Bahamas | Bonefish on the Brain

Locations — 3 Comments
04
Mar 13

Getting there… Myoutislands.com

The Bahamas are comprised of so, so, so many islands. I’ve been to exactly 3 of them, and one of those was only through the airport. I really want to see the rest of what the Islands have to offer and I’ve been particularly curious about the smaller, further afield islands. These are often called the “Out Islands” or “Family Islands.”

There are some deals to be had if you check out My Out Islands, an effort by the Bahamian Tourism Board to increase travel to the less traveled locations.

Right now (and not for too much longer) you can basically get free travel to the outer islands if you can get to Nassau with this $300 credit.

Sounds good, no? Sooooo much water to check out.

They were at the Fly Fishing Show in Pleasanton this year.

Locations — 3 Comments
02
Mar 13

Andros Riders

Did I mention I love Andros?

[vimeo clip_id=”57994737″]

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Conservation — 2 Comments
27
Feb 13

Even the white tips love the Bahamas

Science Wednesday is back with one of my favorite topics. Sharks. No secret that shark populations are, well, about as robust as Mr. Burns.

Turns out Oceanic White Tips may be benefiting from the marine protected areas of the Bahamas.

Experts suggest that the island nation’s marine protected area is assisting the species.

Um… I had not understood this… this is awesome.

In July 2011, the Bahamian government banned shark fishing in all 240,000 square miles of the country’s waters.

Good on ya, Bahamas. Good on ya.

Nice.

Gear — 3 Comments
18
Jan 13

Tips from Deneki

How Andrew at Deneki keeps coming up with stuff to write is amazing. He does it every day, several times and about three different fisheries and multiple species.

This latest bit has three random tips for bonefishing.

One of those tips has to do with lens wipes. Certainly something to consider. I’ve carried a bag with a little TP in it to wipe lenses with and that doesn’t seem to do the job very well at times. I’ve tried a micro-cloth and once that gets a little wet (as sometimes happens), it is toast.

Andrew has a suggestion for a fix, but I’m curious how you all deal with cleaning your lenses while out on the flats.

Gotta keep ’em clean.

All the other stuff — No Comments
10
Jan 13

Mermaids and the Bahamas

Hey, don’t be an A hole.

Silly, right? Yeah, most (really, I’d bet nearly all) Bahamians don’t believe in mermaids. Still, there is a bit of mermaid folk lore bouncing around. I remember being down in Andros and having one of the guides tell me that the old timers still talk about blue holes being the home of mermaids.

In Cat Island there is a Blue Hole named the Mermaid Hole.

Cat Island’s blue holes are beautiful natural pools that connect with the ocean through underground, limestone tunnels. Some of the locals think that there are sea monsters living in the blue holes. Boiling Hole is named for the bubbles and whirlpools caused by the ocean tides ebbing and flowing into it. Then, there’s Mermaid Hole, which is supposedly the home to you guessed it… a mermaid!Big Blue Hole is perhaps the most ominous of all, because it’s other name is “Horse Eating Hole!”

The natives who once lived in the Bahamas even had a name for them:

The natives of what is now the Caribbean had a similar story, calling her Aycayia, meaning she with the lovely voice.

Have any of you heard tales of mermaids on your Bahamian adventures?

Conservation — 1 Comment
28
Nov 12

Science Wednesday – Tagging in Abaco

Well… this is cool. A blog called “The Abaco Scientist.” Ruling.

They are tagging fish to track their movements and pinpoint spawning locations. If we know where they spawn, we can protect those places.

From the blog:

Today brought less-than-ideal weather for catching bonefish to tag – 25 mph winds and rain showers. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Buddy and Cindy Pinder, Justin Sands, and Paul Pinder of the Abaco Fly Fishing Guides Association, we were able to find large schools of bonefish on the move in The Marls. By the end of the day, we had surgically implanted tags into 12 bonefish (6 males and 6 females). All 12 fish were sexually mature and “running ripe”

Tagging fish in Abaco.

Good stuff. Keep up the good work!

All the other stuff — 6 Comments
25
Oct 12

Sandy, looking like bad news

I live in the Bay Area. That means a few things. First, I’m enjoying watching baseball these days. Secondly, I get to occasionally wonder if there is going to be an 8.0 earthquake while I’m driving across the Bay on my way to and from work. Earthquakes are really the main natural disaster here… that and some insect that could destroy our wine producing grapes.

Out there in the Caribbean though they have hurricanes. Sooner or later and there is going to be one coming your way and right now Hurricane Sandy is pointing pretty squarely at New Providence, Eluthera, Abaco, Grand Bahama and Exuma, among others (really almost all of the Bahamas could be impacted).

The storm surge could be 4-7 FEET.

Stay safe everyone.

Well… that doesn’t look good.

All the other stuff — 2 Comments
21
Oct 12

Swimsuits and Dead Bonefish

I don’t get Sports Illustrated and so I don’t get the oh so sporty Swimsuit Edition. While at my folks’ place over the weekend I managed to glimpse at the SE from SI (for the articles) and I stumbled upon this gem from a Bahamas photo shoot.

Hey, what do you have in the net there? Wait… what the… THAT’S A DAMN BONEFISH! Bastards!

Ugh. Really SI? Really? You need a fish for that very plausible set up you have going on there and you get a dead bonefish for that? There are a lot of fish around there and you couldn’t get a snapper or jack or something? You had to kill a bonefish for that very educational bit of sports related journalism?

I’m not a fan.

Locations — 1 Comment
17
Oct 12

Grand Bahama… one more option

Blue Marlin Cove is getting into the game. They just announced they are launching a “bone fishing center” at their existing operation. OK, that makes sense, right? Still, every time I hear of a new operation on GBI I worry about the carrying capacity of that wonderful island when it comes to the number of operations it can sustain. There are a host of new lodges (East End Lodge, Water Cay) on the island to compete with the existing ones (Deep Water Cay, North Riding Point, Pelican Bay).

My second trip to Grand Bahama was in the heady economic days of 2010 and, while I wasn’t there at high season, what was clear was that hardly anyone was working. The guide I went with (Captain Perry) had not had a trip all month. His wife worked at one of the lodges and he told me they had not had a customer in 3 weeks. Now, the economy has improved since then (that’s not a political statement, that’s just true), but I do wonder how many bonefishing anglers would be needed to send all the boats out on a single day.

More options are good, right? Well… I don’t think so. It means it is harder for the guides to get a day of work and I think it would be damn hard to make a living on 1 or 2 days a month.

I hope everyone gets the days they need out there. Love that place. I’ll be back next Spring Break.

Captain Perry

Locations — 4 Comments
04
Aug 12

For the Ladies – Bonefishing School

The folks at Deneki are hosting a bonefishing school for women down at Andros South.

Awesome.

At the school will be Kara Armano and Bruce Chard, as well as the guides and good folk at Andros South.

Building on the success of our very popular Bonefishing School program, our Women’s School will be co-hosted by Kara Armano and Bruce Chard. You’ll get hands-on instruction from the best in the business, plenty of time on the legendary flats of Andros Island, and the company of a bunch of women who love fishing as much as you do – what could be better?

Now, I think my future Mrs. Bonefishonthebrain might not be totally set for this just yet and won’t have the vacation time anyway, but man… how fantastic would it be for her to have a safe and supportive place to connect with the flats and the fish that live there?

I’ve been to Andros South and it is still a place I keep close to my heart/soul. The wildness of the place and the beauty of the countryside are really mind-numbing.

Hope it fills up and creates some lasting impressions.

Andros South, for the ladies.

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

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