without taking a look around to see if the flat they are fishing might be good mantis shrimp habitat.
When fishing on a sand flat, for example, a quick scan of the bottom will tell you if mantis shrimp are present – mantis shrimp make those perfectly round, quarter-size holes in the bottom. Whenever I see those burrows, I tie on a mantis shrimp pattern. Similarly, those ski mogul-type mounds on some sand flats are made by various species of shrimps commonly called ghost shrimp. A tan mantis shrimp imitation will be close enough to a ghost shrimp to fool a bonefish.
Another overlooked aspect to fly selection to imitate prey is the local or regional difference. For example, in the Florida Keys large bonefish really seem to prefer toadfish, yet very few anglers who head to the Keys have any toadfish patterns in their fly box. As a matter of fact, at various times fly distributors have carried toadfish patterns in their collections, but have discontinued the patterns because they didn’t sell. When fishing seagrass beds in the Keys, I often start with a toadfish pattern.
The list goes on, but the key here is that a big part of matching the hatch for bonefish is to understand the interaction between habitat and prey. I’ve covered this to a great extent in my two books Fisherman’s Coast and Fly Fishermans’ Guide to Saltwater Prey (http://www.fishermanscoast.com/books/books2a.html), but I see a need for a third book that goes into even more detail and specifics. The work for that book is underway.
What is the next big issue in bonefish conservation on the horizon?
I see two big issues – habitat protection and responsible fishing.
Regarding habitat protection, there are intense and growing pressures on coastal habitats in many locations where bonefish are found. In Belize, for example, multinational companies are working on plans to develop coastal areas, including (believe it or not) offshore mangrove cays. Development of the offshore cays requires the sand from surrounding flats to be dredged and used as fill to provide sufficient land for buildings on the cays. This not only destroys the habitat provided by the mangroves, but the surrounding flats as well. To their credit, the current Belize government is working toward a nation-wide conservation plan to address this. Similarly, the development pressures for The Bahamas are increasing at a rapid pace. Rumor has it that there are many new developments in the planning stages, some of which will directly impact bonefish habitats.
One of the challenges with this is that in many locations we don’t have sufficient data on the bonefish fishery or on essential habitats. This is why things like juvenile habitat identification are so high on our priority list. This is also why we recently funded a study on the economic value of the bonefish fishery in The Bahamas, so that the fishery is given a fair shake in evaluations of development impacts/benefits.
From an angler’s perspective, we are eventually going to run out of new hotspots to travel in pursuit of bonefish. Already, there are locations where the bonefish fishing is not as good as it was because of habitat degradation. As I often say, either we get involved now in fisheries conservation or whine about the loss of the good ol’ days later.
A second aspect is the behavior of anglers. Catch and release is a very effective conservation strategy for bonefish (and tarpon and permit), but only if it is practiced correctly. Treating fish poorly greatly decreases their chance of survival. You can download a pdf of the BTT Best Practices for Bonefish Catch and Release here:
http://www.tarbone.org/images/stories/bonefish_brochure-inside.pdf
The bonefish tagging program revealed at least one bonefish crossing the Gulf Stream. Have there been other tags that have given surprising information?
At last check, the Florida Keys bonefish tagging program (run by the University of Miami) had tagged over 7,000 bonefish and recaptured over 300. Of these, two were recaptured on North Andros, Bahamas. The extent that these recaptures reflect a common occurrence or were outliers is unclear. Bonefish are certainly capable of migrating long distances (length of the Keys, for example, or across North Andros multiple times), but these other long distance migrations were made over shallow habitats, not deep open ocean. We have learned in the past year that bonefish spawn offshore at night, near full and/or new moons, so perhaps in rough weather some fish get lost and end up in another location? So far, it looks like, the majority of tagged bonefish are recaptured near where they were tagged, but that there are some long-distance movers.
The question then becomes – are these long distance movements associated with spawning, do some fish just have the wander-lust gene? We are now tagging in multiple locations in The Bahamas and Belize, so in the next few years we should have a better idea of typical bonefish movement patterns.
Tagged Bone
One of my favorite questions… since you are out on the water a lot you have more opportunities to see things that others just don’t… odd things, strange things, frightening things. Is there one thing you’ve seen out there on the flats that might fit into one of those categories?
Hmmm. Loaded question. Some memorable sights:
– two hammerhead sharks more than 12’ long, chasing something (never saw the object of their pursuit) on a shallow flat. The water was so shallow that their backs were exposed. We were fishing for bonefish (from a boat, fortunately), but stopped to watch the show for about 5 minutes before the sharks headed to deeper water.
– A couple days later, just back in the boat after wading for the afternoon, we saw a 9’ tiger shark cruising up onto the flat.
– On a trip to an undisclosed destination, I woke up one morning to dark skies, rain, some thunder and lighting. The lightning subsided, so I decided to go fishing. Walking sand flats with the darkest skies in the background, I was able to see pretty well. It ended up being the best fishing of the trip.
– I once caught a 7 pound bonefish that had a scar that was the perfect shape of a large barracuda. The barracuda had grabbed the bonefish from the top. The scar was old enough that scales had grown over it, but was still pretty obvious. Talk about a lucky fish!
– Large bonefish (=>7 pounds) chasing crabs in water so shallow they had to almost crawl across the flats to get to the crabs, the fish’s bodies were half exposed. Better yet, they ate flies! Amazing sight.
– some more ramblings on fishing here:
What’s your favorite bonefish rig?
I typically throw a 9’, 8 weight rod with a floating line. I start with a 9’ leader, and add on a longer tippet if the bonefish are spooky. For tailing bonefish, I typically start with unweighted crab patterns. For cruising bonefish I use flies weighted with beadchain, and then add the lead eyes for deeper running fish. You can see my standard selection of bonefish flies here:
http://www.fishermanscoast.com/flies/bonefish_fly_selection.html
Overall, I prefer a rod that I can feel load. Too many rods are too stiff (fast), and although they can shoot line they are kind of impersonal for casting. For rods, I use either a St. Croix Legend Elite or an Orvis Helios.
For reels, it’s tough to beat the Lamson Litespeed for best bang for the buck, and I was pleased with the Orvis Mirage when I recently tried one.
For fly lines, I typically use SA bonefish or tropical core lines, or similar models of Cortland lines.
A lot of people speculate about where the first 20 pounder will come from. Do you have any thoughts about the contenders and the likelihood the record will fall in 2010?
I’m not going to fall for that one! I’ve seen some very large bonefish, but never one at 20 pounds, but I’m still not giving up my favorite big bonefish spot. If it comes on a fly, it will mean that absolutely everything went right.
Provenance, from the French provenir, “to come from”, means the origin, or the source of something, or the history of the ownership or location of an object.
Dude… this boat once belonged to Tim Borski.
If it was good enough for Borski, it is good enough for you.
This boat was posted up by the good folks over at Skinny Water Culture. Check it out. Buy it. Take me fishing.
I’m going to say right up front front that I know nothing about boats.
Still, I am fascinated by those shallow drafting boats that roam the flats… they are, often, just beautiful.
I saw a video on This is Fly Daily that was a video review for the Ankona Native SUV.
Now… that boat… the Native SUV… is CHEAP! The base is $2,900 and the boat pretty well loaded is about $7,000-9,000. I don’t really know how much of a bonefishing boat this might be… probably better for snook and baby tarpon in the back country, but that’s just me guessing.
Deal.
Microskiff.com is a great source for small boat needs and the video review that showed up in This is Fly Daily is the first video review that Microskiff has done. They have a lot of great information on Microskiff.com and I’d probably be on the site a lot… if I didn’t live in the SF Bay Area with no conceivable use for a small skiff.
A guy can dream though.
There is a fly shop in Redding, CA simply named “The Fly Shop.” It is one of the largest fly fishing operations around, although if you aren’t from California or Southern Oregon you might not have heard of it. They sit near a river that can be fished probably 340 or so days a year and they are an hour away from some of the best steelhead, freestone trout and spring creek fishing that California has to offer. They have grown to be one of the largest catalog operations (both on-line and the paper kind, although they launched an e-catalog this last year as well), have many private waters, a guide service and an international travel business (they even recently branched out into real estate too).
A guy you might not have heard of there is Bill Marts. Bill is a Destinations Specialist and the resident saltwater destination guru with The Fly Shop. He’s had the good fortune to fish for bones all over, catching his first in the Keys in 1982 (I was 8 and it would take me 26 more years to catch my first). Bill agreed to answer a few questions about his bonefishing life.
Bill, as the saltwater specialist at The Fly Shop, you’ve had the opportunity to fish all over the world for bonefish. Is there a location that you still are itching to explore?
I am itching to explore any saltwater knee-deep or less. I would love to go to the Mauritius. I would give my next to the best fly rod to be able to go back to the Cook Islands and Tuamotu Islands to poke around. Not because the fishing was so outstanding, but they are such wild places and you can walk for miles without seeing anyone (and sometimes without seeing any bones either), and just walking the flats is an enjoyable pastime. Don’t get me wrong, I DO like to catch fish and it always adds to a trip or outing, but it can still be a good trip without “off-the-charts” fishing. I like seeing new places and finding what it has to offer. Maybe it is not bones, but another fish roaming the shallows.
It seems that there are big fish locations and many fish locations. Would you rather have shots at fish all day long or would you rather hunt the really big bones?
I am not single minded, but I would normally rather fish for fewer big fish than a lot of smaller ones. But more important is the actual fishing for them. If there were hundreds of big fish in a mud, and even though they are big and you could catch a lot of them, it would not be fun. But an 18” tailing fish that has to be stalked and the wrong cast will spook it, now that is fishing! So what I really like is the hunt, the circumstances, and the surroundings. When looking for a place for clients at the office, these are the kinds of things I like to find out about him or her.
Of all the places you’ve fished, is there one fly that pretty much works everywhere (or do they all pretty much work everywhere)?
In addition to working in The Fly Shop Travel Dept, I am also a signature tier for Idylwilde Flies and I like nothing more than to tie up new patterns and color combinations and take them for a test run. But one fly goes to every flats destination I go to and that is a Gotcha in sizes 2 through 8, and heavily weighted to hardly weighted at all. I do find that darker or olive or mottled flies tend to do better over grass flats and the whites, browns and tans work well over sand. Flies should be chosen for their color and characteristics (lots or no movement, rubber legs or no legs, weight or no weight, big or small). I also like a little pink or orange in the fly somewhere on some flies. I say “you can’t take too many flies on a trip.” So, I try to cover all of the bases on the flats, over reefs or in the blue water.
Do you have one fish that really stands out in your memory? One special fish, for whatever reason?
Yes. I was fishing with a guide named Alvin out of Kamalame Cay, on Andros Island. We’d had a good morning of wade-fishing and I wanted more, so Alvin put me on a shoreline flat that was also a bay with rocks scattered throughout the its mouth. The boat with Alvin sitting in it was anchored and I was standing outside of it leaning up against it having lunch, eating a sandwich and drinking a beer. We saw a good sized fish slowly making its way toward us and very close to the boat and we both thought it was a small shark. After it got within two rod lengths of us and head away, we both realized it was a big bonefish. Alvin started going nuts claiming its size to be about twice what it really was. But he was at one time praying, yelling, whispering and stuttering. I followed the fish and cast and cast and cast and kept following it for over a hundred yards. I could hear Alvin following along behind me. I saw the fish was heading to a shoreline where I hoped it would take a right and follow that shore. So I started cutting it off. I made my last “hail Mary” cast. It landed behind and off to the right of the fish, but I was using a big fly and the fish saw it, turned, cranked up the speed and ate it. I really couldn’t believe it, but it was on and heading directly for the boat and the ANCHOR ROPE! So Alvin took off running across the flats and turned the fish before wrapping the line. It then took off for the rocks. Alvin really wanted this fish. He took off after it again and turned it again, finally toward me. I did get it in and was reaching for it when it slipped of the hook. I couldn’t believe it and I hung my arms and head down. I looked upon hearing Alvin running across the flats, yet another time. He was after the fish, AGAIN. I had to get a picture of this. As I was getting my camera out I heard a big splash (Alvin is well over 6 feet tall and WELL over 200 pounds). He was lying on his side in the water. I was getting closer to him to take a picture of him and saw the most satisfied grin on his face and he pointed under him. Then he pulled out the fish. No, it wasn’t as big as he first thought, but it turned out to be a very memorable one.
Great story with the picture too. A rarity.
Beyond the most obvious things (rod, reel, polarized glasses), what’s the one thing you never leave for a trip without?
It is a small thing, but makes casting (and catching fish) easier and more accurate. I always take a fly line cleaner and use it often. Even if the line mfg claims it doesn’t need it, I still use it. When wading, the line stays floating behind me and therefore picks up off of the water easier, making a longer more accurate cast easier. It shoots through the guides easier and is less likely to tangle.
When someone calls The Fly Shop and wants to catch a bonefish, do you match them up with a location based on what they are looking for, or do they come to you already set on a destination, even if it might not be right for their skill level or expectations?
The biggest reason I went to work for The Fly Shop a little over five years ago was its attitude towards its traveling clients. It is drilled into our heads that we work for them (the clients), not the lodges. But by doing this we are also doing the best thing for the lodges. We always try to match up our clients with the exact right fit regarding their destination. My best tool is asking questions. Even if someone calls and wants to go to a specific location, I still ask away. I like to find out why and how they came to this conclusion. I would only send someone to a destination that I didn’t feel right about if the clients insisted and I said what I had to say. There are good and unique qualities to all of our destinations and we try to line up our clients with the one that meets their expectations.
Do you have a favorite bonefishing rig?
I like a #7 or 8 fairly fast action rod (like the Sage TCX #7, or Xi3 #8), floating tropic line (Rio Bonefish or Sci Angler Redfish) and 9’ – 12’ fluorocarbon knotless leader (I prefer no knots because they can catch on coral or grass and cause breakage).
Many people think of long casts and accurate presentations when it comes to bonefish. What’s the SHORTEST cast you’ve ever made to catch a bonefish?
When fishing in Los Roques in the late ‘80’s, I was getting ready to get out of the boat and my fly was dangling over the gunwale, maybe 2 feet under the surface. You guessed it. A bonefish ate it and I landed it before getting in the water. At another time and in another place I was wading the flats and was changing my fly. Just as I knotted the new fly on and was getting ready to start working out line, I saw a bone making its way to me about 15 feet away. I didn’t dare cast or move too much or I would spook it. So I tossed the fly with my hand to the water in front of me (3 feet from my feet). I froze and when the fish got close I just twitched it slightly. The fish jumped on it right away. It took off, wrapped me around some coral and broke me off; about that quick. So, although a long cast isn’t necessary to catch fish, I maintain that the farther one can cast accurately, the more fish will be caught. This applies to windy as well as calm days. This does not mean that one has to cast far to catch fish only that more fish will be caught with longer casts. But, we all know that numbers don’t make the trip, so no matter how far one can cast, there is no excuse for not going to a bonefish destination. I always advise clients heading to the flats for the first time to take some casting lessons from a qualified instructor (one who has fish the flats). Even if the client has fish for decades in fresh water, a lesson from a saltwater casting instructor will improve their chance on the flats. Flats fishing is different that freshwater fishing.
Where are you headed for your next bonefishing trip?
I don’t know yet. Probably the Bahamas. There are a lot of islands and flats I haven’t waded there, yet.
Bill + Bone
What happens when you go to a place to fish bonefish and they just aren’t there, for whatever reason?
Take the blinders off and look for other species. Almost all flats (or close to them) have a good barracuda and/or shark population. They will attack a fly and give a good account of themselves. I discovered the fun of fishing for and catching triggerfish on a recent trip to Christmas Island. I would never over look them again. A great gamefish. I may have my mind set on a certain path for catching a single species or size of fish or whatever restrictions I may set on myself for a certain trip. Sometimes this works out. But one thing I’ve learned is that the narrower the agenda you set for yourself, the more likelihood of failure. If one says “I am going on a fishing trip” and goes on that trip, it is a success. If the agenda is to catch a ten pound bone and one isn’t caught, the trip is a failure. I have widened my agenda tremendously in later years and I have had so many successful trips.
Thanks Bill!
When getting ready to move I had to try and reign in the chaos that had spread from from one or two bins in the garage to several bins of fly fishing gear, each exploding and overflowing all over a large shelf. Something clearly had to be done.
In those bins I found… a surprising number of my daughter’s socks, a few beer bottle caps, twigs/sand/dirt, lots of bits of tippet, a few salvageable flies, a couple of lines I forgot I had (a surplus 5 wt. clear intermediate sink and a 9 wt. sink tip), a few of the indicators I like to put on my line (off the water) when tight-line nymphing for trout, a couple of broken reels and mismatched heavy socks and fingerless gloves.
Order is restored. My wife will be happy. I’ll be able to find the gear I’m looking for again and the movers didn’t break anything.
It is clear from a rod perspective, I am well covered from most anything from #2 to #9… included here… a #2, #3/4, #4, #4, #5, #5, #5, #7, #7, #8, #8/9, #9. Yes… that’s 12 rods (although, technically, the #2 is my three year old daughter’s. Cheap is clearly the theme… 5 of these rods are TFO’s. One is an Elkhorn. One is a T&T (my favorite 5 wt.). One is a custom rod raffled off for the Shasta Fly Fishers. One is an Albright. On the pricey side, one is an R.L. Winston and two are Sage.
It is fun to look at all those rods and think back to the special memories I’ve had with each. The future seems somehow brighter when you know you have the right tools for the work ahead.
The giving season last year gave me a gift certificate to my local fly shop (thanks hon, just my size). With that new found wealth I sought to pick up a true and pure bonefishing rod, an 8 weight, that I could cherish and love and make part of the family. After some discussion with Frank, I opted for the Temple Fork Outfitter Clouser, an 8’9″ 4 pc. 8 wt. I read some reviews and gear thoughts from a couple of message boards and went ahead and made the purchase.
Being a stay-at-home dad with a wife that travels means I simply didn’t have time to get this rod out on a grassy field or body of water before I went to Grand Bahama in January. I brought the Clouser, untested, along with two other virgin rods. This wasn’t an ideal scenario, I’ll admit. Someone once said you go to battle with the army you have, not the army you may want and I wasn’t totally sure if I’d be making due or if I’d be confidently assured.
The rod in action
From reviews I knew a few things… first, others said the rod cast very well, was fairly fast on the spectrum and that no one who had cast it missed the three inches that kept the rod from being a true 9 footer. I know one of the reviewers and if he said it cast well, I believed him.
I had paired the rod with a TFO Large Arbor 375 reel and a Bruce Chard 8 wt. line. My first casts with the rod felt great and my first fish on the rod, about a 3-4 pound bonefish, satisfied me that the rod had the backbone I needed. In the end, I fished that rod pretty much the whole time and every fish landed was on that rod. I even cast in the face of a pretty stiff wind and the rod did the trick. I left the Bahamas impressed and it clearly had established itself as my go to stick for the salt.
On a recent trip to Mexico (Vallarta, primarily a family trip) I brought the Clouser 8 and another TFO 7 wt (Axiom). I had the Clouser set up with the TFO LA 375 and a 9 wt. clear intermediate sink, although who the manufacturer of the line is I have no idea.
After casting the 7 a bit, I switched to the 8 just to get a little more distance and again, I was impressed with the rod’s ability to throw line. I think this rod would do very well with shooting heads or sinking lines. My biggest fish of the trip, about a 4 pound Jack Crevalle, felt great on the rod (and the reel). Again, I’m a happy camper.
At $250, this rod is a great value. I know others swear by some of the more expensive sticks, but I need every dollar to stretch as far as it can. With some of the more elite rods on the market for $700-$800… if you can find a good, quality rod for a quarter of that price it seems kind of crazy to me to opt for the more expensive option.
The Clouser 8 wt. is now a true part of the family and will remain my go-to saltwater stick for the foreseeable future, barring fire or theft.
The guys at Three Amigos like the Clouser rods too.
Before I went to Grand Bahama inn January I picked up a couple pairs of Patagonia Guidewater Pants. People of my Nordic heritage don’t wear shorts in sunny places unless they are going swimming.
I like these pants. They dry quickly, they are comfortable and they stand up to several days of saltwater without a trip through the wash. I’m a fan. I’m also a fan of Patagonia in general and of Yvon Chouinard specifically. Everyone I’ve met with that organization has been top shelf.
Good Stuff
In action in Grand Bahama
