The Fin just got back from a few days in Andros… yeah… Andros. He put up one heck of a report about it with lots of nuggets of information. Check it out.
Day 2: On day 2 we all agreed that we would try the famous West side of Andros in hopes of not only finding lots of bonefish, but big ones.
via TheFin.com: Andros Island Fishing & Trip Report – Andros Island Bonefish Club.
DIY Andros from Flybox.dk. A good trip with bonefish, sharks and a 12 pound lady fish. Andros… I’m coming for ya!
At the breakfast table we decide to go up the creek and target the large schools of bonefish that is gathering there. After breakfast we go to the store and buy lunch and drinks and then return to Hanks were the boat is waiting tanked and ready to go.
via ANDROS ISLAND – BONEFISH CAPITAL OF THE WORLD – FLYBOX.DK.
That's a good size Ladyfish!
A small miracle has occurred here… I’m not sure who gets the credit for it towards sainthood. I may be my wife and that would make three in her favor… the first was her marrying me, the second was her making it through a sucky pregnancy to give us our beautiful daughter and this third one involves her signing off on me going on a fishing trip, for a week, to South Andros this coming March (that’s like… only TWO MONTHS AWAY). I await word from the Catholic Church on the beatification of my wife, although we are not Catholic.
Fractional miracle credit goes to my parents, who are actually available to come down and watch our their granddaughter in my absence, and to the good folks at Deneki Outdoors, who extended the invite as part of FIBFest 2011.
Everything had to align and it did. Thanks to that, I’ll be headed to Andros Island, fabled land of incredible bonefishing, come late March.
You good folks will get to come along (not literally, of course) and I look forward to the build up. It is so nice to have something out there to look forward to, to plan, to tie for, to experience and then remember.
I’m lucky and I live with a saint.
FIBFest 2010... which I had to miss.
More details will be emerging in the days to come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cXVjc7Msyc?fs=1&hl=en_US
Damn… this doesn’t paint a pretty picture of the goings on at Kamalame Cay on Andros. Maybe there is more to the story, but it certainly doesn’t sound super fabulous.
An aquatic breeding ground once teeming with marine life that provided food and much-needed cash in a diminished economy, is now barren due to dredging at nearby Kamalame Cay, according to several local fishermen interviewed by The Nassau Guardian.
via Dredging Today – The Bahamas: Residents Concerned About Dredging at Kamalame Cay.
Dredging at Kamalame
Kind of crazy that there even is a “Dredging Today” to find this story in. I’m sure I benefit from dredging in some ways just like I’m sure I benefit in various ways from clear-cutting and mountain top removal mining, but damn… when folks start talking about dredges on the flats, in the creek mouths… well… it makes me cranky. That this would happen at a lodge that hosts lots of bonefisherman makes me a bit irate. Maybe I don’t have the whole picture… and I’d hope I don’t, but this sounds like it kind of sucks.
Oh my goodness… this should get you going… a nice bit by RA Beattie via Field & Stream (and Fly Fishing in Salt Waters). They are out in Andros at Tiamo. Along with RA Beattie is Mike Mazur from Fly Fishing in Salt Waters (a magazine I subscribe to).
RA Beattie’s new short with Mike Mazur from Fly Fishing in Saltwaters should cure what ails you.
via (Go to this link to see the clip) More Bahamas Bonefish Video: Andros Island | Field & Stream.
Nice x100
A great guest post on the Deneki blog by FIBFester Pete McDonald, who writes the Fishing Jones blog.
The drink is called sky juice and it’s a mixture of condensed milk, coconut rum, gin, and whatever other bottles are open at the time. Torrie Bevans mixed it up at the Slack Tide on what happened to be my last night at Andros South and it made the start proper.
via Lessons Learned on South Andros by Pete McDonald.
If you haven’t checked out the Flatswalker blog, you should. Not only is it a good read with posts that are on the other side of the ordinary, but they are the work of Davin Ebanks, fishing guide out of Grand Caymen. Here is a Youtube gem of his from a pilgrimage to Andros.
I thought I’d talk a little bit about Andros here before the guys from FIBFest start relating their own stories about fishing for bonefish at Andros South.
First let me tell you everything I know about South Andros, all my fishing stories from my time in South Andros and share some pictures of fish I’ve caught on South Andros.
…
OK, now that we have that out of the way, I can relate to you the experiences of folks that have actually been there, fished and caught some of those Andros bones… folks like John Merwin, writing for Field and Stream back in 2005.
You are standing on the flat front deck of a bonefish skiff, hoping to see a fish, while a guide slowly poles over white sand shallows that stretch into forever. Enough fly line for a long cast lies at your feet. A long winter’s worth of anticipation knots the small of your back. The warm sun and soft lapping of water against the hull are hypnotic, leading your mind to wander across the intense pastels of the Bahamian landscape.
Yes… I want to be there… so… badly.
Now, you don’t have to stay at a lodge… there are DIY/self-guided options. I’ve even had one such trip suggested to me. However, it doesn’t sound easy and the guy that recommended the Andros DIY had a really bad trip down there a couple months ago.
If you have the scratch, a lodge/guide is a good deal.
Deneki Outdoors owns and operates the Andros South lodge. Back in January when Florida was seeing dead snook, tarpon and bonefish from icy weather the folks down in Andros were still fishing, although with an extra layer of clothes.
In this blog post on the Deneki Outdoors site, Andrew shares some thoughts on cold weather bonefishing (here’s the secret, it might just mean a shot at a beeeeg bonefish).
Cool water bone, photo by Louis Cahill, angler Bruce Chard
The most recent issue of This is Fly is out and not only is it their longest yet, all full of fishy goodness, but it has two, COUNT ‘EM, TWO, stories on bonefish.
This, of course, meets with my approval.
The first story is about Coach Duff and those big, huge, massive, unreasonably large bones of the Aloha State. You can find that story here.
The second story was by one of the guys behind This is Fly, Paris Fleezanis. This story takes the TIF crew to Andros and Kamalame Cay.
Kamalame is a place that has shown up on Bones on the Brain before.
TIF, I salute you. Keep putting out the good stuff. They remain the leading edge of the e-zine revolution. A lot was made of the fact that Catch Magazine came out on the same day, but they really are different fish, even if they are both fly fishing-centric. TIF is for those who read the stories and Catch is for those that like the pictures more than the text (I like Catch, even saw some places I’ve fished in this recent episode). TIF adds the crazy art… none of which I’d want in my home, in the homes of my friends, on the walls of my friends’ friends, but, ya know… different strokes.
To keep the paper still circulating, I recently subscribed to two magazines… physical magazines… Fly Fishing in Salt Waters and Fly Rod and Reel. I’m doing my part… ya know, mostly.
