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Bonefishing 101 Reminder

andrew — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:53 +0000

The desired outcome. Photo: Louis Cahill

Hey anglers, if you haven’t already, you should have a look at our free Bonefishing 101 guide.

Just in case you missed the memo, we thought we’d give a friendly reminder! It’s a 10 page PDF file full of quick tips on the fundamentals of bonefishing. It’s free, and it’s delivered via email. Simple.

If you want to learn about the ready position, spotting bonefish, casting on the flats, setting the hook and fighting bonefish, you should click right here to get your free copy today.

Have fun out there.

Hooked Up

andrew — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:00:46 +0000

A very nice place to be. Photo: Louis Cahill

Just a little reminder of what it looks like to be hooked up to a bonefish, on a beautiful day, on a beautiful flat on Andros Island.

Backing for Bonefish

andrew — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:00:35 +0000

Obligatory spinning reel shot. Photo: Louis Cahill

A recent conversation with a fellow ‘angling professional’ brought to light the fact that there are lots of different opinions out there when it comes to backing and flats fishing.

Some overriding backing philosophies that come to mind are

Use whatever you can fit more of on the reel
Use whatever is simplest
Use whatever is strongest
Use a combination of materials, for various and sundry reasons.

What Kind of Backing Do You Use for Bonefish? Why?

We’re curious as to how you rig your bonefishing reels with backing, and we want you to leave us a comment and let the world know.

We’ll start. Your humble editor prefers plain old boring 30# dacron backing, preferably in a hi-vis color like yellow. It’s plenty strong, and its simplicity gives some peace of mind. It’s nice to be able to see the backing easily if the light is funky.

OK, now it’s your turn. Leave us a comment and let us know what kind (or kinds) of backing you use when you’re bonefishing and why! NOTE: If you’ve viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to leave a comment on our web site.

Three Reasons to Plan a Bonefishing Trip Today

andrew — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:00:07 +0000

Exhibit A: The view from your editor's house today

Bonefishing is really fun. It’s like hunting with a fly rod, in one of the warmest, most beautiful places on the planet.
It’s an easy trip. Easy travel to the Bahamas, any length trip, starting any day!
Kindly compare Exhibit A above with Exhibit B below. How’s your view today?

Exhibit B: Your view at Andros South

Photo Haiku Winner

andrew — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:00:58 +0000

It's a picture of our web site on our web site.

Congrats to Matt Smythe

His barracuda haiku

was the best, we think.

(It’s a haiku about a haiku.)

What?

Last week we started our first photo haiku contest – we invited our readers to write in the haiku format about the picture you see above. You folks knocked the cover off the ball – we had more than 50 entries that included some fantastic creativity and humor!

The short list consisted of a half dozen fantastic entries, but at the end of the day Matt Smythe’s haiku won. Here are his 17 syllables…

two hands of angry
and a good mouthful of cork–
diff’rent worlds, same bite

You might say Matt has an unfair advantage – he writes an incredible blog called fishingpoet. This is not your usual online fishing writing – we are to fishingpoet what the New York Post is to Hemingway. You should check it out.

Thank You!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated. You blew us away, and we had a lot of fun with it.

Photo Haiku Contest

andrew — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:00:14 +0000

Two poetry fans. Photo: Louis Cahill

And once again it’s contest time here on the Deneki Outdoors blog! Golly, another chance to win yourself a free t-shirt.

Rules

Post a comment to this page containing a haiku about the Louis Cahill photo above. You know how to write a haiku, right? First line – 5 syllables. Second line – 7 syllables. Third line – 5 syllables. No rhyming required.
Multiple entries are allowed.
On Tuesday, January 17th we’ll pick what we deem to be the best entry, and we’ll send that author a free Ed Hepp-designed bonefish t-shirt. We’ll announce the winner on Wednesday the 18th.
Only comments on this page count – if you’re reading this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to submit your entry.
May the best poet win.

Past Contests

Nice Fish, Gary

andrew — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:00:44 +0000

Well done. Photo: Gary Berenson

Gary Berenson is a really good friend of ours. Nothing warms our hearts like a really good friend with a really good fish.

South Andros produces, again. Nice fish, Gary.

Always Be Ready!

andrew — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:00:35 +0000

This angler is ready. Photo: Cameron Miller

When you’re on the flats fishing for bonefish, your target species is constantly swimming around. Yes, there are certain areas where you’re most likely to see fish, but you really never know when one is going to swim by.

Why not maximize your chances by always being ready? Yeah, that’s a really simple point, but if you think about how you spend your time on the flats, over the course of a fishing day you can add quite a few minutes when you’re ‘in the game’. Here’s what we mean.

When You’re On Foot

As soon as you hop out of the boat, strip off a reasonable amount of line. Get about a rod length of fly line out your rod tip and grab your leader. At this point you’ve got a chance if a fish swims by. Now, you can adjust your shoelaces and put your camera in your pocket and tell your buddy a joke and maybe even relieve yourself if necessary. Guess what – you just gained a couple of minutes of being in the game!

The same thing applies when you’re walking back to the boat – you never know when you’re going to see one. Don’t reel up your line unless you’re just about to hop in the boat and motor off. Why pass on 10 minutes of potential shots?

When You’re In the Boat

Guess what – same idea! Once the guide cuts the motor and hops up on the platform, the first thing you should do is have one angler step up onto the bow, strip off line and get the fly and leader sorted out. Only after you’ve got an angler ready should you get out the ‘cuda rod, crack open a Kalik, sort through your flies, clean off your glasses and apply more sunscreen.

…and you’ve probably figured out our last piece of advice. When you’re in the boat, stay ready until you’re just about to fire the engine and drive off.

More ‘ready time’ equals more fish.

More Bonefishing Tips

Another Reason We Love the Bahamas

andrew — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Andros South guests looking stressed at the boat launch. Photo: Louis Cahill

It’s really, really mellow.

More Reasons

Andros Trip Report from Gabe Nyblad

andrew — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:00:23 +0000

Nice one, Gabe!

Gabe Nyblad is a fantastic guide and a good buddy of ours. We’ve been working on him to join us at Andros South for a few years now, and he finally made it down earlier this month.

We always love getting perspective on our operations from other folks in the industry, so we talked Gabe out of a quick report on his trip.

Thanks, Gabe! You can check out Gabe’s web site right here.

Gabe’s Report from Andros South

I decided to take a little exploratory vacation between the Michigan and Florida seasons to South Andros Bahamas. Jay Daly and myself were warmly welcomed to Andros South Lodge by hosts Chris and B as well as some great Bahamian staff and friendly fishermen.

We had four days of phenomenally good bonefishing. We had non-stop shots on bonefish, landed at least double digits and put some bruisers to the boat everyday. We fished the creeks on the West Side of the island the first three days because it is protected and not affected by the 15-25 mph winds.

The last day we fished the South side of the island and our guide Torrie took us into a awesome little creek with tailing bonefish everywhere, then into a open area with some incredible wade fishing and ended the day on the open water side where we saw the biggest fish of the trip as well as some huge schools!

The South Andros flats were just like you see in the magazines – crystal clear, bright bottom, hundreds of mangrove islands and endless water to fish. The lodge was located on the ocean, with clean rooms, delicious Bahamian cuisine, fully stocked oceanside Tiki Bar and relaxed friendly staff.

The four day, five night vacation wasn’t nearly long enough, but I hope to be back again soon.