Tracy&James | Thursday, 25 April 2019
Firstly, apologies for not managing to write a FP for last week, we’ve been a little preoccupied catching fish and had a few late nights last week that meant we didn’t have time.
All in all this trip to the Bahamas has been testing – not for the usual issues such as sunburn and sore feet (both of which we have become quite adept at managing; particularly as we have a selection of clothing to cover up appropriately, some great sunscreen that doesn’t appear to ‘sweat off’ and different footwear to switch between so that when one pair of wading boots starts to rub, you wear the others). Not even for the amount of insect bites we have both experienced (normally they go for James and he kind of acts like my insect repellent,but sadly not this time; also this year the bites are more potent and we have both found the infected areas becoming swollen and painful), but for a new and previously unknown (to us) menace on the flats – jellyfish! Or rather, their microscopic larvae that gets into your wading boots and socks and when trapped against your skin starts to sting you numerous times, resulting in a burning sensation. We’ve both experienced it this time, however I reacted quite badly and my ankles become red, swollen and blistered. This was after the first full day of fishing and resulted in stopping me fishing for a few days whilst my legs ‘calmed down’. It wasn’t all bad as I had a day at one of the local resorts with a new friend and her daughter and we had cocktails and lionfish burgers.
Interestingly this trip, we’ve also noted that there are more people fishing and have often gone to fish a flat only to find someone else already there, or been fishing a flat and someone else turns up. In one case, two boats arrived to fish the same flat that we were already fishing, so we decided to go elsewhere – not an easy feat for us as we were on foot and it took 50 minutes to get back to the car.
We’ve also not observed as many bonefish as in previous years, we’re unsure why this is, though one factor could be that the Bahamas has experienced a warm Winter that has resulted in more weed growth on the flats, and in some cases warmer water also, so perhaps the fish are finding other places to find food. I think the weed can hinder them finding prey and perhaps they are irritated by swimming through weedy areas. (We think the warm winter has also resulted in the increase in the numbers of insects, though on positive I’ve never seen as many butterflies here as I have this time.) Could this be a result of climate change?
Regardless of this, we have steadily caught bonefish and James has caught lots of other species such as cudas, jacks and snappers, but we’re both still trying for that big shark and have had near misses. Though considering the magnitude of some of the sharks James has been casting to, I’m not sure our gear would stop them and they might be more interested in eating him rather than the fly… (I’ve checked and I have him well insured ;-) )
Over the next few weeks, hopefully I’ll get a good size cuda and shark, and if I do, there’ll be photos in the FPs. Tight lines,
Tracy