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