COVID bonefish bust out in the Bahamas

 Have you ever heard any of those old time Southern preachers shout during a Sunday sermon, "Can I get an Amen from the congregation?" Well that's what the past 15 months have created -- pent up/ spun up fervor to the point folks are about done with it.  Most everyone's ready to break out. 

Well, bone fishing  seemed an awesome way to break out... and for amazing scenery and fly fishing - is there a better spot on the planet than the waters surrounding Emerald Bay, Great Exuma, Bahamas?

I think not. 

With Carole and her army of butlers waiting on her by the pool at Sandals serving her endless Rum Runners to go along with coconut shrimp and whatever else she fancied, I had the green light to pursue what I love best.

I hired local guide Bonefish Stevie whose ritualistic chants on the water "C'mon bonie" always seemed to draw these muscular titans out of the mangroves into the flats. 

Using my Orvis Access 908-4 tip flex and Hydros reel I was amply armed and ready for the challenge.  Using an extra long 16 lb fluorocarbon leader and a #6 pink shrimp -- soon it was game on. 

Over the course of a couple of mornings, I landed upwards of 15-20 bonies as Stevie liked to call them.  Even the 14 inch little guys were beasts fully capable of peeling out line and doubling over an 8 wt rod.  

In times past it was strictly sight fishing, but on this trip one day was sight fishing off the mangroves and the second day was fishing the shallow flats.  That's where a guide is worth a million bucks.  There are flats everywhere, but the fish are not.  Stevie would stop in some spots, and I'd be scratching my head, but sure enough it wasn't long before "fish on" and off to the races again.  

 

I landed two really amazing fish on the trip.  If you watch the video I thought I lost the biggest not once but twice.  Stevie told me the bonefish wrap your line the soft sand and around anything they can find to give the "oh crap" I lost it feel... and he did - twice. 

Fly fishing the flats for bonies presents a few challenges in both casting and landing the fish. In casting, it's always windy, and invariably the cast I needed to make most of the time was off shoulder into the wind! Not easy but over the course of the day it gets better. It certainly makes one relish those opportune down wind double-haul casts and the chance to really let some line fly. 

When landing fish, again you can see in the video, once you hook a fish and you have 20-30 feet of line at your feet -- it's troublesome.  If the fish cooperates and gingerly took off at a steady speed, no problem feeding the line. But that's not these guys' MO.  Instantly they double your rod over, then as your trying let some line through your line finger to get the fish on the reel, they start thumping the rod violently, which if you're letting line out simultaneously, the line is flinging everywhere -- in the air, around elbows, wrists, buttons, rod butts.... funny afterwards, but like drinking from a firehose while it's happening. 

On the trip we spooked, although spooked isn't really the right term, as tarpon don't seem to be spooked, intimidated, threatened by a whole lot on the flats. Next trip, I'd like to have a separate rod rigged with a large streamer ready to take a shot on one. 

Lots of reef and lemon sharks roamed the flats. 

And barracuda... all over the place. I did land a few and was fortunate to not have my tippet cut through each time.  ALL TEETH - talk about an apex predator.

In a perfect world I'd love to have the opportunity to learn the trade, guide, have my own boat, down here in the Bahamas.  Learning the tides is key, but paying your dues on the water is the ultimate ticket.  Maybe that'll be my 3rd or is it 4th or even 5th career?

Tight lines until I journey up to northern New Hampshire later this summer.

By the way, I've got the greatest wife in the world!

Come Hell or High Water ...it was High Water

James fished some fast high water

Boy we wanted to get out on the South Fork and were not going to be dissuaded by some high water....and high it was.   Optimal fishing here is below 1.75" on the Luray Gauge and we were actually happy to have it around 3" and stable.  Paul, Henry, James and I slid into the greenish stew of what looked like a new river Sunday morning.  Fishing was slow as we fought the surface current and tried to remember the hidden structure of our friend.

We coaxed some bass into action but our dreams of a 400 fish day melted away and we all adjusted our expectations and ended day 1 with maybe a hundred fish between the 4 of us. 

James had to head home to work and Paul, Hen and I feasted on beer, salsa verde, sausage and chicken as rain again began to splatter on the tin roof of our cabin.  The night ended w a great chat and Paul pouring rusty nails (scotch + Drambuie) for all.

Day two Team

Day two the began with the river dramatically rising as you can see on the graph below.

We experienced this rise real time and it was interesting to see it happen.  We couldn't really tell by rocks and shoals getting covered with water they were already well covered.  What noticed was a browning out of the water and alot of flotsam; sticks, a few logs in the main flow. 

Paul, Hen and I quickly made our way through the first mile of river and concentrated our attention where the river spread out under the large cliffs on the right.

Slow activity was the rule for the day and were thankfully interrupted by 3-4 fish here and there.  At about 1400 Paul got ahead of us and stayed ahead of Hen and I for the rest of the day and Hen and I enjoyed more and more success.  Hen lent me to a small popper which I fished on a 9'3" Orvis Graphite Spring Creek and had a blast.   Seeing smallies slash-up from the bottom and nail the popper was exhilarating.

Paul ended the day with some pontoon challenges in the final rapids and out of respect for his wife's nerves I'll leave that as a story untold. 

As the moon came up on our right and sun the sun fell below Massanutten Mtn the bass TURNED ON!   Henry was having success fishing the outflow shoulder of a rock eddy and called up to me.   I sat on my yak and floated down to him about 30' to his right about 50m above the beginning of the last rapid.  I stood on my yak and looked to join in Hen's success...OMG I caught bass on 14 straight casts and then caught 32 before I left the spot on probably 50 casts....amazing.  Hen caught a bunch as well but we theorized that perhaps I was presenting into a bass of bait fish the smallies were crashing.   By the time I was done Hen had moved downriver and was also pulling them out of slack water behind one of the bigger rock formations.   He fished till we couldn't see anymore as as he fought to the southern bank to get into his yak he disappeared in the dark!  We met about half way down the rapid and at that point were thankful for the high water to spirit us over the rocks.

Red Dirt Rich

Dinner night 2 was so good it may turn into a tradition the salad complimenting the seared cowboy ribeyes and washed down with beer...damn it was good.

Day three was challenging from the start and though we caught our share we planned to be off the river by 1530 so we didn't fish the dusk again.

When your on the river you are sharing the river

Thanks for Reading

Knapp Creek 2013 ~ Awesome

Trusty Matt-tied Golden Retriever

Scott met Mark Mitchell in the store 2 years ago and last year Mark invited Scott to his home in Marlinton, WV for two days of fishing. Scott, being the good soul that he is (or maybe he just tolerates me ‘as a carry me out of the river insurance policy’) asked if I could tag along and so began the blessing which is Mark Mitchell and the gem of a stream (Knapp Creek) that flows beside his family home in Marlinton. Mark invited Scott (and I) again this past week and we jumped at the opportunity, you see, Mark stocks his limited access section of creek with rainbows whose purpose in life seems to be putting a permanent smile on all those lucky enough to fish there.

Scott and I had began the day in NOVA, then hit Dry River then made our way up and over another 4 ridge lines west into West Virginia and hit Knapp Creek at 1530. Being familiar with the creek from last year’s adventure we waded the horseshoe ending up at Mark’s home racing the darkening shadows that chased us as the sun disappeared over the ridge and the cool November air turned cold. The river cobble & slate-slab creek was gin clear and 6-8 inches lower than we remembered it channelizing the rainbows in identifiable pools and runs. We began picking up 13-14 inch rainbows in the first pool and darkness settled before the bite stopped in an awesome late afternoon of fishing.

I used a recently tied golden retriever on a size 12/ 3x streamer hook for all the fish I caught. Scott had equal enjoyment using an old Orvis family heirloom bamboo fly rod his dad won in a New Hampshire fishing tournament in 1964. Its full flex action gave him some casting exercise and required a Paul Bunyan sized hook set, but he didn’t seem to care as he brought in the trout... old school fishing tackle.

4 pools above Mark’s house at the upper honey hole on the straightaway I hooked into a 21” 5 lb rainbow that has etched a permanent grin on my face. Thanks Mark! He was so big that I couldn’t hold him with two hands and had to press him against my breadbasket to restrain him for the obligatory trophy picture. After the sun set we ate at a local diner (Dorries …have the hot roast beef sandwich) and retired to Mark’s for MNF a warm fire and a few beverages. Tuesday morning began with coffee and another run of the horseshoe. Scott’s luck, good on the first day, was even better the second and using a familiar Orvis Access 4wt and a white wolly bugger began an

epic 5 hour stretch of rainbow success. I switched later to white buggers when it was apparent that they were the ticket but the big fish and numbers on day two belonged to Scott. By my count he had 2 +18 inch trout and another one that was every bit as big as my monster (20"+) a day earlier. Funny – I tried to net two of his fish and my net was too small -- even curved/folded over the net wouldn’t hold these monsters! True to form (when we’re lucky) we both caught a fish on our final casts and scaled the river at Mark’s house concluding an unforgettable two day span of fishing.

Scott's river monster ~ Jeremy would be proud!