Flats Tournament | Multi-Species

Want to change things up a bit on your next trip to the flats? Have yourself a multi-species tournament day! It’s really fun…

Background

On a recent trip to Andros South, we awoke to a really, really cloudy morning. We had a pretty experienced group of anglers at the lodge and we knew we could all go out and eke out a few bonefish…but we decided to change it up.

There are a whole boatload of species of fish around South Andros Island – and we’re not just talking about the obvious bonefish/permit/barracuda/shark program. What if we came up with a fun, borderline silly way to see a bunch of the island, try a bunch of new stuff and catch a bunch – really a bunch – of species?

The concept hit us like a ton of bricks. It’s the Multi Species Tournament!

Rules

The winning boat is the boat that catches the most unique species of fish in a single day, using any technique involving a rod and a reel. Add a buy in and a payout as you please.

That’s it!

Here’s an example, in case the simplicity isn’t obvious.

Boat 1 catches a horse eye jack, a grey snapper, a needlefish, 3 barracuda and 4 bonefish. Boat 1’s score is 5 – 5 unique species.
Boat 2 catches 13 bonefish and a lemon shark. Boat 2’s score is 2 – 2 unique species.
Boat 1 wins.

Implications

You try to catch as many different species as possible.
You bring along all kinds of crazy fishing gear.
Once you catch one species of fish, you stop trying to catch it again.
You think a lot about what part of the island you should go to when, and you think a lot less about where you’re likely to find a lot of any single species.

Revelations

Some species that you think are really easy to catch aren’t so easy after all. Know when to move on!
You can catch a whole ton of different critters trolling – in the right place at the right time.
Flies are more effective than bait in a surprising number of situations.
Don’t forget to leave some time to try and catch all the critters at the dock!

On your next trip to the flats, give the Multi Species Tourney a try. Trust us, it’s a blast. Have fun out there, and let us know how it goes!