Abaco Exploratory - Part Two

After Abaco Lodge, Illtyd and I moved on to the new operation that has been attracting a lot of attention - Black Fly Lodge.

Situated further south at the point where Abaco Island is extremely narrow,  Black Fly offers unrivalled access to the Atlantic Ocean side of the island as well as the protected western side with its wealth of shallow flats. It's the perfect location for a lodge - which is exactly why Clint Kemp has moved from Nassau to build Black Fly as a unique Bahamian fishing destination. Within a drive of just minutes, the Black Fly team can launch skiffs on the western side to access the nearby shallow flats. From there the skiffs can also easily access the southern part of the Marls. But another short drive allows the skiffs to access more huge flats right down to the southern part of the Island or a half-hour ride in the skiffs will take anglers across to Moore's Island, where big bonefish, tarpon and, the ultimate prize, permit abound.

 Illtyd lands a nice bonefish on the flats just minutes away from the lodge

Black Fly is right on the Atlantic coast, giving instant access to the ocean-side flats where the bigger bonefish live and, of course, to unbelievable bluewater fishing. There are very few places where you can head off for bonefish one day, maybe tarpon and permit the next and then sight fish poppers to tuna and mahi mahi the next. It's no wonder Clint is brimming over with excitement about his new lodge. For now, Black Fly is based in an ocean-side holiday home with huge windows overlooking the sea and just four bedrooms.

The temporary beachfront Black Fly lodge. Hardly slumming it

But from March 2013, there will be a purpose designed, eight-bedroom lodge on the water at Schooner Bay, a new eco-development on Abaco that will create a vibrant new community complete with harbour, shops, bars, a pool, an amazing beach and recreational areas. Clint gave us a tour of the new lodge under construction - it will be pretty special. He was also really excited about the arrival of his bluewater boat, which was delivered while we were there. That explained the boxes of new tackle all over the house. 

Clint Kemp, fishing guide, lodge creator, gourmet cook and mixer of the finest mojitos

Permit is one of the special attractions of Black Fly, and the diversity of the fishing is phenomenal, offering anglers all sorts of saltwater fly fishing experiences in one place. But the weather was still iffy as the east wind refused to let up. That kept the permit away, but, though the bonefish were still spooky, we had better sunlight which enabled us to see fish at range much more clearly. We blew plenty of shots. I can still see a nice 5lb bonefish cruising down a shoreline in ultra skinny water that took off as soon as Illtyd dropped a fly at least six feet in front of it. I can still hear his reaction, too!

Excellent skiffs give access to a wide range of flats right down to the southern tip of the island

On the second day, brilliant head guide Paul Pinder took us down to the firm-bottomed southern flats, where wade fishing is the prime method. It was great to get out of the skiff and creep about in the shallow water trying to spot shadows. There's something about wading the flats that just seems to heighten the excitement. I found a fast moving group on the first flat and managed to fire off a quick cast and was into a very fast-moving fish that inexplicably came off. 

Illtyd employs his ultra-quiet wading technique. Gotta love the skiff's name!

The next flat was a different story, though, as we found a huge school of bonefish gradually moving into shallower water on the rising tide. We were both able to work the water as the fish moved around, breaking into smaller groups at times, and cruising up into the shoreline. This is skinny water sight-fishing at its best and we seemed to take it in turns to hook fish, catching about 18 fish (we soon stopped counting). The action was fast and furious, though even that didn't prevent Illtyd moaning at me for tying flies on poor hooks when he had a fish straighten one! And it didn't stop him pinching more from my box either!

Finally deciding to leave the fish alone and see another flat, we came across an even bigger school of hundreds of fish. Clearly the conditions seemed to have concentrated the fish into groups here. We each hooked leading fish from the group on our first casts  - and both managed to lose them! It was our only shot as this group didn't hang around.

Illtyd with a fish while wading. Nothing wrong with the hook, then?

On our last morning, we spotted Clint tying a few of his own secret bonefish flies, which I quickly copied (under orders from Illtyd). This sparse little fly worked really well on our last day. Back in the skiff, this time we were able to find pods of cruising fish, singles and doubles, which made for exciting casting.  It was a day of memorable moments. We saw fish of eight and nine pounds that we couldn't quite get casts at. We had big cruising fish along shorelines spook off our flies as soon as they landed. Illtyd caught two beautiful fish with inch-perfect casts and visual takes. I had a fish taken by a barracuda as I played it, which came from nowhere (and spat the fish out which was returned unharmed!) while Illtyd played a 4lb-plus bonefish that became so supercharged when it was being hunted by a lemon shark that Illtyd thought he was playing the shark too!

The final fish - but we'll be back

Abaco had definitely spoken to us. Conditions weren't all they might have been, by the friendliness of the island, the great guides and lodges, and the diversity of the fishing surely mean this will be a regular haunt for us. Thanks, guys. We'll see you soon.

- Bob

Abaco Exploratory - Part One

The reports we'd been getting had certainly got us excited: big schools of bonefish, regular permit, even bluewater fly fishing, and some cracking new lodges.

Funnily enough, after all the stories we've been hearing about Abaco Island in the Bahamas, I was quite keen to get out there and see what all the fuss was about. Even stranger, Welsh sea trout wizard and AAPGAI chairman Illtyd Griffiths took very little persuading to join me on a little scouting adventure.

Now, Jim and I both love Andros, the better-known Bahamian island which boasts legendary bonefishing. But Abaco is very different, with a quite distinct culture and people. And it has a great diversity of flats that make this one of the prime bonefish destinations on the planet.

The first lodge we visited is a stunner. As soon as you walk into Abaco Lodge, you feel relaxed. This is a great Caribbean retreat - and somewhere you may well have to bring your wife or partner once they see the photographs.

The view from Abaco lodge onto endless bonefish flats

Abaco Lodge is situated on the island's west side, with direct access to a vast network of shallow flats called The Marls. Here the water doesn't get much deeper than 4ft and there are bonefish flats everywhere, with one of the highest concentrations of fish numbers in the Bahamas. 

We were itching to get started as David Tate, Abaco Lodge's head guide, gave us an introduction to the area and after a run of just a few minutes, we were fishing our first flat - none of those really long, bone-jarring skiff runs here. On with the standard Bahamian flies - anything tan with rubberlegs and bead-chain eyes! - and I was soon into our first fish. Nothing big, but the fight that even small bonefish put up never fails to surprise me. 

Hard at work on Abaco

The bonefish in the Marls tend to run between 2lb and 5lb, with occasional bigger fish, but the attraction is the abundance of shallow water flats and the high numbers. Abaco Lodge is the brainchild of Oliver White, a rising star of the US fly fishing world, who spotted the potential of the Marls and realised there was no lodge situated directly on it. Along with Nervous Waters, they have built a near-perfect lodge, with every detail thought out. Private, spacious bedrooms (no sharing here) opening onto a deck right on the water, a covered patio area for sipping cocktails (thoroughly tested by the H&B representatives), great lounge and fully stocked fly shop, and even a plunge pool.

Illtyd loads up the skiff.  Do we really need five rods?

Best of all, Oliver has equipped the lodge with brand new, purpose-built Hell's Bay skiffs that are supremely comfortable, with a spacious casting desk complete with lean bar for safety, and a draught of  literally just a few inches. These are undoubtedly the best shallow water skiffs I've fished from. Illtyd soon got in on the action too, but the fish were becoming unusually skittish and a particularly strong north-east wind pushed in the clouds and made spotting fish tricky far out from the boat. It made the fishing harder, forcing us to cast at short range and naturally running the risk of spooking fish close to the skiff. We had plenty of refusals, but it felt great when one did hang on.

Illtyd makes full use of the skiff's lean bar as he wrestles with another bone

It wasn't just about the bonefish, though. We saw good numbers of large barracuda (a big favourite of mine, I confess) and I had a surging chase from a near-20lb 'cuda and a vicious take on the surface to a popper, but unfortunately it came adrift. I also had a lemon shark try repeatedly to take the popper off the top and just miss each time - I didn't mind that so much!

Unfortunately, with just a couple of days here, the strong wind hit the fishing, pushing the bones into deeper water and holding the tide out of the ultra shallow bays. That's always the risk with such a short trip, but the conditions were rare for April, which is the start of the prime season. Just our luck! Nevertheless we had had a taste of what the Marls had to offer and even under these conditions it proved what a special fishery it is.

Quicksilver in water as clear as air

And even if the fishing was not quite on top form, there were compensations. It's always awe-inspiring to watch the sharks, stingrays, turtles and hovering turkey buzzards. And hospitality at the lodge was wonderful with Velma pressing cold Kaliks, that great Bahamian beer, into our hands at every opportunity. We also bumped into some very entertaining US anglers from the southern states - what is it about fishing lodges that are a magnet for such interesting people? The company was great fun (I particularly enjoyed the attempts of both the guides and our new-found US friends to pronounce Illtyd's name). And somehow every day seemed to end with cold drink and view of the setting sun over the flats. And then perhaps another drink around the fire, talking about fishing.

Bahamian sunset. Cocktail, anyone?

- Bob

Wye Springers

What a spectacular start to our salmon fishing season. I still can't quite believe it.

Kate and I were delighted to spend Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as the guest of our friend, AAPGAI master instructor and salmon fishing veteran Bryan James on his home water, the renowned Bigsweir beat of the river Wye on the English/Welsh borders. We knew we were in for a treat - just spending time with such an accomplished angler on his home water is always an incredible learning experience. But we had no idea what was in store.

My best UK salmon. I'm still shaking

The Wye has had a surprising start to the season with 40 fish taken in March, a number almost unheard of these days. But with a sudden end to the warm weather, snow the day before, low water conditions and air temperatures lower than the water temperature, fishing conditions promised to be tough. Bryan was so eager to for us to get hold of one of the spring fish of which he is so proud - but frankly we were happy just to to enjoy the water in the company of such a gentlemen, while mining him for as much local knowledge as possible, of course.

Kate's speycasting has improved greatly since last year's trip to Iceland and under Bryan's watchful eye she was soon throwing a lovely line. Funny how she doesn't argue when he's teaching her! We were also surprised to be joined by another Welsh AAPGAI veteran at lunch, Dave Thomas and his wife Claire - great Welsh hospitality and we were really touched they made the journey out to see us.

Kate throws a nice D-loop on Wyeseal beat

Towards the end of a pretty chilly day, I persuaded Kate and Bryan into a final cast on Rocks beat. "Where do you want to fish?" asked Bryan. "Where's the best bit?" I responded. He pointed to a very narrow strip between two rocks. You know where this is going. At just the point he indicated, I had a surging take and a great tussle ended with a stunning hen fish, complete with long-tailed sea lice, straight off the tide. Bryan was convinced it was 20lb, but even if it was a shade under it didn't matter. To experience such a pristine, powerful Wye springer is one of fly fishing's great moments. Now I know what the fuss is about.

Wye hen springer. No wonder I look stunned!

Really, the second day couldn't be better. Or so we thought. Again, it was really all down to Bryan. On the very first pool, he pointed out a particular lie. I worked my fly out towards it gradually and after a few casts covering the water, Bryan called to me: "You're just covering the rock now." Literally as soon as the words were out of his mouth, the rod was almost jerked from my hand. Standing on the high bank, Kate and Bryan saw the fish swirl - they knew how big it was. I was just hanging on.

I got lucky. The fish towed the line around a rock and thrashed at the surface twice. I tried to clear as much buried line as I could, fearing the worst, but amazingly I felt the line ping off the rock and then lift clear of the surface and I was tight to the fish again. Sometimes you need a bit of luck. Then it was off downstream: the shooting head was gone, all the running line was gone, and plenty of the fluorescent green backing was gone too. "If it goes another ten yards, you've lost it," said Bryan. But it turned. No way to follow, so under very gentle pressure (and with constant advice from the guru) I coaxed it back upstream and eventually Bryan was in the water to tail the most magnificent cock fish for me.

Expert handling: Bryan's pretty sprightly when there's a fish to be landed

These Wye fish are all hard muscle and heavy, so Bryan put it at 25lb. At 39 inches from nose to fork, it was surely over 23lb. But those are just numbers. Simply the most incredible UK salmon I've landed. The only person as happy as me was Bryan. He's proved what his river is capable of.

Back he goes

What also was obvious was Bryan's care for the fish. Only out of the water for the quickest photo and then nursed back in the current until ready to kick out of my hands and power back into the stream. These fish are precious and Bryan's absolute priority is to get them back quickly to fulfil their destiny and keep the genes of these big fish in the river.

Thanks Bryan. But, er, Kate wants one now...!

- Bob