December in the Bahamas!
Oh my Andros
Today I sit on my couch in Destin Florida with overcast skies and a slight chill, already reminiscing on the epic trip to Andros I just returned from. My first hosted trip to my favorite island and bonefish lodge is officially complete and did not disappoint! The trip was filled with laughter, Kaliks, and a TON of bonefish! We had all different levels of anglers and while it may have been difficult at times, everyone caught a bonefish. We had 3 people catch their very first bonefish while on the trip and there is something about the first one that you will never forget. The first day is always the day for the newer anglers to get with a guide who is a good teacher and get your cast dialed in, the elements of saltwater fly fishing along with the crystal-clear waters can make the first day intimidating but the guides here will coach you up every step of the way. Typically, this time of year you will target the migrating fish, these fish are in bigger schools and are moving down the coast at a decent speed. If you are in shallow enough water, you will see a push from a far distant moving towards you which gives you just enough time to get your heart rate through the roof in the anticipation of the cast. You can also fish the flats for meandering fish, these fish are usually in search of a meal so they are happy and hungry, but the migrating fish will generally give you a lot more shots.
Day 1: My husband and I got to go with a captain we had never fished with, Capt. Solomon and he was fantastic! We took a short boat ride to our first flat and before we could get the rod out, he was pointing out a school cruising the coastline. John and I both had our first fish to the boat within 30 minutes of fishing, mind you, we each blew a few shots at fish in that time as well. As we are poling, Solomon points out a school in the entrance to a cove “fish at 10 o clock where the calm water meets the ripple, 40 feet”, it was a small channel so we couldn’t see the fish, but John makes a perfect cast and immediately hooks up to his second fish. Now its my turn and we have made our way into the cove to witness the holy grail, probably 1000 bonefish chillin’ looking for breakfast. We traded turns back and forth countless times catching and hooking bonefish left and right, it’s the stuff dreams are made of, and we were living it out! We had our drags tight and were landing the fish as quickly as possible so we didn’t spook the entire school and could get them released healthy. We finally decided to put the drone up and what we thought was 100-200 fish was pushing 1000, it was absolutely insane and encapsulated Andros in one frame! We made it back to the lodge to learn that Chris from West Virginia had caught her first bonefish!! This fish was extra sweet for Chris because she had been on a quest for bonefish leaving her empty handed on two previous trips to Honduras. We ended the night out in the town for some drinks at a local bar with some great tunes!
Day 2: Saturday morning we wake up to a beautiful sunrise that is accompanied by a decent wind and a sky full of clouds. Today we went after the migrating fish and staged on a coastline where they had been funneling down from a creek. We got a few shots but were mainly dialing in our cast with the wind for the first hour, I accidentally hooked a fish while get practice on my cast but of course he didn’t count! We made our way closer to the creek mouth to find the fish funneling in swimming a bit and turning around and going back where they came from. We ended up catching a few fish but decided to go try something else and the clouds and wind ended up making it too difficult to find any fish on the flats. We ended the day with 6 fish and high hopes for the next morning!
Day 3: Its our last day fishing at Andros Island Bonefish Club and it’s a bittersweet morning, excited about the possibilities the day holds and sad it will be our last day on island. We enjoy coffee and breakfast with the sunrise and the wind is still blowing pretty good, we all jump on our skiffs and wish each other good luck. The wind was blowing about 12-15 MPH when we left the resort only for it to completely die withing 20 minutes, when we turned the corner into the North Bight, it was glass. Flat calm and sunny, literally the best conditions you could ask for when sight fishing! We had some picky bonefish this last day and had some take interest in the fly just to turn away at the last second but that’s the name of the game! Overall, everyone had a great last day with Britney coming out on top, she caught so many she lost count. This trip was everything we could have asked for and more. Thanks to Columbia PFG and Seaguar for providing goody bags to everyone who booked!
Next years dates will be released in January 2022, if you are interested in booking, send me a message and I will answer any questions you have!
