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Gear — 8 Comments
29
Apr 11

Rent the Rod?

This business appears not to be in operation anymore. I can understand why. Decent idea on paper, but I’d think it would be hard to make it work.

 

I saw a little link on The Trout Underground to a new business that is renting rods and reels.  This is one of those things that is hard to see how it plays out.  It could be that someone rents an Xi3 and takes a trip to Belize and realizes that he/she needs to do this every year and they go back and buy that rod.  It could be that the angler who has a once in a lifetime trip to the Bahamas rents that Xi3 and never fishes the salt again.  Does the “industry” come out ahead or does it lose out?  I don’t know.  My crystal ball is in the shop at the moment… can’t wait to get that thing back!

You can rent a Sage 6000 series reel for $15.  That reel is normally $600-$700.  That sounds really reasonable as the rental is for a week.

You can rent a Sage Xi3 for $100 for a week.  The rod normally $725 (for the 8 weight).  That sounds a bit high, really.

Xi3 – a great stick.

In saltwater the rod is kind of important, but the reel… that’s where your trip falls apart really, really fast if things go wrong and there are way more things that can go wrong with a reel than there are with the rod (me thinks).  Am I off base on this?

For the consumer, it offers you another choice… you can rent a rig for a week and see how you like it (so long as that rig is either a Sage or TFO rod and one of two Sage model reels).  You could take that trip without dropping $1,400 for the reel and the rod… what you’d pay for that Sage rod/reel combo.

If it means fewer sales at your local fly shop… well… that’s bad.  Enough fly shops are shutting their doors these days.  Each local fly shop is a gem and each time one closes, we are poorer for it, as anglers.

Locations — 2 Comments
28
Apr 11

Skinny Water Culture fishes Nassau

I was a bit skeptical at first but the first flat (and only flat) we pulled up on was loaded with fish, some BIG fish, tailing away happy as could be.

via Skinny Water Culture: Bone on a Big Boat.

Nassau is not known as a bonefishing destination… more for cruise ships and resorts… but there are bones there and the good folks over at SWC caught some.

 

 

Fish Tails — 1 Comment
25
Apr 11

One of the Best Posts Ever – Flatswalker

Davin, aka Windknot over at the Flatswalker Blog puts out some really quality stuff.  His writing has a literary quality about it that I dig.  This post came across my RSS feed reader on Easter.  I had to share it with as many people as possible.  Read this.  It is good.

“Yeah, big migratory fish… so deep and fat. Head like a Clydesdale. Imagine that: a horse running, bucking, bleeding from its ears as it leaves a trail of blood on the green grass.

via Flatswalker: SaltWater Fly Fishing Guide Blog – Flatswalker.

 

 

All the other stuff — No Comments
24
Apr 11

The Best Fishing Guide Alive – Steve Huff

Then he guns the engine. As the boat planes quickly and easily, Huff lifts up his bandanna, revealing a wide smile. “Do you feel that?” he yells to me over the engine’s whine. “We’re free.”

via The Best Fishing Guide Alive.

A little piece in Garden & Gun about uber guide, Steve Huff.

 

 

 

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Learn everything about boating safety at BoaterExam.com

Gear — 4 Comments
23
Apr 11

Skinny Water Culture with me in Andros

I’ve been a fan of the folks over at Skinny Water Culture ever since I found their website a couple years back and ordered my first shirt from them.  They’ve continued to up their game as I’ve continued to up mine.

For my trip to South Andros they sent me some shirts to try out and I gladly wore them.  These are micro-fiber, quick-dry, sun-protecting type shirts.  There aren’t the dozens of pockets, back vents and buttons of the standard “uniform” type flats shirt and more and more manufacturers are offering this kind of technical wear for folks that don’t want all that extra “stuff.”

The shirts do what they do very well. I was cool and comfortable and didn’t get a sunburn.  Plus… I looked goooood.

I love that graphic.

Check these guys out and buy some stuff.  They are good peeps at the starting point for building something really fantastic.

Locations — 3 Comments
21
Apr 11

A little Bahamian fantasy

I’m not going here… there is no airline ticket about to be purchased… I am not tying flies for this trip… I am not scouring Google Earth… but if I were looking to spend a month in the Bahamas right now… a full month… I might look to this place right here.

I could stay here...

You can stay there for a month for $1,800.  A month.

It turns out I’ve had a fantasy very similar to this in the past.  One day I’m going to have to actually do this.  I guess I’ll do it when I need to do it.

There’s also a place in Exuma for $1,200. For a month.  Like… 30 days…

How well would you get to know a place after 30 days of fishing?  I’ve begun to get a feel for some places after just a couple days.  Thirty days sounds pretty damn good.  Very good.

 

Conservation / Locations — 2 Comments
18
Apr 11

Bonefish Science | Tagging and Fin Clipping Bonefish

This is my guest post for Deneki Outdoors, the owners of Andros South.  Love that place.

 

Photo by Andrew Bennett, fish catching by me.

 

While out stalking the phantom of the flats, it turns out you can do more than just catch and release. You can fish for science!

via Bonefish Science | Tagging and Fin Clipping Bonefish.

Tagging and fin clips… two great ways to help the folks at the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.

—

Get some Rise

 

All the other stuff — 4 Comments
16
Apr 11

Casting in the Dark

There are a lot of things going on at Bonefish on the Brain’s Main Office these days.  Not all of them are totally awesome.  Sometimes you need an escape and I have a little one just down the road.

At the end of the street is a school and that school has a nice, big, grass field.  Tonight I went down there with a 7 wt. and a bonefish line and I cast.

I tried to feel the flex in the rod.  I watched my rod hand.  I watched the back cast.  I tried to pay attention to where my body was carrying tension and then I tried to relax that area. This isn’t supposed to be a feat of strength so noticing where you are tense is a good way, I think, to tell where you are doing something wrong.

Haul back… haul forward… haul back… haul forward…

The mechanics of it are my own Tai Chi.

Power…

Energy…

Calm…

Peace…

I tried to make the casting strokes with as little effort as possible.

—

I’ve never cast a full line.  You hear people talk about doing it, but I’ve never been one of them.  So, tonight, I tried.

I can’t do it.

It would appear I can hit about 88′ with some degree of consistency on a lightly windy day.  The funny thing was that I could hit about that far regardless of trying to put extra pep in the casting stroke.  My normal casting stroke pretty much delivered the same cast as the one I tried to really pound.

Sometimes applying extra effort does not yield results.

In fact… that is probably most of the time… and that probably applies to more than just casting.

So, there ya go.  When the going gets tough, go to the elementary school and do some casting… just make sure the kids aren’t there.

 

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Learn everything about boating safety at BoaterExam.com

Fish Tails / Locations — 4 Comments
15
Apr 11

Charleston Mercury – The Seychelles

I usually write the post the night before it goes up… last night I ended up in the ER with a little girl with a temp over 104.  Four hours later and I was back home, but I was also ready for bed.  The good news is that everything is well with the little girl.  I went to the “Draft” folder and found this… no pics, but a link to a good story.  Hope you enjoy the read.

 

The Seychelles look nice… I wanna go there… bad.

Following exhaustive research on a mutually satisfying destination, Meredith quite surprisingly one evening suggested that we look into the Seychelles. As an avid (not skilled, mind) salt water fly fisherman, I already knew that little research would be necessary and immediately attempted to procure a written agreement from her. I jest of course, but for those who don’t engage in piscatorial pursuits, the islands and their surrounding flats make for arguably the best and most species-diverse fly fishing in the world. It was agreed that this seemed a swell locale and I unbegrudgingly began the task of organizing the journey.

via Charleston Mercury > News > Never too Far for Adventure.

Yeah… goodness.

 

 

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Learn everything about boating safety at BoaterExam.com

Locations / Tactics — No Comments
14
Apr 11

Deneki and the Red Shirt of Doom

On day 1 of Deneki FIBFest at Andros South last month, your fearless editor decided to sport a nice new red shirt that was really going to look good in hero shots. The problem? You have to catch a fish before you can take a hero shot.

via Fly Fishing Lodges | Deneki Outdoors — Blog | Bahamas | Chile | BC | Alaska.

 

I saw that shirt in the morning and thought to myself “Interesting choice.”  Red is supposed to pop in pictures though… you go through some fly fishing photos and you’ll find some strangely bright colors.

I sometimes wonder if it is a bad thing being tall… 6’3″.  Do the fish see me more?  Do I see the fish more?  There are so many factors to consider… but do yourself a favor… leave the red shirt at home!

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