Brown Trout Delight » Bahama Fishing

The Second Bahamas Surprise

Bern — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:04:35 +0000

On my departure day Dan and I drove around the island photographing flowers for Lexi. I found a nice conch shell to smuggle home. All too soon I said good bye to Herman, Sydney, and all the friendly people I had met.

Dan took me to the airport where I waited several hours for a late plane. By the time I arrived in Fort Lauderdale my United flight to Atlanta was long gone.

After several hours of running from one ticketing counter to another without stopping to eat, I barely managed to catch a flight to Denver. After a long weary night in the airport I once again flew over the white snowy Montana mountains.

The silver bird put its flaps down and the wheels touched the runway. Lexi was waiting with a big smile. As we walked to the pickup I was greeted by wind and snow.

When we arrived in Ennis, Lexi said she had something to put together in the house before I could enter. Puzzled I waited in the pickup. The kitchen door opened and out came flying a black and white border collie pup.

Lexi smiled and said, “I named him Cosmo.”

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Fishing with the Hermanator

Bern — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:35:11 +0000

The final days of my trip we were to fish with the legendary Herman Bain, who had been on several ESPN sports programs. Dan called him the Hermanator because he loved high speeds in the boat.

We drove to Red Bay, a forty five minute car ride through thick pine forest to the north end of Andros Island. As soon as we put the boat in the water Herman had the motor on full throttle and we suddenly were skimming over the water at fifty miles per hour.

As we shot across the ocean I could see huge white clouds reflecting in Herman’s polarized sunglasses. Due to the cloud cover he decided it was too dark and we should go to the Jolters where it remained cloudless for the rest of the day.

Dan wanted to wade so Herman poled me around various mangrove islands. At the end of one island he pointed out a huge school of bonefish. There were so many fish the water was vibrating from all the fins.

Herman poled me slowly to easy casting distance. I handed Herman Dan’s huge fly box and he selected a pink sparkly Bonecrusher. I quickly tied it on and laid out a lone line in front of the school of fish. As the fish came closer I took a deep breath. Strip strip strip stop strip WHAM! I was into a nitro powered flats ghost!

Hundreds of bonefish surrounded the boat as the fish made a long run. By the time I landed the five pounder the other fish had vanished into distant green water.

In the afternoon the Yamaha made an alarming cough and came to a halt miles from our take out. The fuel filter was full of sediment. We put the anchor down so the tide would not pull us out to the big deep blue.

After looking through all our flypacks we found pliers that Herman used to bypass the filter. Soon we were once again going fifty miles per hour, which we were happy to see. I should mention that I noticed Dan brought his tool box on the next trip out in the boat.

Herman got out his magic cell phone and called Junior, the local marine mechanic. He told him about our clogged fuel filter problems and made an appointment to meet him at Stafford Creek the next morning.

When we arrived at the appointed time the next day, Junior was waiting with his assistant in a small red car that was vibrating with hot Bahamas music. Wearing orange reflective sunglasses and an outboard motor company hat, Junior pulled the motor cover off and started unscrewing wires and carburetor parts. He put them in a bucket of gas while his assistant cleaned them.

As Junior worked he said, “Ya know last week I tried that Cialis. Wow, oh wow! Hand me that screwdriver. Oh yeah, Cialis. I” put a gold star on the crown of the guy who invented that stuff. Look at all the dirt in this valve. Let’s clean it. Oh, Cialis, I’m back, baby!”

After an hour of motor work and Cialis talk amid roaring laughter, the Yamaha came back to life. We gave it a long test run up and down the bay. Dan handed Junior dollars and he took off in a dusty Cialis purple haze.

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More Fishing Adventures

Bern — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:33:34 +0000

The next day we fished another area and the fish were extremely spooky. We did see barracuda, lemon sharks, and a huge six foot manta ray in slow motion ballet.

Because of the too easily spooked fish, Dan wanted to fish the west side of the island which was a fifty mile boat ride away from civilization. When we reached the west side, the water color tingled timelessly in a blue neon fish dream.

Sydney shut the Yamaha off and stepped onto the poling platform. We were into bonefish instantly.

“Left, two o’clock, fifty feet out, left, get your line out, drop it, strip, strip stop strip strip pick it up throw it left!” In all this shout of rapid fire instructions my fly line wrapped around my head and the fly stuck in my shirt.

Dan said, “Bern, you have buck fever.” Then it was Dan’s turn to fish and he caught a four pounder on his third cast.

In the afternoon we saw a school of bonefish close to the boat within easy casting distance. Magic was in the air. I managed to get the fly in the right place in all the excitement.

I stripped the fly and Bang! Something very solid hit and headed for Miami. A few hundred yards of line spun out immediately and the reel was getting hot.

Several runs later we were able to get it close to the boat and grab the fish by the tail. It was eight pounds of Bahama silver!

As the day continued, I settled down and my double haul casting improved markedly. I hooked another bonefish about five pounds. As the fish was running, a big lemon shark attacked it. I reeled in half a bonefish.

We put our rods away and enjoyed the waterscape back to the east side.

Over the next few days we fished a variety of areas, sometimes just wading the flats all day stalking fish in the bright ocean colors.

Almost every evening we were at Hank’s Place enjoying fishing conversation over dinner. On Saturday night they barbecued wild boar, chicken, fish, and played local Bahama music.

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Fishing at Last

Bern — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 17:00:30 +0000

The next morning I met Herman Bain and we ate a quick breakfast. Herman’s father, Sydney, was to be our guide to fish Bowen Sound. We hooked up the boat and loaded the car with four Beartooth fly rods and boxes of flies.

On the way to Bowen Sound we picked up Sydney and greeted everybody standing in front of his house. It was a large group. Sydney was 70 and while guiding for 50 years he had twelve children and thirty grandchildren.

Piles of conch shells, sponges, and glue green water reflected in my sunglasses as we pushed Dan’s boat into the water. Sydney poled the boat to deeper water, started the 90 Yamaha and we took off in a blue streak.

He knew every inch of water and how fish move with the tides. Dan wanted to wade so we made plans where to meet later. Sydney and I motored to the lower end of the flats and we saw a huge monster barracuda swim by the boat.

After an hour of poling we saw three bonefish within casting distance. I was too excited and they vanished in the blue. Sydney showed me holes in the sand where bonefish were feeding.

We met Dan and ate lunch. Sydney thought it would be a good idea to wade for awhile. Dan spotted cloudy water where bonefish were feeding and hooked one instantly.

I put on an orange fly and moved to the cloudy water and made a long cast. I let the fly sink and started to strip. The fly stopped suddenly and my reel handle blurred as the fish made a long sizzling run. It was my first bonefish, a sleek chrome sided three pounder.

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Arrival in the Bahamas
Bern — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:50:35 +0000
I showed my new passport, driver’s license, and airline ticket at the United counter. Everything was fine and they checked my bag to Andros Town.
I went through a maze of gates and metal detectors to find my way to Gate B7 where I would fly to Denver. I sat down with my camera case and watched the businssmen punch their laptops and talk business on their cell phones.
An hour later I was buckled up and could see the airport landscape of yellow numbers and lines moving in the window. The engines roared and thrust the plane into the Montana sky. The mountains were covered with snow and I could see the great Yellowstone River wander through the snowscape.
As the jet climbed higher into the sky the landscape turned into soft evening clouds. A short dream later I was in Denver, Atlanta, and then Fort Lauderdale. I called Lexi on my small fold open cell phone and told her I was ok and would soon be flying to Andros.
Late afternoon we walked out on the airstrip and boarded a twin prop plane. Minutes later we were in the warm Florida sky. The landscape became dark ocean blue dotted with cloud shadows. 
Suddenly the water became turquoise as we flew over the reef. I could see boats and fishing activity as we came closer to Andros. The plane’s wings tipped and the aqua seaworld turned sideways, showing a big island with green, earthy brown, and few houses. 
I stepped into and ocean song world and followed the other passengers to the immigration office where I had my passport stamped. I could see my burgundy bag on the small luggage rack.
As I turned around I saw Dan with his big smile and brown suntanned face with white eyes left from purple sunglasses. He had me get in a taxi going to Herman Bain’s place in Bowen Sound.
I was greeted by tall pine trees surprisingly intermingled with coconut trees. The driver called them Andros pines. He told me stories of hungtin wild boar and pigeons. Dan followed closely behind as it was customary for the natives to drive you from the airport to help their economy.
Soon I could see a white concrete block building with one gas pump in front. A sign read Last Chance Grocery. This was where I would stay.
I handed the driver thirty dollars and greeted Dan again as he said, “Hey, man, this is it!” He opened the door to the apartment and as I expected it was full of fly rods, fly boxes, and fishing clothing with the Beartooth logo on them.
The aqua blue interior had a small kitchen, bathroom, and living room with a white wooden bonefish with a red tarpon fly in it.
That evening Dan said we were going to eat at Hank’s Place in the main town of Andros. We drove seven or eight miles and took a left turn at the sign of Andros. After crossing a one lane bridge across Fresh Creek we arrived in the village of Andros. The houses were concrete block painted in bright colors, pink, orange, blue, and multi-bright colors.
We made a few turns and came to Hank’s Place, an old wood building that looked like a set for Gilligan’s Island. Several people were on the deck drinking Klick Beer and smoking cigarettes. Dan introduced me but I already knew two of them from a fly shop on the Big Hole River in Montana.
We ordered beers and sat with them. The word was the wind had been blowing hard for a couple of weeks and fishing was slow. I looked over the menu and chose sautéed conch, which was fantastic. Later we returned to Herman’s place and dreamed of bonefish and barracuda.
 
 
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Copyright © Bern  Sundell 2007. All Rights Reserved.



Bahama Surprise
Bern — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:26:58 +0000
I opened a jar of cadmium red acrylic paint and scooped out a bit for my palette. Red mixed with white, blue, and a little yellow is a good base color for painting the cheek plates on a Madison River rainbow.
I slowly worked the colors until glowing crimson cheeks emerged from the brown speckled olive background. I was working on River King, one of a series of large trout head paintings. After eight hours of painting it was a good time to wash the brushes and continue the next day.
On the way home my fishing dog and I stopped at the market for a chicken. As we walked in the front door at home, my wife Lexi said, “Hey, Mr. Lucky, you are going to the Bahamas with Dan Delekta from the Beartooth Fly Fishing Lodge. He is building a new lodge on Andros Island and would like one of your paintings for the main room.”
The next day, while in a Bahamas daze, I was off to Bozeman to get a passport in time for the trip. After several stops at the post office and court house I had my photo taken and the passport was in progress.
In the three weeks before I was to leave Bozeman on the big silver wings of United, I heard stories of the ghost of the flats and toothy predator barracuda crunching flies into bits of nothingness. Turquoise water and ocean songs glimmered in my dreams.
Days streaked by turning into weeks. New space age fly tying materials and stainless steel hooks began to appear on my fly tying bench. Flies with barbell eyes and crystal flash fired up my new fly box.
Aqua, limon starboard, driftwooed, and skyrocket became familiar color names as I looked at shirts and wading pants for the saltwater journey. Lexi and I drove to the Beartooth Fly Fishing Lodge which has a great fly shop stocked with the largest and most unique selection of flies in Southwestern Montana. Nancy Delekta helped me pick out last minute items such as wading sandals and sunglasses.
The next day Lexi drove me to Bozeman and I hugged her good bye. It had been awhile since I had been in airports so I took a deep breath and followed the signs to United. 
 
 
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Copyright © Bern  Sundell 2007. All Rights Reserved.