far out fishing
the travel blog for faroutfishingtrips.com (and other spiffy fishing stories)
Archive for Bahamas Fishing
May 1, 2009 at 2:30 am · Filed under Bahamas Fishing
ok, guys. just got back from Abaco last week. spent a few days over there after Andros, basically to check out the new lodge they are building there, getting ready for opening day (April 20th). it’s done in conjunction with Nervous Waters, a sister lodge to Bair’s if you will. i didn’t get to do a whole lot of hard-core fishing, as this was a scouting mission for me as a booking agent, but did get to go out one day with head guide David…and one day by myself. we were blessed with decent (yet) windy weather on the first day. Abaco Lodge sits right on the Marls of Abaco, 6 miles north of Marsh Harbour. within minutes, there are countless cays which have endless shorelines, creeks and lagoons.
everywhere we went we found bonefish. most averaging around 2-3 pounds. in the outer cays there are slightly bigger fish in the 4-5 pound range. most of the big fish in Abaco are on the oceanside (west side), which we didn’t have time to go see. this is also where the better wading is, as the Marls side is muddy bottom in many places, so fishing is done mostly out of the boat.
my day with David was pretty spectacular. a veteran guide from Grand Bahama who moved to Abaco, David was great at boat positioning and spotting fish. i hooked 10+ fish in a matter of hours. by late afternoon when the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in, we headed back to the lodge. i convinced David to stop in this small lagoon because i had been putting off looking for tailing bonefish all week in Andros, and i needed to get some tailing fish shots before i went back home to Argentina.
wading into this lagoon while David waited for me in the boat, i soon spotted a couple of tailing bonefish. the wind was blowing 20+ mph and it was cloudy, so it was next to impossible to see them. and these fish weren’t tailing in one spot, just kind of cruising and popping their tails up intermittently. here are the results, after about an hour of patience (me patiently waiting for a shot, and David patiently waiting in the boat for me to quit jerking off).
my last day in Abaco, i took the boat out myself and found a couple schools of tailing fish in super wind, but at least some sunlight. i’ll post those in the future, they look about the same as these, but i kind of like these better. i didn’t get too many good lodge shots because they were still putting finishing touches on it, so everything was still a mess. the lodge is quite nice, it sits on a beautiful 3.5 acres right on the Marls. 8 single rooms all with king-sized beds, a great main lodge and dining area with a great indoor/outdoor bar (very important!). anyway, enjoy the photos…cheers. (photos © Joey Lin 2009)
April 18, 2009 at 2:47 am · Filed under Bahamas Fishing
guys….i’m in Abaco right now with my friend Oliver who is starting a new lodge here in conjunction with Nervous Waters which will be called Abaco Lodge. The fishing here is outstanding, but more on that later.
i just finished a great week of fishing in South Andros at Bair’s Lodge. it had been 5 years or so since the last time i was here. i was long overdue for a visit since the lodge had been expanded from 6 to take up to 12 anglers. overall, things didn’t change much. still great hospitality as always, and great guides…and great company, as i was with my friends John Erskine and Bret Benjamin and his dad Bob. there were also some super fun people at the lodge as well during our week (easter holiday).
this year, our fishing was quite mixed. we spent most of the time fishing the west side of andros looking for bigger fish. during the week, most fish we hooked averaged in the 2-4 pound range, but had some good days on the west side for some 5-6 pounders (with a couple shots at fish up to 8+ pounds). several barracudas were caught. bret and bob saw and casted to a school of baby tarpon, and we ran into a big school of permit, but i didn’t have enough line out for the 2 seconds that they showed up and left before i could get a real shot at them.
we also had quite a bit of wind and clouds, so visibility was limited. and during mid week, a weird front came and stalled out on us, doing crazy things with the atmospheric pressure, so the fish were a bit finicky at times. of course, the weather got better on exit day…made me sick to my stomach to see calm flats and sun just when we had to leave. oh, well, you win some and lose some.
otherwise, it was about as classic as bonefishing gets. a good mix of boat fishing and wade fishing, with shots at singles and doubles, which is what i like to do. due to lack of rain (we were told), the bones weren’t really tailing all that much, like i saw here 5 years ago. every so often you would find one tailing in shallow water if it wasn’t too windy. most of the fish were eating tan flies with rubber legs. i used a SQUIMP most of the week, or some oddball fly i’d tie out of whatever materials were available. those fish don’t care and neither do i.
we had good fishing on the west side (going WAYYYY west), the south side around Curly Cut Cays, Grassy Creek and Deep Creek. we fished a little on the last day in Little Creek casting to cruising bones in super skinny water in some hidden muddy lagoons, but had a hard time with the visibility…but we had fun anyway.
and needless to say, as is with most Nervous Waters lodges, the food and accommodations were outstanding. and i liked the newer guides at the lodge. in addition to the old standby’s of Nat, Leslie and Tee…we were introduced to the newer guides Gary, Chip and Harley, who were all wonderful. and the new hosts Ray and Ann are great. they remind me of the old days when Hal and Laura ran the place. and the new chef Lee did a fabulous job with the lamb, the grouper and everything else. all in all, nothing has been lost with the expansion of the lodge.
anyway, more later….(photos © Joey Lin 2009, except the photo of me taken by John Erskine).
November 12, 2007 at 3:35 am · Filed under Bahamas Fishing, Photo of the Week
ok, guys. i know this is a stretch, but hey. it’s early november and i’m stuck in Buenos Aires (not complaining too much) preparing for the upcoming Argentina fishing season. i have lots of clients coming down, so i’m sitting in front of a computer, invoicing, making itineraries, etc…i can’t be on the river every day, but don’t worry, soon i’ll be doing nothing but fishing.
in the mean time, i was looking for some weird photo or something to post. i could go back and post a lot of things that relate to Argentina fishing, but ran across this photo. interesting back story. this is from 2003 or so, can’t remember. but anyway, i was with a group of guys from Waco, fishing at Bair’s Lodge in South Andros. one of the veteran guides at the time was Nat. he guided all day, ran his restaurant at night, and then went night fishing for his restaurant at wee hours of the morning. then got up and guided again the next day. hard core. supposedly to support all his kids. the story goes that he even fathered 2 different sets of twins BORN ON THE SAME DAY with TWO DIFFERENT WOMEN!!!
anyway, this is a photo of some young ladies outside his restaurant. they were there for home-coming, which i don’t know exactly what that is. but i guess it means they left the island and on a certain day of the year, they ‘come home’. no, they don’t work at HOOTERS. photo © Joey Lin. cheers.
September 10, 2007 at 2:26 am · Filed under Bahamas Fishing, Photo of the Week
ok, this is from a few years back. this is Tee, a guide at Bair’s Lodge in South Andros. i think this is somewhere back in Little Creek. this was about a 6 pound bonefish that i had caught and released. as the tired fish snaked away slowly, i noticed a small shark following 50 feet behind, obviously sensing a weary fish even from that distance. the bonefish headed toward a small creek inlet where a minute later, the water erupted. as soon as i looked back over, a pool of blood clouded the water, and this half of the bonefish surfaced. Tee quickly moved over to fetch the remains and took it home to eat. bonefish are supposedly good to eat, but full of bones (not as bad on the bigger ones). the guides don’t kill them often, so i guess this was a rare ‘treat’.
May 21, 2007 at 1:56 am · Filed under Bahamas Fishing, Photo of the Week
not sure if these are really called Puffer Fish or not, but a few years ago, i took a couple groups to Bair’s Lodge in South Andros, Bahamas. really great bonefishing there, and a fantastic lodge. there are even good bonefish to be caught in the water right in front of the lodge. anyhow, i was walking one early morning after breakfast and before we launched to go fishing, and shot this photo of these ‘puffer fish’ cruising the edge in shallow water right in front of the lodge. i think it’s a cute photo.
March 11, 2007 at 10:07 pm · Filed under Bahamas Fishing
ok, i wanted to post this picture of Vince Wiseman and his 10 pound bonefish (note the boga grip)!! congratulations, Vince…
this was taken last month at Bair’s Lodge in South Andros, Bahamas. this is a group of doctors from austin who returned for their 2nd trip to the island. if anyone is interested in booking a trip or for more information on the lodge and the fishing, please email me (link at the upper left corner). cya…
