Captain Rick Grassett has a long-standing hosted trip to Andros South in early May. He wrote up a great report from his trip this year – thanks Rick!
Rick’s Report
A group of 4 other anglers and I traveled to Andros South bonefish lodge on South Andros in the Bahamas on Saturday, May 1st for my annual trip. I have been planning, organizing and hosting groups of anglers on trips to various destinations for about 12 years and this was my 5th trip to Andros South lodge. We hit it just right this time as the weather was near perfect and the fishing was hot!
Norm and Francie Boardman and Jon Yenari, all from Sarasota, FL, and my brother, Kirk Grassett from Middletown, DE, all joined me for the trip. We had a great charter flight over and back on Watermakers Air out of Ft. Lauderdale. The Cessna Caravan left early and returned on time with no hassle at all. Once at the lodge, we settled in with hot hors d’oeuvres and cold beverages. We anxiously rigged our tackle for our first day of bonefishing. There was another group of 4 anglers from Atlanta and New York at the lodge the first half of the week. Another solo angler, Craig Black from Jacksonville, FL, paired up with anglers in my group since we were an odd number. Kirk, Jon and I rotated fishing with each other and Craig during the week. John and Paul Gaynor, from the UK, arrived at the lodge on Wednesday. The camaraderie was great!
We caught and released lots of bonefish to more than 7-pounds with many fish in the 2 to 3-pound class. Hot flies were Peterson’s Spawning Shrimp and a Mantis Shrimp pattern. I also caught several bonefish on a bonefish version of my Grassett’s Flats Minnow (white Estaz body, tan fly fur wing and pink thread on a #4 hook). Eric Peterson, creator of the Peterson Spawning Shrimp, was also fishing on South Andros and stopped by the lodge to say hello and leave us with a few “originals”. Eric’s fly has become one of the top flies at Andros South. I can’t wait to try the new tarpon and redfish shrimp patterns that he gave me.
I had a couple of great days with more than 20 bonefish up to 6-pounds, several very good days with 8 to 10 bonefish and only one slow day with a few fish. We waded a good bit of the time which allows both anglers to fish at the same time. Jon Yenari and I had a great day wading a large flat with a blue hole at one end with guide Norman. We caught mangrove snapper to 3-pounds out of the blue hole and hooked a large ‘cuda. With a falling tide, bonefish were leaving the flat and gave us several hours of action while standing in one spot. It was like a shooting gallery! Craig and I fished with guide Torrie on the last day and had a banner day. We did one of Torrie’s famous cross country wading trips and it was well worth the effort. We fished a land locked salt lake and had schools of bonefish bouncing back and forth between us providing nonstop action for several hours!
Norm and Francie also had good action fishing with several different guides. Francie used spinning tackle and was successful casting a jig while Norm had good success with a variety of flies. Their last day with guide Fredlon was the best with about 20 bonefish for the day! Kirk and Jon also both had some very good days with several days in “double digits”!
This was one of my best trips ever at Andros South. The weather and fishing were near perfect, although it was breezy at times. This is typical in the tropics and actually makes fish less spooky than on a calm day. This is a yearly trip for me and I plan to be there again during the first week of May in 2011. Look for more info on my web sites in coming months.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
(941) 923-7799
snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com
I noted with interest that you used Watermakers Air to get over to South Andros. In years past I have gone via Air Bahama, which I recommend avoiding at all cost, Bimini Island Air, and Lynx. One thing that I think most people overlook is charter flights straight in from Ft Lauderdale or other Florida locations into Congo Town. Avoiding Nassua is dandy. Hopefully someone can compile a list of direct charters into South Andros or for that matter any of the Deneki camps and costs at time of publishing so people can see options available. I hope to go back to Andros next year and I am always trying to find the best way to get there.