Bonefish on the Brain interviews author of Fly Fishing in The Bahamas

One of the blogs I follow regularly is Bonefish On The Brain by Bjorn Stromsness. His latest post features an interview with Stephen and Kim Vletas authors of the book Fly Fishing in the Bahamas. The interview is short but filled with some good travel tips, stories and perspective on the future of bonefishing in the Bahamas.

From: BonefishontheBrain.com

Kim and Stephen, your book, Fly Fishing the Bahamas, is a pretty important book for anglers.  Is there anything you’d put in the book now that didn’t make it in the first time?

There are always new lodges or resorts that open, some lodges and guides that fade away, plus new travel options in terms of flights, etc. We use our web site www.bahamasflyfishingguide.com to keep our readers updated as much as we can. The web site is the first place readers should check for updates and changes since the book was last published.

For example, on Andros, Charle and Fatiah Neymour now have their own lodge on Cargil Creek, and Andy Smith has his own private island lodge in the North Bight; Broad Shad Cay Lodge. Nervous Waters, the company who owns Bair’s Bahamas, has opened a new lodge on Abaco to access the Marls…….read more

Florida bonefish have a better future

In 2008 the Florida Keys based, Bonefish and Tarpon Trust put forth a campaign to end the state’s one fish per day allowable catch for bonefish. But in recent weeks the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission sided with the trust and declared bonefish a catch and release species, with no harvest of them allowed.

“The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust is pleased that the FWC commissioners took the step to help protect one of the most valuable recreational fisheries in the state,” said Aaron Adams, a marine scientist who serves as operations director for the trust. “The designation of bonefish as a catch-and-release species puts Florida on par with destinations [like] Belize and Puerto Rico, competing for anglers who travel to fish the flats.” KeysNet.com

 

The new rule will allow anglers to briefly remove the fish from the water for a photograph. Flats fishing tournaments sanctioned by the state would also allow the competitors to bring a fish in a live well to a weigh station before a live release.Bonefish are an extremely valuable Florida game fish to the fisherman but also to Florida’s economy. A recent study by the University of Miami estimated the value of a single bonefish in the Florida Keys to be $3,500 each year, and nearly $75,000 over the lifespan of the fish.

March Merkin Permit Tournmaent Mar.14-17 2011

March Merkin 2011 Official Poster

March 14 through the 17, the Annual March Merkin Permit Tournamnet is taking over Key West, Florida. This is a great event not only for the fisherman but also for the fish. The tournament will dedicate half each teams entry fee towards the protection of the species.

The tournament has become one of the most popular skinny water fishing tournaments around. Attracting some of the best flats fisherman in the country. Key West native and permit guru Captain Will Benson will be defending his 2010 title, who will take home the prize this year?

Deneki Outdoors: Bonefishing 101

http://www.deneki.com

 

About to take your first bonefishing trip? Well Deneki Outdoors has put together a bonefishing guide for the newbie titled Bonefishing 101.  Available on the Deneki Outdoors website. Bonefishing 101 is download able file for you to keep. Just submit valid email address to Deneki and Bonefishing 101 will delivered to your email Inbox as a PDF document.

http://www.deneki.com

 

Included in the guide is a barrage of tips ranging from how to spot fish, casting ready position, to setting the hook and how to fight the fish. If you have been bonefishing before, some of the information might be a repeat of what you have already been been taught. However, it is a great read for the beginner and defiantly something worth grazing through before making the trek to the tropics.

Download: BONEFISH 101

Hardcore Fly Tying

Skinny Water Culture brings you “Hardcore Fly Tying”

HCFT 13 Rabbitoad

Hardcore Fly Tying 13 from chase hancock on Vimeo.

Giant Bonefish

Dave Teper of WorldAngling.com with a Giant Bonefish

Bonefish And Tarpon Trust 2011 Sweeptakes

Enter the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust Sweepstakes to win a Hell’s Bay flats boat!

A great opportunity has been provided by Evinrude and BTT board member Chris Peterson. Hell’s Bay Boatworks donated the 18-foot Waterman, and Evinrude has donated an E-Tec 60hp tiller to complete the package. Hell’s Bay boats are widely praised as the “best of the best” and used by guides and anglers everywhere.

This boat-motor-trailer outfit is the Grand Prize in the 2011 Bonefish & Tarpon Trust Membership Sweepstakes. The Sweepstakes begins on January 17, 2011 and runs through December 31, 2011. The final Grand Prize drawing will be held February 4, 2012.

BTT Florida Permit Initiative

For going on two years, BTT has been working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to improve regulations for permit in Florida. In April 2011, the FWC Commissioners will address potential new regulations for permit.

 

There has never been a stock assessment of permit, and fishing effort and harvest are unknown.  Currently, permit are lumped with pompano and African pompano into a single set of regulations. The regulations were written this way because these species are similar in appearance. The problem was that the regulations were fine for pompano, but not for permit, and this…… Read the rest of the article here

A new read

My current employment situation often has countless hours of down time followed by brief moments of fast paced action. Unfortunately the down time out numbers the busy time. And I spend hours reading anything and everything from blogs, magazine, newspapers, books the list is endless. I am in a way addicted to learning. Crazy and weird I know but I guess there could be worse things to be addicted to. I just wish my writing would mimic some of the great writers I often follow. As of late I been a big fan of this guy stories

His name is David Ebanks and current author of blog called the “Flatswalker”. As advertised he has been musing, writing and chronicling is journey as a flats guide. His bio called “Breaking Even”. Has him struggling through the windy flats chasing bonefish. Testing out new fly patterns and just loosing himself in his surroundings. His journals give you the feel like you are out there. With the warm tropical sun on your back, the smell of the ocean in your nostrils and the sight of tailing bones on the horizon. Man I miss the salt…..

Great waters need to be protected

Combine salty ocean water with freshwater from rivers and creeks and you get an estuary. The Indian River, Mosquito, and Banana River Lagoon are just that. They are the most diverse estuaries in North America. The estuary covers some 156 miles of Florida’s east coast, from the Ponce Inlet in New Smyrna beach to south Jupiter inlet in Palm Beach County.

“The St. Johns River Water Management District supports most of the efforts to protect and restore this natural treasure by administering the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, one of 28 national estuary programs funded with the assistance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency” (www.floridaswater.com)

Designated as one of Florida’s Surface Water Improvement and Management Act priorities in 1987, the lagoon (a blend of fresh and salt water) is one of the most popular fishing destinations in Florida, with more than a million anglers visiting the region annually.

Strides have been made to protect the lagoon and the $3.7 billion benefit it has had on the economy (as measured in 2007), through:

• Passage of the Surface Water Improvement and Management Act in 1987
• Creation of the federally funded Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program in 1990

 

The sun rises over the lagoon
north of Vero Beach.

To ensure long-term preservation of the lagoon, the District has identified a five-year, $80 million plan that calls for the District, with state, federal and local agencies working together, to:

• Treat stormwater discharges from developed areas to reduce pollution.
• Divert the flow of major stormwater drainage systems away from the lagoon.
• Continue to remove muck from the lagoon and its tributaries.
• Restore and protect natural habitat, including reconnecting an additional 7,000 acres of impounded salt marshes.
• Monitor water quality, drainage and sea grasses, and identify any impacts of septic tanks.
• Assist the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in developing Basin Management Action Plans in compliance with total maximum daily load requirements.