Friday, May 13, 2016

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





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