| Bonefish Bay Club
Scrapbook May 10-15, 2004 Scrapbook pictures from our 2004 trip to the Bonefish Bay Club near Congo Town, South Andros, the Bahamas. A Travel Adventures escorted trip. Thanks to Norman Brust of Newark, NY, for writing this report. ~~ C OK. I’ve never been bonefishing before. I’ve read all the articles and books and frankly I was quite intimidated. Some people I knew indicated that they had been on several trips to the Keys and not caught a single fish. Yikes! I should not have worried. Call it luck, or more correctly, call it picking the right trip and travel agent to accommodate my needs. How about this: reach a destination in less than a days travel, be escorted by someone who “has done it before,” be greeted by friendly guides, staff, and local residents, have hundreds of bonefish on the flats, and do it all for less then $3,000, including airfare, all fishing, tips, lodging, and meals. I’m in! Our local Trout Unlimited Chapter is lucky to have as its president, Jean Chaintreuil. Jean is the owner of Travel Adventures, specializing in fly fishing trips around the world. Ten of us, including Jean, fished out of the Bonefish Bay Club on South Andros, May 10 -15, 2004. Six of us had never been bonefishing. And yes, everyone caught bonefish the first day! We left
Rochester, New York airport at 7:00am on Monday, May 10. We flew US Airways
to
I took a new Loomis rolling bag and put my rods in the enclosed rod tube bags and my reels in a hard case in the bag. Others in our group took Abel three piece rod tubes on board and were not hassled. A plus for US Airways! In any event, all checked baggage arrived safely with us. My Loomis bag was bullet proof, but weighed in at more than 14 pounds before anything was placed in it. I used a Boga grip to weigh individual groups of items in plastic bags before placing them in my Loomis bag to make sure I didn’t go over the 40 pound weight limit. Pack light! Bonefish Bay Club can offer laundry service, but casual attire is all that is needed. On the way to the Club (about 20 minutes) we stopped at a liquor store. Bacardi Gold was $10 a liter and no sales tax! Bonefish Bay Club provides Kalik (a good Bahamian beer), Guinness and Heineken, as well as wine free with your stay, but liquor from their bar is $4.00 per drink on the honor system. All your soft drink and water needs are also provided. At the Club we were greeted by manager John Toker. Since we were the only group that week, we each got our own room. The rooms each had there own bathrooms, tiled floors, overhead fan, and air-conditioning. The club is owned by Jerry Bottcher who also owns the Hungry Trout on the AuSable near Lake Placid. He has been making up-grades to the facility over the last several years. After putting our equipment in our rooms, we adjourned to the patio for some pre-dinner drinks and conch salad while John went over the routine of camp and the following days fishing. Guides and fishermen are paired up the night before and listed on a chalk board. You have a choice of which guide you want to go with and where you would like to go. I fished with Torrie, Norman and Josie, and although each has a different style, all were fine guides and companions. Let them know if you want to wade, fish from the boat, or if you have any particular ambulation problems. We did a lot of wading due to the wind.
The day would start with coffee in the dinning area for the early birds at 5:30am. John comes around and knocks on your door at 6:00am if you are not up. At 6:30, breakfast is served: eggs, bacon, pancakes or the like. At 7:15, pre-rigged rods are loaded onto a rod rack on a truck. People climb aboard a small bus for a scenic 15 minute trip to Little Creek where the boats and guides await. Each boat takes two fishermen. The boats are either 16-foot Dolphin or some local knock-off Rahming skiffs, powered by 40 or 55 horse tiller Mercury outboards. They are surprisingly seaworthy and the guides have lots of saltwater experience. From Little Creek, you can go into the interior flats of South Andros or head out along the coast and South to fish the flats at the southern tip. If you go inland and fish some of the flats, wear some of the newer hard soled boots like the Simms, Patagonia, or Orvis. Some of the area has limestone and your feet will thank you. I brought standard flats boots and managed however.
The ride to the south end is about 45 minutes and will be wet if the winds are blowing (and it was, unusual for May when we were there). Bring good rain gear. Both my partner and I enjoyed the ride though and the limestone formations along the coast; very pretty. We also saw a flat with what had to be a thousand bonefish.
Lunch was in the boats with a cooler of soda, and sandwiches that the angler made up in the morning after breakfast. You are back at the docks at about 4:30 (although the Club and the guides will accommodate most any schedule). There is a small local bar at Little Creek that is owned by one of the guide’s families. It’s a great place to have a Kalik, meet the local people and talk about the day’s fishing while awaiting everyone to return. BTW, the local residents were some of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Many were friends by the time we left. No crime, no locked doors, no worry about anything being stolen. Watch it though; some are die-hard LA Lakers fans.
OK, so
here’s a part I’ll never forget ... maybe even more than my first bonefish.
The last night of the stay, the guides come over to the club and there is a
bar-b-que with fish, conch and chicken. Total cost of everything was $2,800. Do it again? We’re already planning another trip. I doubt if a better, no hassle, more relaxing trip for the first time bonefisher can be had. Even some of the old hands said they never have seen as many bonefish on any of their previous trips. Have fun!
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Please feel free to forward to your fishing friends. |
The first
day, we all went into the interior. All of us caught bonefish in the morning
despite a wind of about 20 mph. I had an eight weight, but wish I had brought
a nine weight. The bonefish do not seem to be leader shy, and relatively
close shots were the norm, so over lining your rod is probably a good idea.
One of our group cut his nine weight line one morning and switched to an
eleven weight he brought along as a spare. He still caught nine bonefish that
day! Practice at home in the wind, not just on bluebird days! High rod for
one of the days was 12 fish. Although most of the fish were about 3 pounds, we
did see some tails that looked like airplane rudders. The largest fish we
caught was about 7 pounds.
Everyone
brought their own flies. There is very little gear available, so bring
everything. Standard Gochas and Crazy Charlies in pink, tan and gold will do the
trick in sizes 4 and 6. Bring some wire leaders and a few barracuda flies.
They are around and a ball to catch. There are also some blue holes not to be
missed. They are as beautiful as they are full of fish. They just appear on
the flats and go from a few feet dramatically down to hundreds of feet with
who-knows-what in them. One day in the South end, we fished one approximately
100 yards across. I put on a needle fish and wire. After the second cast and
some stripping, there was a swirl the size of a dinner table. The eight weight
bent double for about three minutes before the fish chaffed the upper part of
the mono leader. No one knew what it was as we didn’t see it, but it was BIG.
I definitely will do more barracuda and snapper fishing when I go again. I
will also bring a ten weight with a sinking leader for an hour or two in one of
the blue holes.
Back at the
club, the staff takes care of washing your rods and reels and places them in
racks. You can take a shower and go to the patio for a drink. Dinners are at
6:30 and include fresh fish, lobster, and conch. Casual is the norm and flip
flops, swim trunks and a tee shirt are fine everywhere.