EDITORIAL | THE FLYFISH JOURNAL 13.2 Published Editorial
I’m always thrilled when I see my work in print. It’s nice to relive those small moments again. A big thanks to those who help make these a reality. Anglers, sponsors, and the lodges, without you these images wouldn’t be possible.
Love print? Me too! Head down to your local shop and grab yourself a copy or order a subscription. Keep print alive.
The 2021 Expeditions & Guides Annual of Gray’s Sporting Journal is now available. I am thrilled to have a photo essay in this issue.
This essay is a series of images taken in the Yucatan. I’ve traveled around Yucatan Mexico with a camera and a fly rod for many years. More often than not it’s with my good friend Shaun Lawson. Over the years we’ve had quite the adventures. Good fishing, bad fishing, good weather, bad weather, and a few blown-out flip-flops – it’s always quite the adventure to find a size “grande gringo”. We’ve had some camera mishaps, a few parasite issues, a lot of tacos, and met a lot of incredible people. Every trip was always a great trip, the fishing was just a bonus.
Big thanks to all guides for working hard to help us get into fish and of course, help with getting the images. It’s a team effort.
This issue is packed with great articles and some impressive photo essays, it’s not one to be missed.
Be sure to head down to your local shop and grab yourself a copy or better yet, order a subscription, you won’t be disappointed.
The new issue of American Angler Magazine has hit the shelves. This is the first issue of 2020! We were delighted to see a few of our images make the cut and accompanying an article by Chris Santella. Bonefish are certainly one of our favorite fish to pursue. If you get a chance, check it out!
Don’t have a subscription? Head down to your local shop and grab a copy, or, get a yearly subscription and never miss an issue — digital versions available too.
PHOTO ESSAY | ANDROS ISLAND 24° 25′ 59.99″ N -77° 56′ 59.99″ W – North Andros
I traveled around North Andros in the Bahamas with Ian Davis with the purpose of wade fishing for bonefish. One of the many great things about fly fishing on Andros Island is the extensive wading options. In certain areas, utilizing the tides, you can fish wade for bonefish all day with a just a spool of tippet, and a handful of flies. It’s also always a good idea to have a ‘cuda rod handy. The barracuda are also hunting bonefish. When planning what to bring, it also doesn’t hurt to toss in a few local Kalik beers for the celebratory ride home after a fun day of flats fishing. Big thanks to guides Solomon Murphy and Phillip Rolle for working hard to help us get into fish and the images.
This issue is packed with great articles and some impressive photo essays, it’s not one to be missed.
Be sure to head down to your local shop and grab yourself a copy or better yet, order a subscription, you won’t be disappointed.
TWO GRAND SLAMS IN TWO DAYS Bonefish + Permit + Tarpon x 2
BGP member Will Phelps put together a quick personal edit while on a content gathering assignment in Belize.
It’s not unheard of, but two grand slams in two days is a rarity! “We never expected it to be this good. On the last two days of our trip to Belize, it all came together. The calm and sunny conditions were perfect for flats fishing. Thanks to our incredible guides, Lincoln Westby and Marvin Leslie, two grand slams were boated. Luck was on our side, and angler Damien Nurre got it done”.
Check out the edit.
2 SLAMS, 2 DAYS
+ Camera operator and edit: Will Phelps
PHOTO ESSAY | SAINT BRANDONS ATOLL 16.5833° S, 59.6167° E – East of Mauritius
I’m thrilled to see the voyage to St. Brandon’s Atoll in Mauritius made it to print. Each time I think about this incredible adventure with the crew at Flycastaway I still can’t believe it. What an incredible area, I had no idea places like this actually existed in reality. A journey I will always remember and a place I will always want to return to. This essay is from my trip last year while on assignment for Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures with the amazing crew at Fly Castaway. It has been said the Cargados Carajos Shoals is very remote, way off-the-grid and is extremely difficult to get there. I couldn’t agree more.
Big thanks to William for letting me tag along with him on the flats with my camera and to my bunkmate Murray for putting up with all my gear, I’m glad we both had the same taste in room temperate!
Be sure to head down to your local shop and grab yourself a copy or better yet, order a subscription, you won’t be disappointed. This issue is packed with great articles and some impressive photo essays, it’s not one to be missed.
ST BRANDONS ATOLL RECAP Middle of Nowhere, Indian Ocean
I just returned from an inspiring trip to the Indian Ocean and ST Brandon’s Atoll, what an incredible adventure. I never knew a place like that existed. It was very inspiring to see a healthy fishery and ecosystem that is still intact. The wade fishing for bonefish was as incredible. It’s an ocean safari of animals and birds that I’ve never seen before. It’s not a place for everyone, a long journey filed with flights and a massive ocean crossing. We had a great captain and the 15-foot seas for 24+ hours didn’t seem so bad. Hats off to the FlyCasway team for showing me their amazing office. Thanks for your hospitality!
SAINT BRANDON’S ATOLL | INDIAN OCEAN 16° 35’0.0”S 59° 40’0.0”E – North East of Mauritius
Here we go, cue the automatic “out-of-office” email reply! ….My bags are packed, Global Rescue and SAT phone in tow and I am heading out the door in less than 24 hours. It is going to take 4 days, 4 plane rides, 2 hotels and a 28hr, 268-nautical-mile ocean crossing later to get there. My final destination is a very remote place called Île Raphael on St.Brandon’s Atoll, it’s about 10,393.44 miles away from home.
St. Brandon (Saint Brandon), also known as Cargados Carajos Shoals, is a collective of over 50 islands, coral ridges and vast sand flats on an extended reef located in the middle of absolutely nowhere Indian Ocean. I will be on assignment for Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures with the Fly Castaway boys targeting anything that swims on the flats, mainly giant bonefish and giant trevally. It has been said this place is literally the next frontier in the world of saltwater flats fishing. It is very remote, way off-the-grid and is one of the few remaining protected pristine places left on the planet, not too mention, its extremely difficult to get there.
I am beyond excited and I feel very lucky to be on this trip. This is for sure a once in a life-time opportunity for me, I am looking forward to the adventure and I can’t wait to make some photographs.
CUBA | HOW ABOUT A HAM SANDWICH AND JACK, SAY CHEESE Jardines de la Reina, Cayo Largo, Havana | Cuba
Oh Cuba… what can I say about a place that Hemingway didn’t already say? A Ham sandwich, betcaha Hemingway didn’t mention a ham sandwich. oh wait, he did. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, a ham sandwich is always an appropriate food in Cuba. That and a few more other odd things like funny money, cool old cars, ancient churches, talented artists and willing jacks can be found at any given time here! Did I mention the jacks crush Warpath crease flies on the surface?! Yes, yes, they do!
“It was considered a virtue not to talk unnecessarily at sea…” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
It was a thrilling few weeks in Cuba…now I’m repacking, headed to South America next week.
A SERIES OF BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS A few Black and White moments from my life on the road
“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!” ― Ted Grant
+Playa Blanca, Yucatan Johnny Pares spinning up some topwater bonefish flies.
+Skagit River, Washington Scott Wilson swinging for saltwater rainbows on an early foggy morning.
+Las Pampas, Argentina Argentine Gaucho, Jonathan Nunis, observes the outcome of his trusty calving rope work. Jonathan is one of the few old World gauchos, the last of his kind. It’s very much a fragile way of life in the new realm of technology, power and greed. I’ve never felt so humbled, so welcomed, so very small and insignificant in the big small world. It’s my hope their way of life continues forever.
+Casa Blanca, Yucatan A Yucatan Osprey heads to a palm tree with breakfast in its talons. I enjoyed watching the hunt and the feast, a day I won’t forget.
+Remote backcountry, Argentina Yvon Chouinard studying maps of the expedition in his tent. Andes Mountains, Argentina. This image represents my childhood dream and my childhood hero. A good role model and hero can make a difference, especially for the youngsters. It could be anyone really, a parent, a friend, someone who over came the odds, maybe a neighbor, perhaps a coach, an explorer, probably someone with a backbone that created positive change, it could be anyone with integrity, guts and bravery. These types follow their own quest, which is more often than not, the hard road. They fail but get back up and keep on going with their integrity and spine in tact, and they instill the seed of chance in others. Decades later I was the middle of the Andes Mountains gearing up for a big adventure. Ironically my childhood hero was also on the expedition team. I feel very fortunate to have captured this moment, for me it’s an internal lifetime accomplishment. It was also an inspiring moment, solidifying with certainty; the only limitations are those we put on ourselves. You can do anything you want to, you just have to actually want to do it. The champ is still going hard, still following his dreams, and still forging his own path. And its not everyday you get to bring your childhood hero on an expedition and take his picture when he’s not looking. Thirty-years later, I’m inspired once again.
