Squawk, squawk, squawk… the alarm blares at 6:00am, seems way too early for vacation. But it’s amazing what you will do for a little bit of silver. We booked a second day with Darin from D.B. Tours in advance for some bonefishing, and let’s face it, you can sleep when you are dead.
The wind had picked up yesterday, which made for an amazing day of relaxation. A 30 mph wind in the tropics is welcomed for the most part, defusing what felt like 100 degree weather with a blast of cooling natural air conditioning. But alas, what was a welcomed friend one day can become a mortal enemy the next. You see, we choose to go the hard route… we are not chucking lures at the end of an expensive medium action spinning rod, we are taking it back to basics and casting a fly. Poetry in motion, every move of your arm transformed in to a beautiful loop, laying out a clear tippet to present a fly, tied by yours truly, to one of the most beautiful creatures on earth, the silver fish that they call the “Grey Ghost.” However, it is amazing what just the slightest bit of wind can do to that beautiful cast, and 30 mph… well that can just be a train wreck.
We met Darin at the Marina at 7:00am, and joined him on his skiff. Today Darin would take a different route, a long motor along some of the most pristine aqua-marine waters and white sand beaches I think I have ever seen. The scenery was broken with lime stone cliffs, lined with palm trees, rugged at one moment, and then gently melded in to empty beaches the next. The ride was bumpy, but the view was amazing.
After 15-20 minutes, Darin landed the skiff on an isolated sand bar surrounded by untouched flats. We had opted not to bring our wading boots today, as we had not needed them the last guided day. Darin, assured us that they were not needed as the sand was soft, but firm below, and that stingrays did not frequent the area. I quickly found Darin’s shoulder to be the place to be and did not fall too far behind as we stalked the flats. Be mindful not to get too caught up in hunting for tailing fish like I did or you too might step on a conch and realize that the spikes around their crown can cut without effort.
Being so caught up in the moment I had not realized that Marci had fallen behind, and when I did, I stopped abruptly to wait for her. She motioned for me to just go ahead and gave me a “thumbs-up” which re-assured me. Darin quickly spotted a pair of cruisers, but I had found that his skinny legs moved much more effortlessly through the water than my wider models. As I approached, the fish moved… I made an alright cast, even with the wind, but it’s hard to make a spooked bonefish eat. I looked back to find my wife, and found that she was maybe 30 yards behind… thumbs up, and I continued to follow the man with eyes that could see through bumpy water like x-rays.
We continued our trek across the flat for nearly an hour. I made a few feeble attempts to cast to fish I could not see, in wind that blew my seven-weight line around like a kite. Darin spotted fish after fish, and even I saw after the fact that I did indeed make a decent presentation on more than one occasion, but once again, it’s hard to make a spooked fish eat.
I looked back and found that Marci was close, but fairly uninterested in what Darin and I were doing. She waved us on, but I will be honest, I was starting to feel bad. “Three fish, close Chad.” I was back in the zone. This time my presentation was good, but no takers. This continued once or twice more before we made a full circle back to the sandbar where we left the boat.
Darin assured me it was time to try something else, and I waited for Marci to catch up. As she approached I apologized, for which she promptly asked “Why?” Being the sly bird that she was, she quickly recounted the fact that she had probably made more casts to fish than I had, and that for every group of fish that I had spooked, she was the falcon waiting. I could not help but smile. She hadn’t hooked up, but told me that she had fun in the process.
Darin made a long run through bumpy seas to a semi sheltered spot surrounded by mangrove. I was first on the casting deck as Darin silently poled the skiff right along the roots. “Bonefish 3:00, make a back cast.” Pfff… yea right, a back cast into 20 mph wind, off of the wrong shoulder. GONE!
Soon enough a real shot came, 2 cruising fish 30 feet out, I make the cast, the leading fish immediately hones in and before I know it, I am in to the backing. Man, these fish are strong! I was giving myself accolades about a truly impressive presentation when the fish that was nearly at the boat decided he had not quite had enough and made a run for glory… SNAP! Dang it, never gloat until the fish is in the boat.
Soon after, my second opportunity arrived, a small group of fish, but they looked big. A tough cast in to the wind, but my cast landed short. “Cast again,” Darin said. I water hauled and laid the fly down in to the zone and we clearly saw the bone eat, get hooked, shake his head ferociously, and then run to what felt like the horizon. This fish took me in to the backing twice before he came to the boat. We quickly snapped a pictured of this six pound prize, and sent him on his way.
I had landed my fish, so naturally it was Marci’s turn to come on deck. She decided with the windy conditions, she was quite content being the camera woman. Twist my arm, I was back on the casting platform and immediately saw two of the biggest bonefish I have seen, made a half decent cast with the cross wind and put the fly in the zone. “Strip, Strip, STRIP” Darin said, but like a rookie, I had shot the line and allowed the tail end to wrap around the butt of the rod. GONE.
The next attempt proved to be more fruitful and this fish was every bit of seven pounds Darin assured me. This beauty ran so hard and fast that I was not sure I had enough backing. Soon after the first run, the fish turned and swam right back at the boat and while I reeled as fast as I could, I saw a large shadow follow behind. “Is that a shark following?” “No I don’t think so,” Darin said. The bone made another run and turned right towards the boat again, this time more frantically. 
“That IS a shark following, Darin said.” I horsed in this beautiful fish right to the boat, plain to see… the biggest bonefish I have ever caught, grabbed the leader, and gave a solid yank. I would not pose with my trophy this time, I would willing fully pay for his face piercing to let him dart off in to the mangrove to safety and away from the man in the grey suit. I grabbed the leader, that is a caught fish… and I did the responsible thing.
The wind soon picked up to the point of just being ridiculous, and we decided to call it day. Darin had really opened up this day and was an incredibly friendly and entertaining guide. We snapped a few pictures together and it was soon time to part ways. Marci and I decided to go to the “F Lounge” for lunch, a very hip place with Nuevo wicker lounges, sofas and tables overlooking a marina full of high end boats, and a yacht or two. The fish and chips were HUGE and were well worth the trip.
We found our way back to our villa, had a dip in the pool, and then spent the better part of the afternoon napping in the cold master bedroom. Cocktail hour was soon upon us, and we enjoyed our drink special of the day by the pool as Marci finished the previous day’s blog. We were soon joined by Chris and Heather, the newlyweds and Barry and Marta soon followed. We talked in to the evening hours about life, politics, wealth-building, vacations, retirement, family, children, and all of the important things that new found friends share. Gemma and Iffy, the local marina Potcake Dogs, smelled the 
chops that Chris was cooking, and soon laid at our feet. Potcake dogs are domesticated turned wild, turned domesticated canine, named after the food that they were originally fed. In earlier times, meals were cooked communally in cauldrons, and the food on the bottom of the cauldron would inevitably burn in to a “cake.” This cake would then be served to the dogs. The potcake dogs are smart, quite charming, and we have been told… if you feed them they will come nightly, bark once, and if you choose not to feed them, they will head back home. They have sweet eyes, and if I lived here, I would surely have several.
Marci and I soon parted from our friends, man and dog, and decided it was finally time to cook dinner. Steaks and potatoes again tonight… at 9:00pm, it is vacation after all!
Check out some video from today…