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

The Bimini Ferry, Not Coming to a Port Near You

Resorts World Bimini wanted to bring rapid ferry service to Bimini to bring allllll sorts of flashy, cash-dripping Americans over to their resort.

Locals said “It isn’t going to work.”

Environmentalists said “It isn’t going to work.”

The Bahamian Administration said “I can’t hear you over the sound of all this money.”

Guess what? Resorts World Bimini got their ferry and their ferry terminal (at some high environmental costs).

And guess what happened next! Yup… the ferry has failed and the service has stopped.

The Bahamian people appear to be on the hook for this bit of douchbaggery.

Locations — Leave a comment
14
Jan 16

2016 is coming together

I know where and when I’m looking for bones in 2016. Just putting the last touches together now. Very much looking forward to it.

The view. Photo by Anna Stromsness

Life is just a little bit sweeter when a trip is on the books.

Is it not?

All the other stuff — Leave a comment
09
Jan 16

I lent a rod and reel to a friend as he went to Hawaii to look for bones (and failed to find them), but he brought me back a little gift, which immediately went onto the car. Upgrade on the car, fo sho.

Nice.

Tactics — Leave a comment
05
Jan 16

Gink & Gasoline and some Bonefish Knowledge

This post from G&G went up yesterday. Of course, it is a pretty good read and makes the old brain juices start to flow a bit.

Long Island bonefish2

I have to say, several of these situations for me have been big zeros in terms of success.

I know, theoretically, that traveling fish or fish who are running can be caught. I have yet to count myself among the people who have caught fish with that mindset.

I used to bomb out hero casts trying to entice those fish, but I don’t do that anymore. For me, I’d prefer to stir things up less. Maybe that long bomb spooks some other fish I haven’t seen yet. Maybe that fish making a B-Line will settle down if I don’t mess with it. Maybe these are theories I hold because I haven’t gotten those fish to eat yet?

I just need to see it happen with my own eyes before I really can take it to heart.

How about you? You find success in those situations?

Locations — Leave a comment
04
Jan 16

Bloomberg goes Bonefishing

Found this story about a trip to Bairs in South Andros by a Bloomberg reporter.

It has many of the elements I’ve come to know from my forays to the tropics. The small planes, the highly enjoyable lodges, the good fishing, the tough fishing and the thrill of it all.

I’ve both been the guy who has less experience and does the flailing, and I’ve been the guy with more experience watching my boat-mate struggle. I prefer being the the second camp, as I think everyone does. When I’ve been the guy having a hard time I’ve felt the pressure, largely placed there by myself, to pull out a better cast and to make things happen, which is usually when they fall apart.

Makes me want to get fishing though, that’s for sure.

That there is Andros.

Locations — 4 comments
04
Jan 16

Little Cayman

Found this story pop up in my news feed about a winter escape to Little Cayman (pronounced “Cay Man”). I would like very much to find myself out there at some point, in part because the Cayman Islands is the native home of Flatswalker.

Davin with a happy client in Grand Cayman

It is a good reminder that there are other places to catch bonefish than the Bahamas, that there are a number of islands (and nations) one can select from when thinking about things silvery and salty.

Go on. Get out there and explore.

All the other stuff — 5 comments
03
Jan 16

The show I want to watch

Let’s be honest, there is a lot of good video out there these days. A few guys take a trip to Belize or Christmas island and they come up with something rivaling the production values of a lot of what you see on TV these days.

There are also a whole lot of people putting out really, really good looking work, professional type stuff, story telling and drama and capturing the spirit of the chase. So, who would I like to see liven up the Buccaneers & Bones format?

1. Anything by those GeoFish guys. They do solid work.

2. I think Jim Klug could likely tell some pretty good stories if given the series/show format and I’d love to see what he’d do with it.

3. I’d also love to see what Dan Decibel would do, given the opportunity. Such goodness coming out of so many folks there in South Florida.

Those are just three guys/teams putting out good stuff these days, and there are so many more.

Conservation / Locations — Leave a comment
02
Jan 16

Aragonite in the Bahamas

Aragonite is a mineral the Bahamas has in abundance. Of course, it could be that the other things the Bahamas has in abundance, like sea life, may depend, in part, on that very resource.

Still, where there is a buck to be made there will be people lining up to profit and the Bahamas are no different. That mining aragonite from the sea floor of the Bahamas could screw up what makes the Bahamas special is of little concern for the folks looking to benefit. It is a similar mentality to the one time thought process in the American West that there were so many bison that we couldn’t possibly kill them all, right?

The East End on Grand Bahama is set to reject any fresh attempts to create new mining operations there, citing the importance of the fishery to locals for providing fish for market, fish for the table and for C&R bonefishing.

Locations — 2 comments
01
Jan 16

What is going to happen in the Bahamas in 2016?

bahamas-marine-life

2015 saw some pretty acrimonious discord for the Bahamas. Efforts to shut down the DIY fishery in spirit, if not in fact, were brought out and paraded around and the ensuing arguments left no one happy.

And then… nothing happened. It has been at least a couple of months since the Attorney General’s office took the proposed legislation and we’ve heard not a peep out of them. The potential reasons for this are many. Here are a few possibilities:

The AG’s office is waiting for US anglers to be distracted by something shinny before breaking out something really controversial.
The AG’s office is waiting until they deal with more pressing issues, like hurricane relief, before picking something like this up.
The powers that be are just letting it die a quiet death, knowing there is no interest in estranging Yank and European anglers who come to the Bahamas and drop some serious coin, year after year, especially with Cuba coming on-line and other destinations like Belize and Mexico still being pretty competitive.

All of that is just total speculation and speculation is all I can really conjure up because the news out of the Bahamas is just the sound of the wind through the mangroves.

As I write this, here on January 1, it seems very likely nothing much will change in the Bahamas in 2016. So, plan your trip. If anything does happen, it won’t be over-night and you’ll have plenty of time to alter if things go badly, but I think the odds of the most odorous of the proposals coming to pass is fading away like that school of bones moving off the flat into deeper water.

All the other stuff — Leave a comment
31
Dec 15

366 days

2016 has 366 days in it. That’s 366 opportunities to go fishing, to have an adventure, to get shit done, to be compassionate, to educate yourself, to make someone’s day, to bring it on through, to own it, to buy it, to lease it or sell it.

That is 366 days to make memories at home or some place new.

366 opportunities.

What are you going to do with them?

I hope you make the most of them.

Experience > Things

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