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

The gang.

We were very lucky with the weather. That’s the thing that stands out the most. The week before our trip was windy, rainy and difficult. Today, the day we leave, the wind is back up, whitecaps out on the flat in front of us and lots of clouds in the sky. Our week featured almost no wind and very few clouds. Perfect bonefishing weather.

We had some good fishing and some tough fishing and some fishing in-between. Usually, there was one boat each day that did pretty well and one boat struggled. Success and humility were sprinkled pretty evenly around the group.

We did a lot of walking. We probably fished off the skiffs 10% of the time, although if you needed to fish out of the boat, they can certainly do that, so you shouldn’t let that keep you from coming down.

The group was a good one and we gelled pretty well. Everyone got to fish together and we each fished with all of the guides.

Rods:

• An 8 wt. is a good choice. You could go with a 7 wt. for the inside flats, but an 8 is a good all around rod for Long Island.
• The 10 wt. got used for the cudas and jacks and that was fun.
• I fished an 11 wt. for tarpon, which we saw, but didn’t catch. I fished for sharks and cudas and jacks with the 11 as well. It was overkill for most of the fish, but if I had connected with one of the tarpon or bigger sharks, it would have been ideal.

Flies:

• Generally, the fish on the ocean-side flats would eat bigger flies and inside flats required smaller flies and lighter presentations. The inside flats often required #8’s or blind flies and longer casts to spooky fish. Simple gotcha’s got fish and more elaborate shrimp patterns worked as well. More than anything, size and weight were the main considerations.

Species:

• Bonefish. This is, first and foremost a bonefish destination. Fish ranged in weight from 1 pound to 7 pounds, with a few larger fish seen and cast at. Average fish was probably 3-3.5 pounds.
• Barracuda. There are a LOT of cudas around. They are fun, violent and strong. Come prepared to fish for them.
• Sharks. There are a lot of sharks and a couple were caught this last week.
• Jacks. A few jacks were caught, both trolling a fly and casting a popper. Jacks are a good time and come prepared to fish for them.
• Tarpon. There are tarpon here, but very few. You can go throw for them, but it won’t be a focus of your trip and you can skip it.
• Permit. Very rarely people catch permit. We saw 0 in our week with three boats out every day. I’d not plan on permit.

Greenwich Creek Lodge:

• The place feels like home. It is a straight forward lodge. The rooms are nice and not fancy. The cooking (by Sam) is good. The guides are competent. There isn’t a lot around, so shopping or sight-seeing is a bit limited, although if you wanted to you could drive out to Dean’s Blue Hole, Max’s Conch Shack or some of the beautiful beaches Long is famous for. We were very happy with the accommodations and staff. You will have to buy your own beer and spirits, but they’ll take you down to the store to do it. Lunches are sandwiches, you get two, and they were great.

Overall:

We had a great week and it went by too quickly. Some of us will certainly come back, others will probably explore other places. I recommend Greenwich Creek Lodge to anyone who loves the technical side of bonefishing. Skinny water, beautiful setting, good people. The price is certainly right.

Today was just about perfect. The weather was outstanding. The company was great and the fishing was wonderful.We started out the day heading far out on the ocean side. There is a small rock way out there and it serves as a magnet for fish. There are sharks, barracuda and a huge number of bones. I managed to catch a bonefish out of a huge group only to sacrifice that fish to the Cuda God. I caught another bonefish out of the group and managed to pull it out of the big school fast enough that the cudas and sharks didn’t see it. I have no pictures of that fish. Pictures were not a priority.

It was a nerve-wracking experience to revive a bonefish in my hands while constantly looking over my shoulder at the lemon sharks 20 feet away.

Next we went back on the inside flats and I got to watch Tandy, my fishing partner for the day, catch a nice 4 pound bonefish which interrupted his lunch rather rudely.

When I got on deck it didn’t take long for there to be options to cast at. The fish kept coming in and retreating, testing for weaknesses (it seemed). Then, one good cast and the lead fish in a line-up of fish aggressively chased down the fly and ate. It immediately tore off 200 feet of fly line and backing and was a heavy weight moving fast. When I got the fish in it was 26″ to the fork, so over 7 pounds. That’s just about my personal best, although I think tied with a fish I got last year in Grand Bahama.

I was pretty much happy after that. I didn’t land another fish and it didn’t matter.

Long Island has been a lot of fun with a good group of guys. Tomorrow we head home and I know I’ll be thinking often of the good time I had here at Greenwich Creek Lodge.

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.