Bahama Bones

A few years back my dad went on a solo trip to Grand Bahama’s East End for a few days of Bone fishing. He had a magical few days and landed over 20 fish. Not bad for a first timer. Excited to get back, he invited me to join. A generous offer since it meant half the fishing for him. When you bone fish in the flats, one angler stands on the front of a flat bottom boat while the guide poles through the shallows, spotting fish from a stand above the outboard engine. One fisherman at a time. Rather than the East End, we stayed in Freeport and were trailered to a ramp on the NW side of the island with H2O Bonefishing. We saw tons of fish over our first few days there but were able to only hook into two. A very disappointing and tough nut to swallow for two people who consider themselves above average anglers. Presentation, strip, wind, clouds, sharks, turtles etc. So many things had to go just right to get these fish to chase. They were spooky as hell and it was difficult. By the end of day four, I was pretty leveled, how could we face another day of the skunk? I was sure I was learning valuable life lessons with my dad, I just couldn’t quite figure out what they were. Thankfully our final day proved a productive one. We got our hands on several feisty fish, and the memories of that day will no doubt overshadow the angling lows of repeated skunking.

Looking for these feisty devils on the North Side of Grand Bahama

A whole new approach to fishing

From the air – this is what prime fishing looks like

Speeding out across the flats

Guide Devon working our way along a shoreline

These big daddys are lurking everywhere

Moving from spot to spot

Dad up front looking to hook into something

Always at attention, ready to cast

Fly in hand waiting for go-time

Fish spotted, game on – maybe?

We spotted a big barracuda and pulled out the spin rig to see if we could get it to take

Getting tired and ready to come in 

Those lurkers are opportunistic fish, you can see the shark chasing the barracuda 

Fish at the boat

And it's a mean looking prehistoric beast

Watch your fingers

Good fish pops

Back at it for the bones

Casting to a school

Chasing a bone through the mangrove

Hard to forget about tthese guys

Cast to a big school with big fish, but only managed this little guy

Out of the boat on the hunt

Tails spotted

Fish on!

Once they run, they scream!

Getting that hog in

Good bone, dad

Another fun little fighter

Dad back up front hooked up again

Another nice one

Got that good fish smell – a great trip