I wanted a cuda at first. Then, after failing for a few days, I NEEDED a Cuda.
Cuda… on the menu tonight (for guide Freddie).
Awesome day… the last here at FIBFest at Andros South.
CUDA!
Locations
31
Mar 11
Sham Wowing the Experience – South Andros Fishing, Day 5
I fished today with the infamous Michael Gracie. I got back to the lodge and went fishing. Then, I went night fishing for tarpon (seen, but not caught).
I’m soaking it all up… I’m sham wowing the experience.
For the big sliver of the fishing I was with MG and guide Ellie. We went to Grassy Creek on the South End and, for the most part, we were out of the boat, on foot. We fished for science today, collecting fin clips for the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.
The fishing was a little slow, but we had a good time. Gracie is a fun fishing partner and he tried to calm my frustrations after I broke off a very nice fish on the last cast of the day. That was 16 pound tippet… first fish I broke off all day.
We had lots of sharks around today… all Lemons and some very interested in us. After clipping one bonefish fin I wiped my hands on my pants and then a little three foot lemon showed up and began circling me. Got to about 2 feet away and I was about to hit it on the nose the the butt of my fly rod, but it then noticed I wasn’t a bonefish and took off.
The last shot of the day was back on the boat with Ellie on the platform. He poled us up this little side channel and I wasn’t sure where he was going. Then, on the right, appeared a nice little flat and on the flat a school of nice fish coming right towards us. I made one, 50′ cast that was just about perfect. The fish ate, but coming toward me, it was hard to set the hook. I did, but found myself spread out and when the fish took off it just separated from the tippet. Fish gone and day over. Still… how Ellie knew just where to take us… that was a special moment… that was local knowledge. That move impressed me a lot. I should have landed that fish. My guess is it was a nice fish… maybe 7, maybe 8, probably not 9, but it was a really nice fish and Ellie… he knew where they were going to be. I love that.
Back at the Lodge I grabbed my rod and went to the jetty in search of the cuda I’ve been stalking for the past few days. He was there and the gurgler pulled him out of hiding and into the open, but he wouldn’t commit. Another shot gone.
When I got back to the lodge from my Cuda hunting I was informed there was a possibility of doing some night tarpon fishing. I jumped at the chance. So, fellow guest Robert and I met guide Sparkles and headed off in the dark to try and find tarpon. We found tarpon, but they wanted nothing to do with us. I managed to catch a Jack and also managed to fall into a hole in the sharp limestone bank of Deep Creek. Nice.
Basically, I’m sucking up every moment of Andros and bonefishing that I can. I am trying to go as hard as I can here because who knows when I’ll get back. I’m pushing it… maybe breaking a little around the edges, but I’m going full tilt and I’m going to run this bad boy right up onto the beach.
Now… the photos from the day…
Guide Ellie pointing out a fish while Gracie tries to remove a hook from his shirt. Priceless!
Gracie with a nice bonefish
One of my bones from today.
An MG bone
Fishing... for SCIENCE! Fin Clips.
Throwing a lot of line withe the Redington in search of Cudas.
Night time fishing Jack. The flies outfished the chum!
29
Mar 11
Photo Session… Andros South Style
It isn’t every day you get to go fish and have a kick ass photographer along for the trip who is going to do nothing more than take pictures.
That was my day.
So… instead of cluttering up things with my words, I’m going to let Cameron’s pictures give you a sense of the day.
Norman picking out the fly... only fly we used all day.
Ready for action
The magic fly for the day.
A tagged bonefish... nice.
Fish on.
Tagging the fish.
Casting
Joy
28
Mar 11
South South Andros – Fishing Day 2
Today… it was a tougher weather day, but still had two perfect moments. I was paired up with guide Josie and Andros South (and Deneki Outdoors) owner, Andrew Bennett. So, I knew I was going to have to reduce the number of botched jobs today.
Andrew Bennet, hooked up.
We went down south, which turns out is a very, very bumpy ride. It is totally worth it though.
When we got where Josie wanted to go we set up. Andrew gave me the bow first and I stepped up. Soon Josie called out “Bonefish, 11 O’Clock, 60 feet” and I got to work. Oddly, I delivered on the very first cast of the day. 60′. Right in front of the fish. It ate on the first strip. I didn’t get a picture of that fish but it was a nice 2-3 pound fish or so. Andrew was then up and so were the clouds.
Clouds… I know we kind of need them, but I wish there were fewer of them around… really. They turned the lights out on the flats for large periods of time today, which was kind of a bummer.
We reeled in and headed off to find better fishing grounds. After a short run we stopped to see if we could see any more fish. A school happened to be about 100′ off the boat. Now… this was not a little school of fish. Josie estimated it was about 10,000 fish. TEN THOUSAND BONEFISH!
Yeah… I love this place.
I got out and started wading with just my bare feet. White sand bottom, 10K bones in front of me… this does not suck. I caught up to the school and cast into it and quickly caught a little 2 pounder. I managed to pull it out of the school so it didn’t spook the rest of the fish.
I cast right back into that school and pulled out a nicer fish. It had me in my backing a couple of times and was just beautiful.
photo credit – Andrew Bennett
The first fish and the big school… two perfect moments.
I didn’t catch a lot today, but I experienced a really beautiful place and I got to fish with Andrew, something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. A good, solid time was had by all and now… now I’m going to the Slack Tide… yeah… I know… I suck.
I kind of love this place.
PS – I have fished my new Rise 8 wt. for the past two days, with shark fishing taken over by the Redington 10 wt.. I am liking what I’m seeing from both.
28
Mar 11
Andros… Fishing, Day 1
OK… there was a lot of travel to get here, but today was go time… bizness time… bonefishing time.
I was paired up with the Outdooress today and with Andros South guide Ellie.
Fish were caught. The guide was hooked. A lemon shark was alllllmost caught. A good time was had. I kind of love this place.
The crew, waiting to get on the water.
Ellie, our guide for the day.
waiting... looking...
The skunk is off... first fish of the trip.
The Outdooress and her first bonefish
More will come, but now… Kalik is calling.
Go to the Michale Gracie blog to see the best bonefish pic you will see this week, or month, or year.
27
Mar 11
The lights of Andros
The pictorial report will be up in a while, but I wanted to share a little bit of magic I saw tonight here in Andros.
I went out tonight after dinner to the little jetty at Andros South in search of ‘Cuda’s. I didn’t fine them. What I did find, however, where a couple hundred phosphorescent green flashbulbs going off in the water.
I don’t know what they were.
They weren’t there long.
They were beautiful.
Flash, flash, flash. Green little lights that lit up and then faded away all over the water for a hundred feet.
It just doesn’t get much better than that, bonefish or no bonefish. This is a special place.
27
Mar 11
Andros, Day 1.5… travel and getting here
Well, I made it to South Andros. I also have a nice cold that is gunking up my lungs and nose pretty well, but I made it and I’m sure a few hours of sleep will get me back to fighting shape for Androsian bonefish tomorrow.
One little surprise I had was that the trip from SFO to Miami turned out to be 1st Class. I book with miles and that was the only fight that got me where I needed to get when I needed to get there. I didn’t realize it was 1st Class. I’ve never sat in 1st Class before. There is a WHOLE lot more leg room up there!
I didn’t get to enjoy the added that much as I was coughing and weezing for a lot of the flight, but thanks to a NyQuil, I was able to get a couple hours of shut-eye. When I got to Nassau I pulled up the only bit of carpeted ground to get some more. Andrew Bennett (owner of Andros South) came and got me to meet the rest of the FIBFest folks and the two paying clients also here this week. In short, it is a great group.
You can follow all the goodness on the Deneki blog.
Checking out Andros, waiting on the bags
Tomorrow… the fishing. Needless to say, I can’t wait.
25
Mar 11
A story about Andros South and I begin my own journey.
Today I get on a plane to start my journey to Andros Island. SFO to LAX then to Miami then to Nassau and then to Congo Town, South Andros. The trip will span two days, but will be close to 16 or 18 hours from the time I leave SFO to the time I touch Androsian soil.
A lot of time has been spent thinking about this trip, tying for this trip, writing about this trip… and here it is… finally. Departure Day.
Recently, I saw this story about a trip the Troutfitter made to… ya, you guessed it… Andros South (that’s where I’m going, if you haven’t been following long).
From the story…
“You’re down there fishing in sunny weather, wading in knee-deep water that’s 72 degrees. Meanwhile, there’s 2 to 3 feet of snow back home. You can’t do better than that,” he said.
via Central New York anglers enjoy their Bahamian bonefishing adventure | syracuse.com.
I’ll be trying to give updates daily. They have the internets down there, I’m told. I can’t wait to meet the other FIBFest folks, throw a Kalik or two back and then throw a fair bit of line.
Is there anything better?
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24
Mar 11
FIBFest Nears
OK… Andros is coming up really, really fast. Today… Thursday. Tomorrow… Departure Day. Saturday… Andros.
The posts are starting to come fast and furious. When things really get kicking off, you can follow the mayhem mostly by following the Deneki website.
In the meantime, you can check out some of the blogginess from some of the folks who will be joining me (or will I be joining them?) at Andros South:
There’s even a hashtag for FIBFest, for those of you who do the Twitter thing… #FIBFest.
Anticipation is cresting. Come the adventure!
23
Mar 11
Grand Slam Reflections… The Tarpon
The final installment of my Grand Slam Reflections. The Getting There. The Permit. The Bonefish.
The Tarpon
We had been at the point of the caye for a while when Katchu looked at his watch and said “If we want to get your Grand Slam, we better go now.”
It was then I realized that this might actually happen. It had been running through the back of my mind since I got the permit. I had two of three in the books, so it was conceivable at the very least, but it still sounded a tad ridiculous. We got back in the boat and headed off in search of tarpon.
Five minutes after getting back in the boat we found ourselves weaving along an ancient mangrove lined canal carved by the Mayans thousands of years ago. To our left was Mexico, to our right was Belize. Bait and boils were everywhere… this was clearly a very fishy place. There is something amazingly cool about going through mangrove lined channels in a boat in pursuit of fish.
We reached a small, enclosed lagoon and Katchu killed the engine and poled us into position. I got up on deck needing only a tarpon to complete the Grand Slam. We were going after ‘baby tarpon” which was a good thing since I had royally botched my first ever adult tarpon grab the day before. I was 0/1 for tarpon in my life.
Shane spotted a tarpon heading into the mangroves. There was no cast to make. We waited. Out of the mangroves and 40 feet from the boat emerged five “baby” tarpon. These fish were 30-60 pounds. I suddenly felt very unprepared.
I made the cast and gave some strips to the black cockroach. One of the tarpon attacked it. It just swam up to it and opened its gaping mouth and inhaled the fly. When you haven’t done this a lot a tarpon eat can make you instantly stupid. I set, still in disbelief and a bit awestruck. It felt a little more believable when I then raised the rod tip and the fly parted ways with the tarpon. I was now 0/2.
Despite just botching the job, the fish were still there and it looked like they wanted to eat. I cast again. I stripped again. The damn fish charged the fly and ate it hard. I set (at least twice), I kept the rod down. This fly wasn’t coming out. The fish, however, decided to split and charged into the mangroves. The fish was out of sight, but I was still attached to it. As I stood there, a little dumbfounded, the tarpon shot back out into the lagoon ten feet from where it had disappeared. It jumped about 5 feet in the air, still attached to the fly line which was now hopelessly wrapped around the mangroves. When the fish jumped I got a really good view of how big it really was and I’d put it at about 40 pounds of pure silver fury. The tarpon splashed down and zipped right back into the mangroves to complete a nice wrap around several mangrove limbs and, predictably, the tugging stopped. I was off the fish and had to break off the fly. I was now 0/3 on tarpon.
While I was re-rigging Shane got on deck. These baby tarpon were in a very playful mood and it wasn’t long before Shane had fish to cast to. He made the cast and the fish smashed it. This baby tarpon was around forty pounds and, just like the permit earlier in the day, the tarpon spit the hook. If it were another day, Shane would have stayed on the deck, but this had turned from a normal day to a possible Grand Slam Day. I was going to be up again.
My hands still trembling, I continued to re-rig as we entered a narrow, nearly fully enclosed mangrove chute. This was a one shot stop as the chute dead-ended just 50 feet in front of us. Katchu knew these waters very well and as we entered the small clearing we found a single tarpon milling about. With mangroves behind and to the right of me I had to cast off shoulder, but somehow I made the cast. I stripped the fly. The fish saw it. He charged. I kept stripping. He ate as I had just finished a long strip and I had no way to move the fly but to sweep the rod tip. I was now 0/4 as the fly came out of the fishes mouth.
I stood there shell-shocked, having just missed the third tarpon that would have given me a Grand Slam. The fish, however, was still interested. While I had pulled the fly away from the fish, the fly was still in the water and near the fish. I stripped. He ate. I set. I set again. I set again. I didn’t raise the rod tip. I didn’t let the fish run into the mangroves. I held the line hard with my stripping hand and the 15 pound class tippet held to the 60 pound shock tippet. The fish jumped. Now… I’m 6’3” and was probably at least 2 feet above the water on the casting deck. The fish jumped over my head, an image that will forever be seared into my memory. Somehow, deep in my brain, a couple of cells fired and I reactivity bowed to the king. The fish stayed on.
Quickly the fish was in. I had just completed an Inshore Grand Slam by landing my first tarpon ever on the heals of landing my first ever permit.
For a job well done.
A special thanks to El Pescador for hosting Shane and I for three days of fantastic fishing and story making. You guys have a first class operation there.
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