Overview: Just Concluded Hosted Trip To Long Island, Bahamas

A report from Bjorn Stromsness from his blog Bonefish on the Brain on the Angling Destinations' hosted trip to Long Island. I think they had a great trip!

We were very lucky with the weather. That’s the thing that stands out the most. The week before our trip was windy, rainy and difficult. Today, the day we leave, the wind is back up, whitecaps out on the flat in front of us and lots of clouds in the sky. Our week featured almost no wind and very few clouds. Perfect bonefishing weather.

Wading the ocean side flats.

We had some good fishing and some tough fishing and some fishing in-between. Usually, there was one boat each day that did pretty well and one boat struggled. Success and humility were sprinkled pretty evenly around the group.

We did a lot of walking. We probably fished off the skiffs 10% of the time, although if you needed to fish out of the boat, they can certainly do that, so you shouldn’t let that keep you from coming down.

The group was a good one and we gelled pretty well. Everyone got to fish together and we each fished with all of the guides.

Rods:

An 8 wt. is a good choice. You could go with a 7 wt. for the inside flats, but an 8 is a good all around rod for Long Island.

• The 10 wt. got used for the cudas and jacks and that was fun.
• I fished an 11 wt. for tarpon, which we saw, but didn’t catch. I fished for sharks and cudas and jacks with the 11 as well. It was overkill for most of the fish, but if I had connected with one of the tarpon or bigger sharks, it would have been ideal.

Flies:

• Generally, the fish on the ocean-side flats would eat bigger flies and inside flats required smaller flies and lighter presentations. The inside flats often required #8′s or blind flies and longer casts to spooky fish. Simple gotcha’s got fish and more elaborate shrimp patterns worked as well. More than anything, size and weight were the main considerations.

Species:

• Bonefish. This is, first and foremost a bonefish destination. Fish ranged in weight from 1 pound to 7 pounds, with a few larger fish seen and cast at. Average fish was probably 3-3.5 pounds.
• Barracuda. There are a LOT of cudas around. They are fun, violent and strong. Come prepared to fish for them.
• Sharks. There are a lot of sharks and a couple were caught this last week.
• Jacks. A few jacks were caught, both trolling a fly and casting a popper. Jacks are a good time and come prepared to fish for them.
• Tarpon. There are tarpon here, but very few. You can go throw for them, but it won’t be a focus of your trip and you can skip it.
• Permit. Very rarely people catch permit. We saw 0 in our week with three boats out every day. I’d not plan on permit.

The Lodge:

• The place feels like home. It is a straight forward lodge. The rooms are nice and not fancy. The cooking (by Sam) is good. The guides are competent. There isn’t a lot around, so shopping or sight-seeing is a bit limited, although if you wanted to you could drive out to Dean’s Blue Hole, Max’s Conch Shack or some of the beautiful beaches Long is famous for. We were very happy with the accommodations and staff. You will have to buy your own beer and spirits, but they’ll take you down to the store to do it. Lunches are sandwiches, you get two, and they were great.

Overall:

We had a great week and it went by too quickly. Some of us will certainly come back, others will probably explore other places. I recommend Greenwich Creek Lodge to anyone who loves the technical side of bonefishing. Skinny water, beautiful setting, good people. The price is certainly right.