Great Exuma Island
On The Fly Saltwater
November 2024
By Jimmy Jacobs
It often is said that the best time to go fishing is when you have time to go fishing. For all of us that have other commitments to fulfill, that is a fact of life. So, we head to the water whenever our schedules allow. The other side of the equation is that those times may not offer the best opportunity for some catching.
Those two facts definitely apply when you head to saltwater for fly casting. Dealing with tides can make that proposition particularly dicey. A flat or tidal creek that has no water, or too much water, makes for poor chances of getting a fish on the end of your line. If you are a traveling angler with limited time on the water, the challenge gets even greater.
That is just the problem the On The Fly South crew faced, after spending several hours on airplanes traveling 800 miles to reach the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas. The Exumas consists of 365 islands – most of which are uninhabited – stretching from northwest to southeast, roughly 170 miles southeast of Nassau. Of those, the largest is 37-square-mile Great Exuma.
As a result of our schedule, our first day of fishing was limited to half a day in the morning. Looking at the tide chart revealed we would be facing the last of the rising tide. Such a condition was going to push the bonefish far back in the mangrove flats along the western shore of the island, basically putting them out of reach.
Heading out with Bonefish Stevie Ferguson. Photo by Polly Dean.
Fortunately, we had an ace up our sleeve in the form of Bonefish Stevie Ferguson, whose boat was to be our fishing chariot for the day.
Stevie Ferguson got his start in the guiding business in 1983 at just 14 years old. Local entrepreneur Ken “KB” Bowe, the originator of the Chat ‘N Chill beach party that takes place every Sunday on nearby Stocking Island, recognized a young man who was destined to get in trouble if he did not get focused. So, Bowe bought a boat for the young Ferguson to aid in getting him on the road to becoming a premier bonefish guide on Exuma. It was a bit of philanthropy that paid off handsomely for both the guide and his future clients. These days Stevie likes teaching fly fishing to newcomers to the sport and he is heavily into conservation of the resources on Exuma. Additionally, he works with other guides and resorts to improve the quality of the fishing experience that visiting anglers receive, while improving the lot of the guides as well.
When we met Stevie at the dock this morning, he was not excited by our prospects. We were facing the high tide, and there was a bit of breeze kicking up to put a riffle on the surface of the water. The former would make finding the bonefish tough, while the latter makes them harder to see. Still, he was enthusiastic to give it a try.
Much of the shoreline along the maze of cays on the western side of the island where we were fishing is fringed by coral rocks that rise a couple of feet above the high tide line. As we motored out, these shores were ignored, as we headed for the few spots where the rising tide was able to flood back into shallow mangrove flats. But, of course, we expected to find the bones pushing back into those mangroves as the tide crested.
Here’s where having local knowledge leveled the playing field a bit. Stevie put us within casting range of one such flat. But before we actually started fishing, he cautioned us about casting and line control. “You can’t put it on the water and pick it up too many times,” he explained. “You’ll push them back.”
The bonefish seemed more interested in cruising, rather than feeding. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
Pretty soon he was calling out the location of some bonefish. These bones, however, were not feeding, but rather cruising just outside the mangroves. Pretty quickly he added some more advice to get us all on the same page. “When the guide gives a clock face direction and distance, don’t waste time looking for the fish,” he said. “Go ahead and get the fly out there, then follow instructions of when to strip while you look for the fish.”
Apparently, I either had bad luck or followed his directions too well. A number of times I landed the fly right on the pod of fish he was calling out. I did see them then, when they stirred the water up getting as far from my fly as they could!
Preparing to slap another fish in the head with my fly. Photo by Polly Dean.
This day Stevie just needed to have better anglers in the boat. Although not a banner day for finding the bones, we did get plenty of chances at them. Associate Editor Polly Dean managed to hook a pair of bones under these difficult conditions, with one smaller one simply spitting the hook during the fight. The next one was a good fish of more than 20 inches. However, that fight ended with her retrieving a leader with a “pigtail” at it end, indicating a knot that had failed to withstand the battle. Afterward, she let Stevie tie all the knots.
I fared even worse. After smacking a half dozen of the bones in the head with my casts, I finally hooked into a decent fish. Once the hook was set and he started the classic “freight-train run” along the outside edge of the mangroves, I was feeling better. That is until he made short work of the 12-pound tippet that snapped in two.
Our guide had performed his job in finding bonefish that would eat. On the other hand, some days just don’t work out as planned when on the water. But we did pick up some local knowledge that would prove useful later on.
For more information on booking your own day of fishing on Great Exuma with Bonefish Stevie Ferguson, visit his website.
