Tracy&James | Thursday, 11 May 2017
We’re back in the UK after a month in the Bahamas, slightly jet lagged and definitely feeling the cold, but we’re already planning our next fishing trips – a bit of trout fishing on a reservoir and hopefully some river fishing on the Welsh Dee. Though I’m not sure anything is going to top fishing every day for a month for my favourite fish – the bonefish! I caught more of them than I ever have before and had a good average size with some very nice 5-6 pounders.
I could have happily stayed on Long Island and carried on fishing. Besides the fantastic fishing, albeit in very windy conditions, the cottage we stayed in was excellent and the owners who lived in a stunning house nearby couldn’t have been more helpful. People on the island were lovely and happy to help, particularly when our car got stuck on a beach one evening (James had a heavy foot and managed to sink it to the axel) and we had a 40 minute hike to the nearest house. The local mechanic with a few friends fortunately helped us by pulling our car out and then made sure we were OK, but wanted nothing in return…
We’re looking forward to going back next year to check out some of the flats we didn’t get chance to fish, and others that we’d like to explore more. Though I reckon we’ll be taking flies tied on better hooks once James does his tests… We didn’t get that big shark and I didn’t hook a big barracuda, so we’ll be trying for those again next time. I did catch a new species on a fly – a grey snapper – very tasty with cous cousand veg!
In the meantime, we’ve been dealing with the jetlag by attending the Sportfish Show at the weekend and catching up with lots of friends. It’s a good event to spot youngsters with casting talent that we can then sign up and encourage to attend future BFCC events, such as the one in a week’s time at Willesborough, Kent. James spotted a future casting star who is only 12 at the moment but was already casting a full line into a slight headwind! There were lots of kids taking up the offer of free tuition; some who already fished and others who were complete beginners; some were so keen to improve that they came back to play with the MPRs I had by the stand to practice casting into the hoops I’d attached to some chairs.
I managed to do a little bit of casting practice during the show too, when I was able to get away from the BFCC stall; whereas I saw James with a rod in his hand pretty much every time I looked into the casting area! We were both a little concerned that side casting in 30 kmph winds might have affected our tracking. Thankfully the BFCC instructors advised me that my tracking is still good although possibly my hauling was a little mis-timed, so I’ll be doing more practice this weekend with my 5# and ST27 outfits in preparation for our next BFCC meeting. We already have some good casters promising to attend so it should be a good competition turn-out. I’m hoping that we’ll have a few outfits to try to determine what the Club will use for the new 55g event. So if you’re in the Kent area next weekend (Sunday 21st) and fancy joining us for a bit of casting, then come along.
Tracy