Where does one find 700 islands, most of which are surrounded by shallow water flats?

Where does one find bonefish that average an honest 2 1⁄2 - 4 pounds? Where does one find the best chances on Earth to hook a bonefish over 8 pounds? The answer to all of these questions is The Bahamas. This island nation is as close as 50 miles to the US shoreline. It extends over 500 miles and covers nearly 100, 000 square miles of territory. Major islands in the group can be accessed directly from the US with just a short flight. Even from California, it is a one day trip to some of the best bonefish lodges of the Bahamas. Some of the out-islands might require a flight out of Nassau on a once or twice weekly schedule. With groups of four or more, charter flights are very reasonable from Ft Lauderdale or Miami.

While the prime season is October through May, the summer and early fall offer some spectacular opportunities for bones, permit, tarpon, barracuda and some hot, off-shore fishing for tuna, dolphinfish and many others. So they are fishable year around.

The size of the islands range from tiny islets you could cast over to the largest, which is Andros, covering 2300 square miles in over a hundred miles from tip to tip. It is actually made up of several islands with the largest being North Andros, South Andros and Mangrove Cay. They stretch from 20 to 27 degrees north latitude. The name Bahama, however, refers not to the islands, but to the water surrounding them. It is a derivation of the Spanish term “Baja-Mar” – Shallow seas, otherwise known to anglers as flats. There are thousands of square miles of ankle to knee-deep water surrounding several of the easily accessible islands of the Bahamas within a short flight from Ft Lauderdale, Florida. There are dozens of quality lodges and hundreds of experienced guides scattered throughout them. It would seem that it could be very competitive for a decent shot at bonefish, but it just is not that way. Consider, for instance, if every one of the major lodges on Andros Island was at capacity at the same time (which never happens), there would be at least 125 anglers casting the flats. But with nearly 900 square miles of shallow, fishable water surrounding the island, that’s more than 7 square miles of fishing per angler per day.

The weather is the key to successful fishing in the Bahamas as it is for most sight fishing on the flats. This is not a general, catch-all term. What it means is that on any given day of the year, the local weather (in the immediate vicinity of an area being fished) will mean more for seeing and hooking fish than any other single factor. Sure a good guide will tip the scales on marginal days, but good weather will provide good fishing for all. What is favorable weather? Most of all it is cloudless skies. This allows anglers and guides a clear view beneath the water’s surface to cruising fish. Clouds throw a veil over the waters surface and make it difficult to see beneath it but good guides and experienced anglers can still get plenty of shots with overcast skies. Now add wind. Intrinsically, wind is not necessarily bad. In fact, a flat calm day with clear blue skies can present a very difficult day of fishing. The fish can see an angler a long way off and they can be super spooky under these conditions. So be careful of what you wish for. Clear blue skies with a light breeze is perfect.

When heavy wind is present (20 mph or better) troubles are definitely in store for casting and sighting fish. Heavy winds and clouds or rain are the bane of all flats fishers. Cold fronts moving south and east out of Canada and the United States during the winter months are usually accompanied with heavy north winds and, possibly, clouds with rain. This can put bones off of the flats for a day or two while the cold front passes until the water covering warms up again in a few days over the flats. Just as fast as the fish can disappear, they will return to the flats with an empty stomach and ready to take anything that resembles food (say a # 4 Gotcha?). Cold fronts usually last no longer than a day or two (but occasionally longer), so during the winter, a longer stay at a destination (6 – 10 days)if possible, presents an excellent chance for some outstanding fishing.

Notice that nothing has been said of tides? It is not that they can’t be important, but more significant is the weather (wind, temperatures and clouds). A strong incoming tide can be neutralized with a strong opposing wind. All reputable guides and lodges can find good fishing during any tide phase. Certain individual fishing areas may not be available during a certain tide phase, but there will be another flat that will be perfect at that time. A lot of anglers like to plan for a rising tide during the morning and early afternoon. And if this coincides with good weather, fishing will probably be very good. But even this only lasts a few days because the tides appear an hour later (approximately) every day. So if the tide starts rising at 7:00 AM on Monday, it could be dead low tide and just starting to rise at 10:30 or 11:00 AM by Friday. So during a week’s stay at any of the lodges, you’ll be fishing all phases of the tide at all times of the day. Believe me, good guides and lodges in the Bahamas got that way because they can find fish at all water levels and at all tide phases. They never met a tide phase they didn’t like.

Good advice to all anglers is to schedule a trip with conditions that agree with their own convictions about the tides and moon. Some prefer heavy changes in water levels found during spring tides with the full and new moons. Others prefer even tides without much change in water levels between low and high tide and these can be found with neap tides between the full and new moons. It is always worth checking to see when a specific location is favorably fished in relation to the tides and moon. But don’t get overly reliant on just this factor alone. Any destination that has an abundance of flats available will be more versatile to adapt to weather and tides. All should remember the old saying “Any time you can go fishing is the best time.”

All of this being said, the different seasons offer different advantages and opportunities to planning a fishing trip. The heaviest fishing pressure in the Bahamas occurs during February, March and April. Followed closely by May and January. The safest months to fish there are March through May. This time frame is usually after the major cold fronts and before the heat of summer and the hurricane season. There are lots of fish on the flats and in some destinations, permit and tarpon are showing up and are available. January and February are also good times because it is a great time to look for winter relief of subfreezing temperatures and shoveling snow. Good weather during these months almost guarantees good fishing.

If you are targeting trophy bonefish (8 pounds and better), you cannot up your odds any better than scheduling a trip between November and February. This is the season of trophy Bonefish of a lifetime (double digit monsters) cruising the flats, comfortable in the cooler waters of winter time.

During the summer, June – September, the flats are nearly empty. Some lodges close up shop, but most are open. The waters heat up some during the summer, but early morning fishing can be outstanding with afternoons left to exploring other, deeper water for permit, tarpon or going out to blue water for tuna or dolphinfish. Some bonefish lodges are now offering this option for deep water fishing.
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You gotta love a country that thinks highly enough of bonefish to put it on one of their coins (ten cents piece). They realize how important anglers are to their economy and prove it with enthusiasm and service shown to its guests.
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Fishing tips

One of the advantages of fly fishing the Bahamas is the simplicity of assembling equipment to be successful. A very minimalist approach to equipment for fishing the flats there would be:

• An eight weight outfit with a floating tropical line
• 9 ‘ fluorocarbon leaders 12 and 16 pound test
• Tippet material in 10, 12 and 16 pound test fluorocarbon
• #4 and #6 Gotchas
• #6 and #2 Clousers
• #1 and 3/0 Deceivers.

Add to this very basic list some appropriate clothes and wading booties for the flats and some good sun glasses and you are ready. Honestly, one could do OK in most situations with these few items, but for a more complete and versatile equipment list read on.

For light wind conditions and/or small to medium bones, a number 7 outfit is a joy to use. For heavy winds, big flies and trophy bones, permit, barracuda or baby tarpon, a number 9 will push a big fly through the wind easier and it has the backbone to put the cork to big fish. If bigger tarpon, permit and barracuda are available, a 10 weight outfit would be perfect and then if you can fish the blue water, a deep-sea #11, #12 or #13 set up would be needed for some of the tuna, Dolphinfish and billfish. Line all of these rods with one of the newer saltwater, floating lines made for the tropics. They are far superior to lines of just 5 years ago. They cast faster, farther and straighter. They are almost tangle-free, require less cleaning and float higher on the water surface to provide easy drag-free lift off of the water. This, in turn, assures quicker cast response to cruising bones while wading. Distance is easier to attain and if a second cast is needed, pick up is easier to recast to a bone that has changed direction (as they always seem to do). Modern lines are a dream to cast compared to those of just a few years ago. There is nothing so maddening as wading the flats with line trailing behind that is IN or UNDER the water surface. It needs to ON the surface to facilitate quick easy casting. It is still a good idea to carry a good line cleaner and pay some attention to the line at time or two each day when it becomes “sticky” or starts to sink a little while trailing behind. Remembering to do this will guarantee flawless line performance.

The reels need to be saltwater safe, have a smooth drag and have sufficient capacity for the targeted fish. Luckily, most quality reels on the market today meet these requirements. 200 yards of backing is usually sufficient on the flats, especially if fishing from a boat. Wading in areas of large bones and/or permit, 200 – 300 yards of backing would be better and if deep water fishing, wind on 300 – 500 yds to be on the safe side.

The basic flats leader is 9 feet long and tapers to 12 pound test and is made of fluorocarbon. Trophy bones and permit will call for 16 to 20 pound test tippets and for smaller or super spooky bones and small flies use 10 or 8 pound test tippets. Several knotless tapered leaders in 12#, some in 16# and a few in 20# and tippet material in 8, 10, 12, 16 and 20 pound test will cover all flats situations. The fewer knots in a leader; the better. They have a habit of getting caught in the weeds or coral and can break off . For larger reef and deep water fish, take shock tippet material in monofilament or fluorocarbon in 40, 60 and 80 pound test and have 100 or 125 # if billfish are a possibility. Some great barracuda and shark fishing can be available so take wire bite tippet in 30 or 40 pound test.