South Andros Bonefishing!!
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).
