Many of our readers found our Alaska Guidespeak Glossary helpful – it’s nice to be able to understand the locals, after all. The suggestion was made that our guides in the Bahamas say some pretty strange things as well, so today we present a handy reference to Bahamas Guidespeak.
Blackback – n. A large bonefish, called such because big fish look dark. “Blackback – 1 o’clock, 60 feet.”
Bubble – v. To motor slowly in a skiff with the motor trimmed up – necessary for navigating very shallow water. “We’re going to need to bubble through if we want to fish The Back [see below].”
Bonette – n. A very small bonefish. “Hold your cast man – that’s a bonette.”
Sharpshooter – n. A good, accurate caster. “I love a sharpshooter in my boat!”
Long strip – n. A phrase used by a clever Bahamian guide to get you the set the hook without raising your rod tip and executing the dreaded Trout Set [see below]. “Strip. Strip. Wait. Strip. Long strip! Long strip! He’s on!”
Trout Set – n. The painful-to-watch and extremely ineffective hooksetting method of raising your rod tip when the fish eats. “Big fish man – whatever you do, don’t do a trout set on this one.”
The Back – n. The West Side of South Andros. “If you want big fish, I say we head to The Back.”
The Front – n. The East Side of South Andros. “It’s blowin’ pretty hard today – let’s stay in The Front.”
Up – adv. South. We don’t know why (we’ve been told a story about going upwind with prevailing weather), but on South Andros, south is ‘up’. “We’re going to run all the way up to Water Cay to find some big schools.’
Down – adv. North. Yep, down means north. “Reel in guys – let’s head back up to camp.”
Silver Dollar – A bright scale right behind the dorsal fin on a large fish, say over 5 pounds. “That’s the fish of the week right there – check out that silver dollar.”
Ocean Bones – Very big bonefish that have come out of deeper water. “Don’t cast at that bonette – I got a group of ocean bones coming at 10 o’clock.”
Gangsters – n. Sharks. “The gangsters are here – that’s not going to make the bones happy [see below].”
Happy – adj. Used to describe fish that are content, comfortable and feeding actively. “Oooh, that’s a happy fish man – land it right in front of him.”
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