Bonefish on the Brain Bonefish and all that relates (maybe a bit about tarpon too).

Well, today was a day that went off script. I followed up a tough day with a tougher day. Not sure what happened, but the wheels came off.

We found fish, Doug Ellis and guide Champ and me. Doug even got a couple to hand. I struggled and struggled and it just didn’t happen.

An example…

Fishing the ocean side flats I see some tailing fish about 120 yards away. I make may way slowly and stealthily in that direction, careful not to spook the fish. About a minute before I’m in casting range a shark or cuda hits a school of bones 50 yards away and the school I’m focused on panics and splits.

Another example…

Guide Champ tells me to go down one side of a cut and then keep going. What I think he says is to go down the side of the cut and hook around the little sand bar. The bottom on this route is too soft. Almost every step sends me knee deep in mud. I keep going thinking it must get better if this is where Champ sent me, except it wasn’t where we sent me and it didn’t get better. I then realized I had to slog my way BACK OUT!

Last example…

I suggest trolling the cuda popper on the fly rod at the end of the day. Champ agrees. One cuda explodes on the fly and, inexplicably, misses it. Another hits and stays on for about 5 seconds and then comes unbuttoned. Another misses the popper in the last 15 yards of the canal. Zero cudas on the fly today.

That’s just how it goes sometimes. That’s why they play the game.

Good news was conch fritters when we got back to the lodge and a trip to Deans Blue Hole, which was cool to see.

My fishing partner was great. Champ worked hard for us today. The fish just didn’t cooperate. I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow, our last full day here on Long Island.

Today was not a bonefish day. I only cast at one group of bones. It was just that kind of day. However, there were some real highlights.

I started off the morning casting at some nice sized tarpon. Fish were rolling and I was making casts, but I didn’t get a look. It is exciting to cast at big tarpon.

Tandy and I were out with Elvis and we went way out on the ocean flats in search of bones. What we found were sharks, cudas and a (very) few bones. After getting shut out on getting a cuda on the fly, I grabbed the spinning rod and quickly got a very nice cuda.

I used to fish spinning gear growing up but became a fly fishing purist in my 20’s. Now, approaching my 40’s, I’m starting to see that sometimes it makes sense to bring the spinning gear along. That rod got me into fish (and Tandy into fish) we might not have had otherwise and it made each of us smile in the delight of a hard pulling, acrobatic fish. It was plain and simple fun.

I managed to pick up two cudas on the spinning gear, a nice blue runner on a trolled fly and two more cudas on a popper fly and a nice jack on the popper as well.

The big cuda went to feed one of the Knowles and the head is in a pot at the moment where I’m boiling off the meat so I can pick it clean to bring home to my daughter. Should be a fun gift.

It was a good day, even if not a great bonefishing day. The weather was great, as it has been all week, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

Luckily, we stocked up on beer for the rest of our stay.

Today I got to go out with Dwayne, the head guide at Greenwich Creek Lodge, as well as fishing with Aaron.

The day was good. My fish tally was exactly what it was yesterday and we saw a lot of fish. I probably should have caught more because while I had plenty of eats from bonefish, I managed to only hook a few.

I broke off two today, one in the mangroves.

Long Island continues to impress the group with its beauty and the amazing amount of bonefishing on offer.

We did throw the 11 for a little bit today looking for tarpon, but we only saw one roll and that was it. Might try again before we go.

The trip goes well.

Everyone caught fish today, which makes it a good day.

The weather mostly cooperated, although Mark and I got soaked briefly. These things happen.

You do a lot of wading here and I’ve never cast at fish so shallow as I have here this week. Often times the fish’s back is out of the water. With such skinny water I’m finding my #6’s are not so hot and don’t even try a #4. I’ve been fishing #8’s and that seems to be the ticket. Aaron brought along his tying stuff and I managed to squeak out a few #8 gotchas with my supply dwindling quickly.

We caught fish. Mostly in the 3 pound range today, although we saw bigger fish, they were not to be ours on the day. Mark and I saw a large number of fish, although the tailers in the AM were particularly difficult. Spooky fish!

Fished with Champ today. Champ is a big man with massive hands and tough feet. He suggested I keep my boots on when out of the flats, while he didn’t wear any. I think he could walk on coral and not get injured.

A good day on Long Island here at the Greenwich Creek Lodge.

Today was the first day of fishing here at Greenwich Creek Lodge.

The weather cooperated in what may have been the best day of weather I’ve ever had going bonefishing.

The fish were hit or miss. Skittish early, the fish did eventually cooperate for the most part. I managed a few to hand and saw a lot of fish. I fished with Doug J. today and guide Elvis. We covered some real estate today.

Mark had his best day of bonefishing to-date, which was good to see.

It really is a beautiful place.

Dinner was lobster, which was pretty good. We are all looking forward to getting after it tomorrow.

While waiting for the guys to get in I managed to take a kayak out in front of the lodge and play around a bit. The results were encouraging, in that I found fish and hooked fish. The results were also discouraging because I went 0/3 on landing hooked bonefish.

Seems like every trip I start off by missing a bunch of fish. So, I got that out of the way, which is good.

The day started off windy and overcast, but ended very well.

Tomorrow looks promising. We head out with the guides in the morning to see what Long Island has to offer.

A Long Island Bonefish from a previous Angling Destinations trip.

We have our crew for Long Island. I’ll be walking the flats of Long Island with Mark, Aaron, Doug, Doug and Tandy. Should be a good crew.

The day of departure is quickly approaching and I am starting to think beyond the fly swap toward making sure I have what I need for the flats.

Mostly, I do.

At this point I have maybe 3 sets of sun gloves and well over a half-dozen sun masks. I have the pants I need and more flats shirts than I could wear in a week. There are a few consumables I need to replenish.

• White Socks. I buy a new pack of white socks for every trip, wear one pair a day with my wading boots and then leave the socks wherever it was I fished.
• Sun Screen. I am so white I could serve as a beacon to warn sailors of dangerous shoals. Sun Screen, and a lot of it, is critical.
• Barrier Cream. Nothing ruins a trip like a rash on your inner thighs. Something like Desitin works really well. Luckily, I have a 2 month old and have plenty of that floating around the house.
• Wire bite guards. Cudas are a fish I intent to catch and I want to keep them on the line. Bite guards don’t tend to stick around.

Everything else tends to still be in the garage, just waiting for the journey. Glad we have our crew together.

Now I just need the next two weeks to melt away and let me have my escape to the Bahamas.