A nice little Clouser slide show from Honduras.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKrYGCriBF4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6
Just so you know… you can buy a clouser from… ya know… Bob Clouser. Bet they are well tied.
The trip in this little vid is a Yellow Dog Fly Fishing Adventures trip. Runs about $5K.
Looking for stories on Christmas Island, where a friend will be fishing in three weeks, I came across this little story about Christmas Island on, of all places, the ESPN.com site. Worth a read to wet your Christmas appetite. Story by Bill Becher.
Bill Becher photo
UPDATE: My experience with this reel has, sadly, depreciated over time. On my trip to Andros in 2011 this reel’s drag started getting a bit chunky and by the end of the trip it was non-functional. I’ve been sitting on it for a year now, just not managing to send it back in for repairs. I’ll be doing this soon and I’ll let you know what the outcome is and how the repair process goes. The spool, at this point, won’t even release from the frame of the reel. It’s a pretty classic case of saltwater corrosion. I rinsed this reel after use in fresh water, but clearly it required more care than I gave it.
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For my recent Bahamas trip I had some new gear(this from 2010). My local , Off the Hook Fly Shop (no longer in business), wanted me to put the gear to use, see what I thought. One such bit of piscatorial hardware was the Temple Fork Outfitter Large Arbor 375. In a word, Ilikeit… OK, that was actually three words crammed together, but you get the point.
Hey, look… they make reels too.
I didn’t really know TFO made reels… I think of them as a rod maker. Turns out they make reels too and a variety of price points, including some higher-end reels. Their Terry Hayden reel is the classic cork drag style reel that several of the “Titans of the Salt” recommend. The Terry Hayden’s are pretty comparable in price to those really expensive cork reels made by others (about $400). So, this is where I started to turn my attention toward the TFO Large Arbor, still a damn good reel, but only $280.
TFO Large Arbor reels are machined from 6061 aluminum and offer a state of the art draw bar/carbon fiber disk drag. Three bearings give our reel its smooth as silk spin and a one way roller bearing makes it easily convertible from left to right hand retrieve.
From everything I’ve read, the reel takes center stage when pursuing bonefish. The rod gets the fly where you want it, but the caster makes the lion’s share of the difference. Once you have a bone hooked, whatever reel you have is going to get a work out. Basically, this isn’t trout fishing.
I didn’t really get a chance to play with the TFO Large Arbor too much before my trip. I had back-up reels, but I put the TFO Large Arbor on my #1 rod, an 8 wt, rigged with an 8 wt. Bruce Chard line. My first fish came on my first evening in Grand Bahama… tailing fish in failing light. I hooked the fish and off it ran and my field testing began.
TFO Large Arbor 375 in Action
Here are my thoughts…
The reel purrs and conveys the very definite sense that it won’t be out-done. It felt in control. The drag was smooth, the start-up inertia unnoticeable/undetectable. I loved this reel. From the first fish to the last fish, I never had a worry. At one point, with guide Captain Perry, I was casting to two bones coming out of the mangroves on a falling tide. Captain Perry recommended tightening the drag to try and keep the fish from heading back IN the mangroves where they, and the magic fly one of them would have just eaten, would have been lost, thus leading to the fall of Western Civilization. I tightened the drag, didn’t botch the cast or the hook set, kept the fish from the mangroves and landed the nice looking 5 pounder. Western Civilization still stands… for now.
Basically, I believe in this reel and can’t wait to find some more fish worthy of it.
From first fish to last, the TFO LA 375 rocked.
I didn’t get this reel for free, but I did get a discount… which is why you should have a relationship with your local fly shop and should not shop Cabelas. There are probably other reels out there that will do the job, but I think this reel is value for money and quality for money.
(Yes, the fish in the pic is not 5 pounds, that was the first fish of the trip, not the one I got coming out of the mangroves. Don’t think we took a pic of that fish, just sent it on its way.)
Do what I do… live mostly vicariously through the fishing of others (although I’m on my way back from the Bahamas riiiiiiiight now). (written a few days ago)
My last morning in Grand Bahama I packed up, left the hotel/motel and headed to the East End for some fishing before my flight left at 2:45. After the impossibly windy day before I was hopeful that conditions would be better… and they were. The huge flat was at high tide, but it was only barely rippling in about a 5 mph wind. Partly cloudy skies revealed slices of the flats, sometimes staying sunny for 20 or 30 minutes.
I quickly found my first fish, up tight against the shore. I then spooked my first bonefish of the day as they took one look at my offering, knew exactly what was happening and indicated that they’d rather not play.
So went my morning. I found fish, had maybe 10-12 legit shots and time after time the fish either diverted smoothly and calmly, or high-tailed it. I found fish mudding, and even those fish were super wary.
I also saw Captain Perry and his wife walking along the beach. We stopped and chatted. As we were talking, Captain Perry pointed out a single bonefish cruising towards us and then past us, 30 feet away. I made a cast in front of the fish and it calmly turned toward deeper water.
“If that’s how the fish be acting, I don’t think you gonna catch anything today.” said the Captain.
He was right… although only just.
I found a pod working in a corner against some mangroves. I blocked their exit and waited. They eventually came my way, a small grouping of 4-6 fish. I had on a one of my velcro crabs. I twitched the fly and the lead fish passed. I was getting ready to recast, felt one of the trailing fish take the fly and, as a reflex, lifted the rod tip. I trout set on the one fish I could get to eat all morning.
So it went until it was time to head to the airport for what would turn out to be delays upon delays, eventually landing at SFO at 1:30 AM, pulling into my Sierra Foothills driveway at 4:30 AM.
Summary
In the end, it was a good trip. It was tougher than I had hoped for and I had fewer fish to hand than I had been dreaming of. Basically, I have to do this more and it would help if I either had more guiding or were in a location with dumber fish. There are lots and lots of places I didn’t get to. I felt pressure to be fishing just about every possible moment, so didn’t explore as much as I probably should have. I’ll be thinking of those fish for a long time to come and I will likely start really planning my next trip sometime this evening.
In action in Grand Bahama
Saltwater Sportsman had a fun article about a reformed trout bum and saltwater convert. Story by Colin Kearns. Worth a read.
Read the whole story at Saltwater Sportsman
Sadly… I was the kickee as opposed to kicker today. The sun came out, mostly, but the wind came up, hard, and while I found fish, I spooked nearly every single one of them.
I spooked so many fish it is practically Halloween.
I got out to a little bay/cove on the East End today and went down to the far end where I found fish tailing in the corner up against some mangroves about 2 feet off the bank.
“Sweet” I thought. “This is going to be a great day.”
Cast, cast, gone.
Then the wind. Uff da.
Luckily, I found a little mud and got a skunk breaker.
I like this shot for no reason in particular.
I had some company on the flat starting off the morning… but they didn’t touch any fish. I think someone sent this guy out here to make me feel good about my casting. Watching them go at it I was again thankful for the good guiding and good fishing I had with Captain Perry.
Company.
I found a lot of fish today… but these fish were not the virgin/naive fish of the far reaches of the East End. These were educated fish. Most of the spooking I did came from the fish seeing the fly… any fly. I tried lots… #2’s, #4’s, #6’s… pinks, yellows, tans, whites… bunny, silly legs, very plain… they all send the fish running (swimming, I suppose) away at great speed, pushing water as they went.
I found one little pod of nice fish, made the cast, got the follow and got it to eat, but I missed the hook set and he/she/it wouldn’t eat again. Frustration was mounting at that point.
I drove down to Rocky Creek, but the tide was wrong for the flat there. I should have known better, really.
I drove back to the first spot. The wind was howling. It was too late to go anywhere else… this was going to need to be it. As I was walking out to where the sand stopped and turtle grass began I had the sun to my back and the wind in my face… I had one window to see the fish, but that also meant casting into the 15-20 mph wind. Just when I was coming to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to find any more fish I picked up 4 or 5 nice fish cruising my way on the edge of the grass… pretty much directly into the wind.
I slogged a cast out there and it wasn’t bad (surprising even myself). I saw one fish break off from the school. I moved the fly, I stopped, stripped, felt the fish, set the hook and I was hooked onto my second bonefish of the day. The fish started splashing around, it came tight, but didn’t start it’s run. I got ready to enjoy the sound of the singing reel and then it just spit the hook. wtf.
Damn.
Tomorrow promises to be pretty much exactly the same as today from a weather perspective. Wind… lots of wind… 12-16, all day.
Now I have figured out that I can see the fish. Need to see if I can’t catch a few more tomorrow, or I’m going to be reduced to throwing for little cuda’s again.
Sometimes you just need to feel the pull of a fish.
Today was a good day. The weatherman dropped the ball on this one though. Partly Cloudy would imply some clouds… not all clouds. That’s what I had today with Captain Perry out of McLeans Town on the East End of Grand Bahama (now guiding out of East End Lodge).
Captain Perry
Captain Perry was great. He knew where the fish were, he knew what to throw and how it should be retrieved. He didn’t get (too) frustrated when I cast on top of the fish for the 6th time or lead the fish by 10′ for the 7th time.
I was/am impressed with Captain Perry’s conservation ethic. He knows how bad air exposure/handling are for the fish and whenever possible he avoided taking them out of the water or handling them. He’s a good steward of the natural wonderland that is Grand Bahama. You should be glad he’s out there.
That bone is going to be just fine.
Conditions were not ideal. The clouds made it really tough to spot fish. Capt. Perry had it dialed though, and was routinely putting me on fish. I botched a fair number of those opportunities and it took us a while to get the skunk off the boat, but once that happened, the fun began.
Day 2 Skunk Breaker
A good time was had, despite the weather. We used a magic/secret fly that Perry uses to get the skunk off and for the first several fish. We then switched over to a pink #4 Gotcha and again, it was money. I fished almost the entire time with the TFO Clouser 8 wt. and TFO Large Arbor Reel. I’m in love with both of them.
With Perry you fish hard, 8-3:30. So, after being dropped back at the dock (he’ll pick you up in Freeport if you want, I wanted to drive out there) I hit a small flat I had remembered from my last trip. The light was fading when I got there, but there were a few tailing fish. I spooked a couple, but didn’t rush things. A while later the tails popped up again. I made a good cast and quickly came tight on a bonefish. Then, as it started it’s run, it just came off. Bummer.
Still, 12 fish to hand on a cloudy, windy, cool day is good fishing in my book. I highly recommend Captain Perry. He’s a good guide and a good guy.
Another Grand Bahama Bone
A great day.
Being on the water also meant I got to miss continuing coverage of the disaster in Haiti. The little bit of the news I did catch nearly brought me to tears. The CNN anchorwoman actually started crying. Luckily, the answer to global calamities is to go fishing.
A note on fuel… gas was about $4.50 when I was there, meaning a little over $100 of the day’s guide fee went to gas to get us out to the dumb fish. It was painful for me to pay as much as I did, but the Captain is worth it and, just so you know, I paid full price for the trip and am not getting anything in return for the positive report.
Air travel once was glamorous. Not any more. Between watching TSA make a blind 10 year old girl take off her shoes, my red-eye neighbor hogging all the leg room and an aborted take-off on American Eagle, I think it is safe to say that it certainly is not about the journey any longer, it’s about the destination.
Fifteen hours from when I left the house I was standing on a flat in Grand Bahama. The tide was rising, the water temp was 72 and there were patchy clouds in the sky. It was 2:30. I soon spooked my first bones.
I was happy I was able to start seeing the bonefish much earlier than my previous trip. However, they wanted nothing to do with me. I probably cast to 30 bones, but no takers. Spooked a few, others never saw the fly.
Nice looking water.
In the end, the light was failing and I just couldn’t find the fish again. I left, after 2 hours, fishless.
I decided to stop off at a spot that my dad and I had fished back in Dec. 2008. It’s a big, white sand flat. There’s a boat launch there and I figured that if it came down to it, I could probably catch something (anything!) throwing clousers from the launch. I decided to walk the flat before throwing the big clousers. Low light conditions, from what I’ve read, can mean tailers and that would really be the only way I was going to find fish as the sun sank lower in the western sky.
Behind me, about 50 feet away, I heard something. I spun around to see a tail. I made the cast. I took up the slack, felt the fish and somehow managed not to trout set. I had the fish. The fish was on and a couple seconds later I was looking at my backing. That was exactly what I needed. This bone is the first I have caught on a fly I tied, making it extra special.
First of the trip!
Same fish, but more to the fish's liking.
#4 Pink Gotcha
Notice how my finger is reflected on the gill plate of the fish in the underwater shot? That’s what makes these fish so hard to see.
Sure is pretty here. The weather is improving and I’m out with Captain Perry tomorrow, all day. Can’t wait.
Purdy.
I recently found this interview on Discover-Eleuthera-Bahamas.com, an interesting interview with guide Paul Petty. Eleuthera is, as you may know, considered a DIY/self-guided bonefishing mecca. Access is the key… a rental car is your tool to access miles and miles and miles of wade-friendly flats.
Read the interview, learn a bit about Eleuthera.
Paul Petty with an Eleuthera Bone
Paul’s a pretty good deal at $200 for a half-day and $350 for a full.
