ABACO BONEFISHING Pt 1: A NON-ANGLER’S SKIFF-VIEW – WHAT, HOW, WHERE & WHY?

October 5, 2012 by Rolling Harbour

BE NATURAL (YET SHARP) ON THE FLATS – PART 1

WHAT, HOW, WHERE AND WHY?

[I published the original of this post a year ago. I discovered that it had been put badly out of kilter by recent blog format change, so I have amended and to an extent updated it, with larger photos (NB the video was my first feeble foray). So yes, it’s a retread, which I rarely do; but I wasn’t tooled up with Facebook & Twitter then, and thankfully a couple more people now read this thing, so it possibly deserves a fresh outing. No? Well I’m doing it, regardless]

It’s 7.15 and breakfast time at Delphi. At 8.00 the trucks, skiffs, guides and fishers will set off to the fishing grounds for the day, leaving you with an empty beach, shells, warm sea, the pool, the hammock and your book. For the moment, the talk is of the excellent ‘Full Abaco’ breakfast, the weather, ‘Delphi daddies’ & ‘crazy charlies’ and someone’s mislaid reel. Sandy enters to announce that there’s a place free on your partner’s skiff… and offers it to you. So what should you, a non-angler, expect of a day out on the flats?

THE SKIFFS These are top-of-the range boats, capable of considerable speed getting out to the fishing grounds. The ride can be bumpy, splashy and even chilly in the early morning, so bring a fleece and a waterproof top. Camera? Essential. Here is a Delphi skiff on a sand bar in Cherokee Sound, parked for lunch and some quality conch and sand-dollar hunting. So for a start, the day isn’t ALL about fishing…

THE FISHING GROUNDS You will leave from one of three launch points and speed across the water to the bonefishing areas. The main one is “Nettie’s”, with access via a narrow man-made channel to the Marls…

… more than two hundred square miles of mangrove swamp, islets, channels and fish. The journey to Nettie’s may seem quite a long way as you bump along through the pine forest on a network of logging tracks. Watch out for small birds flickering all around as you pass.

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Launching a skiff at Nettie’s

Plans are hatchedGood to go…

Stowing gear in the front (forrard?) locker. There’s also one behind the seats for the lunch cool boxes. And the fuel…

The other two launch areas are Crossing Rocks (a short drive south of DCB) or Casuarina Point for Cherokee Sound (a slightly longer drive north of DCB)

The jetty at Crossing Rocks – skiffs being prepared

The launch point at Casuarina. A channel leads out to Cherokee Sound

Two boats in the channel – the authentic James Bond chase experience

WHAT’S THE POINT? Bonefishing! You’ve heard all the Club talk, you’ve seen your partner fussing over all those bits and pieces in your room: now see it in action. Once you get out to a fishing area, the guide cuts the engine… and suddenly you are being poled very slowly and almost noiselessly across the shallow flats

The guide stands on the platform at the back of the skiff, using the advantage of height to scan the shallow water; the fisher stands at the front looking tensely for grey shadows underwater, waiting for the magic words…

“…hey, bonefish, 10 o’clock, 4 of them moving right, 30 feet… see them?”

And it’s ‘game on’. This isn’t the place for a discourse about casting technique and style – I have neither (Sandy, of me: “Muppet”) – but I promise that you will get completely caught up in the excitement when a fish takes the fly and takes off towards the horizon, stripping the line and backing from the reel… (I realise the image above may suggest… well he’s just fishing, OK?)

THE QUARRY – grey ghosts below water, bars of silver above. Caught on the ‘fly’ which are in fact shrimp or crab imitations, with barbless hooks to make the chance of losing a fish that much greater… This ensures that a boated fish can be returned to the water as easily and quickly as possible. It’s all ‘catch and release’, though some (me) find that mostly the fish very sensibly self-release long before they ever reach the boat…

Abaco bonefish off Crossing Rocks (just caught and released)Guide Ishi with Abaco bonefish caught on the MarlsGuide Robin Albury removes the barbless hook before returning the fishA good specimen‘Ishi’s Fishy’, as he would say

All images, and indeed fish, ©RH

There is even the possibility that at some stage you may unexpectedly be handed a rod (even if you have never held one before, or wanted to) with ‘fish on’… Here, Robin has hooked a 2.5 lb fish and handed the rod to Mrs RH (then engrossed in eating a cheese roll) who successfully played and brought in her first ever fish…

PART 2 will deal with what else goes on during the day: the scenery, birdlife, sharks, turtles, blue holes and so forth. For now, here is a short clip of the skiff ride out to the Marls, to give you an idea. NB this was a very calm day – things can get a little bumpier and wetter at times. The seats are padded, but not very…

[Ultra-cautious music credit to Joe Satriani who sued Coldplay for alleged tune ‘borrowing’ saying “I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much”. Case dismissed + unspecified settlement… Way to go, Joe! Want to check? Cut ‘n’ paste this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjB024bZoB4&feature=fvwrel Then by way of counterbalance try John Lennon’s Imagine vs Coldplay’s ‘Fix you’ at (cut ‘n’ paste) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DksjpsAe3vk&feature=endscreen&NR=1]

CLICK LOGO for the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

HOOKED! A FANATICAL FISHERMAN’S WIFE TAKES TO THE BONEFISH FLATS

May 5, 2012 by Rolling Harbour

HOOKED! A FANATICAL FISHERMAN’S WIFE TAKES TO THE BONEFISH FLATS

I’m married to a Fanatical Fisherman. I have never shared his enthusiasm, though I have always loved the places where his fishing takes us. However the chance to spend two weeks at the Delphi Club Bahamas on Abaco every year has changed my perspective. This year I thought to myself (in non-fishing terminology, of course) ‘How about giving it a try?’

We waited for a day that was not windy and that would suit the FF’s own fishing convenience. One of the other guests was a kind and patient, not to say a highly eminent fisherperson and she gave me my first ever lesson on the lawn. With much encouragement I went forth. It was a lovely day with the sun beating down, so it was ‘sun block on and all parts covered’.

Skiffs on their way to the bonefishing grounds

We set out in the skiff and after an exhilarating ride we glided to a stop in shallow water. I sat enchanted for a moment, taking in the incredible beauty of the place. Guide Tony provided suitable footwear for me (his son’s); and the relative merits of a ‘Crazy Charlie or a ‘Delphi Special’ were debated. Soon I was wading on the flats, rod in hand. This was my first-ever experience of my husband’s lifetime obsession…

Poling to a good place for wading

Within minutes Tony pointed to a shoal of bonefish… I cast (in a manner of speaking)! I struck! I hooked! I played! And… I lost!

FISH ON!

But that was enough. From then on I was on a mission. I saw the ‘nervous water’ – great shoals of bonefish causing a subtle ripple 0n the surface of the water. When they turned and moved towards me I could hardly contain my excitement. I knew I had to tread carefully underfoot and to keep still as I cast. Silver flashes glinted in the sunlight as the fish started ‘tailing’.

Watch out for ‘Nervous Waters’

Meanwhile the sharks lazily circled us waiting for a chance to grab a prize before we could reel it in. I did hook another bone but it too managed to evade capture. And then suddenly the day was over. How did that happen? In the end I landed no fish but as the skiff sped back across the blue water I knew this was, for me, the start of something wholly absorbing. FF had better look to his laurels.

Lorna Jarman

(All illustrative photos by RH – Lorna was otherwise engaged!)