David Siskind | Sunday, 23 February 2025
It’s my last night of my bonefishing vacay. I’m in Nassau and catching a plane back to Los Angeles in the morning. My lodging, meals, local travel to Acklins Island, and fishing services were arranged by Getaway Tours based in Denmark. A shout out to them and Bane’s Top Choice Bonefish Lodge. They provided a great learning experience. I was the only American in our group. The seven other fishers and the tour leader were from northern Europe. There were five from Denmark, and one each from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. They were capable fishers all and delightful gentlemen. My concern about their reaction to an American in the age of Trump, proved unfounded. We’re all fishing on muddy flats and losing our balance. It stinks.
I was attracted to Getaway’s offer of a curated experience. Bo (Beau?), the tour leader, had fished the Acklins flats for five years and sent each of four pairs of fishers out to places we could get to by car, or kayak, armed with good advice. Every other day one pair would go out with a guide to more remote areas. A good plan well executed. While I love guided fishing and always learn a ton, I was hoping to test and improve my Bonefish knowledge, fish spotting, and casting skills. We didn’t catch a lot of fish but no one was disappointed.
My best learned lessons were:
- Backhand casting skills are very important. Going out there like a tennis player favoring forehands, adds stress and saps joy. Learn to love wind.
- Bonefish can be very wary. A loud belch (mine) spooked the largest fish I saw. Noisy wading turned big groups 100’ away.
- Cloud cover makes it easier to see tailers and nervous water. It pays to occasionally take off Polaroids on bright days to look around.
- Falling on your ass on a muddy flat is easy and not to be feared.
- Walk, walk, walk and eventually fish will appear.
A casting note: Elvis (the guide I fished with) combines two forward casts when the wind is on his right shoulder - one to the back target (Paul A’s bell) and turning around to punch one over his left shoulder toward the fish. I tried it and found it more awkward than pointing my shoulder and casting backhand. But it’s something to try.
To my new buddies. I’ll miss you.