Munga Goes Bonefish by Matt
I Did It My Way
A Do It Yourself Bonefishing Journal
Matt Drahos
My girlfriend Amy and I took a trip to Eleuthera, an out island in the Bahamas, this May. She was hunting beaches and I was hunting bonefish. I had never fished for bonefish before and it was a dream of mine to hook one of these legendary speedsters of the flats. This was going to my fish shot at the silver devil. We did it on a moderate budget- no bonefish lodge, no guides. I did it by myself, picking the flats, tying the flies, and spotting the fish.
Eleuthera has a good reputation for do-it-yourself fly-fishing for bones. It is long, skinny, island shaped like a comma, running north to south about one hundred and ten miles from tip to tip. Hopefully, this little article might help you aspiring bonefisher’s out there who can’t afford to go “Big Leagues” to big name lodges or have non-fishermen traveling with you who might not be into a purely fishing vacation.
I brought enough gear for an army- a six weight, two eight weights, an eleven weight (who knows…) and a spinning rod for barracudas, or for Amy to use if she wanted to fish, and about three hundred flies. I had all of the other gear you might need, pliers, sunscreen, bug dope, leader and everything else I could think of. Eleuthera does not have a fly shop, so if you decide to do it yourself be prepared with everything you need, plus spare gear, should you have an equipment failure.
The Trip
Friday May 19
Fly into Fort Lauderdale from Salt Lake. Have a hotel booked there, as it is almost impossible to get from SLC to an out island in one day due to airline schedules. We had some great seafood down by the waterfront. Found a pearl in our oysters the hard way. I see this as a good omen. Can’t sleep that night have vivid dreams of tight lines and backing.
Saturday May 20
Hit the airport early, check all of the gear. We are flying Bahamas Air to Nassau, then on to Governor’s Harbor, Eleuthera. Plane arrives in Fort Lauderdale thirty minutes late; we see the passengers disembark and then the flight crew. Wait for another thirty minutes until gate attendant reveals that the flight crew was hungry and will be back shortly… Welcome to island time, Mon! Finally depart for Nassau. Going through customs is confusing, but we figure it out. Kill time in Nassau International by drinking Kaliks. Good stuff. Flight is late to Eleuthera, delayed by an hour. Later find out that Bahamas Air is known as “Pajamas Air” by locals, because you should plan ahead…
Arrive in Governor’s Harbor and find our rental car. It is a Geo Tracker- not the fanciest rental car, but it has some clearance and it does a good job on the rough roads of this island throughout the trip. I really loved the three inch sticker in the dead center of the windshield (KEEP LEFT with a red arrow). We are staying at the Rainbow Inn, (www.rainbowinn.com) which is owned by “Krabby” Ken and Charlie, who are great hosts while we are there. The Inn is not fancy- no TV’s, no phone in the rooms. It does have a nice pool, a nice grill to use, and the rooms are comfortable (A/C) and well maintained. They have snorkeling gear to use, coolers, etc., that are included in the stay. We got a package deal from them that included our rental car for the week and a meal plan at their restaurant, which is open Wednesday through Saturday. (Try the ribs…) It is in a good location for scouring the island for bones. Charlie provides us a great map of the island that proves to be the most valuable resource on the trip. It is marked with useful stuff like where you can get fuel, grocery stores, restaurants, snorkeling locations and good flats. (This is a double edged sword…)
Unfortunately, we arrive a little too late to start hunting the silver devil... I talk to a couple of Danish dudes who are bonefishing out of the Inn, (I forgot their name’s- bone fever will do that) who are the only other guests at the Inn. The off season has it advantages. They say the bonefishing has been a little slow, mainly due to overcast conditions. They have been to the Inn three times, and give me a few recommendations on flies and few flats to try. Good guys, even though their choice of swimwear is a little suspect… I am confidant I will be able to figure this bonefishing thing out.
Sunday May 21
Finally, time to get into the mix! We drive to a place called Ten Bay, on the Dane’s recommendation. It has a great beach in a secluded cove that Amy likes and has a reputation for small bones, but good numbers. I have never rigged a rod faster in my life; I tie on a rubber leg shrimp onto my trusty Winston eight weight. The flats are light sand with a few channels that run parallel to the beach. It is so smooth that I don’t bother with flats boots or anything, I just go barefooted. I cruise the flats all over the place, but I do not see a “confirmed” bonefish all day. I see ghosts- things that might be fish might be reflections or hallucinations. Most of the day was overcast, with a little wind and I don’t have bonefish “eyes” yet. I do see an enormous barracuda, four feet long at least, slowly cruising the flat and a nurse shark working along the outer edge of the flat. The fisherman in me is sure this means that bonefish are around, as they have to eat something. I have my first run in with needlefish. I spot “nervous water”, the disturbance in the surface film made by passing fish just under the surface. I fling shrimp patterns at them, thinking they are bonefish, until I finally see one. They are nearly invisible under the surface, but make wakes that a readily apparent on smooth water. They are really common on the flats and can be frustrating to a DIY angler at first as they can be easily mistaken for the “nervous water” that you will read about in bonefish books. We call it a day when the bugs start eating Amy alive. The bugs are rough in the Bahamas. They are somewhat worse in the wetter off-season (late spring-summer), but you should be prepared for them whenever you go.
Monday May 22
In the morning we drive south to Savannah Sound, a small community south of the Rainbow Inn, which has a popular flat adjacent to it. Roger Nye recommended it to me with the caveat that there are huge bones, but they are Permit tough. Savannah Sound itself is a fairly large white sand flat that changes to turtle grass and marl as it gets deeper. It has four large mounds of conch shells at least fifteen feet in diameter and four feet high at the southern end of the flat. (I am not in Kansas anymore…) It was bright, with a few scattered clouds.
I rig up and walk twenty yards out onto the flat and immediately spook a pod of big bones. After the fruitless scanning yesterday, bonefish are everywhere on this flat. They are mudding and tailing wherever I look. My hands are shaking like that fifth cup of java, as I start swinging flies on them. It is like dropping hand grenades-boom! They would blast all over the place. I chase them around for three hours, getting more than my fair share of shots at feeding fish, but I couldn’t put a fly down without spooking them everywhere. Short casts, long casts; it didn’t matter. Tons of huge bones, fish over ten pounds, were abundant on this flat, but they were extremely educated and incredibly spooky. They had seen a lot of fisherman. They made spring creek fish look suicidal. This was a humbling and frustrating place to fish, but a must visit because the average size was phenomenal.
Later, that day we tried to hunt down a Lighthouse on the southern tip of the island, and tested the suspension on the Tracker (KEEP LEFT) on some of the “finer” roads on the island. Eleuthera is a relatively undeveloped island and the roads are rough if you get off the main highway that runs the length of the island. We never did find the lighthouse, but the scenery was outstanding nonetheless.
After our unsuccessful hunt for the lighthouse, I rigged up for bones again at a place called Alabaster Bay. I see a few small bonefish, but don’t get any effective shots as the light isn’t very good and it is fairly late. I hook my first fish of the trip, a three and a half foot houndfish. It jumps like a rainbow trout and runs all over the place. They are very similar to a sleek alligator gar, silver with a neon blue back, with a narrow pointed jaw filled with needle sharp teeth. They are extremely tough to hook because of their jaws structure, maybe next time I will bring braided nylon rope flies, like Gierach describes in a story about gar fishing. It is one of the trickiest fish I have ever released. It thrashes like a snake and it has pretty formidable dentures. I should have brought a Lippa or something like it with really long jaws. Amy finds a really cool resort right on Alabaster bay called Coca Di Mama with a great bartender named Sam. While sitting on the deck we see a huge school of Blue Runners (a species of jack) crash a school of glass minnow’s right on the beach in front of the resort. It is an amazing display of nature, with fish slashing through the school of bait like a hurricane.
Tuesday May 23
Amy sleeps in (Sam’s a good bartender- no Utah pours down there, mon!) I get up early and head to Pelican Cay while she sleeps. The light is good and the flats are light sand- good spotting conditions. Unfortunately the only bones I see are at point blank range and spook quickly. It was interesting, the tide was high and the bones I saw were feeding right at the shoreline, almost out of the water. Had I been paying more attention I would have had good shots at them, but because I wasn’t really in the game (Damn, Sam and your wicked concoctions!) I practically stepped on them instead.
On the way back from the flat I saw a small black tip shark cruising the shoreline. I decided it would be fun to throw on a Popper, a foot of wire and see what happens. Unfortunately, by the time I get the popper rigged up the little guy was gone. However a huge shark was cruising about 75 yards away from me. It was seven to eight feet long at least. Now, I have no willpower when it comes to big fish, and I know that an eight weight and 15 pound test is not BIG shark tackle, but what the hell, poppers are cheap and it’s frickin’ huge! I toss a long cast out from the shoreline and give the popper a PLOOP and the shark does an instant one-eighty and starts homing in. I am standing knee deep and this shark is homing in my popper like a smart bomb. I am absolutely freaking out when the sharks dorsal and tail fins come out of the water at about 60 sixty feet, right behind my popper. Jaws theme music is playing in my head and mental pictures of Robert Shaw are flashing through my mind, as it stalks the little popper. At about thirty feet away from me its head emerges from the water to suck in the little bug it spots me at the exact same instant. It explodes, leaving a four foot hole in water and a rooster tail as it shoots away from me on the flat. And I think I was more scared than the fish! My hands shook for an hour- it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen with a rod in my hand. Later, I identified it as a bull shark. (“Extremely Dangerous” in the guide book) Incredible!
Later that day we went exploring the island, Current Cay on the Northwestern part of the island (Migratory tarpon are supposedly around the area, but I didn’t even string a rod) and went snorkeling at Goulding Cay. (A man can’t live on fish alone.) Saw some cool fish, starfish, etc. The snorkeling on the island is pretty good, not like Belize or the Cayman’s, but easily accessible from the roads.
I am starting to feel the pressure… three days of bonefishing and nothing show for it yet... do I need a guide? Can I do it myself?
Wednesday May 24
Amy and I decided to go up to Harbour Island. This is the only “touristy” place on Eleuthera. (Rumor has it that Mick Jagger has a home here…) It is an island slightly north of the main island and about a five minute water taxi ride away. We rent a golf cart when we get to the dock. (KEEP LEFT!) We are here for a “pink sand beach”, and sure enough it really is pink! Amy is stoked and we wander the beach for a few hours. It is simply incredible sand, soft, light and fluffy and a light coral pink color. They also had horseback riding on the beach. The horses were trained to go #2 in the water, and when not being ridden, graze at the local cemetery. Somewhat surreal…
We get some lunch at Sip-Sip. Sip-Sip has incredibly good food, organic greens, fresh seafood, and so on; but I almost needed to take a mortgage to pay our tab. A bowl of conch chili was eighteen dollars! The drinks were tasty, and the lobster was great even though it was “out of season”. A great treat and well worth the money… The location was beautiful, right over the beach.
After we lightened our wallet appropriately, Amy dropped me off at the “dump flat” (apparently the dump was right on the waters edge a while ago) while she checks out more of the island. The dump flat is big light sand flat intermixed with turtle grass. It was first place I had to try to spot fish over grass, and it is MUCH harder than over sand. The flat is teaming with bones, and the mix of sand and grass isn’t impossible. I see lots of tailing fish and I chase them around for a few hours. I had two solid hits, but I was unable to get connected to either one.
There is another guy on fishing the flat, and we both leave at about the same time, as high tide was inundating the flats completely, and Amy was ready to roll out. As I walk out, I ask him how he did. He says he landed three. I am annoyed out of my mind! I saw him cast (marginal) and he didn’t even move! I should have paid more attention. (Foreshadowing…) My desperation and frustration level are reaching a crisis point by this time. I don’t know if can get this done and time is running low. However, I make the decision that I WILL NOT get a guide. (I could hardly afford one after lunch.) I can see the fish, I can cast to them, but I am missing something in my strategy.
Thursday, May 25
We go back to Savannah Sound. We got there as the tide was falling. My approach regarding the tides was not ideal on this trip, because when you fish with a non-angler you take your fishing time when you can, not necessarily when it is best. Saw a ton of big bones once again, and continued my streak of blowing them up on the presentation. I started trying to extend my leader (14 feet) and drop to smaller flies (size 6), but I still didn’t have the right approach. I stayed way too long on this flat at low tide. The fish left the flat once the tide hit its lowest point, and when the tide wasn’t changing, nothing was happening. I should have left for the other side of the island (west side) where the tide is two hours later- I may have had better luck. Other than catching a small Yellowtail Snapper on a blind cast into a deep cut, nothing was going right.
After four fruitless hours of searching the flats I leave, and go snorkeling with Amy. We collect some seashells, see some fish and hang out on the beach. I am getting really grumpy by this point, but she keeps encouraging me not give up, so I try Savannah Sound again, this time at the peak of the high tide. I see a pod of bones feeding right on the shore line. By right on, I mean with their heads and shoulders are almost sticking out of the water. I try to put casts in their vicinity, but no dice. As I wade back to the car, through waist deep mangroves, a small pair of sharks start circling me at about four feet away. It is a little intimidating, so I kick at on them and they scoot off, leaving me unmolested.
Friday, May 26
Charlie, one of the owners of the lodge agrees to take us out on his skiff for a little bonefishing and snorkeling. He doesn’t pretend to be a bonefish guide, but he knows a few different cays that he has heard have bones, ones that are difficult to access from the roads. We cruise the west side of the island, hopping from spot to spot. I see a school of fish coming my way and they don’t quite look right, but I toss a cast their way and one breaks from the school to whack my Crazy Charlie. It turns out to be an Island Chub and gives me decent fight for a little guy. It is about ten inches long, silver with a black tail, and shaped like a bluegill. Charlie says that they are spooky and tough to catch. I get stalked by a large nurse shark while wading a flat… It is unnerving, and kind of like fishing in Alaska with the bears- they aren’t really interested in you, but you never really know. As we are cruising to another flat, I see a huge barracuda (30-50 pounds, 4-6 feet long), but I decide not to rig up wire, as I think the fish will spook before I am ready, and I would be undergunned with an eight weight anyways. (I should have packed the eleven…) I see a small pod of bones on one of the flats, but don’t get a clean shot, as they are under my feet before I even see them.
Eventually, Amy gets bored waiting for me in the boat, and we decide to go snorkeling around some caves. We see a plethora of different tropical fish and invertebrates, with a pack of blue runners cruising right through us. Charlie is a PADI and NAUI certified instructor and definitely knows where to find good snorkeling. He gives us a few recommendations on some other snorkeling spots to check out.
That evening we head up to a little spot south of Harbour Island and I rig up again. The waves are stirring up the flats a little, so I wander out to a little rock island about a hundred yard off the beach and start blind casting a Sili Leg Charlie just to see what would bite. I catch a ton of different snappers and jacks; about seven different species on twelve casts, until a barracuda steals my fly. So I rig up a popper and wire, and catch two barracuda and another big houndfish. I should be having a ball- the fish are fun and fight hard, but these are not bonefish! I run into another group of DIY flyfishers from Texas. They have had a tough week as well, but had a decent day when they went on a guided day out of Harbour Island. They had been to the island a few times, and said that the fishing was off a little compared to previous years. They recommend going to Rock Sound, a fishing community on the southern side of the island if all else fails, as there is a resident school of bonefish right at the docks that live off the scraps the fisherman throw back while cleaning their fish. They tell me that just about any fly will work… I wish them luck (they are flying out Sunday as well) and head back to the Inn.
Saturday May 27
This is for all the marbles! I haven’t hooked up yet and this is my last chance. We head south. In the back of my mind, I am thinking about Rock Sound, but I don’t want to catch a “junk fish”, I want the real deal. When we get to Rock Sound, I go down and check out the docks, and sure enough a school of small bones are hanging out. I decide to stick to my guns and pass them by…
We start heading south into one of the most torrential downpours I have ever seen. It was like being hit with a fire hose. We pull off the road because we couldn’t see anything whatsoever. After twenty minutes it finally stops, but the roads are almost flooded. It was pretty amazing.
We continue south to a place called Deep Creek. The flat is at low tide, but I grab a rod, rig up and head out with Amy to try to find some of the bones. As we are walking out to the flat a local guy calls out to us and comes over. He claims to be a guide, and tells me that I can’t fish this flat and that only guides and clients are allowed here. I know this is B*******, I have checked into the laws about fishing in the Bahamas, and there is no legal way he can stop me. It was a shakedown. I contemplate starting an international incident (my mood is foul enough), but it isn’t worth it. I would have won the fight, but I wouldn’t win a war. (I am sure prison in the Bahamas isn’t great…) This is the only negative incident regarding the locals on the whole trip, but it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. I had read on a few websites that incidents between DIY anglers and guides in the Bahamas are becoming more common. Hopefully this was an isolated incident, but I will NEVER spend one penny in Deep Creek when I visit the island again.
After leaving Deep Creek we check out another flat to the west, but Amy is spooked after our run in with the guy. We have a quick lunch and head north after wasting most of the day without making a cast. I am so frustrated by this point, I don’t even want to fish.
We decide to return to Ten Bay where we started off. I just want to hang out on the beach and drink cold Kalik until the pain goes away- except for the fact that when I sit down, I immediately spot two pods of bones cruising around the flat. I get my rod for the last shot of the trip. I came too far to quit now. Amy gives me a kiss and says she is proud of me for not giving up. She heads out to get some more Kalik when I head down to the water.
By the time I get rigged the bones are no where to be seen, but I have gained a little company on the flat. Another flyfisher walks out onto a little sand point where he parks himself. I am cruising the flat looking for another pod when I see him cast out of the corner of my eye- a wide open loop, one that kind of flops down about thirty feet from him. In the back of my mind the fly snob in me thinks, “Well, that was kinda sloppy”. (I was a defeated man at this point and had no confidence in my own skills by now, so why not bag on a complete stranger, right?) He sits still for a minute and finally gives the fly a little strip, and even 100 + yards away I can hear the line sizzle and the reel sing. I don’t know whether to start cheering or try to drown myself! I climb out onto the beach and wander down to where he is fighting the fish. (Not too close, I just wanted to see one the damn things in person.) It peels line like a champ. I see the line double back in his direction and he can’t reel fast enough to keep up… and like that, the fish is gone. After he is done reeling in, I ask him what he was using and congratulate him on hooking up. I wander away down the beach filled with new hope (It can be done- it isn’t impossible!) and a little insight. (He wasn’t going anywhere-he was waiting for them to come to him… and it was a Crazy Charlie)
So, I start thinking ambush and head down the flat about two hundred yards. I found an intersection between two channels on the flat and park. I rig up a ridiculously long leader, 16 feet tapering down to 3x tippet. I tie on a tiny size 8 Grizzly Crazy Charlie, the smallest fly I have in my box. And I wait. I don’t move, I don’t stalk and I don’t cruise.
Nothing happens for about thirty minutes--until I see a pod of about twenty bones about eighty yards off. They are headed in my general direction and I SLOWLY move in a position to intercept them. They continue doing their thing, oblivious to me, stirring up the bottom and searching for food. When they are about 40 yards away, I lay out a fifty foot cast that looks to be in their path and I let it sink. I am not going to pick it up no matter what. The bones continue closer and closer and I am practically crouching over the surface of the water until they’re about 10 feet from my fly and I give it a little twitch. Immediately, two bones shoot out from the pack in hot pursuit. I strip twice more, and I see the take and feel the weight. I strip-strike and the fish punches the turbo button. Line starts flying through my fingers, I clear it as it threatens to wrap the reel handle and suddenly into the backing. The fish runs hard for about seventy five yards, slows a bit and dashes for another fifty. The whole time all I can think about is the speed that it’s blasting out and the fact that I have pretty light line attached to his lip. When he finally slows, I start getting line back fast and I can barely keep up. He tries to double back, and I end up hand stripping backing to keep up. I stay ahead of him the whole way, and in a few minutes a chrome bright bonefish is in my hand. I know how Ahab felt….
It isn’t a big bonefish, maybe two and half pounds tops, but it makes all the effort and heartbreak worthwhile. No pictures are taken. Amy doesn’t get back in time to see the bonefish. It ran faster than any salmon or rainbow trout I have ever felt. It was a hard fought battle to get one on the line. I am sure that it would have been easier and I would have caught more with a guide’s experience, but the sense of accomplishment that you get from going it alone is incredible. It took me all week, but I finally got what I came for. Some people might have been disappointed by a week a bonefishing with only one fish to show for it and a moderate one at that, but hey I did it my way….
My bonefishing trip is done. I don’t reset for another round with the silver devils. When Amy arrives I tell her with a big grin that I finally got one and she is breathes a big sigh of relieve. I was not easy on her this trip, obsession will do that you. (That damn white whale again…) We go snorkeling at a little defunct Navy station and see some amazing stuff, including a few sting rays, a Caribbean Lobster and about a million glass minnows. We head back to the Inn. We have some great food, drink like sailors on leave, and pack up the gear. We will be back…
Gear Notes and Other Technical Stuff
If you are going to do it yourself, be prepared with good gear. Have the best sunglasses money can buy. Have a spare rod and reel, extra lines and lots of flies. Lightly weighted flies are far more important for wading anglers than for guys fishing flats boats. Wading anglers fish shallow water, and flies that land softly are KEY. Make sure to pack plenty of sunscreen and bug dope. Have flats boots, even though most of the flats we faced were “beach” sand. The one day I waded in the marl with sandals, my ankles were shredded. Bleeding in shark country is bad…
Fishing Eleuthera in the off season is very affordable, but finding restaurants and ammenities is tougher. A rental car with high clearance is your best fishing weapon on Eleuthera. Be prepared to spend some money on gas- if you think gas is expensive here, you will be shocked in the Bahamas. We drove at least 600 miles on Eleuthera that week. All told, including airfare lodging etc., we spent about a little more than four thousand dollars for a nine day trip for two. We weren’t extravagant, but we didn’t eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day, either.
If you are interested in Eleuthera, stop by the shop or drop me a line. We did a ton of scouting on the island, and can help with recommendations lodging, restaurants and places to fish. However, if you want to rope bonefish hand over fist, or are a novice flyfisher doing it yourself may not be the best approach. Eluethera has plenty of independent guides you could book even though it has no bonefish specific lodges. Lodges with quality guides, on Abaco, Andros, or in Mexico, will definitely help you get into fish, even though you will pay more for it. Be prepared to work hard and spend time on the flats if you go it alone. Be patient, be alert and most importantly go slow… Sometimes the answer to tough fishing conditions may be right in front of your face and you don’t see it. I know that I would have had more success if I would have paid more attention to what was happening right in front of my face. I would definitely recommend Eleuthera for a do-it-yourself angler, and I will be going again next spring. Feel free to tag along… |
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