Chasing Ghost

A flash of silver in the distance caught his attention as he leaned against the casting platform, his senses turned up to ten, with a fly rod in hand. Twenty yards off the front of the boat would be an easy cast for him; double-hauling the line, he laid the fly down gently in front of the fish. In an instant, the fish was on the attack striking the fly with lightning speed, and he set the hook. With adrenaline and excitement rushing through him, he made a crucial error when he picked the rod tip up in a trout set method instead of keeping the rod tip down and pulling the line tight, known as a strip set.

Flying from Florida to Marsh Harbor.

Defeat. It is a feeling known to many fishermen who come to these waters searching for a fish known as the "grey ghost." It is known for its speed and strength with a torpedo-like shape, a pointed snout, and silver scales. Bonefish are considered one of the premier fly and light tackle game fish and are sought after by anglers worldwide. Found in the warm tropical coastal waters of the western Atlantic, usually seen feeding on the mud and sand flats during an incoming tide. Besting even the most seasoned fishermen, as any error will result in spooking the fish and blowing the opportunity.

This story takes us to Abacos Islands in the Bahamas to the town of Marsh Harbour. My good friend Geoff Poulin and his wife and daughter were headed there for his sister's wedding. They would stay at the Abacos Beach Resort for a few days to enjoy the wedding festivities. While there, Geoff wanted to check an item off his bucket list and fulfill a dream of catching a bonefish on the fly rod. A solo mission quickly became a group effort of five guys heading out to catch one of the prized fish. After a quick conversation with the concierge's desk, they were set up with some local fishing guides for a trip the following day.

The following morning, two guides in pickup trucks picked up the group, pulling Hell's Bay boats. Since there was an odd number of fishermen, the concierge arranged a third guide, and they would meet him at the ramp. Geoff decided to be the outcast, and fish alone, which was ironic since the original plan was to fish alone. One of the guides told Geoff that the third guide was an old salt and could get testy when fishermen missed a shot at a fish. Geoff told the guide, "that's just the kind of guy I want to fish with."

After arriving at the boat ramp, a random piece of concrete stretched out into the water; Geoff hopped out of the truck, not wanting to waste time at the ramp, and walked over to meet his guide for the day. Capt. Marty "The Loyalist" Sawyer, one of the Abacos' legendary fishing guides, was sitting on his white and yellow Dolphin 16, decked out with Gloomis fly rods and Penn battle reels, when Geoff walked up. Wasting no time, Geoff introduced himself to Marty and said, "I am fishing with you, and we can leave right now," and stepped onto the boat. The two were on plane before the other guides even had their boats in the water.

Nothing like that clear Bahamas water!

Marty asked Geoff what kind of tackle he wanted to start with, and he opted for the spinning rod to increase his chances of catching his first bonefish. Marty had just sat the boat down and was hooking up a shrimp on a jig for Geoff when he looked over to the right and saw a bonefish at about three o'clock. Geoff pitched at the fish but was a little behind it and spooked it off. Hoping on the poling platform, Marty began moving them down the flat and explaining that you could tell bonefish were recently here because of the gray water left from the fish rooting around in the mud. Geoff, slightly skeptical of the explanation, was quickly convinced when he looked out thirty yards in front of the boat, seeing a massive wake caused by a school of bonefish.

Geoff cast the jig into the school of fish and was immediately hooked to his first bonefish as it peeled line from the reel. It was not a long fight, but Geoff took his time, not wanting to risk pulling the hook. With the fish now in arms reach from the boat, he got over the gunnel and scooped up his fish. Mission accomplished! Geoff took a quick photo with his fish, releasing it back into the water before immediately casting back to the school of fish and hooking up almost instantly. He would repeat the process a third time, landing three fish in maybe five minutes before the school of fish finally moved on.

GEOFF'S FIRST BONEFISH!

Poling down the flat, Geoff would catch bonefish number four and five, along with a bonnet head shark somewhere in the mix, before hooking up to what would turn out to be the biggest fish of the day. As Marty poled along some mangroves, Geoff spotted a bonefish cruising down the shoreline tight to the roots of the mangroves. Casting in front of the fish and giving a slight twitch of the rod tip, the fish pounced on it. Turning to run, the fish weaved its way through the roots of the mangroves, which would typically result in a lost fish. Marty said, "don't worry, we are going to get him" then he instructed Geoff to reach down and start breaking off the roots as they chased. Geoff was finally able to clear the line from the roots and reel up the slack, and to his surprise, he still was hooked up to the fish. Reeling in the tired fish, Geoff turned to Marty and said, "I am going to want a picture with that one."

The bonefish that took Geoff and Marty on a ride through the mangroves.

 Marty asked Geoff if he wanted to try to catch one on the fly rod, hesitant since it had been years since he used one but decided to give it a shot. Marty told Geoff to go ahead and flip the line out and put it back on the deck the proper way, and they would get started. Geoff's explanation of how long it had been since using a fly rod must have given Marty a preconceived notion of what to expect because the look on his face was shocked when Geoff cast. "Oh, we are going to put one in the boat if you can consistently cast like that," were the following words out of Marty's mouth.

I can hear Geoff's inner dialogue saying, "really dumbass, all you had to do was strip set the damn fish," as he stood on the casting decking, eyes scanning for another fish. Marty poled the boat down the shoreline for a good two hundred yards with no luck before deciding to run to a different spot in the direction of the boat ramp. Bringing the boat off plane, the two anglers took their places and continued the search, which would take little time.

The casting deck can be a lonely place after a blown opportunity.

"Forty yards at ten o'clock, big school of bonefish swimming towards us," Marty said as he positioned the boat for Geoff to make a cast. Geoff cast in front of the fish and began stripping in line when the bonefish pounced on it. Keeping his rod tip down this time, Geoff pulled on the line to set the hook and then kept tension on it as the fish pulled the line through his hand. Once all the slack in the line was tight, Geoff started to reel it back in until the fish slapped the side of the boat. Finally able to lay hands on his first bonefish caught on the fly, he sat back on the seat, holding the fish up to take it all in before taking a victory picture and placing it back in the water.

Geoff's first Bonefish on the fly.

The school of fish had stayed close, and Geoff cast passed the fish, stripped the line back to them, and hooked up to a second fish. Unlike most fish just running to get away, these bonefish have developed a survival tactic to get themselves unhooked by running the side of their face against the coral to dislodge the hook, which Geoff was about to gain first-hand experience. Feeling his line go slack is a feeling no fisherman ever wants to experience, but it is inevitably part of the game.

With fifteen minutes left on a four-hour charter, Marty was in it to win, saying, "let's get one more fish." Poling almost to the end of the flat before spotting a group of four fish, this would be Geoff's last shot at another bonefish on the fly. Flawless in his execution, Geoff cast, hooked up, caught, and released his second fish on the fly. Geoff placed the fish back in the water and was about to reel up and stow the rod away before Marty said, "hey, a big barracuda is coming down the flat do you want to catch him"? Geoff replied, "how big is he?" to which Marty held his hand at chest height to give Geoff an idea; "yea ill try and catch that one," was Geoff's response.

Stepping off the casting deck and grabbing a barracuda tube from under the gunnel, he cast to the fish. He started reeling as fast as he could, skipping the bait across the water and was almost back to the boat before the water around it blew up, and the barracuda hammered it. Flying out of the water, the fish almost landed in the skiff before peeling fifty to sixty yards of line out while performing aerial acrobatics. A barracuda is not a fish many fishermen love but a fun experience, especially when launching out of only a foot of water and putting on a show. Finally landing the fish, they stored the rods and quickly ran back to the ramp to end what was indeed a trip Geoff will remember.

Acrobatic barracuda.

Hoping off the boat, Geoff thanked Marty for everything and told him he would be back again before heading back to the hotel to enjoy the rest of the wedding festivities. Now Geoff wasn't the only one that had a great day either, as all the group members were able to catch fish, and Geoff's dad even had one eat a bare jig in a piranha-like frenzy. They couldn't have asked for a better day on the water, from the sounds of it.

Now you know an experience like that made an impression when your buddy calls you immediately after the trip and asks, "hey, what fly rod do you have? I am thinking about buying one". The first experience of doing anything is something you can never duplicate, never relive, or replace; hearing about those experiences will make you want to chase after your own experiences. Whether it's on the water or in the field, you will always be chasing that high. Retelling those stories, however, will last a lifetime.

Not every day do you get to see a Spotted Eagle Ray.

For my readers who may not know, hurricane Dorian caused significant damage to the Bahamas and especially the Abacos. A devastating blow to the islands, not only for the residents who live there but also to the fisheries that provide livelihoods to the people who call this place home. Captain Marty was one of the people greatly affected by the hurricane losing his home in the storm. He has a GoFundMe set up on his website where you can help him rebuild his home and his business. You can find the link to Captain Marty's website below.

Written by: Rick Stewart

Links

Abacos Beach Resort: https://abacobeachresort.com/

Captain Marty Sawyer: https://www.martysawyer.com/index.html