I set off this morning with our two Zimbabwean anglers, the irrepressible John and David. We were guided by the wise man of the flats Acadio. Initially we tried for Horse Eye Jacks, but although we had a few follows and a full on fight with a big one we gave it our best and then headed for the flats.
Acadio took us to a long flat in a lagoon. We fished our way along the edge of the mangroves until lunch. The guys fished really well - both have taken to ‘boneing’, as they like to call it, in a really big way. They ended up with over a dozen between them, all stalked in very shallow water. We had lunch in the boat - sandwiches, a salad, biscuits, melon and a few hard-earned beers.
After lunch, just before heading off, we spotted a nice Barracuda chasing some bonefish around. John had a few casts with a green tube and nailed the brute. After a really great fight we got it in the boat and headed off.
It’s really important to carry a lightweight waterproof jacket for days when there might be a short sharp tropical shower. I use the Patagonia Rainshadow jacket which is excellent. It folds away to nothing and is treated to repel water - a first class product.
Today was less windy and we were blessed with more of the sunshine needed to transform this incredible place into paradise. I had a great day - I went out with Phil and guide Raphael on a permit hunt. These magnificent fish are hard to find and even tougher to catch. Raphael came up trumps and found three large permit to cast to, but we let him down by never really making the most of the opportunities presented. In spite of this we still had a fantastic time with a good horse eye jack, some exciting barracuda and a few nice bones.
Fishing was slower overall today - by Los Roques’ high standards anyway. We still had bonefish for most of the party with a few barracuda, jacks, a blue runner and some other bits and pieces thrown in for good measure. The main problem, certainly from a bonefish perspective, was the lack of sunshine. Walking a flat when it’s overcast means you really have to rely on the bonefish breaking or disturbing the surface in some way to reveal their whereabouts. When the sun does peak through it’s as if the lights have suddenly been switched on and the fish are much easier to spot. The sun also has a big effect on the temperature of the shallow water on the flats, it warms quickly and the bones respond positively to this.
Yesterday was the beginning of a great saltwater flyfishing adventure for most of the team. Today the plan came together and everybody enjoyed a fantastic day’s sport. Together we landed around sixty bonefish - not bad for a team that generally had never tied a bonefish fly on before yesterday. There were three star performers today. John with a cracking 10lbs bone stalked on a flat, Phil, who not content with eleven bones caught during the day went out with me for and a couple of hours on the beach in front of the posada and added another five bones between 4 & 6lbs, all on the deadly gummy minnow.
Seeing the many islands of Los Roques from the air is always a great thrill. This will be my third visit and by now I feel totally at home as soon as the plane touches down. This year we have a great bunch of rods in the team, five of whom are yet to cast their first flies in saltwater. Three have some saltwater experience under their belts, two at Los Roques.
