Exuma and the renegade guides
From time to time, FlyFish.com sets off in search of world class fly waters to share with its loyal readers. Our most recent trip was different from our usual, well planned adventures, and we only pulled it off with the help of some entrepreneurially gifted fly guides in the beautiful Bahaman Island of Exuma.

From the beginning we were operating under a few very strict limitations:
1. The weather had to be warm… As much as we desired to escape from the record cold gripping northeastern America, it’s a convenient fact that bone fish don’t dig the shivers much either.
2. We had a severely limited time frame in which to fish.

Our goal then was to get as far away from the winter weather without cutting into our fishing time with costly hours spent on plane connections. Once we’d jumped on the computer and made a few calls we made our final choice… Exuma.

With its southern location, Exuma is more likely than Florida and the Northern Bahamian Islands to be spared the occasional cold fronts that hit during winter months. Yet only an hour from Miami, it is a relatively easy destination to get to. We decided on a Monday that we could leave the office Tuesday as long we were back in the office Friday! It was going to be a challenge…

Step one was to check the weather and secure guides. We got back on the web and were immediately satisfied with the weather reports for the region. It was a thumbs up, while on the other hand Florida and the upper Bahamas looked set for some unseasonably cold weather.

We then checked out the Island in Stephen Vletas’ “Bahamas Fly Fishing Guide.” This gave us some incredibly valuable time saving information on accommodations, airline choices, the type of fishing we could expect and the like. A few emails and a phone call later and suddenly we were the invited guests of an Exuma Bonefish Association guide.

A little background on Exuma
Let it be known that Exuma is literally one big happy family…the Rolle family to be exact. Everyone knows everyone and takes care of everyone pretty well. Our only instructions, on such short notice, were to get off the plane and ask for Dudley - a local taxi driver. From there, we were told, everything would be taken care of.

And so with only a cell phone number in our pocket (and of course no cell service for our phone) we landed. Dudley was waiting as planned. We immediately told Dudley of our plan to fish with a guide named J.J. “He’s good,” he responded. “He’s my nephew!” We had a feeling we were in good hands.

Although there are several decent hotels and lodges on Exuma, we decided to check out the Club Peace & Plenty in Georgetown. The Peace & Plenty also owns a bone fish lodge outside of Georgetown, as well as a beach club nearby, but we decided we wanted to stay in the town, so chose the Club.

We were in luck, and managed to get the last room available. We then proceeded to have a delicious dinner and a few beverages at the bar where, just like the Bahamas Fly Fishing Guide book had said, we were introduced to Lermon “Doc” Rolle. Lermon has been a bartender there for 30 years, who claims to have graduated “Cum Laude” in the “Fine Arts of Libation,” Doc is quite possibly the friendliest bartender on the planet. Over the next few minutes we met our guide for the next day, Remo, and several of his relatives, and the plan was made for a 9 am launch in the morning.

We awoke to sunny skies and calm conditions and headed down for breakfast, after which we went into the settlement of Great Exuma to score some last minute provisions. During our walk in we felt a brisk, almost unnoticeable little breeze spring up. However, at the same time we happened to overhear two women sweeping the sidewalk in front of their t-shirt stand say: “Looks like da rain is commin.” This sounded a bit out of place with the sunny skies above, but you had to wonder…

Sure enough, not 20 minutes later, the wind changed direction and the skies darkened. The next hour brought us driving rain and wind and of course, no guide arrived at the hotel. We were beginning to lose hope when finally, at 10:15, Remo ambled in. We decided then, despite the extremely difficult conditions, to give it a go.

The combination of the 35 knot winds and cloud cover made this a most difficult day to sight fish. We fished hard and tried to find some leeward coves and flats to duck out of the driving wind.

Finally, at 2pm, the sun broke through and we anchored on a beautiful white sand flat. I handed Remo my spare rod and we fished together for 2 hours. In that time we saw several large bones, but in the conditions it was just too difficult to present our Crazy Charlies well enough to land one.

The next day dawned spectacular. The kind of day fly anglers dream of. Calm, sunny and warm. Our guide was Allen “JJ” Dames, a 2x National bone fishing champion who has been guiding now for 15 years and has put many notable clients on bonefish, Dusty Baker, Lee Iaccoca, Mikey Mantle…among others. JJ is considered by many to be the hardest working guide operating in the Bahamas.

He previously was a guide for the Peace and Plenty Bonefish club, as were the other Exuma Bonefish guide association members. They claim they got tired of the routine, the waiting and the uneven rotation of guides, and so broke off and formed their own loose service. And while they don’t provide lunch or gear, their strength lies in putting their clients on bonefish, something they do as well as any guides we’ve seen. JJ claims he now guides 150+ days a year.

As the morning sun rose overhead, he quickly had us on bonefish. And could efficiently scan an area and determine if there were any bones present. If so, we fished and caught, if not, he wasted no time and re-routed his flats boat to another cay or flat. Overall, Exuma is wonderful, an easygoing island with some of the nicest people you ever want to meet. The fly fishing is outstanding, with all sorts of various mangrove areas, cuts and gorgeous white sand flats that hold plenty of bonefish. Permit also make their way around the Island, although usually later in the season than February.

As we mentioned, we were on a tight dealine, so after 2 quick days on the water, we landed back in New York’s Kennedy Airport to a light snowfall…

General notes on the Island
Great Exuma is a gentle little settlement. No rush, no worries. Not a ton else to do really other than enjoy the sea and relax. Compared to most of the outer Bahamas, it offers enough to diversify a trip and provide non anglers with a few options. You can rent small boats and fish the island on your own which we recomend if you have the time. There are a few decent restaurants, hotels and some wonderful beaches, especially on Stocking Island a short ferry from the Peace and Plenty.

But with the recent edition of a spectacular Four Seasons Great Exuma resort on the north end of the island, it is only a matter of time before the world catches up with Exuma. While there, we toured the Four Seasons, and yes, it is first rate, a nice place to take the family. It has all of the ammenities, offering variuos snorkelingand water activities and offers what someday will be an extremely challenging, Greg Norman designed golf course.

But it seems, for now anyway, a bit out of place on an otherwise beautifully quaint little island. In just a few minutes in the lobby we were quickly reminded exactly why fly anglers love to be on the water and away from pushy New Yorkers loudly demanding to see management about the latest grave injustice (in this case, heaven forbid, a four-year-old had been charged for dinner when it was supposed to be free).

We noticed also that the Four Seasons offered to arrange guided bone fishing trips, but at a rate much higher than the $295/day that the Exuma Bonefishing Guide Association charges. Which is fine but then we can’t imagine the bones are any more apt to fall for your crab or Crazy Charlie just because you are paying more or wearing a Four Seasons gift shop visor.

For more information on booking your trip, check out www.exumabonefish.com or grab a copy of the “Bahamas Fly Fishing Guide,” by Stephen Vletas.