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Locations — 3 Comments
14
Feb 16

I had a dream

Oddly, the dream was about tarpon and not about bonefish, but the salt has clearly seeped into my head. Good thing I get on a flight tomorrow night and head off to the Bahamas where I’ll get a good soaking.

In the dream I got an eat from a nice tarpon in shallow water, but the hook didn’t find purchase, which is mostly how I tarpon fish anyway.

Next week it will be about bonefish and exploring and having an adventure. I can’t tell you what it will be beyond that, as the experiences are yet to be lived.

What I can tell you is having a trip on the books makes me feel alive.

I’m ready.

There are the flies I'm bringing. I'm not tying anything else.

There are the flies I’m bringing. I’m not tying anything else.

A little something for our host at Abaco Lodge.

El Dorado 12

The only thing I don’t have is a sat phone. Wish I would have thought to look into renting a week or so earlier.

Something for the next adventure, maybe.

Locations — No Comments
24
Jan 16

The plan is coming together

The destination is Abaco. The dates are February. The quarry is bonefish. My travel companion is Aaron.

We are getting a handle on where we are going to be when and I’m getting excited.

I’m looking forward to getting a little more time at Abaco Lodge, to meeting Oliver White in person, and to exploring more of the Island (which looks more and more interesting the longer I look).

I know which rods I’m bringing and I’m going through my flies, looking at what I might need to tie up for the trip.

Is there anything better than having a trip on the books to look forward to?

Locations — No Comments
20
Jan 16

Playing the Odds and a Bit of Trust

 

I’ve talked to a few people and here is what I’m going to say is the current state of affairs.

The bill will not come up for a vote in February. It isn’t ready. No one has seen it. The most recent comments from Gray are pure politics in the worst sense of that word, which is saying something.

There is no reason to hold off on planning your trip.

When and if ANYTHING happens, there won’t be some short little window of notice. Folks in the know don’t think anything is likely to happen, or at least nothing that really impacts the DIY angler more than maybe buying a license.

So… while Gray’s comments are irresponsible, he is a politician and that seems to be mostly what they do.

See you in the Bahamas.

Locations — 5 Comments
19
Jan 16

Is this thing coming for a vote? Part 2

Yesterday the Tribune published a story saying the flats regulation bill would hit the Cabinet in February.

This caught us all by surprise, since no one had heard a peep about the final draft getting released, much less it coming up for a vote. I made some inquiries and two distinct possibilities are emerging.

  1. Good ole’ Minister Gray has been super sneaky and the bill is getting ready for a February vote.
  2. Good ole’ Minister Gray is playing politics and wants to have something positive to talk about despite the fact nothing is actually happening.

Now, the worrywart in me fears #1, but the cynic in me sees #2 as the more likely of the two possibilities.

#2 seems more possible when you talk to folks out there (people who really shhould know) and they have not heard boo about this thing moving forward.

Another very non-scientific observation from a reader out in the Bahamas right now. He’s been going about this time for several years and this year he’s seen only one other angler, which is very different from years past. It is his belief that the talk about banning DIY has caused folks seen on the flats in years past to head elsewhere. It is just one data point, but it does tend to agree with what this side of the debate has been arguing for a long time, mainly that you can’t threaten and bully your visitors and expect them to still visit.

The unfortunate bit about Gray’s comments are that they come just as many anglers are looking at their 2016 to make plans. Gray throws doubt on all of that and it is a very simple thing right now for someone just to put a different destination into Kayak. Playing politics with the livelihood of the very people he is supposed to be representing is damn near criminal. He’s either an idiot or an asshole… maybe a little of column A and a little of column B.

I’ll have my own (wading) boots on the ground in another month and I will be asking a lot of questions when I get there. More answers will be forthcoming.

Locations — 1 Comment
18
Jan 16

Bahamas Regulations Coming to a Vote??

Just saw this…

Um... damn.

Um… damn.

This does not sound great. First, it does not sound great because the news comes from the mouth of Minister Gray, an individual who has shown nothing but hostility toward DIY anglers/tourists.

Second, it does not sound great because no one I know has seen a revised draft. Given the absolutely craptastic first and second drafts of this thing, hearing there is a third does nothing to make me feel at ease.

I’m working the channels to learn what I can about the proposal and how real this news is. I’ll keep you posted.

Locations — 4 Comments
16
Jan 16

It is on!

I have a trip on the books and it is right quick.

I’ll be returning to Abaco here in just about a month, spending a couple of days at Abaco Lodge and then trying to find some of my own fish and I’ll be accompanied by friend and political opposite Aaron, who was one of the anglers I brought to Long Island a couple years ago.

I’m looking forward to being back in the Bahamas and to get to know Abaco a little bit more. We had such a fast and busy first meeting, this one should be a little more relaxed.

Now down to business… my fly tying desk has not been unpacked and is still in the garage. That could be a problem. I have a few hundred flies I should be tying right about now!

Tickets purchased and fees paid. I’m going to Abaco.

Tickets purchased. That means it is real.

Tickets purchased. That means it is real.

Locations — No Comments
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

The view. Photo by Anna Stromsness

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

Is it not?

Locations — No Comments
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.

That there is Andros.

Conservation / Locations — No Comments
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.

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