- Go in with best friend to buy a “Bahamas Fishing Trip” at a charity auction.
- Realize said fishing trip is not off-shore/deep sea (the kind you really love), but a fly fishing trip to the Marls of Abaco in the Bahamas.
- Have minor freak out because neither one of you fly fish. Well ok, maybe the one 4 hour trip in Colorado was technically fly fishing, but NOTHING like fishing the Marls.
- Google the Marls of Abaco to find out it is THE place to bonefish.
- Google Abaco Lodge to find a pretty bad ass looking place.
- GET REALLY EXCITED!!!!
- Buy fly fishing gear, book a fly fishing lesson, practice a little, and head to the Bahamas!!!!
Landing in Marsh Harbor opened my eyes to another side of
the Bahamas. A side of the Bahamas that
was much quieter, much simpler, and definitely much more remote. It was a stark contrast from the
“Americanized” side of Nassau Island and The Atlantis resort. Now I’m not dogging on the mega-hotel, but
let’s just say after seeing the “other side,” I’m probably not going to venture
that way any time soon.
Oliver, the operator of the lodge, picks us up at the airport and we head out in his old
Suburban to the Lodge.
The roads are a combo of kaliche and some pavement and the development
is sparse. Oliver tells us about the
island, the fishing, the lodge. He’s an interesting guy with definitely more to
him than he lets on. The blinker clicks
and we turn into the Lodge. The place is
awesome! One building houses the
dining/living area and has an AMAZING porch that's perfect for relaxing and enjoying a
beverage or two. It looks out to the
pool and the water, which is a rocky shore and feels more like a large lake
than the ocean. The rooms are
reminiscent of an old motel (but with top of the line amenities). A long run
of rooms each with a porch overlooking the water provides a comfortable spot to
sleep at night. Everything here is first
class. The staff greets us when we
arrive and after we get settled in we grab a drink and meet the 2 other
fisherman already there.
Now I won’t go into the food at each meal but let me tell
you the food is amazing! Breakfast to
order every morning…eggs, cereal, oatmeal, you name it. Lunch is served on the boat and each evening,
you select from a menu what you want for lunch the next day. Chips, sandwiches,
cookies, beer, etc…it’s like grown up camp!
They even put little encouraging messages on your lunch bag. Dinner is started with some type of delicious appetizer and followed up with a 5 star meal and decadent dessert. You will not go hungry!
Each morning, we headed out by 8 am for a full day of
fishing with a guide assigned to you the night before to ensure good rotation
of the guides. These guys are great! Thankfully, they are patient and most of them
are good teachers, but a few are amazing.
Fishing Day 1:
The weather is cool and overcast as we head
out and our guide is a little taken aback when we tell him we’ve never fly
fished. We get to a spot and the wind is
SO bad that B can’t get a line out. As I
watch her struggle, I think to myself that we’re NEVER going to catch a fish if
the wind stays up like this. I don’t even
try the first day for fear of making a huge mess of the line. After several hours of high winds and no success,
we head over to a pretty spot for lunch and a little spin cast fishing. We caught a few little Snapper and were glad
to catch at least one fish. A little
later, our guide decided to show us how he could throw all the line on our
reel. What an awesome feat to
witness! Even better, in the process, he
snagged a Bonefish and B got to reel it in!! If you’ve never seen a Bonefish, go look one
up. They are really pretty and super
cool!
Fishing Day 2:
New guide + New area + Better weather + Very little wind = Fishing SUCCESS!!!!!! Both B and I caught fish on our second
day!!!!! It was amazing to watch the
fish hit the fly and hear the line scream as the fish ran. Now for those of you who don’t know how you
fish for these Ghosts of the Flats, first you have to find them, then you have
to sight cast to them, get them interested in the fly, and then be ready for the
fight when it takes the fly and runs.
This can be a little troublesome when you don’t cast really well or very
far…these fish don’t tend to take the fly when they can see the boat. Ha!
*Note: We may have celebrated our fishing success a little too much.
Beware the dark rum!!
Fishing Day 3:
Our final day wrapped up in a new area and
while we didn’t catch fish, we still had a great time seeing sharks swimming in
the water, turtles floating along with the tide and enjoying the beautiful
scenery…perfect day!
On our departure day, we had a little time to kill so one of
the other fisherman at the Lodge (the place holds 10-12) offered up his car to
head up to Treasure Cay (pronounced key).
This man has a house in Treasure Cay and told us the beach there is one
of the most beautiful ones in the world.
At first I was reluctant to take his keys, but in the end, I’m SO glad
we took him up on his offer. After
breakfast, B and I headed out on a left side of the road driving adventure to
find this beach. 30 minutes down the
road and a turn by the liquor store, we find Treasure Cay. It’s not overly developed, just a grocery
store, a bank and condos and houses along the beach. When I say condos, I’m not talking massive,
20 story high condos, but 2-3 story ones.
We find the beach club our fisher friend mentioned and hike over the
hill to see the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen. The water perfectly turquoise. The sand perfectly white. It was like a dream. Not to mention a perfect end to our fun trip. Plus a new goal to come back and stay there for
a few days the next time I go to the Bahamas.
As we loaded our bags in the Suburban to head back to the airport,
I took one last look over the Lodge. I
wasn’t ready to leave. The place is
beautiful and the weather amazing. It
was a nice break from reality. Now to
figure out when I can go back…
Until then, happy travels and many laughs.
