Bonefishing North Andros at the Knoll’s Landing Facility...
By: Joe Suroviec
Florida Saltwater Fly Fishing by Joe Suroviec
Looking out of the window of the two engine Cessna I was mesmerized by the miles and miles of gin clear skin deep water that my son Victor and I were flying over. As we
neared the runway the shadow of the plane was sending schools of fish fleeing for their
lives and I could not help but think that these schools of fish that were our targeted
species of this trip, Bonefish.
Victor who works at the fly rod counter at Cabalas in Glendale, Arizona is a Sage fly rod
proformer was straight out of the trout streams and there with me to sample his first
taste of bonefishing.
There is no better place in the world to do this type of fishing than Andros Island in
the Bahamas.
Andros is known as the “Bonefish Capital of the World” & North Andros is where you fish
the Joulter Cays & Bonefish World for those Big fellows.
I was to be the guest of Diane Knoll and her on premise guide Rodney Miller known as the
“Andros Angler”, who runs a flats guide service from their operation of “Knoll’s Landing
Bonefishing & Family Resort”.
Diane is a very gregarious woman who has hosted this type of fishing now for many years
and after we were settled into a very lovely Bahamian house saturated in bonefishing lore
and books and such, we were told of the upcoming days events by Diane and Rodney. That
evening Victor and I relaxed and read book after book of local and general knowledge
books on bonefishing to aide in tomorrow’s adventure. I barely slept at all that night
and before I knew it the birds were chirping to greet the first rays of a clear and dead
still day.
The sun was peeking out of the pine trees as Rodney waded out to his 17’ Silver King
Flats boat with his Fly Case and coffee in his hand. The boats are moored to permanent
moorings to offset any dock damage due to the frequent use of the boat when the wind
blows there from the West. We were fortunate that morning as it was dead still. With the
no see -ums reminding me there was no wind we quickly left them little biters in the dust
and were soon skimming over glass covered flats that held legions of flats dwellers that
spooked out of our way. The skiff was a nicely sized rig and had a 115 Evinrude Ocean Pro
motor that soon had us miles away from our starting point.
I saw no other fishermen or boats of any kind the entire time that we were there and it
was almost like we were in our own world. Slowly we came off plane and idled for about
150 yards or so until Rodney slipped into the water and slowly pushed us along. We eased
up to a sand spit and quietly waited for a few minutes.
All of us peering into a glass surfaced flat that stretched in all directions "there".
Rodney said as he pointed with his fingers "You and Victor walk in this direction and
wait for them to come to you". Victor and I eased out of the skiff into bath water that
slapped at our shin and slowly we shuffled out to meet the area of water that was
quivering nervously “Bonefish” and there was literally an acre of them slowly feeding and
happily splashing in our direction and I felt myself crouching down way too early. Victor
fished with his 8 weight fly rod and had it matched with a reel that was loaded with 30
pound gel spun backing that had 350 yards attached to it and had a floating line that was
connected to a 9 foot tapered bonefish leader that had a 12 pound test tippet. I was
using a larger 9 weight rod and also had the same fly reel set up as he had. We both had
on a Crazy Charlie fly that Victor had tied and soon we were false casting in order to
get our flies out and ahead of the approaching school of fish. We both let our flies
settle 10 yards or so in front of the approaching school and when they were on top of our
flies both of us slowly stripped the line in small 6 inch strips until we felt a strike
and almost at once we were both hooked into a bonefish.
As the school panicked and sped for the nearest horizon we looked at each other for a
moment and holding rods high each went off in a different direction to help gain line
being lost by the yard as we splashed along in vain. Within several minutes I had my fish
in control as the nine weight slowly and steadily tired out my fish and Victor had a
larger fish on a smaller outfit and he was happily getting extended play time when I
released my first Bahamian-bonefish. I soon became aware of 4 foot brown shadows that
were lurking behind the bonefish schools like cowboys following cattle. These shallow
water bullies had other intentions for our fly hooked bones and soon it became evident
that we had to play the fish harder than wished in order to keep our fish from being
added to the menu by the lurking lemon sharks. In fact one shark was so bold that I had
to literally kick him out of the way when I was releasing my bonefish. Rodney told us
that the sharks are always there and if we should break our fish off before the shark
catches him to save the bonefish.
Soon we became quite good at catching the bones in fast mode and never lost a single fish
to the lurking genus brothers.... In fact we took a 12 weight rod with wire and had great
fun with the sharks on fly as they were eager biters and we soon knew exactly where to
look for them each time a school of bonefish approached. We were there for bones but the
shark on fly program had its moments. Rodney carried the extra rod and reel for the
moments when sharks became a viable target. It was a fine system we had going indeed.
Wading along we soon discovered that the flats were not so flat. There were numerous
holes created by bonefish "blowing out the sand" to flush crabs out of hiding and areas
that rays and other critters had plowed under. Also, the sand was soft in some places and
rock hard in others which made us look like two uneven legged waders plodding along in
the shallows. Rodney suggested that we shuffle our feet in order to avoid stepping on a
sand covered ray. Both Victor and I wore wading shoe booties. The booties were nice to
wear but filled with marl and sand too frequently and made wading uncomfortable. I opted
for socks that were rubber banded at the top to keep sand out and an old pair of sneakers.
Rodney would walk to one side or the other and was easily the best spotter. Victor and I
learned quickly what to look for when it comes to tell-tale bonefish signs. Pushes or V
wakes were the easiest to spot. Lay ups (where fish is simply still) were the hardest to
see as their mirrored sides reflect the surroundings and make them very hard to pick out.
They truly are the ghosts of the flats as many times we were literally too close to shoot
a fly to them before we saw them. That was not an issue though as we saw thousands of
bonefish in our short 2 day stay there.
Both days we were ushered off the water by sudden pop up storms that quickly turned the
calm flats into a sheet of wave washed opaque water with no visibility. We hull slapped
back to the dock each day with quite a few bonefish taken on fly and so thrilled to see
and hook that many fish on fly. Walking back to the house along a conch shell lined path
we were told to put our shoes in a water basin placed near the back door and to relax the
rest of the day in our lovely accommodations at Knoll’s Landing.
Hours quickly passed as Rodney, Victor and I re-examined each special moment of the
morning and watched and learned as Rodney taught us new knots and showed us his favorite
flies for various conditions and time flew by each day until our time at the brass ring
was over.
If anyone is interested in bonefishing in an area that is too beautiful for words and you
are either a beginner or an advance fly caster then Knoll’s Landing is a place that ranks
as one of my top trips. Going there with my son was even more special and watching him
hook and land his first bonefish is a memory that cannot be given a dollar amount.
You can contact Rodney or Diane at www.knollslanding.com and set up a trip of a lifetime
to catch these magnificent ghostly fighters of the flats .Fly rod or spin fishing for
these speedsters is as good as it gets there. Combine that fishing with top of the line
accommodations and a really patient and knowledgeable flats guide and a consummate host
and you will become a regular there I promise. I know that I am.
Knoll's Landing
1-242-329-2039 | | |
