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Locations — No Comments
08
Oct 09

Los Roques DIY Bonefishing

One of the most common searches I’ve seen landing folks here on Bonefish on the Brain is  “Los Roques DIY.”  So, I decided to look into it.

Los Roques is hard to get to, that seems clear.  I found a great little story from the NYT about Los Roques, complete with a quote from a Maine Game Warden who bonefishes there every year.  The article says you can hire a boat, find an island and be alone with your thoughts (and bonefish).  The details on how one does that, of course, is where the real questions have to be asked.

Los Roques… looks nice. Wish it cost more like $140 to get there instead of $1,400.

I have read at least one account of folks catching bones in the harbor and also read that flats around the main town get hammered.  You need a license, there are prohibited areas… sounds like you can certainly get yourself into trouble.

Oscar Shop, according to the NYT, can take you out to uninhabited islands, that sounds like the best bet to me (but what the hell do I know?).

There are tourist “posada” on Los Roques that range from $45 to $400 a night, I’m sure they very dramatically in quality, as you’d expect.

Now, it’s great to get a room for $45, get a boat to take you to some isolated island for $20-80 a person, but the real problem seems like the transportation there… Kayak puts a flight to Caracas from SFO at about $1,200.  The puddle jumper is about $220.  The budget angler might need to re-think Los Roques as a DIY location if just getting there will cost you $1,400… you end up at $2,000 pretty fast and if you are going to drop $2,000, you might as well get a guide.

Uncategorized — No Comments
07
Oct 09

Tag Ends, 10/7/2009

Some bits and pieces for your Wednesday.

Locations — 10 Comments
06
Oct 09

Horduras Bonefish

It makes sense from a Google Earth perspective that Honduras would have bonefish.  Turns out it does.

One place that seems to be booking for your Honduran Bonefish get away is Mango Creek Lodge, located on the island of Roatan.  One thing I found interesting in reading Mango Creek’s list of what to bring were the fly sizes… up to #10.  That’s a trout fly!  The fish seem to be on the smaller end of the spectrum, that 3-5 pound size that lets you know you’ll probably see schools, but won’t need to break out the 9 weight.

As far as lodges go, Mango Creek is far from the most expensive.  A 7 night, 6 fishing-day stay is $2,200 (double occupancy).  That’s not too bad, really.  Oh, but it will cost about $900 to fly there and back.  Details.

Home to your Honduran Bonefish Odyssey

You can also catch bones on the Honduran Island of Guanaja, according to the Fish Guanaja Honduras blog.  The author says he fishes for world class bones, but no pictures or sizes are actually mentioned… so, who knows.  Emerald Waters offers a trip to Guanaja and talks in glowing terms about the fishery.  A week with them will cost you about $3,200 per angler.

It seems Hurricane Mitch did some real damage  to the island and the island’s mangroves back in 1998.  The island and the fishery are still recovering, but are doing so in relative isolation.

A Honduran Bone from Emerald Waters

See… now that’s a good looking fish right there.

When you’ve done the Bahamas, the Keys and the Seychelles, you may have to check out Honduras at some point too.

Locations — No Comments
05
Oct 09

Say Seychelles! A little vid

For your Monday enjoyment… a little Seychelles fly fishing action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmHubxZWc9o&hl=en&fs=1&

Locations — 2 Comments
03
Oct 09

Panama for Bonefish?

I recalled seeing something about bonefishing in Panama, so I asked my good friend, Google, to pull together some information about the chasing bones in the sail-through Republic.

Tranquilo Bay Eco Lodge has a page about tarpon, but mentions Bonefish as something that can be a pleasing distraction… there is a bit about the fish not being large, but being 3-5 pounds with non-stop action a possibility (um, I’d take that).  The follow that up by saying that they don’t recommend traveling there to target bones.  Seems like more information is required.  The photo gallery shows lots of nice Jack Crevelle and some small bones caught off the beach… small being in the 1 pound range, not the 3 pound range.

If you like fishing reports devoid of  anything useful at all, I found this.

The 3-5 pound range seems overstated from the fish that I’ve seen in the few galleries or google image pics I’ve seen.  Why so small?  I don’t know.  It does seem like Panama is likely off the books as a bonefish destination, although the tarpon and snook look large and in charge.  If you head to Panama for those other game species, you might just want to throw in a few gotchas while you are at it.

If you have better intel on the Bone sitch in Panama, please, let me know.

Flies — No Comments
03
Oct 09

The Crazy Charlies

It seems if there are two patterns you hear about the most it would be the Gotcha and the Crazy Charlie.  In appearance these two flies bear a striking resemblance. There are some differences and they have their own histories… kind of like fire being invented at many places around the same time in history, these flies both came into being.

The Crazy Charlie was the creation of Bob Nauheim according to this step-by-step tutorial.

The Crazy Charlie

The interesting thing to me about this is that what is listed as a Crazy Charlie varies so dramatically.  The Crazy above shows saddle hackle in the wing, but you also see this with what looks like craft fur or calf tail.

The tie on both these flies is different… one ties the wing in above the eyes, one below.  The placement of the eye is therefore different.

This is also a Crazy Charlie… go figure.

Heck… Wikipedia has this as a Crazy Charlie… flashabou as the wing.

I guess this fly is kind of like flyfishing… it means different things to different people.

Another variation… according to wikipedia.

The Flats Fishing Flies blog posted a story about the Crazy Charlie today as well… here’s the link.

Conservation / Locations — No Comments
02
Oct 09

You + BTT + South Andros = Good times

Now, I’m not at the point in my life where $4,000 fishing trips are within reach.  If, however, I were in that position, I can tell you where else I’d be… South Andros from Dec. 5th to the 12th for a week at Deneki Outdoors‘ lodge along with some of the good folks from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.  BTT does this every so often and it just seems like a pretty amazing experience, if, ya know, you like bonefish.  $1,000 from the cost of the trip will go to help BTT on their planned study of the economic value of the Bahamian Bonefish.  This is the sort of study that has been done in Florida that put the $75,000 value on each bonefish in the FL fishery.  Kind of important and valuable information that can drive all sorts of conservation/land use decisions.

As an example of how that plays out, Deneki Outdoors’ website shared this:

Impact:
Quantifying the economic importance of the recreational bonefish fishery should provide leverage for improving conservation measures toward protecting healthy bonefish populations in The Bahamas. In Belize, for example, a similar study found that the ecotourism-related expenditures for recreational fishing for bonefish, tarpon, and permit exceeded $50 million per year. Based on this study the Belize Legislature passed legislation making bonefish, tarpon, and permit catch and release gamefish. We anticipate that the economic value in The Bahamas to be much greater, and to spur strong conservation measures.

Joining from BTT will be the captain, Aaron Adams (this guy co-wrote Chico Fernandez’s book on flyfishing for bonefish), and Stu Apte.

You do all the normal bonefishing you’d normally do, but you also get to hear about bonefish from a couple guys that have forgotten as much as the rest of us will probably ever know about the phantoms  of the flats.

To review… catch bonefish in South Andros, help support the fishery as too few have and learn more about the fish from two anglers who have an incredible depth and breadth of bonefish knowledge.

Locations — No Comments
01
Oct 09

MX Fishing Report (no, not mine)

Some time in January, I’ll be able to post my own fishing report, but until then, I live vicariously through the reports brought to me through the tubes and in the dump trucks that make up the internet.  This time I found a report from Pesca Maya down in Mexico.  The post (this one right here) is from Black Fly Outfitter (the blog looks new, but promises bonefishing reports, which will see me follow them via RSS and Twitter).  Looks like a good time with smaller bones everywhere.  I like the sound of that, really.

Pesca Maya seems to be doing the full court press as of late.  Seems like I’ve seen their name out there A LOT.  Maybe it’s just me.

See, that looks fun to me.

The area that Pesca Maya sits in has always looked interesting (most places with clear, tropical water and bonefish are places I find interesting, as it turns out).  We vacation in Mexico every year, but we are on the Pacific side (Vallarta).  I lightly bring up the idea of switching to the Caribbean side every so often, but it is a family vacation, not a fishing vacation and I’m (generally) smart enough to know the difference.

Flies — No Comments
30
Sep 09

What to bring… flies

I thought it might be interesting to comb through the different outfitters/lodges/guides to see who recommends what when it comes to flies one should have in your box when fishing a particular destination.  To keep as much to an apples/apples comparison as possible I am looking only at Grand Bahama.

On GBI, one of the venerable players is the North Riding Point Club.  I’m sure lots of folks book them, and they probably book direct too, but for this particular exercise I looked at the listing by The Fly Shop, my one time local shop (I moved).  They seem to be fans of the “everything” philosophy… here is what they say you should have…

~ McVay Gotcha # 6 – # 2
~ Clouser Minnows #6 & #4 (chartreuse/white) (tan/white) (pink/white)
~ Crazy Charlies #6 (silver, amber, crystal pink, crystal chartreuse)
~ Mini Puff (with and without bead chain eyes) #6, # 4 (pink, tan/orange, chartreuse)
~ Chico’s Bonefish Special #4
~ Raghead Crab #8,
~ Miheves Flats Fly #6 (tan, brown)
~ Rabbit-strip Gotcha #4 or #6
~ Shane’s Psycho Puff #4
~ Tuxedo Gotcha #6
~ Flats Rabbit #6
~ Bone Voyage #6
~ Magnum Mantis #2 – 6, (tan, olive)
~ Big Bone

Wow… I better get tying!

Grand Bahama Bonefishing, and outfit I don’t know (but then, I wouldn’t, anyway). is more minimalistic… basically they say #4-6, Gotchas, Crazy Charlies, Clousers, Puffs, Horrors.

Hmmm… maybe I DON’T need to get tying.

The Blog for Deep Water Cay just gives an idea of what the top flies were… lots of #2’s in there… Gotcha’s, Mantis Shrimp, Bonefish Scampi.  The blog was last updated in 2008, so don’t go and bookmark it just yet.

Flyfish Travel books Pelican Bay on GBI and they go with “everything” philosophy as well… here is what they say you should stock you box(es) with:

Bonefish Flies: We recommend at least six dozen bonefish flies for the week in varying weights and sizes.

* #2-4 Clouser Minnows in Gotcha, Gold Shiner, Silver Shiner
* #2-6 Gotcha, Gold Gotcha
* #4-6 Krystal Charlie’s in Gold and White
* #4-6 Horrors* #4-6 Tan Yarn Crabs
* #4-6 Tan or Golden Mantis Shrimp
* #4 Orange Christmas Island Special
* #4-6 Tan/Orange Bonefish Puffs
* #4-6 Crazy Charlies in Tan/Gold, Tan/Pearl and Gold
* #6 Moose Turd
* #4 Borski’s Super Swimming Shrimp
* #2-4 Rabbit strip bonefish flies in brown, tan, white and pin

So, what’s a guy to do?  It seems the basic take away is #4-6 with a few #2’s.  Colors muted, with a couple bright ones.  Six dozen flies does seem a tad overdoing it (or massively overdoing it unless you hire a fly caddy).

The one item lightly touched on was weight (see the pun there?  Yeah… I’m pretty punny).  From barbell to mono is the range and folks in the know say that often weight is the key issue.

I think I’m pretty much on the minimalist side of fly selection, so we’ll see if that works for me.  In trout fishing if they won’t eat a PT, Poopah, zebra midge or ugly bug, I’m not going to waste my time on them and I’ll just move 15 feet and cast to the fish that will.  Of course, bonefishing might be a little bit more complicated… just a wee, tiny bit.

Locations — No Comments
29
Sep 09

Whenever you can!

I was glad to see Deneki Outdoors latest blog post which reassured me that the best time to go bonefishing is whenever you can!

I’m going to the Bahamas in January, which will be a bit cooler than, say, May, but not THAT much cooler.  The thing to dodge are the big storms, but those seem to be a Fall sort of event.

I think this is S. Andros from Deneki Outdoors

I’ve become a big fan of the Deneki Outdoors blog for the ton of useful info that they put out about bonefishing.  I recently got to meet the owner/operator at a local fly shop and got to talk bonefish (and some steelhead) for a while.  The thing I like second best to actually fishing is TALKING about fishing.  Oh fishing, I could never be mad at you!

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