The Bonefish Flat: Jonesin For the Pull Part 2

Welcome to The Bonefish Flat

There's a stiff wind in your face as you squint in the sun trying to see what the guide sees. "Bonefish at 12 o'clock about 90 feet, do you see it, mon?" You don't and keep squinting, your hat pulled low to keep the sun out of your eyes. "Bonefish at 11 o'clock 70 feet out. Come on man, do you see it?" As the guide is calmly shifting the skiff into position, this time you spot the fish, "I got, it," you reply.

"OK, Mon, Bonefish 50 feet at 10 o'clock. Cast when you're ready."

Cast when you're ready. And with that you drop your fly, roll out a cast, false cast once, and then...

Welcome to the bonefish flat.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Jonesin For the Pull Part 2

Day 3

“I’m Stan. Stan the Man,” said our fishing guide Stanley Glinton as we prepared for our day fishing.Stan is the head guide at North Riding Point Club, which is located 20 miles east of Freeport down the Grand Bahamas Highway.

The North Riding Point Club is a fantastic resort located on a beautiful, secluded property right on the beach. Last year, we fished with Captain Bully, creator of the famed “Bully Fly.” This year we fished with Captain Stan.

Stan likes to wade for bones and this is a big difference from fishing from the boat. Fishing from the boat gives you a height advantage on the fish so you can see a lot further out in the water. It also gives the guide a bigger field of view.

Stan trailored the boat down the Grand Bahamas Highway East from North Riding Point. We launched at a secret location and made about a 20 to 30 minute run before Stan said put on your boots.

The upside of wading is that if you’re fishing with a partner, you get to continuously fish whereas fishing from the boat you have to take turns. Wading also allows you the opportunity to fish water that is shallower and more protected. This was very helpful while fishing in winds blowing 10 to 20 mph.

I should point out here that the wind was really blowing making the conditions very difficult. We had a couple of difficult shots early that we missed and then the fishing got a little slow. About two hours after we started wading, dad hooked the first fish and got the proverbial “skunk off the boat.” Soon after, I hooked into a nice 4 lbs. er fish with Stan Man’s help. A shark decided to swim right between Stan and I at a distance of about 10 feet.

Sharks indicate that the food chain is at work on a flat. No sharks or rays or turtles, you probably won’t find bonefish either. We continued to fish for the next couple hours and finally had lunch about 3:00.After lunch, the wind kept blowing so we headed back toward the truck.

I was feeling a little discouraged at this point, I must admit. The wind was blowing a gale. Wading can be tough. And our next day was calling for more wind. Then, Stan Man powered down the boat and looked at my dad and I. “Let’s try one more flat,” he said.

This lifted my spirits. We got out and I pulled on my mask and put my bonefish game face on.

Not long after we started wading, I had a 40-foot shot into the wind at a fish. I took it and nailed a cast hooking up to a nice fish. He took off across the flat burning line and pulling me well into my backing. I soon landed what would be one of, if not my biggest, fish of the trip. This was a 7 lbs toad that was a great fish.

My dad had the next shot and shortly after I released my fish, he was on to a small group of fish. He made a great cast and landed another pig of a fish that took him well into his backing too. He hung in there and landed his biggest fish of the trip.

Even though we had a tough day, it was a good day. We fought the elements and landed two big fish.We persevered, and our guide persevered and gave us some extra time, to get us fish.

We loaded up and headed back to the boat each of us with big smiles on our face.