By CAM Staff
There’s no experience in fly fishing like standing on the deck of a skiff and watching for shadows that belie cruising fish. Sight casting saltwater flats is a pursuit that lies somewhere between big-game hunting and angling. For many anglers it is the ultimate expression of the sport.
The following are four destinations that offer some of the best flats fishing in the world. Whether you seek the visceral thrill of leaping tarpon, the bone-jarring speed of giant trevally or the finesse and skill it takes to hook bonefish and permit, these places should be part of every angler’s bucket-list.
The Bahamas
No other island chain in the world has so completely associated itself with a single species of fish as the Bahamas. This 1,000-mile-long archipelago is bonefish heaven, and it has supported generations of famous fly fishing guides on more than 500 square miles of mostly hard-bottomed flats.
There’s a reason the Bahamas are so famous for bonefishing. From Grand Bahama and the Abacos in the north all the way down to Long Island and Acklins in the south, there are more than 700 islands. Each little cay supports its own flats, which all offer perfect habitat for bones and perfect environs for fly fishing.
Another great thing about bonefishing the Bahamas is easy access to the fishery. The islands are a quick hop from southern Florida, and every inhabited island has its own bonefish lodges. From swanky resorts to beachfront huts, there’s something for every type of angler, and the fishing is varied as well. Whether you seek the challenge of big wary fish or you’d rather have fun catching numbers, you’ll find it somewhere in the islands—and Bahamian guides are legendary for their skill and hospitality.
Seychelles
Out in the middle of the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, the Seychelles are an archipelago of 115 islands that offer some of the most remote and beautiful flats in the world.
With a strictly managed fishery, the atolls of the Seychelles are teeming with fish, and the out islands offer flats that few anglers have ever seen. It’s one of the few remaining destinations where the fishing experience cannot be oversold.
Bonefish are big, numerous and lightly pressured, so they will readily take a fly. But traveling anglers should go geared up for multiple other exciting flats inhabitants. From high-flying milkfish to powerful giant trevally, there’s really no place on the planet that offers such a diverse and exotic cast of characters.
And you’ll be sight fishing for all of them, either wading or poling gorgeous shallow-water flats.
Belize
If permit are your passion, you’d be hard pressed to find a better place to chase them than Belize. This little English-speaking nation, wedged in on the Caribbean between Mexico and Honduras, lays claim to what just might be the world’s best permit fishery.
Belize is small. You could fit the entire country within Florida six times, and its population density is the lowest in all of Central America. These statistics explain the unspoiled nature of Belize’s forests, flats and beaches.
Punta Gorda, on the southern coast, is the headliner destination for permit devotees. Yes, there are opportunities for tarpon, snook, bonefish and jacks, but the abundance and size of permit is astounding. Now, that abundance doesn’t make individual permit any easier to catch. It does, however, mean an angler will have numerous shots to get everything just right, which is a necessity when it comes to hooking permit on a fly.
The Florida Keys
No such list would be complete without mention of the Keys. The Florida Keys are the birthplace of backcountry fly fishing, and for decades the waters within the Gulf-side curve of this island chain have provided some of the best shallow-water fishing in the world.
The more than 1,000-square-mile expanse of Florida Bay is a vast shelf lagoon, where bays, channels, flats and small islands exist in the mix of warm Gulf waters and freshwater seeping in from the Everglades. A skiff with a captain opens up a world of mud and grass flats to spot and cast to fish. Even an angler in a kayak could explore the mazes of mangrove islands.
And there’s no telling what fish you might encounter. The summertime tarpon run is legendary. Bonefish and ever-difficult permit cruise the flats. Big snook and redfish are also potential sight-fishing targets. It’s a place where even big sharks have been known to take a fly.
From the eastern United States, the Florida Keys are a no-hassle flats experience, and the fishing can be spectacular.