My wife decided that we were taking a vacation to the Caribbean this year and after many hours searching for our destination, we finally booked a little inn on Mangrove Cay (Andros Island) in the middle of nowhere for the last week of Sept/first of Oct. There are literally low pressured, productive bonefish flats 100’ outside our front door and others in biking distance from the cabin! There is ZERO equipment available on the island so I need to take everything I want to fish with.
On to the questions…
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I have a nice 8 wt fly setup that I bought for tailing reds a year ago. I still want to take a spinning rod for my wife to use (or for me if too windy for the fly). Does anyone have any good recommendations for an inexpensive, quality travel spinning rod that breaks down into pieces?
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I have heard that it is best to carry on rods and reels on a flight, if at all possible. I have done some research and kind of like the homemade PVC tube option. Anyone on here done that as a carry on for a plane? Could a fly rod and a travel spinning rod be stored in the same case and attached to my bookbag? What have y’all done for travel?
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I obviously cant carry on the tackle box, hooks, etc and will check it. I assume there is no issues with a knife, pliers, and the like. I’ve done some research and think it should be fine, but has anyone had any issues I should consider when you checked your tackle boxes before?
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I got some fly recommendations for bones from Joe at the Angler and picked up a few there. Do y’all have any “go to” flies from any of your bonefish adventures?
Thanks in advance for the tips!!!
I have a 4 piece flyrod that I travel with in a case similar to this http://www.sierratradingpost.com/d-b-dun-presentation-fly-rod-and-reel-case~p~70031/ . When I bring spinning tackle I use a home made PVC case. Easy to make and inexpensive. Shakespear Ugly Sticks are fairly cheap and almost indestructible. Get them at Walmart or someplace similar. Good luck on your trip to the Bahamas.
oc
I like Crazy Charlie’s and Gotcha’s for bonefish in the Bahamas.
oc
Fishponds Dakota bag… they should have one at the Lowcountry Fly shop… it will hold ALL you need for a trip. Rods reels fly boxes extra lines hell you can probably get a few days worth of packable clothes in there too. Makes a badazz boat bag too…
http://www.lowcountryflyshop.com/products-page/bags-and-luggage/fishpond-dakota-carry-on/
“Paddle faster boys… I hear banjo music!”
www.lowcountryflyshop.com
www.theredfishchronicles.com
The Crazy Charlies are what Joe directed me to at the Angler. I got a few different colors but still need to get some other patterns, too. Looks like I’ll check out some Gotchas and some crab/shrimp patterns. Gonna stop by Lowcountry Fly Shop soon to talk to those guys.
That carry on bag looks awesome, but may be overkill if I already have to check a bag for some of my tackle, knives, etc. I talked to a friend today who straps his rod tube to his bookbag. May do that and put the reels in my bookbag with the GoPro case.
Anyone have any experience with Cabellas rods? They have a travel rod that is pretty inexpensive and may get the job done…
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Salt-Strikerreg-Travel-Spinning-Rods/738953.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dtravel%2Brod%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%3BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=travel+rod&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products
I have the Cabela’s 3 fork fly rod. Its like 50 bucks and actually does decently if it aint too windy out. Sorry I don’t know about the spinning rod but when i read the reviews for my rod on their website the reviews where pretty spot on to what the product is like
Screw the spinning rod, teach her to cast the fly rod. Nothing hotter than a woman casting the flyrod!
Recently did a trip to Big Charlies lodge on Andros. Unbelievable fishing for BIG bones.
I traveled with a fly and spin rod and packed as follows. put my 4 piece 8wt redington into it’s hard case with reel pouch. took the reel off the spin rod and tossed it in a backpack. then taped the two pieces of a 7ft spin rod to the outside of hard rod case putting the small guide piece through the bigger guides and used electric tape to secure it to the rod case. Took a small cliff bug box of about 15 pre tied flies in the backpack along with hemostats, nippers, a few extra leaders and fluoro. All this was fine to carry on to Bahamas air and then Leair from NAS-Fresh Creek. The flight attendant will smile when she sees the rod case and say, “here for the big bones and tarpon?”
For wade fishing you will NEED a good wading shoe/boot but lightweight is best. I used a softer rubber sole and was fine, but wading barefoot would be tough on the coral. I recommend pants for the horse flys and buffs/pfgs to keep the sun factor down.
For flies I tied mostly tan crazy charlies and gotchas with pink thread and bead chain eyes, as well as some pink puffs but most effective fly was the gotcha, or charlie with yellow crazy legs. size 4 and 6 hooks worked well. The current and water movement will make these flies dance so slow long strips are good once its in front of the fish, they will crash on it then enjoy the screaming run! Bring extra leaders as wind knots are common casting in the wind down there.
Hope you have a great trip down to Andros, time to stop drooling!