Headwinds: The Resilience of One Smiling Bahamian Fishing Guide

Omeko “Meko” Glinton is not what you probably think of when you conjure up images of a fly-fishing guide. He’s got a contagious glow of positivity. He’ll verbally massage your cast without talking down to you. He’s endlessly forgiving of missed hook-sets, genuine, resilient, and a beacon of hope for a family and community who have seen more than their share of tragedy. He’s been granted game warden status by the Bahamian government. Oh, and Flip Pallot once called him one of the two best flats-fishing guides in the world.

You might’ve already heard of Meko—a powerful film by Pandion Creative (Harrison Buck) is due to premiere soon, he was lauded in Chris Dombrowski’s beautiful book Body of Water, and he was featured on the Florida Sportsman website for landing a 14.6-pound bonefish in 2014.

Meko has become a leader in the effort to rebuild Bahamian bonefishing in the aftermath of 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, which tore apart the islands, caused great loss of life, devastated habitat, and challenged the fortitude of the residents. He’s even helping set up a fishing license system whereby the funds would go directly to where they’re needed, for example repairing damaged boat ramps.

“So if I say, hey, this ramp is horrible—my guest just slipped on the ramp, then they should allocate some of that funds to come and clean up the ramp or build a new ramp,” Meko said. “And then that’s the kind of stuff we want to see happening with whatever funding.”

Staying and fishing with Meko on the East End of Grand Bahama is what Meko calls getting “The Meko Experience” (hereafter known as TME), which is also the name of his lodge and outfitting troupe. It is fronted by the man himself and backed by a cast of gregarious family members who provide ideal, well-rounded, and memorable Bahamas adventures.

Family and Legacy

Meko happens to be the grandson of legendary Bahamian fly-fishing guide David Pinder Sr. (known simply as David Sr.), one of the pioneers of the sport. In fact he was the very first bonefish guide in the Bahamas and was widely known as the best in his day. Once fly fishing for bonefish became en vogue in the 1970s, famous anglers such as author and filmmaker Guy de la Valdène and Field & Stream Fishing Editor Al “A.J.” McClane became repeat clients. Years later, the Bahamian prime minister visited Deep Water Cay Club to thank David Sr. personally for his impact on the national economy.

Bahamian bonefishing is a nine-figure industry annually, and likely wouldn’t exist without the expertise and dedication of guides like David Sr. Now a frail 91-year-old patriarch, he prefers clean button-up shirts, ironed dress pants, dark sunglasses, and a handsome fedora. He does not speak much—his stoic avuncular aura complements his wisdom.

Meko’s father, Stan Glinton (nicknamed Stan da Man) is another of Meko’s overqualified guides. I actually caught my first-ever bonefish under Stanley’s guidance, on my third cast—but who’s counting? If you are fortunate enough to hear stories, like his 54-bonefish day—the smallest being 5 pounds, the time A.J. McClane caught a bonefish on a dry fly meant for trout (he repeatedly tugged it under water and let it waft back upward), or some others not fit for print, you are in for a treat.

And Meko’s son, Big Mike, is likely the next legendary Bahamian bonefishing guide. At only 16 years old, Big Mike is already a world-class fly caster and bonefisher.

“It’s good because he sees the challenges and how hard it is,” said Meko of Mike. “He’s a good teacher, too. He knows enough already to tell people what they need to be doing. Like me, I learned from my grandfather, David Sr.”

And just as he has always done for himself, Meko holds high expectations for his progeny.

“He’ll be more like with Tiger (Woods), how he helped get the attention of a whole different generation.”

Meko’s mom Ludelle, daughter Bobby, niece Zonovia, and aunt Delcina round out the kitchen crew.

Meko is a champion of the fly-fishing community, taking the initiative to train and teach and impart his wisdom to the next generation, even if it means more competition for him in the future.

“I’m going to connect with the school and probably run some of my training there,” he said. “You know, bring it to the kids in school.”

Hardship and Resilience

Some people, including Meko, say that everything happens for a reason.

While Hurricane Dorian was the capstone on the wall of hardships that befell the family, it was far from the only one.

As the devastation from Dorian was subsiding, Meko was able to get back to guiding in early 2020. But that was just when another major disaster was developing: Covid 19. Meko and his crew logged exactly 22 days on the water between Dorian recovery and Covid-related travel bans.

Then his younger brother unexpectedly passed away from injuries sustained in a car accident. Meko eulogized him at the funeral.

During the three months his brother was fighting for his life, the family’s visas were taken by the U.S. government due to a series of apparent misunderstandings—and they cannot reapply until 2026. This is particularly significant because Florida serves as an important port for food and supplies, and for higher education for Meko’s kids.

Then Meko suffered what he calls a “stress stroke” and was hospitalized in Fort Lauderdale. His stay was all of one day because he had no health insurance.

Then a house (where the couch scenes from Pandion Creative’s film Meko were filmed, and where Meko was going to set up TME) mysteriously burned down in November 2023, a month before Meko was set to buy it. Answers are hard to find, but it’s been speculated that it was possibly done for the insurance money. The day after the blaze, the owner and seller, who according to Meko had previously been accused of arson, fled to Turks and Caicos for several months.

One evening, Meko’s aunt and TME chef Delcina explained to me in great detail her experience with Dorian. The details she remembers about those few days are incredible, and really convey the impact of the storm on her, the family, and the community. Following the storm, she found it too difficult to talk about, and she came away with some serious anxiety that led to being housed in a psychiatric ward for a spell. She’s doing better now, but it’s still daunting for her to think about future storms in our warming environment.

But positivity can grow like wildfire here, too.

“Yeah, everything happens for a reason,” added Meko. “It’s just pointing me back” (to the East End and his roots).

Meko credits his faith for getting him through.

“I lost everything and then obviously lost my freedom to travel and all that stuff,” he said. “But the only thing I had to keep holding on to was faith. So that’s why I feel it’s such a big deal for me, because I feel like when everything else crumbles, that’s the only thing I was hanging on to, right?”

He and his wife are heavily involved in local youth ministries and even became ordained pastors in 2018. “Youth ministry and church ministry has been a big, big part of what we do.”

Hollywood?

Rewind to 2014, when filmmaker Harrison Buck and his family visited the now-defunct but nevertheless legendary Deep Water Cay Club, where he first met Meko. Buck was making a film featuring fishing guides from different walks of life called The Tightest Line, which came to include Meko.

“And we just had the best time,” Buck said. “And we loved filming together. And I knew. I just always knew in the back of my head I wanted to flesh out the Meko story, and knew there was a bigger piece there.”

Buck, a former ski bum from New England, had his own setbacks, which served to make kindred spirits out of the two.

“In the winter of 2016, when I was working for Aspen, I had a horrible ski accident,” he said. “And it was my fourth traumatic brain injury. I separated my shoulder, had contusions across my back. I also played football, hockey, and lacrosse growing up. So yeah, there’s a lot of minor ones.”

Since then, his full-time job has been recovery, with freelance videography on the side.

“My buddy James, my brother Henry, who works at Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, and my best friend came down in 2017 for a week to just kind of like start, just be here and film and see what we see and see how I’m feeling,” Buck said. “And yeah, it was amazing. We had an awesome time. We kind of started the whole thing.”

And Harrison also suffered loss. His best friend, fishing guide Charlie Parr—who also came down to fish with Meko and is one of the guides from The Tightest Line—suddenly passed away in 2021 from a ruptured aortic aneurysm, at age 36. By all accounts, and much like Meko, Parr was a gregarious non-sequitur in the guiding world—a lovable free spirit who prioritized teaching the next generation and embodied the hunt for happiness. In his honor, Lillard Fly Fishing Expeditions in North Carolina (his former employer) has set up a scholarship fund for teens (with summer programs that range from Louisiana redfishing to Yellowstone National Park to striped bass in Massachusetts and saltwater fishing in Mexico), and a conservation and education grant for projects that align with Parr’s values.

And so bereaved spirits found each other within an understanding of loss, pain, warmth, and love. And found inspiration in each other.

“Harrison is more than a client and the producer of my movie, but he is like a brother to me,” Meko said. “Our relationship goes all the way back to Deep Water Cay Club about 15 to 20 years ago. I know Harrison’s mother and father and their family, Harrison’s father played a major role in trying to help out with my brother, who we lost, and also helped me out with a skiff I needed to help start my business.

“Harrison is a brother and friend, and we consider him family,” he added. “He has a love and appreciation for my family and the people of East Grand Bahama.”

Meko Flies

Meko has even bigger plans for TME, including building a permanent location (TME does not currently have one and exists wherever the team is—rest assured the accommodations are more than suitable) with a spa, putting green, and other lavish digs, along with programs to educate the next generation of bonefish guides, while bringing the guided bonefishing industry back to its legendary status on Grand Bahama’s East End.

And he recently started ME FLIES DISTRIBUTION, where you can purchase his Meko Special bonefish flies (find him on Instagram or email him at mekoflyfishing@gmail.com).

And these ain’t no Ivy League trust-fund guides having a tropical adventure. The headquarters isn’t in Connecticut or Colorado, it’s the flats they fish. They don’t own lodges all over the world—they only have each other. The Meko Experience has a staff of fewer than 10, none of whom is a public relations or marketing or sales rep. All of them are Bahamian locals fighting for their livelihoods in an impoverished area, and who’ve dealt with the struggles outlined earlier. They provide an authentic Bahamian experience, they have fished these flats for generations, and they could tell you how far and what “o’clock” to cast to in their sleep.

He has also set up the Meko Experience Foundation, a faith-based nonprofit that, among other things, aims to “help shape and mold the next generation here in the beautiful islands of the Bahamas” and support families in need when tragedy strikes.

“We believe that through this foundation we are becoming God’s hand extended in the earth,” says the foundation’s website.

Even throughout all the hardship, Meko would be the first to say how fortunate he is to be born into this family and in this place and time. To have guidance and support and faith and love amid tragedy, and bonefish to tie it all together. And that belief is contagious and important in this sometimes cynical world of ubiquitous mental health issues and a deteriorating climate. And that is the true Meko experience.

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Josh Bergan is Fly Fisherman’s digital editor.

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