Bait is showing up on the flats, but the bass are off to a slow start.
Cold weather in late April and early May on Long Island has slowed down what usually is the start of flats fishing. However, the weather is heating up and with some luck the water will warm up soon and the bass will be hungry for those sand eels and other tasty critters that live on the flats during the spring and early summer.
If you have not fished Long Island’s eastern bays, flats or shallow waters it’s not too late to book a guide that can put you on the fish. If you are close to New York City, Jamaica Bay has had excellent fishing and is minutes away from the big apple.
Tight lines!
www.ontheflats.com
Once in a while everything comes together when sight fishing for bonefish, and Nam’s first charter out of Nassau in the Bahamas was one of those great trips. Keep reading for the full story.
Nam Hoang from San Francisco writes:
Went out with Aaron Bain on December 29. We fished the flats on the south side of the Island. We arrived at about 8:30am on a low tide where we found bonefish pushing water. I caught 3 bonefish in the first hour. The first and largest was about 5 lbs.
My first fish on the fly!
The other two were about 2lbs school-sized fish. Most of the fish were schooled up and tailing. Without any sun, this was our only way of finding them.
As the tide began to rise and the sun still hiding behind clouds, we decided to move into the lagoon where we first spotted fish. I spotted a school of bonefish which ignored my fly and spooked a single fish with the sun in my eyes. After poling around awhile and not seeing anything else, and with the tide too high to fish we headed out of the lagoon working the flats on the way back to the dock.
With the sun not cooperating and the tide too high, we called it a day around 2:30pm.
Thanks for sharing your trip Nam!
If you’d like to fish the flats of Nassau you can contact:
Aaron Bain
Telephone: (242) 544-9943
email: aaronbain2005@hotmail.com
www.ontheflats.com
