I came back to Tortola three weeks early to spend some time with my sister, brother, friend Adam, cousin Maggie and her friend, Katie. It was a great time and the weather held out for us yet again. We spent the first week sight-seeing, snorkeling and fishing and spent the last two weeks just fishing. We saw some incredible sunsets, revisited the shadiest museum on Earth, caught some truly memorable fish and just enjoyed each other's company.
Katie and my cousin Maggie
Instead of driving\sliding to the bottom of an impossibly steep hill in our questionably safe vehicle, we parked at the top of the island and hiked down to sea level to gain access to a gorgeous, deserted beach.
The view from the top. Roughly 1400ft above sea level.
Dead on our own beach. Smartly napping in the shade while Mark gathers the rest of our stuff.
The path down is now a bulldozed highway. Soon, they'll probably pave it to let cruise ship passengers get drunk and litter on one of the last natural beaches on the island.
The hill is stupidly steep.
Adam ran out of water a good 300ft below us, so Lex tried to roll him a bottle. It never made it.
Lex and Katie rock scrambling.
Brown Boobie
The Caribbean became the setting for our 4th annual fly fishing trip. It was our first trip to saltwater and presented an immense set of challenged to overcome in order to find and catch fish. Typical days went something like this...
Lacking a boat, we had to walk, wade, swim or kayak to flats, which are tidal areas where certain species of fish feed during certain periods of the day.
Once you arrive on the flat, you begin to look for signs of fish. Sometimes, you see nothing for an entire day.
This is what you're looking for. Bonefish. Actively feeding.
When you see them, you begin stalking them. If you make a mistake, they will spook and you'll have missed your chance. You will make mistakes a lot.
They're feeding on light colored crabs, so you tie on a light colored crab pattern that one of us tied.
You make a long cast to present your fly delicately within the fish's strike zone. Then, strip line to make the fly behave like what it is supposed to look like.
Sometimes, it all comes together and this happens.
There are many other species of fish that inhabit the flats, which we also managed to fool during our trip.
A large wrasse of some kind.
Small sharks.
Smaller sharks.
Small barracuda.
Turtles were everywhere.
Mark caught a Permit, the most elusive, difficult to fool and, therefore, sought-after flats species on a fly rod. We saw quite a few, but this was the only one landed. Easily the Fish of the Trip.
This bird was trapped in the closet of the abandoned condo from above. Adam caught and released it back into the wild.
Snakes on the beach.
Mark also caught an 11lb bonefish, which is huge. A film crew from the VERSUS channel brought their boat over to film it. The host of the show holding up Mark's fish, with us sheepishly waving from the background, will be on the VERSUS channel this September in a show called "Travelers in Paradise."
A small Horse-Eye Jack.
A very large Horse Eye Jack.
We also caught maybe 25 of these tarpon. They fight like hell and cartwheel out of the water when hooked. If you land a tarpon, bonefish and permit on the same day, it is called a Grand Slam, and we achieved exactly one about halfway through our trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment