Sunday, April 29, Jackfish Channel, South Andros at anchor.
Sunday, April 29, Jackfish Channel, South Andros at anchor. The main road down south on Andros ends at Mars Bay. In the 20 miles below Mars Bay there are no inhabited structures on Andros. Any prudent mariner all the way to the southern tip of Andros into the Coulter and Water Cays should be self sufficient and have built redundancy into all critical systems. As such, we would fail the prudent mariner definition but we headed south anyway in search of adventure and big stupid fish. When planning is not one’s strength, bring lots of duct tape.
As dawn broke on Sunday morning we surveyed the Andros barrier reef, third longest in the world, for a small channel through to the inside. There are several approaches to the Coulter Cays for boats drawing less than 5 feet. The Ocean Princess drawing 5.5 feet pushes the limit on many of these approaches, including the one we chose, just south of North Rock. A few bumps later, we were tucked into our anchorage in Jackfish Channel and preparing for our first day on the flats.
Having secured our anchorage and stored sand, more importantly, our fishing gear broken out, we started the all too fun process of running through our pre-fish preparations. Having towed a Carolina skiff rigged for bone fishing, we added to the fishing fleet by lowering the Mitzi Craft from the Ocean Princess topside. Rods were assembled; reels attached and checked; fresh leaders attached; and flies selected for their fish-catching certainty. With topping off skiffs with gas, grabbing pushpoles and last application of sunscreen, we were off.
We ran up Jackfish Channel into the keys and started our search for south Andros bonefish. We were surrounded by flats in every direction. Huge flats, some with marl and some with bright sand, pulled at our impulse to stop and fish. We fought the urge and sought to get more of a feel of where we were and, more to the point, where the fish might be. Winging around one key, we came to another flat, and this one just looked too good. We came off the plane, pulled up the motors and started to pole. Sure enough, there was a school of mixed-size bones marching toward us. Eric was given the honors of first shot and he whipped a few casts out to the school. Sure enough, he had a take but, in his excitement, he set the hook too vigorously and popped the fly off in the fish. He quickly tied on another fly and Ben poled him back to the school. This time, he worked the presentation just fine and he was on. With a two and a half pound bonefish in the skiff, we were now in the game.
Sport fishing in general and bonefishing in particular are filled with dogma and anthropormorphisms. For example, I have often heard that "Bonefish move on to flats on the flood to feed and out with the ebb to avoid being trapped by falling water." Although this statement in particular seems to have some face validity predicting movements and locations of fish is usually mythological. After all they call it fishing, not catching. The numbers of variables that potentially could affect fish behavior are almost infinite: tide stage, tidal flow, tidal range, wind, water temperature, time of day, lighting, underwater topography, and food availability to name a few. I have stood on countless flats that had previously produced fish in conditions that looked perfect to me, waiting through several tide changes for fish to arrive. I have been offered and have offered explanations for the "no shows" but I must now humbly submit that I don't have a clue. This said, I will gladly fish with those of you who claim to know what you are doing. For some, I've come to believe that they actually conjure up fish. But, for the rest of us mortals, it’s a portion of strategy and a dose of good fortune.
In fact, we have found bonefish in most every venue we have scoured - just not every spot at every time. It seems every more clear that it's not just where you try to ambush bonefish but when you fish them. Tidal situation means everything when fishing bonefish. We're seeing a clear pattern of bonefish staging in a particular flat just prior to the respective tidal change. Anticipating that and positioning yourself accordingly makes all the difference. When you do that just right, you own the fish for 60 - 90 minutes and then it's over. This is truly angling, not merely fishing.
As dawn broke on Sunday morning we surveyed the Andros barrier reef, third longest in the world, for a small channel through to the inside. There are several approaches to the Coulter Cays for boats drawing less than 5 feet. The Ocean Princess drawing 5.5 feet pushes the limit on many of these approaches, including the one we chose, just south of North Rock. A few bumps later, we were tucked into our anchorage in Jackfish Channel and preparing for our first day on the flats.
Having secured our anchorage and stored sand, more importantly, our fishing gear broken out, we started the all too fun process of running through our pre-fish preparations. Having towed a Carolina skiff rigged for bone fishing, we added to the fishing fleet by lowering the Mitzi Craft from the Ocean Princess topside. Rods were assembled; reels attached and checked; fresh leaders attached; and flies selected for their fish-catching certainty. With topping off skiffs with gas, grabbing pushpoles and last application of sunscreen, we were off.
We ran up Jackfish Channel into the keys and started our search for south Andros bonefish. We were surrounded by flats in every direction. Huge flats, some with marl and some with bright sand, pulled at our impulse to stop and fish. We fought the urge and sought to get more of a feel of where we were and, more to the point, where the fish might be. Winging around one key, we came to another flat, and this one just looked too good. We came off the plane, pulled up the motors and started to pole. Sure enough, there was a school of mixed-size bones marching toward us. Eric was given the honors of first shot and he whipped a few casts out to the school. Sure enough, he had a take but, in his excitement, he set the hook too vigorously and popped the fly off in the fish. He quickly tied on another fly and Ben poled him back to the school. This time, he worked the presentation just fine and he was on. With a two and a half pound bonefish in the skiff, we were now in the game.
Sport fishing in general and bonefishing in particular are filled with dogma and anthropormorphisms. For example, I have often heard that "Bonefish move on to flats on the flood to feed and out with the ebb to avoid being trapped by falling water." Although this statement in particular seems to have some face validity predicting movements and locations of fish is usually mythological. After all they call it fishing, not catching. The numbers of variables that potentially could affect fish behavior are almost infinite: tide stage, tidal flow, tidal range, wind, water temperature, time of day, lighting, underwater topography, and food availability to name a few. I have stood on countless flats that had previously produced fish in conditions that looked perfect to me, waiting through several tide changes for fish to arrive. I have been offered and have offered explanations for the "no shows" but I must now humbly submit that I don't have a clue. This said, I will gladly fish with those of you who claim to know what you are doing. For some, I've come to believe that they actually conjure up fish. But, for the rest of us mortals, it’s a portion of strategy and a dose of good fortune.
In fact, we have found bonefish in most every venue we have scoured - just not every spot at every time. It seems every more clear that it's not just where you try to ambush bonefish but when you fish them. Tidal situation means everything when fishing bonefish. We're seeing a clear pattern of bonefish staging in a particular flat just prior to the respective tidal change. Anticipating that and positioning yourself accordingly makes all the difference. When you do that just right, you own the fish for 60 - 90 minutes and then it's over. This is truly angling, not merely fishing.
posted by Uptown Angler at
8:52 AM
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