There’s probably no better time to write about trip planning and packing than just before a fishing adventure out of the country. In a couple of weeks, I’ll depart for a yearly sojourn to the Bahamas for bonefish.
For the past six years, I’ve scheduled my trips for November, a time I’ve found dependable for several reasons. First, it’s when the waters cool and some of the biggest bonefish gather on the flats to feed. While that can be the case through the winter, November offers a better chance of avoiding cold fronts and experiencing favorable conditions, such as clear skies and manageable winds. Although it’s impossible to predict, my years of experience have shown that late fall and early winter offer better odds.
Once a trip is planned, it’s a good idea to make a checklist of all the items you might need. Besides clothing and toiletries, tackle is the top priority. Most lodges do much of the work for you by providing an online tackle list. While you’ll need to do your homework and pack the essentials because there are no shops in most of these destinations, there’s no need to overpack. In my experience, if you forget or run out of items such as flies and leader, other anglers will help.
To my knowledge, the thing many anglers forget most often is to practice their casting. Nothing is more frustrating (I know from experience) than having a massive school of bonefish 50 feet in front of you and being unable to get the fly to them because of a stiff wind. A close second is seeing the bonefish of a lifetime tailing on a flat and being unable to get the fly into its cone of vision.
Think about how much time anglers spend planning a trip and dreaming of being there, often a year or more in advance. That’s not to mention the money spent on tackle, flies and transportation, before factoring in the lodge. Wouldn’t it make sense to take some time to practice the basic cast and the double haul, and maybe do some target practice on the grass?
Next week, we’ll review my recommendations for transportation, tackle and flies, and what to look for in a lodge depending on your crew and expectations.
