North Andros DIY Trip Report

[marty mcfly]

I just got back from my first bonefishing trip, which was also my first dedicated saltwater fly fishing experience. Although I considered a conservative first trip, my very understanding wife volunteered to watch the kids while I did something adventurous for my 40th birthday. So, I dove in head first and booked a week long DIY adventure with a buddy to North Andros Island.

The idea for this adventure came about in March of 2017, at the end of a long Ohio winter. The excuse to spend a week of winter in the tropics made the decision easy. We picked Andros because of all the information available online. We knew we could find advice and directions to good spots without spinning our wheels too much. Plus, its reputation as the "bonefish capital of the world," and for firm wadable flats, sealed the deal.

We had a total of 5 and a half days to fish. One of those days was booked with a full day guided bonefishing trip to Joulter's Kay, and another was booked with a full day guided offshore trip (not intended to be fly fishing). The offshore trip was the only bust. We had trouble finding an offshore guide and now, after having been there, I would not try to book an offshore trip from Andros again. Our guide was a great bonefish/flats guide, but he did not seem to know offshore fishing, and frankly, I did not see any boats on the island equipped for a proper offshore trip. Anyway, overall we chased bonefish for 4 and a half days, all but one of which was completely on our own.

I will spare you the details of our gear selection, but we each brought 8 wt rods with good reels. We also heeded advice about bringing backup rods, reels, line, etc., and I am glad we did. On our offshore trip the guide suggested we bring our fly rods just in case we got a chance to cast to Mahi. Well, half way through the day, the first mate stepped on the tip of my rod and snapped it, leaving me with my back-up 7 weight most of the trip. I was not pleased, but at least I had a spare.

Without spare rods or reels you could be in a bad spot on Andros. Andros is probably the least commercialized place I have been. In a week of exploring the island we did not lay eyes on a fly shop, sporting goods store, clothing store, convenience store, etc. We were able to buy basic household supplies (groceries, spices, paper goods and beer), but I did not see a single fishing-related item (unless you count beer) for sale anywhere. Maybe in a pinch you could scrounge something from one of the few fly fishing lodges or a local, but in my experience, you better bring everything you plan to use, and bring two of the really important things.

I will share what flies worked for us and I want to give a plug to Hairwing530. Hairwing tied up a great box of flies for me and my buddy, and we would use Hairwing again in a heartbeat. His flies are great quality, super affordable, and benefit a great cause. Here is half of my fly box - the half I devoted to bonefish flies:
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10514&d=1522901491
I also had a ton of streamers and a few crab patterns, but I didn't need them (although twice I got a barracuda to slash at a big streamer stripped as fast as I could with two hands, which was fun). Honestly, I think any of the patterns in the picture would have caught fish, but our "go to" pattern was the size 4 pearl gotchas in the lower right quadrant of the box. As far as we could tell, they were never refused.

Anyway, back to the trip....We got to Andros on a Thursday afternoon, on the second of two daily flights that fly to the Andros Town airport from Nassau. We knew we were in for a unique trip as soon as we saw the Andros Town International Airport:
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10445&d=1522634759

At the airport we met up with a cheerful fellow who identified himself as an acquaintance of our Airbnb host, and the owner of our rental car for the week - a 2005 Ford Escape with many warning lights on the dash, no shocks, squeeky CV joints, and bubbling DIY tint on the windows. Perfect! We paid the man for the "rental car," got some vague directions to the Airbnb, and set off on what I assume was a car insuranceless week of driving on the wrong side of the road.

We quickly discovered the simple beauty of a relatively undeveloped island. Specifically, it is hard to get lost when there aren't too many roads. We found our Airbnb just a few miles north of Andros Town. Much to our delight, it was on a stretch of beach that was even more beautiful than the online pictures. It is pretty hard to wake up grumpy when the beach is 6 steps away and has views like this:
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10453&d=1522634759

https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10452&d=1522634759

https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10447&d=1522634759

But, we were there to fish, not gawk at the view. We quickly strung up our rods and headed out to the beach. I caught a few colorful little snapper blind casting around some rocks, but when I made a blind cast out onto an adjacent grass bed flat, I got a take that felt very different. I had never caught a bonefish before, and I could tell that whatever I hooked was small, but it also felt strong, with two or three determined efforts to make a run. I was shocked when I reeled in this little guy:
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10450&d=1522634759

He may be the smallest bonefish ever landed on rod and reel, but he is my first, and to me he is beautiful! And, when I got another take a couple blind casts later, I couldn't help but think how easy bonefishing is! I still wonder how big that second fish was. He took me into my backing three times before finally spitting the hook. We would later learn that bonefishing is actually really hard and that blind casting only works if, despite all odds, and through dumb luck, you manage to unwittingly cast into a school of bonefish. We learned that schools of bonefish sometimes came up onto the flat in front of our house. We took at least 6 or 7 fish off that flat, and more than half of those were with blind casts before we figured out the situation. This was the biggest brought to hand on that flat:
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10515&d=1522901669

and here is another, more typical of the size fish we saw all week:
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10449&d=1522634759

But, even if your having a tough day, it is hard to be too disappointed with a place like this:
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10516&d=1522901855

I don't know the weight of any of our fish, and I did not bother to put a tape on them, but based on a crude hand comparison measurement, our biggest fish was probably around 21 inches.

What we found hardest about bonefishing was finding fish. Not seeing them....but literally finding a flat with fish on it. Andros has endless miles of amazing flats that contain lots of bonefish sign. But on any given tide and any given day, a seemingly great flat may be completely devoid of fish. The nice thing is that once you find bonefish, they are very happy to take a fly. I watched the biggest fish of the trip cruise over my fly, notice it at the last minute, reverse course, chase it down and eat it...before taking me into my backing twice despite a very tight drag as I tried to keep him out of mangroves. They are amazingly powerful fish.

Our trip to Joulters Kay was also memorable. We saw numerous schools of bonefish, and the solitude and silence on Joulters is unlike anything I have experienced in the states. More beautiful scenery and fish up there:
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10448&d=1522634759

https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10451&d=1522634759

Overall, it was a hell of a trip. Good fishing and beautiful scenery, but like any trip, what I will remember most are my interactions with the people. And that part of the trip was also great. Everyone we met was friendly, unassuming, and helpful. If you find yourself on North Andros, make sure you stop in for a drink and some conch at Sammy's Bar and Grill.
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10454&d=1522634759

Many thanks to everyone on this forum who answered questions and steered us in the right direction on a number of issues. I leave you with an underwater video of a bonefish swimming off into the Carribean sunset https://youtu.be/8o0XYAcS_DQ.

 

[duker]

Congrats on your first saltwater trip, and your first bonefish. Bet now you're hooked on saltwater fly fishing (pun intended). And good on ya for DIY'ing it for some of your trip.

And never mind the size (or lack thereof) of that first bonefish you picked up off the beach. A bone is a bone is a bone, and if it's your first one, caught without a guide, who cares how big it is.

Hairwing530's flies look awesome, as we all know they would. Not surprised that bonefish would climb all over those.

Scott

 

[mcnerney]

Thanks for sharing your trip report! I wish I could see all the photos you posted, PhotoBucket SUCKS big time!

 

[acorad]

Now that's a trip report!

Andy

 

[marty mcfly]

Damn...why don't the pics show up? I can see them if I click on them...but I don't see anything to fix or unlock in my photobucket acct to make them appear in the post. Unfortunately, because of the size of some of the pics I couldn't upload to the forum directly.

 

[marty mcfly]

OK....I never could figure out photobucket :smash: but at least I managed to link all the pictures successfully (I hope). If not, you all are just going to have to use your imagination.

 

[karstopo]

Photo links work, nice photos and trip report. The DIY thing is very appealing to me and it appears y’all had a lot of fun and success all on your own. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

 

[bonefish41]

Andros from the Bights north to the Joulters very little change...three of us now two started going there in 1980...have not been back in 4 years and I miss Andros. Next time if he still does rent a boat from Hank and fish up Fresh Creek...then wade Young Sound...it's is vast and you could spend a week fishing it. Then for one day fish the Bights out of Cargill Creek with a guide ....when you went to the Joulters with a guide did you boat spot then get out and wade to the fish? That's what I remember and i'm not partial to that method because it wastes time; whereas most of the Bight action is in the boat...cover more area IMHO...but I/we only lodged once thereafter it was DIY but alas Mike once upon a time had a house on the Creek and those were great times.

 

[sweetandsalt]

bonefish, One of the two images in my signature below is up Fresh Creek, Turtle Sound. I haven't been to Andros in some three years either but will change that next week but to the other, southern end of the Islands vast bonefish habitat.

 

[td.]

What a great report, congrats on your first bone trip, it's addictive (just wait until you catch a **** or permit, time to sell off everything else you own).

To add on to the flavor of this thread for the guys that have been there, is there the ability to do a DIY trip off the south end where the habitat is very expansive?

 

[sweetandsalt]

"is there the ability to do a DIY trip off the south end where the habitat is very expansive?"

Expansive indeed, a wilderness really. We stay at the southern end-of-the-road and still run about 45 min. in the skiff each morning to get to the maze of creeks and little keys in the south and southwest. I have done plenty of DIY bonefishing all over the Bahamas and I would not consider venturing into this area without a knowledgeable guide with a reliable skiff.

 

[bonefish41]

I second what S&S states about venturing...I ventured on Andros because of my experience and always doing business with native Androsians...during the early years we never ventured north of Central Andros High School...those were the days in the north of cocaine cowboys, two pounds of gold neck chains and all flat black Jeeps...only one time did I have something unattended "walk away." It wasn't 2 plus in fly gear and 3 plus in Nikons...it was a genuine Stetson...but last 15 or so years things have changed up north...most of my time was spent up the Creek and South on Queen's Highway to Behring Point and the Bights...pics: my daughter Caroline with the late, great Ivan Neymour, two of the Smith brothers Prescott and Andy at Ivan's funeral, last bonefish Andros caught with Ivan's son DeWayne,

 

[marty mcfly]

I did not explore the middle bight or South Andros, but I looked long and hard at an Airbnb on the middle bight when we were planning our trip. I couldn't pull the trigger on it just because it seemed so limiting. I could not tell if the creeks that pass through the middle bight were too soft to be wadeable, how deep they were, etc. I did not want to go all the way to find that I was up a creek without a boat. On that point, keep in mind that the bahamas just passed new regulations (in 2017, I believe) that prohibit two (or more) people from fishing from the same boat unless one of them has a guide license. So, that pretty much kills any dreams of borrowing a boat. And after I took some measurements on google earth, I realized that we couldn't wade or kayak to the west side anyway with any reasonable effort. The size of Andros is one of the things that really hit me. I "knew" how big it was, but until you get there and do some exploring on your own, it is hard to appreciate just how vast those flats are. One flat we fished (young sound) measures about 7 miles long by 2 miles wide. That is just one flat. Somehow we also managed to spot only 4 bonefish on that whole effing flat despite fishing it on 3 different days.

Also, if I was considering the north coast of North Andros I would be cautious about where I stayed. We drove through there to get to the boat launch when we fished Joulters with our guide and it looked more populated and maybe a little more sketchy than what I saw elsewhere. No one was unfriendly but it just seemed more....local. That end of the island was also hit hard by a hurricane a couple years ago (hurricane Matthew?) and I am not sure everyone has recovered.

By the way, that is a hell of a nice looking bonefish, 41. We did not see any that big.

 

[marty mcfly]

We were lucky to sneak up on a big school of fish in Joulters first thing in the morning. My buddy and I caught probably 4 or 5 each before they finally got a clue. After that we cruised to some other flats and waded off the boat a few times. I did not mind wading but I could imagine it getting old after a while. It certainly wasn't as efficient as fishing from the boat.

We never did fish fresh creek even though we drove inland on some sketchy roads on both the north and south sides of the creek to scout it out. We planned to take our kayaks back in there but we got distracted with easier fishing other places. We gave young sound more than a fair chance. We fished it three different days - more than anywhere else - but only saw a total of 4 bonefish. We couldn't understand it. That place looks like it should be loaded...but we saw mostly just stingrays, cuda and sharks in there.

 

[marty mcfly]

Andros from the Bights north to the Joulters very little change...three of us now two started going there in 1980...have not been back in 4 years and I miss Andros. Next time if he still does rent a boat from Hank and fish up Fresh Creek...then wade Young Sound...it's is vast and you could spend a week fishing it. Then for one day fish the Bights out of Cargill Creek with a guide ....when you went to the Joulters with a guide did you boat spot then get out and wade to the fish? That's what I remember and i'm not partial to that method because it wastes time; whereas most of the Bight action is in the boat...cover more area IMHO...but I/we only lodged once thereafter it was DIY but alas Mike once upon a time had a house on the Creek and those were great times.

We were lucky to sneak up on a big school of fish in Joulters first thing in the morning. My buddy and I caught probably 4 or 5 each before they finally got a clue. After that we cruised to some other flats and waded off the boat a few times. I did not mind wading but I could imagine it getting old after a while. It certainly wasn't as efficient as fishing from the boat.

We never did fish fresh creek even though we drove inland on some sketchy roads on both the north and south sides of the creek to scout it out. We planned to take our kayaks back in there but we got distracted with easier fishing other places. We gave young sound more than a fair chance. We fished it three different days - more than anywhere else - but only saw a total of 4 bonefish. We couldn't understand it. That place looks like it should be loaded...but we saw mostly just stingrays, cuda and sharks in there.

 

[bonefish41]

MM: The regs I am aware...however, If Hank still rents boats in Fresh Creek...that's the imprimatur...Hank does Hank...Young Sound two ways to fish when wading best is dead low tide about 150 yards sound of house look for chancels...wait for incoming tide they will come in to feed in the mangroves at the far end...the other at the far end at change of tide high when they come out ...but not as concentrated as low incoming the channels.
Native Androsians are an independent lot ...when Nassau allowed/ indicated Asians to pillage the TOTO and even parked their catch boats in North Andros in preparation to fish and tender to process ships...there was a "mild" protest and it did not happen...we drove to North A and saw the 15 or so anchored Korean/Chinese catch boats... or course there is another possible reason for no pillaging AUTEC and DOD might have objected to the "noise"...stray noise is bad for acoustics...However, we observed Androsians in a resolute stand about the boats at anchor...so if Hank rents rent...I would...big fish are winter fish just stay long enough for weather to change...I caught that fish in 60 degree air temp but sun just inside/west of the Behring Point dock

 

[rwashington127]

Good report. I fish the same areas around Fresh Creek several times a year both DIY and with a guide. I have to plug my guide he is absolutely fantastic and will take you to areas of the island you would never find alone.

Andros Bonefish Fly Fishing Guide Hermon Bain - Hermon's Andros Bonefishing

 

[bluwave]

I think I rented the same rental car in Mexico a few years back. No shocks or speed-o, but it got us from point A to point B. Thanks for sharing your trip.