Fake News

Fake News

Tracy&James | Wednesday, 22 January 2025

This week on Facebook I read at least three different posts about a proposal being put in front of the Bahamian Government to ban DiY flats fishing. Now unlike many on FB, I like to do a bit of fact checking before I go into full online 'rant' mode. I didn't actually find anything new during my searches relating to this story, that's not to say that the postings are fake – there was a genuine push a few years back to regulate flats fishing, so it's possible that it is under consideration again. If it is rearing its head again, I hope the Bahamian Government see sense and don't bend to the will of a few militant Andros Island Guides.

Last time regulating visiting anglers was debated, I was moved to write to the tourism ministry (not that I received any acknowledgement that they had read my e-mail). I explained that Tracy and myself had spent a six figure sum visiting the Bahamas previously and intended to spend another six figures going forward. This money was spent with local property owners, local car hire firms, local grocery stores, local liquor stores (probably too much), local restaurants etc. etc. Had they banned DiY fishing, as was suggested by the Andros Guide group, we'd simply go elsewhere to fish, Mexico, Belize, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Honduras, Cuba, Turks and Caicos etc. - there's no shortage of options in the Caribbean, before even looking at the Indian Ocean islands. As such, far from increasing the tourist economy, the Andros Guides would almost certainly shrink it, after all there must be thousands of anglers like Tracy and myself spending similar amounts of money on their holidays. Of course, the Andros Guides don't care about the overall economy, they simply want to line their own pockets and to hell with the other Bahamians who benefit indirectly from flats fishing.

I also contend that guides actually benefit from DiY anglers. Certainly I've recommended guides to plenty of anglers who are visiting the same Islands as Tracy and I but haven't got the time to figure out the fishery for themselves. If you've only got a few day's spare for fishing then hiring a guide is the obvious short-cut to getting yourself in front of fish. Even with our knowledge of where we're fishing, there's still plenty of days when we get to an area that is totally devoid of fish – that's the nature of DiYing. If we've trekked an hour just to find a barren flat that's pretty much it for the day as there's another hour getting back by which time the tide is gone. So we often point people in the direction of guides knowing that it's almost guaranteed that they'll at least see some fish. That said, we never suggest guides that have been in anyway hostile to other anglers.

There will also come a time in our lives when DiY flats fishing is too much for us (hopefully this is a long way off, but you never know). At this point we'll be looking to go guided ourselves, and we'll know full well which guides are respectful of other anglers and which are arseholes.

I could also go into our experience of actual Andros guides here, the exact same family names who are campaigning for banning DiYers, lazy guides who don't care whether their clients see fish or not, but still expect a big tip when arriving back at the lodge at 3pm when the best of the day's bonefishing could still be ahead. But I won't, other than saying we've never been back to Andros, and that says a lot – our reluctance to go back has nothing to do with the flats or the fishing.

I really hope that the recent FB posts have been a result of algorithms or AI trawling to make a story and finding details of the previous discussions in the Bahamian parliament. If not, and it is being discussed once again, I hope flats anglers, whether DiY'ers or guided are moved to write their thoughts and send them to a relevant figure in a position of influence.

Hope you're having a great week,

James.