There is a quick blast of fresh salty sea air for 15 minutes as we skim across the flats and then the engine cuts out and the flats boat glides to a smooth stop. For as far as the eyes can see there is nothing but Mangroves and crystal clear flats teaming with all sorts of aquatic life. The occasional Lemon or Nurse Shark glides slowly past and a sting ray slides by disturbed from its shallow hiding spot. Then, with barely more than a gasp of air the word every fly fisherman loves to hear, “fish!” The guide climbs up and onto his perch with pole in hand, and the bonefishing game is underway. The entire scene somehow reminds you of some Caribbean pirate movie but this isn’t Johnny Depp, better yet he’s your guide. Your eyes strain for signs of bonefish or any movement in the water, and then you hear the guide quietly say “start casting towards 3 O’clock” and he adds minor adjustments “more right or more left, slow down your cast”. All this time you are waiting to hear the magic words, “let it drop.” The process, when you, as the fly fisherman on the bow, can’t see the fish is heart wrenching because the guide is essentially your eyes and you are trusting in his directions.”Let it drop there,” says the guide and you do. Then the words you wait for as if waiting to sit in the electric chair, “strip, strip, strip “ and finally “strip Long, again, fish on!” Do this 20 to 30 times each day for several days straight and every take is just as exhilarating as the one before! From where you stand on the bow there is nothing but you and that bonefish in the middle of the crystal flats. When you look down into your backing and the fight is on, all other forms of recreation pale in comparison and all of the worries you left behind at home are gone. And, after that first bonefish takes your fly and that first bonefish battle you know you will be back! As if a dope fiend looking for your next fix, you are always plotting and scheming for your next trip because you have to get back.
Just when I finally settled back into work mode…you bring this up. I need to get my fix!
I am just waiting for a vehicle and I’m on my way
Nice fish mon… Look forward to gliding along those flats with you in the near future. Cool story too. I hear you have become quite a fixture in the local club scene down there.
nice bonefish greg … looks like a fairly good sized one too? … are they finding that the bonefish are getting bigger year after year there in the bahamas? … i always hear people say “bahamas has lots of bones, but keys have big bones?” … is this true? … why would this be? … why would the bonefish in the bahamas NOT have a chance of getting “big”? … some of the ones i have seen posted by you and dave and others from the bahamas look big to me …. it seems likely that a person would have a good shot a getting a 10 pound bonefish in the bahamas? .. but maybe not? .. let me know …
ps. check out bernard rolling with the flies and fins hat .. sweet.
Geez… as if the winters last attempts haven’t been depressing enough. Nice work on landing a beauty Greg! Killer fish! Those bones and permit are next on deck for my return to warm waters. For now guess I’ll get ready for the Spring Landlockeds, so give me a shout when the wind blows you back toward the West Branch…
So Greg, so why we keep our fishing lives separate but parallel is a mystery for me…and, as you describe the Bahamas moments so eloquently, I read your adventure with slathering silava and, I am waiting here a few hundred miles away….