Found this nice little story from the Vieques Angler… a blog by a Vieques, Puerto Rico/FL fishing guide that I’ve bookmarked for a while now. Fun little story.
Sometimes, size doesn’t matter.
Archives
28
Sep 09
More Aloha Bones
More bonefish from Hawaii, land of hula and big bones. This clip is with Captain John Alvarez.
27
Sep 09
9,460,000 Seconds (Bonefishing 2010)
A second isn’t so long… really… passes, literally in the blink of an eye. So, all I have to do is blink my eyes about 9,460,000 times and I’ll be walking a flat in Grand Bahama looking for ghostly shadows.
I’ve picked my location, I’ve picked the dates and I have grandparents coming in to watch my daughter. Now all I have to do is wait… and blink a lot.
I’ll be leaving on a red-eye on Jan. 13th and fishing the next afternoon. I’ll be staying at some place that is $51 a night… I’m only going to be sleeping and showering there… I don’t need a pool… I don’t need breakfast… I hardly need sheets. With the rental car in there I should be right about $100 a day.
Not too bad.
I know there are flats I can walk out on… I know because I found my first solo bonefish there last December.
Feels good to have it sorted out and now all I have to do is count down from 9,460,000.
26
Sep 09
McVay’s Gotcha
I’m not a wizard at the vice. Mostly, I tie simple nymphs (like the Eng Theng) designed to fool trout and I find that trout are pretty easily fooled when it comes to nymphs (I’m in that “presentation-is-king” school of thought). To satisfy my bonefish fixation I’ve taken to tying bonefish patterns. When it comes to bonefish patterns the king (as far as I know) is the Gotcha. The Gotcha is just a really easy fly to tie and it’s pretty easy to vary an element or two to make it your own. I tie a lot of Gotchas. Really, I tie way more than I could really use in the next decade of fishing. Still… I keep tying them.
Pink Gotcha with some white fox tail
Turns out the Gotcha is McVay’s Gotcha and it has a pretty quirky birth… cab carpet fibers.
There is a tutorial here, at Fly Fishing In Salt Waters Magazine.
25
Sep 09
2010 Bonefishing Trip Planning
I am still looking for where exactly I’ll be headed for my 2010 Bonefishing trip. I had been looking at the Name Removed out of Miami (his rates are pretty hard to beat), but in the end, I need to catch fish and the FL bonefish game just seems a bit too iffy for my taste (at least at this stage of my fixation). I’m going to keep him in mind for the future… that future being after 2010.
A reader I’ve been exchanging emails with had a list of low-cost options that included an outfitter with several budget bonefish destinations. The operation is Cattaraugus Creek Outfitter. They have packages on Acklins and Eleuthera that both sound pretty good. Acklins takes a little too long to get to, so I was keen on the Eleuthera option. Eleuthera is known as a DIY island. It’s a long island with lots and lots and lots of flats the self-guided angler can walk out on. Cattaraugus Creek would get on the phone with you before your trip and Google Earth you onto some promising spots. Their package includes lodging, meals and rental car with prices from $1,500 to $750 for a 7 day trip. Shorter stays are possible. I emailed with Vince at Cattaraugus and he was very willing to work with me on a shorter trip and gave good advice.
I was ready to hit the “go” button but the airfare sitch has tanked that particular effort. I’m using frequent flier miles and it did not seem that there was a way to get to Eleuthera with my Alaska Airline miles (they have relationships with lots of carriers, like Denta and Continental). In looked like I was going to have to burn a day in Nassau either coming or going and maybe both. That cuts too much into on-the-flats time. I need to be fishing the day after I depart and I need to be home the same day I start my return. Why it costs $350 to get from Miami to Eleuthera I have no idea.
Oh Grand Bahama, I think I’m coming back!
23
Sep 09
Set!
So, Deneki Outdoors just puts out lots and lots and lots of solid blog posts on bonefishy subjects. One of their latest is on setting the hook.
Last December, as I was out in Grand Bahama with a guide and my dad, the guide asked if I fished a lot in the States… specifically, if I did a lot of trout fishing. “Yes” I told him, I did. I was so pleased he could tell I was a serious angler. He then proceeded to tell me that the “trout set” I had was rubbish and I wasn’t going to hook many bonefish if I kept that up. “Oh… he means I’m sucking right now” was my next thought. The “Strip Set” is key and that’s the topic before us over at Deneki Outdoors.
This isn’t the best little vid of the strip set or strip strike, but… it’s what I found.
Equally important as learning how to set the hook, is for your guide to learn how to pole the boat. There is some crude language in this one… understandably.
Hee hee… see, it’s funny because it isn’t me. Also, tragedy + time = comedy.
22
Sep 09
Rise… Cool Flyfishing Video
New vid is out from Confluence Films, same folks that did “Drift,” Simms is promoting it, looks fantastic… has some bones mixed in with the rest of the fishing world… tarpon, redfish, trout… I’ want this.
Here is the trailer for Drift, the previous work of Confluence Films…
18
Sep 09
Tag Ends – 9/18/2009
Some odds and ends from the Bonefishy side of things.
- Peninsula Fly Fishers has this little Cliffnote version of bonefish knowledge. http://tiny.cc/0cvPp
- Bonefish Stevie (Exuma Bonefishing guide) has Bonefish 101 on his website here. http://tiny.cc/KfvlA
- Best Bonefish Bets from Fly Fisherman Magazine. http://tiny.cc/75oGF
- Read this… this is a frigging great essay on fishing tropical places for bones and whatnot. A little long for the web format, but ruling none-the-less. http://tiny.cc/ZNpeC
16
Sep 09
Bonefish and Tarpon Trust + Pirates
Hey look… it’s Aaron Adams, from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, talking about the goodness that is Pirates on the Flats. Seriously… I can’t wait for this show. High expectations have doomed many a fishing trip, restaurant recommendation and blind date, but I hope this won’t be a case of the let-downs. This is an interview from Fish Schtick (an audio pod cast that’s new to me).
Here’s an audio podcast from the Fish Schtick folks that also includes Brian Bennett (Moldy Chum contributor and Patagonia Fly Fishing rep). Bill Klyn is a big Marketing guy at Patagonia, as well as being involved with the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. He’s on at about 21:05. Give it a listen.
Pirates
This show is now set for 12/27/2009!
