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Dispatch from Los Roques

Jon Covich just returned from his first trip to Los Roques and was kind enough to share some words and photos that will have you adding yet another destination to your bucket list.

Man, I have always  wanted to go to Los Roques! Finally, it happened last week. If you don’t know, Los Roques is an archipelago of islands off the coast of Venezuela. Visitors take a 30 minute commuter flight to the largest of the islands from Caracas.

Most of the people who live on the island are there for two reasons: tourists and fish. In some cases both. The island has a multitude of very quant Posadas (small Hotels).  We stayed at Posada Acuarela.

One of the best things about fishing at Los Roques, is that almost all of it is done while wading. Very famous are the Pancake Flats, which are numerous and full of tailing and finning schools of bones. They are, however, nearly impossible to see unless you have native eyes.

To say that there is a lot of bait around Los Roques is a magnificent understatement. In fact, I have never seen so many baitfish, with everything feeding on them. We found Tarpon in bays and in the open water, Jacks and Blue Runners in abundance, and birds galore crashing these fish.

Look closely to the left of the Pelican. Ever see a Bonefish taking baitfish from a bird’s beak?

And yes, the Bonefish here eat baitfish like crazy. Gummy Minnows are the fly of choice while wading long beaches.

To add to the diversity of the flats, we fished islands and back bays. One of the most interesting was home to a lobsterman’s village, full of beautiful wooden boats, and bonefish and tarpon alike in the flats and bays.

Note the poster of Hugo Chavez on the back wall.

While I was having drinks after dinner one evening, another guest asked me how Los Roques compared to other Bonefish destinations around the world. I told them about Christmas Island, and about the Bahamas. But I also said that I had never been to any Bonefish destination like Los Roques. I loved the diversity of the fishing. The size of the Bonefish was above average, with many fish caught in the 5-7 pound range. And, guests return after fishing to a beautiful Posada and village rather than a lodge where they mix only with the group they traveled with.

I will return.

If you have questions, please e-mail me at jcovich@mindspring.com, and check out Los Roques fishing at Fly Water Travel.

Bonefishing in the Yemen

Roy Montoya does Ewan McGregor one better.

Andros

Andros Bonefish 2011 from Lee Kuepper on Vimeo.

Kiritimati, July 2011

Bonefish, 7 o’clock - 20 feet

Photo - Shadow River Media, Cameron Miller

If I were to guess, Norman is probably in his mid-thirties.  It’s hard to tell though, as most guides on the island are in pretty g’damn good shape. When he’s not hunting Walter on the Westside, he owns and operates a nightclub just south of Congotown. You can’t miss it – it’s the plywood-walled shack on the left side of the road as you head to South. It’s the one with the fifteen-foot-long neon Heineken sign just left of the door.  The one with music so loud “you can’t hear anything but the bass, mon.”  Norman, like all of the guides, works hard. During the season, three hours of sleep is par for the course. He’s also a commercial fisherman targeting conch, lobster, and sponge that can sell for up to fifty bones a pop. The dude is diverse. But, there’s no doubt - hunting bones is his first passion. 

He’s been fishing since he skipped school in favor of it as a kid two to three days a week. Even though it pissed his mom off, he didn’t skip a beat. The punishment was worth it – which is saying something, as most of the Bahamian women I met were just as sour as they were sweet. Norman knew he’d be a guide since he was a young pup.

Now, he spends a majority of his time polling the smaller flats, creeks, and mangrove ponds on the West side.  If he’s on the water 200 days a year, 175 of them are out West. Rarely does he wade. And, like a seasoned steelheader, Norman reads water. Specifically big fish water. Norman ain’t like everyone - he avoids huge flats with big schools of pound-and-a-halfers and sticks with skinnier stuff adjacent to deeper channels. Because in his eyes, deeper channels are Walter-friendly environs. 

I fished with Norman twice last week. One day delivered the right sun, wind, and tide. And, with that, it delivered plenty of happy fish. On day one, I heard him chirp the phrase “bonefish, 12 o’clock, 40 feet” at least 25 times.  And, if you’ve ever had coordinates barked to you by a Bahamian guide, you know damn well that’s a cast-friendly scenario that puts you in contact with shrimp crushing lips more often than not. The second day with Norman wasn’t as perfect – shitty sun and 15 to 20 mph stiffness all day. Bonefish, 7 o’clock, 20 feet was par for the course. And, no one was more frustrated with it than Norman. It didn’t matter though. We still connected on plenty of casts – even if most of them were five feet off the stern. We were still smiling at the end of the day. Including Norman – who cleaned up and tied up the boat, got in his car, and drove off to the nightclub to work the party. All on three hours of sleep.