Written by Nick Cassidy
For spring break this year Andrea vetoed my request for a Michigan Steelhead trip for a cruise through the Eastern Caribbean which included stops in the Dominican Republic, The US and British Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. I packed my 6 piece 5wt fly rod just in case I got a chance to chase some fish while AJ was lying on the beach. While I had the rod with me in the Dominican, there wasn’t much time for fishing. Most of our time was spent driving ATVs through villages, visiting schools, and giving school supplies and baseball equipment to the kids.
Our next stop was on St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. We took a tour of the island and then ended up at a nice sandy beach. There appeared to be a few coral reefs a few yards off the shore, but upon snorkeling over the black area I noticed that it was a solid school of baitfish. Every once in a while I would see the bait fish part and then schools of huge tarpon (80+ pounds) would swim through.
After seeing a few pods of 10-15 tarpon I decided to go back to shore and grab my fly rod. I walked down passed the beach and climbed over some rocks to another black cloud of baitfish. I could clearly see a f ew very large tarpon cruising through the baitfish, most of which were within casting distance from shore. However, with a strong headwind, large rocks in my backcast, and weighted flies the casting was very difficult. I ended up placing a few flies right in front of a few of the monsters, but nothing was interested. I had one barracuda chase my fly and swipe at it a few times, but I failed to hook up. The only solid hook set I had on this trip was into my back. A gust of wind caught my fly and I ended up snagging myself right in the middle of the back. Luckily I was able to pull the hook out fairly easily.
After about an hour of flailing at the tarpon I decided to head back to the beach. Even if I did get one to take my fly, the best case scenario would have been a lost fly. Worst case scenario would have been another broken rod or the loss of all of my fly line and backing. A 5wt rod which struggles with a stocky trout would not have held up to a fish the size of a 5th grader.
Our last stop was on Stirrup Caye, a small island in the Bahamas which is privately owned by the Norwegian Cruise Line. I met another guy on the cruise who packed his fly rod and planned on fishing the backside of the island. We hit the flats just after noon and began walking across to a large sandbar. The area was much like Saginaw Bay. You could walk for miles and it would only be knee deep. The major difference was that the water was crystal clear, there weren’t carp rotting in the shallows, and there was a major tide which started coming in at about 1:30.
We fould one deep hole near shore where we each landed a few small barracuda and I landed a nice size (maybe 2 pound) fish. I am not sure what it was but it fought great. Occassionaly we saw a few large fish cruising in the shallows, which we both believed to be bonefish. Despite getting several casts close to them, we could get one to strike. I ended up switching to a gold streamer called a Rolex which is commonly used for trout up in Tennessee. While walking through the flats I spotted a bonefish cruising. I through a perfect cast. After a few guick retrieves, the fish turned and picked up the fly. I had a solid hook set. However, I had a lot of extra line out which got tangled around my reel handle when it started to run. By the time I tightened down to free the line, the fish snapped my 10 pound test. While short lived, it was one of the most exciting hook ups in my fishing career. I would love to make another trip back to the Caribbean, only the next time it will be with a flats boat and no less than an 8wt rod. I ended up landing 5 or so small fish, nothing of any significance, but a great experience nonetheless.
