First bonefish experience (Eleuthera, Bahamas)

[Oregonism]

So, after much research, debating and resource gathering, I finally made it down to the Bahamas and caught myself a bonefish. Some probably remember the few threads I posted about what gear and flies to use. I also caught it on a fly I tied, which is the first fish I've ever caught on my own fly, so that was rewarding as well. I haven't had a guide or anything, and it finally took me talking to some other fisherman to get it down.

I've probably casted at a few hundred or more fish so far, but it took me up until a few days ago to get the retrieve down. This might be useful for people planning on coming to Eleuthera to fish: slow, short and jerky strips with pink flies seems to work the best. Since I've figured that out, I've caught one and hooked into a few others and gotten a few other bites, just in the last two days. I've been using mainly pink crazy charlies tied on #4 stainless hooks and they seem to like those. I also hooked into a heftier fish on a #4 white gotcha that stripped me well into my backing and then spit the hook.

The one fish I caught was probably about 16 inches and gave me two pretty good runs. The rumors are certainly true, these fish fight surprisingly hard for their size. The little 3 pounder I caught was probably comparable to a 10lb steelhead.

For those interested in fishing Eleuthera, it's probably one of the cheaper places to fish for bonefish (aside from some spots in central America, probably). Most of the good flats are accessible on foot and you can drive right up to them, without a guide and the fish are easy to spot on the sandy bottom. The key spots I've seen a lot of fish have been Savannah Sound, but the fish are spooky and picky because it gets fished by all the guides and Governors Harbour, which has a whole lot of fish that are surprisingly easy to approach at times. Governours Harbour actually had some nice fish coming in on the falling tide to feed right near the shore, with a couple likely in the 8lb range. I had a lot of fish actually follow my fly for quite a ways there, but I was retrieving too fast and all they did was follow. I am currently in Gregory Town which has a little cove that is just loaded with bones. I fished for about a half hour yesterday in the cove, had a few bites and one positive hookup. I also saw a massive school of fish (300+) up on the flats near the town of Current, but didn't fish them.

Sorry for the novel, I'm just excited because I'm fulfilling a lifelong dream by fishing these wonderful fish.

[EugeneFisher]

Awesome! I can't tell you how jealous I am (and excited!), sitting here in my office in Tualatin looking at the dreary weather. Enjoy your time in the Bahamas and save a few bones for the rest of us!

[AndyK]

Thanks for the story and update.

Bonefish are surprisingly powerful. The first one I ever hooked I palmed my reel to slow it down and promptly broke it off.

[Oregonism]

Originally Posted by AndyK

Thanks for the story and update.

Bonefish are surprisingly powerful. The first one I ever hooked I palmed my reel to slow it down and promptly broke it off.

Yeah, I'm learning very quickly have to fight powerful fish. Saltwater fish are crazy.

The first fish I hooked into this trip was I think a "Tully" or something. They are these fish with neon blue backs, probably around 5-8lbs that cruise around the flats in schools at about 15-20mph destroying everything in their path. I was just messing around, practicing my cast while my wife was hand lining with some bait (the local method of catching dinner) and I saw a school the them coming and like ten of them just bombarded my fly. One hooked up and I've never felt anything that furious on the end of my line. I had him for probably 5 seconds before he took off, I didn't react fast enough and let him start pulling line off the reel, and he snapped my 13lb tippet like a wet noodle. My line snapped out of the water straight into my face and I yelled "Sweet Jesus!" at the top of my lungs because I thought I was about to have my teeth shattered by a weighted clouser.

I'm quickly learning that freshwater fishing will seem quite boring after this, lol. I am absolutely loving sight fishing as well... regardless of how very frustrating it can be.

[kigercreek]

Isn't it great?! I found myself reliving my two trips to the Abacos, Bahamas chasing bonefish while I read your post. It does take patience, and getting the right 'strip' down is difficult, especially when you hear a week later that the fast retrieve may just do the job. As a friend of mine, a bonefishing guide for many years, told me, "you never know what kind of retrieve they want, but when you find it, you'll know!"

And, yep, taking a new specie of fish on your own fly just escalates the excitement!

Can't wait to get back myself. Enjoy it for all of us envious readers!!

[the flyman]

Bonefish, you've got my attention! I read all I can about them. So you are getting fish to follow your fly, and they are curious. Stop stripping and let the fly sit as if its trying to hide from a predator, the current will give it just a lttle movement, and that may be enough to encourage a take. If that doesn't work go to a smaller fly, same color same style. Leader. Fluorocarbon nothing more that 10#. use a mono-loop knot to attach the fly. More action great strength. Heres the best hint of all. Midcurrent.com is loaded with information, plus get your hands on Chico Fernandez book, "Flyfishing for Bonefish", it will change the way you fish for bones. I could go on and on but his book will describe it better than I can, good luck , sting one for me.

[Oregonism]

I've only got one day left on the island and I keep getting thwarted by overly choppy water, and the tides aren't lining up very well either. I may take some more casts tomorrow, but it might rain so I may have to just settle for my single fish.

Oh well, I'm excited to come back and gun for steelhead again.

[Califbill]

Do a report on where you stayed and ate, costs, etc. When you get home. One of my bucket list places.

[the flyman]

I'll be waiting for that post also, I fish the Yucatan pennisula, but I'm always interested in other places. Safe travels

[TillamookChinook]

Great thread. Good to know I'm not the only one who tries to figure it out on his own, even in exotic waters. Good on ya for catching some. Post some pics when you get back.

TC

[Oregonism]

Originally Posted by Califbill

Do a report on where you stayed and ate, costs, etc. When you get home. One of my bucket list places.

I've got another solid three hours in the Las Vegas airport en route home, I could probably do that now.

I think, aside from maybe the Yucatan this place might be one of the less expensive places that you can go bonefishing. You can find much, much cheaper food and lodging in Mexico, but I'm certain how accessible the fishing is.

Here is the low down on Eleuthera though, and probably the cheapest way to do it. If you don't want to rent a car, which will run you a solid $50 a day, plus $5 a gallon for gas, your best bet is to just stay in Governor's Harbor. The cheapest you will find lodging on most of the Island is about $80 a night, $50 if you get lucky. There is one couple that rents out a really nice apartment with a kitchen and AC for that much, but I'm not sure they advertise. Food can be very expensive if you don't watch where you eat. Some of the places geared towards the locals can be very cheap (you can get out for $6 a meal or so), but most other places are a minimum of $20/person per meal or so. You also need to buy bottled water, so keep that in mind. Beer is also really expensive, so drinking rum is a good bet to save money.

The best thing though, is once you have a car, if you get one, you can get to a huge number of flats. Some hold a lot of fish, and some are barren. I visited a couple great looking flats expecting to have a killer day of fishing unpressured fish. But, there are no fish at all, it's weird.

If you stay in Governors Harbor, just hit up the two bays right there, the Harbor and Anchor Bay. Both have a ton of fish. I also read that Balara bay, directly north about a mile or two (literally the next bay north of town), is pretty good. Supposedly good bonefishing, baby tarpon and supposedly even tuna and other species. I never got a chance to check it out. But, you could easily just stay in town, have easy access to the amenities (banks are VERY rare, only two on the island), and have fish a short walk from where your staying.

If you have a car, there is of course Savannah sound, which gets a lot of pressure, but has a ton of fish. The flat at the Governor's Harbor Airport is supposedly good, but I never did find the good entrance to it. I think it's right behind the old "Dump" sign... there is a little trail that goes down behind the runway and to the flat. I also so an enormous school of fish way up by the town of Current, which has an absolutely huge flat right near the boat ramp. Probably the biggest I've seen and looked relatively unfished. Basically all the flats up that direction get very little pressure, whereas Harbor Island on the other side sees a whole lot of wealthy tourists, and therefore a lot of fly fisherman.

If one were on a really, really tight budget, you are allowed to camp on most of the island from what I hear. In addition to that, it's really, really easy to hitchhike basically anywhere on the island. We spent our last week hitching and it only posed a problem once, because we went to a really out of the way beach. We basically just had to walk a couple miles.. no biggie. Tickets from Portland to Nassau are really cheap all things considered (got ours for $500), and then it's another $160 to the island, round trip. I bet a hardcore budget traveler could do the whole trip for like $1200 if it was just one person for a few weeks. That's probably about as cheap as a bonefishing trip could get.

For tackle and approach, like I said before, Crazy charlies in pink, tan or white and some white crab patterns would do the trick. Cast well in front of them, leading them, wait until they get close and use short, 2 inch, jerky strips. With crab patterns, just lightly twitch them. If you cast to close and spook a fish or a school, just move on. They won't touch anything after that. Sometimes they just bolt and vanish, other times they just obviously jerk and slowly move away. Both times, you lost your chance. The last place I stayed, there was a school of probably a hundred or more fish that would come into this little cove every day and I'd try and fish them. The first time, I had one on pretty quickly, but every try after that failed. I had trouble gauging the distance because I was in about 3.5ft of water, and I'd spook them nearly every time when my fly plopped into the water or something else would spook them. It was hugely frustrating and I finally gave up and just enjoyed the absolutely amazing beaches on Eleuthera. I've been to some of the best beach destinations in the world, and this place blows them out of the water. Gorgeous pink sands and no people!

Hope that helps.

[Oregonism]

Oh, and a couple more things...

Some flats are only good on incoming tides. I noticed this distinctly at Savannah sound, where you'd see very few fish until the tide started coming in... once it did you'd see a good number of tailing fish. Just beware, there is usually a good amount of wind and I saw three different sharks in one day.

The flats at Governor's can be fished pretty much all the time, as long as your able to sight fish. I noticed that a lot of lunkers would get very close to the beach at around high tide, so keep an eye out for that. I talked to another fisherman who gauged some of them at like 8lbs or so, so decent fish for sure.

If the weather is windy on one side of the Island, it's possible the other side might be a little calmer, but this isn't always the case. I had a few days where the Caribbean side was unfishable because it was so choppy, and then others where it was glass. Also, if there is a full moon, the fish won't feed the day after. I've even read that the day before and the day after will both be poor days of fishing, so be aware of that. I caught that one of the days I was in GH and was really disappointed, because they other days I had there were the best days of fishing.