Post by Willie Gunn on Dec 7, 2007 10:05:09 GMT
Bahamas Trip.
As promised I will try and give a taste of my trip bonefish fishing, I enjoyed it but salar is still king. We were fishing on long island; we stayed at Chez Pierre www.chezpierrebahamas.com/ we were guided by Locksley Cartwright. The last time I fly fished in the sea was around 40 years ago off the Isle of Skye using a team of flies for mackerel on a hand line.
Views from the bedroom windows.
and the "bungalow itself.
This will be by no means a how to, as my knowledge is very limited, but a couple of pieces of advice.
1. Avoid Miami airport, the Americans make you queue or 2 hours to enter their country then you walk through customs down the stairs and out through the departure gates.
2. Watch out for the mosquitoes.
They bite!
My fishing knowledge was somewhat turned on its head, I always thought spring tides were good, high tide a good taking time and a good breeze with an overcast sky the way to go; but bonefish prefer smaller tides either rising or falling, at high tide they hide in the mangroves, Bahamas version of rhododendrons. You need strong sunshine and no wind as you are sight fishing and if there is no sun, you have even more difficulty seeing the fish, and a wind ruffles the surface making it hard even for the guides.
Locksley picked us up at 8:30, being used to see gillies’ cars covered by spaniels a guides car covered in moggies amused me.
We then motored down Long Island to the spot where he kept his boat, the Silver Streak, which is powered by a 70 horsepower outboard. Once we had loaded the boat we set off, there was a slight swell but soon we were skimming over the waves, with a motion somewhat like horse riding, the push-pole protruding from the bow gave the impression of a medieval knight off to the joust. It was just after high tide (spring) and the bonefish were just starting to leave the mangroves. There were two of us sharing the boat so I decided I would observe first. Locksley was soon spotting fish and calling out the angle and distances “two o clock 20 yards, a little to your right” I could see nothing, we had a couple of follows but no hook ups, then it was my turn. I climbed up on the bow, proudly wearing my Tesco flats boots (trainers to you then). Locksley soon spotted a fish and I managed to cast somewhere near, “strip strip strip he’s on it” then all of a sudden there was a take the loose line lying on the deck shot up the rod till the loop I was standing on stopped it- ping, first fish lost. Lesson one don’t wear flats boots on the boat. New fly and start again, I hooked another and managed to loose it when a loop of line unexplainably wrapped itself round my finger. The day progressed in a similar way, but the sea was quite choppy and poor Locksley struggled to find the bonefish for us, the prime time is April and May when the winds are much less, tends to clash with primetime on Speyside so I will have to take their word for it.
As promised I will try and give a taste of my trip bonefish fishing, I enjoyed it but salar is still king. We were fishing on long island; we stayed at Chez Pierre www.chezpierrebahamas.com/ we were guided by Locksley Cartwright. The last time I fly fished in the sea was around 40 years ago off the Isle of Skye using a team of flies for mackerel on a hand line.
Views from the bedroom windows.
and the "bungalow itself.
This will be by no means a how to, as my knowledge is very limited, but a couple of pieces of advice.
1. Avoid Miami airport, the Americans make you queue or 2 hours to enter their country then you walk through customs down the stairs and out through the departure gates.
2. Watch out for the mosquitoes.
They bite!
My fishing knowledge was somewhat turned on its head, I always thought spring tides were good, high tide a good taking time and a good breeze with an overcast sky the way to go; but bonefish prefer smaller tides either rising or falling, at high tide they hide in the mangroves, Bahamas version of rhododendrons. You need strong sunshine and no wind as you are sight fishing and if there is no sun, you have even more difficulty seeing the fish, and a wind ruffles the surface making it hard even for the guides.
Locksley picked us up at 8:30, being used to see gillies’ cars covered by spaniels a guides car covered in moggies amused me.
We then motored down Long Island to the spot where he kept his boat, the Silver Streak, which is powered by a 70 horsepower outboard. Once we had loaded the boat we set off, there was a slight swell but soon we were skimming over the waves, with a motion somewhat like horse riding, the push-pole protruding from the bow gave the impression of a medieval knight off to the joust. It was just after high tide (spring) and the bonefish were just starting to leave the mangroves. There were two of us sharing the boat so I decided I would observe first. Locksley was soon spotting fish and calling out the angle and distances “two o clock 20 yards, a little to your right” I could see nothing, we had a couple of follows but no hook ups, then it was my turn. I climbed up on the bow, proudly wearing my Tesco flats boots (trainers to you then). Locksley soon spotted a fish and I managed to cast somewhere near, “strip strip strip he’s on it” then all of a sudden there was a take the loose line lying on the deck shot up the rod till the loop I was standing on stopped it- ping, first fish lost. Lesson one don’t wear flats boots on the boat. New fly and start again, I hooked another and managed to loose it when a loop of line unexplainably wrapped itself round my finger. The day progressed in a similar way, but the sea was quite choppy and poor Locksley struggled to find the bonefish for us, the prime time is April and May when the winds are much less, tends to clash with primetime on Speyside so I will have to take their word for it.