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Gray's 2026 Expeditions & Guides Annual: Gray's Best Awards
"Only Casey had seen a bonefish on that side of the island since the lodge opened several years ago. As we started down a certain tree-lined beach, however, he asked me, from the poling platform, to rig up my floating line with an appropriate fly. Beto, a better caster than I’ll ever be, was taking his turn on the deck—so when Casey spotted the bonefish, I grabbed Beto’s tarpon rod from him and handed over my new T&T Exocett 88 with only a couple of second thoughts.
Beto’s first cast landed exactly where we all hoped it would land. The bonefish did exactly what you would expect a bonefish to do: saw the fly, followed it and ate. Beto set. We all got pretty excited—Beto because he had never before caught a bonefish, Casey because the lodge had put up a thousand dollars, should it happen, for the first guide to have a client land a bonefish.
Me? I just get excited whenever cool things happen. Finally, when it all worked out, a photo launched over the airwaves to the guys who would have to cough up the reward, Beto grabbed my hand, shook it, thanked me for the shot, and gave me back my rod. “that thing’s a rifle,” he said. I couldn’t have put it better. “I like it, too,” I said. "
