Bahamas fishing vacations and fishing lodges with fly fishing for Bonefish.

If your dream includes exploring the Bahamas beautiful, secluded bonefish flats, Angling Destinations has carefully selected accommodations ideally suited to both the serious sportsman and their families.

These lovely islands ride a shallow sea stretching from Florida to just north of Haiti. For the fly and light tackle angler, the Bahamas often seem to have been created just for them. Easy to reach, and yet off the beaten path, these beautiful islands offer some of the best bonefishing available in the world today.

Crooked Island – Frank & Ruth’s Guest House

Bordered by a pristine bluewater reef just offshore, the spectacular northwest corner of Crooked Island has a sleepy "out-island" feel. There is no sense of urgency in the tiny nearby settlement of Landrail Point where 75 residents make their living from the sea.

On Crooked, the tide ebbs and flows following its ancient schedule and the moon draws full each month. Crooked Island bonefish are ruled by these lunar rhythms and lazily cruise on and off the extensive flats of Turtle Sound, Long Cay, Old Woman Cay and beautiful Fish Cays. Once you turn the corner at French Wells, you’re into prime bonefish habitat and this extends all the way to the southern tip of Acklins Island some 35 miles away! Crooked and Acklins Islands are split by the huge Bight of Acklins. This bight provides resident bonefish with easy access to deeper water for protection from predators and also to miles of optimal white sand flats for their feeding grounds.

In addition to the prolific bonefishery, the inshore fishing is excellent for jacks, snapper, mackerel, barracuda and the occasional permit and tarpon. The bluewater fishery on Crooked can be equally spectacular making this island one of the best possible choices to combine both flats and offshore fishing opportunities.

Acklins Island – Grey’s Point Bonefish Inn

Bahamas Fishing Lodge

In the spring of 1996, we met a local family that was renovating a small guest house on the north end of Acklins. The guest house sat on a hill with a commanding view of Relief Bay to the west and Gordon’s Bay to the east... both of which are large bonefish flats.

By the early winter of 1997, the guesthouse was renovated, new boats and motors had arrived and the training of guides had begun. This news merited investigation tempered with skepticism. Over the years, we have visited many out-island bonefish operations. At times, it seemed like every Bahamian businessman wanted to build and operate a bonefish lodge. Yes, the bonefishing was usually great, but it takes motivation, money and savvy to build and operate a first rate lodge. In the Bahamas, these assets often seem in short supply. As a result, we have discovered a few jewels and rejected many questionable operators. Grey’s Point would end up being one of those jewels.

Acklins provides some of the finest wade fishing you can imagine. There are generally large numbers of fish available with the average fish being around 3 pounds. It is not uncommon to catch 5-6 pound fish and you will see double digit monsters as singles on the edges near deeper water.

Great Abaco – Rickmon Bonefish Lodge

Abaco Fishing Lodge

The biggest bonefish in the Bahamas are often found feeding on shallow flats adjacent to deeper cuts and dropoffs. Trophy bones grow old by learning very young that easily gained deeper water provides an important escape route from sharks and barracuda. In our experience, the best spots in the Bahamas to find these monsters are on Andros, Great Abaco and Grand Bahama Islands.

One of the best big fish spots in this northern tier of islands is at the southern tip of Abaco near the village of Sandy Point. Rickmons 10 room lodge was built right on the ocean. Some of the rooms have private balconies that look out over the magnificent flats adjacent to the village. From here it is quite possible to watch fish tail while you enjoy your evening cocktail. The lodge also boasts a very comfortable dining room/bar area. Here you can enjoy the sumptuous Bahamian-style meals that often emphasize fresh seafood. A 50’ x 20’ wooden deck built near the beach provides a great spot for barbeques and to watch the sun slide beneath the horizon... best done with a cold Kalik beer in hand.

DESTINATION X.

So why DESTINATION X? It's really quite simple. We spend a great deal of time and money exploring new fisheries. We love this part of our job and since all of us at AD are diehard anglers, we are dedicated to exploring worldwide angling opportunities. For us, that's the fun part of our work! The hard part comes into play when we try to spread the word about a great new destination. All too often, we find ourselves caught in a classic "Catch 22". If we publish an advertisement in a fishing magazine or post a trip report on our website, we have unfortunately "let the cat out of the bag". Much to our dismay, often it doesn't take long for this new fishery to be "discovered". So here's the idea. With a nucleus of willing anglers, a short shelf life of some "marketed" destinations and our competition watching our every move, we are going to institute a new program we are calling DESTINATION X.

DESTINATION X will go like this: An appropriate DX fishery will be added to the DESTINATION X web page. These DX fisheries will not be well known. They may be spots we have discovered and just filed away for later use or they may be spots that were once known, but now have fallen off the angling map for various reasons. We may plan only one week or perhaps a few weeks of trips to these places. We may use a "hit and run" approach. To put it another way, we will fish the area cherry picking the best times and tides and then let the fishery recover the rest of the year. We may go back the following year or we may not. We may use a live-aboard yacht as our base or we may set up a tent camp. We may stay in a local hotel or base ourselves out of a resort. Some destinations may be guided some may not. To put it differently, each trip will be unique.

We will never publicize the exact location of any DESTINATION X. There will be no maps leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to the fishery and no GPS coordinates. We will publish no advertisements describing where these destinations are. We will do no magazine articles, TV shows or promotions that tell a wider audience where these spots exist. In other words, we are going to try and keep our mouths shut and fly "under the radar"! This is where you come in. We're going to ask visiting anglers to do the same! That means no trip reports... good or bad. No "Angling Report" articles, no Internet trip reports. We will ask trip participants to keep as quiet as humanly possible about these destinations. We know we can't enforce this, but we can ask for a gentleman's agreement and we think most dedicated, hardcore anglers will see the logic in all this. If you don't agree or can't promise your cooperation, please don't sign up.

But if this idea makes sense to you (and you find yourself muttering to yourself, "It's about time"), please continue. Our goal is simple. We want to offer adventuresome anglers some remote and unpressured fishing opportunities and not destroy them in the process. If you think these trips may be right for you and are willing to "step outside the box" please log in and have a look at DESTINATION X.

Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge

South Andros is a different world than the relatively more sophisticated North Island. If you drive south from the airport at Congotown, you can see this almost immediately. The homes are more simple, the road is rougher and there just seems to be less activity. South Andros just has a rough-around-the-edges feel. And the further south you go, the more remote it becomes. If you keep driving south, eventually you will arrive at the end of the road and the little village at Mars Bay.

As you stand on the settlement's primitive concrete dock at the harbor, you’re within hailing distance of some of the world’s best bonefish flats. If you take a deep breath, you can almost smell the great fishing to be had at such legendary areas as Grassy Creek, Hawksbill Creek and Jack Fish Channel. But these famous creeks and flats are just a few of the prolific areas South Andros has to offer. South Andros is, quite simply, a huge area It is a maze of interior creeks (some of which bisect the entire island) and exterior coastal cays (almost all of which have superb bonefish flats). The further south you go, the better the bonefishing becomes.

As such, Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge is a perfect destination for a group of friends looking to get well off the beaten path. The villa can accommodate a maximum of eight people. Meals are a delicious blend of traditional Bahamian fare (with an emphasis on local seafood) and American favorites. If you're looking for a spot that is far away from the crowds, but with enough amenities to satisfy most anglers, please consider the lovely and well-positioned Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge.

Angling Destinations
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