Do It Yourself Debate
The August issue of This is Fly includes a debate about Do It Yourself bonefishing in the Bahamas. Those that lend their opinion are: Aaron Adams from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Oliver White from Abaco Lodge, Vince Stegura from Skinny Water Culture, Bjorn Stromsness from Bonefish on the Brain and me, Scott Heywood, from Angling Destinations
I think this story begins an interesting discussion which will be followed up in the next issue. To see the story in This I Fly click here.
Interesting article as I have been a DIY'r on Andros for going on 9 years now.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who wouldn't be able to afford the whole lodge/guide experience every year I'd argue is it better for me and my friends to be a DIY'r every year, spreading our money around to the local economy to more people or is it better to put it with one guide/lodge every other year or third year when we've saved up enough to afford such a trip? I realize they'll put some of that money back into the local economy themselves to run and support their own business but with time doesn't it all equal out anyway?
We've done some trips that were totally DIY, some trips where we get guides for 2-4 days of the week. All those places we've gone to have been far out of DIY range as they've required skiffs and travel to get to. So I can't speak for the poaching of spots angle but I'm sure on other islands where you don't have as many remote areas like Andros it could definitely be a problem.
I've always wondered, if the powers that be spent more time tending to litter and debris issues instead of bickering over something like this, then maybe they'd be able to attract more tourism dollars to the island in the long run. Let's face it, many of the out islands are becoming garbage dumps fast. If it wasn't for the fantastic fishing and scuba would you be planning your next vacation there?