Acklins Island, Bahamas
March 8-20, 2010
12 days in paradise
I just returned from 12 wonderful days on Acklins island in the Bahamas. Monday thru Friday was spent exploring the central and southern portions of Acklins. Tom Lew and Mark were great exploring partners.
The weather was good and we explored some of the many nooks and crannies of Acklins. The bonefishing was a bit slower than normal but we still had some good flurries of activity.
Some of the highlights of the first part of my stay include catching a nice mutton snapper on the fly, which became dinner at club Rolex; Tom landing some nice jacks on the oceanside; Mark being surprised by
the vicious strike of a nice barracuda that he eventually landed; Lew and the huge jack he hooked which then proceeded to bust him off; snorkeling in a big blue hole; grouper fingers, cracked conch, cold kaliks and karaoke at Club Rolex! Hanging out with the locals at Club Rolex a few evenings
Our stay at Ivels B & B was wonderful. We had the bonefish suite which was privately situated in the back but still close enough to see the sunsets over the water out front. Ivels is a very nice B & B even by American standards. It was super comfortable and they have a reverse osmosis system which supplies
unlimited pure fresh water. They are also ideally situated to explore either the north or south ends of Acklins. There were flamingoes out in front of Ivels and we caught bonefish within walking distance of
the lodge. Well be back.
On Saturday I met Bill, Mike, Steve, Hans and Jim at the airport for our week staying up north at Chesters HIghway Inn Bonefish Lodge. The weather this week turned out to be even better and all days were mostly sunny except the first day, which was overcast.
Bill and Mike Hanlon fished with guide Elvis Collie for the week while Jim, Hans, Steve and myself explored on our own. We caught bones, barracuda, jacks, snapper, sharks, grouper and conch. I had shots at two different permit during the week. Bill and Mike did very well fishing with Elvis. They caught many bones, some big cudas, as well as assorted jacks and snapper. They also had several good shots at permit though none were landed. One afternoon we saw a school of bones feeding on the surface in 5' of water. Their heads were coming out of the water! Another day Hans hooked and lost a big cuda that put on a great aerial show for us. It finally cut him off after a brief fight. Jim lost a big cuda that hit his streamer so viciously it cut thru his wire leader attached to his fly!
It was a great week at Chesters and the Chisholms showed us good old Bahamian hospitality.
We explored remote creeks and bays where you could catch your own conch for dinner.
We saw ospreys, sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, manta rays, an octopus, many sharks, kestrels, herons, egrets, oystercatchers and many flamingoes. Mike snorkeled two evenings and even explored a cave with Jim
It was a true nature lovers adventure. We fished hard and ate well both weeks.
Two great groups of guys that I would go anywhere with. Everyone appreciated the beauty that Acklins offered and enjoyed hunting fish as much as catching them.
Thanks guys for the many great memories!!
