15 miles off the SouthWest Coast of Andros, near Miller Creek, Tuesday, May 1, 10pm.
15 miles off the SouthWest Coast of Andros, near Miller Creek, Tuesday, May 1, 10pm.
Tuesday morning had all of the promise of a new bride. After a pre-dawn double-shot coffee, two bananas, and a heavy coating of SPF 50 on all exposed parts, the skiffs were loaded with fuel and fishing gear. The game plan included morning exploration of the extensive flats on the west side of the Water Cays, midday fishing on the western flats and then an afternoon rendezvous with the Ocean Princess. This was a particularly ambitious plan since, due to draft constraints of the Ocean Princess, the rendezvous was to take place at a GPS coordinate 12 miles out into the Great Bahama Bank.
The flats on the east side of the Water Keys get really skinny at low water, too low in fact for our Carolina Skiff, Poule d'Eaux, that can usually float in only 4 inches of water. The "usually" part refers to the normal state of affairs with both transom plugs in. Tuesday simply refused to be usual and so as in many great fishing trips it started out badly. Within 20 minutes of leaving the Ocean Princess, we were stuck on a hard marl flat with more water in Poule d'Eaux than on the flat and so we had to get out and push. Except for the embarrassment of two old salts getting stuck high and dry, our misfortune quickly turned to fortune, for as soon as we got down to water level to push, we could see tailing fish 300 yards ahead. The hard marl made for easy wading and minutes later, Eric was hooked up. But all things must pass and after 20 minutes the bones moved off the flat and so did we.
For the next hour we toured the Water Cays scoping out fishing options. This is an incredibly beautiful place. The southern cays are lined by long white sand beaches and are separated by serpentine turquoise channels. This would be a great place to take non-fishermen for an afternoon of beachcombing. As we moved around from the south to the west, the topography changed dramatically. The flats on the eastern side had been marl, on the southern side sand, and now on the western side were soft mud. Although these western flats were pocked up like a moonscape from eons of bonefish mudding, we only found a few fish and caught none.. Timing, we figured, was everything and perhaps we should have been there yesterday. Because the western flats were too soft to wade and held too few fish that day to hold our interest, we began looking for alternatives. What would it take to entertain 2 bored, hot, and hungry fifty-somethings stuck in perpetual adolescence? Answer: a blue hole.
At first glance from 200 yards away it looked like a round cloud shadow on the background light green of the sand and mud flat. However as we floated closer, it was clear that we had accidentally wandered over one of the Bahamas famous blue holes. Measuring over 100 yards across, the Water Cays blue hole is one of the largest we’ve ever seen. It was clear that this was the deepest piece of water for miles in any direction and that that meant it was a unique ecosystem – reef fishes swimming circles in the equivalent of a one acre aquarium. Without a sink tip line, the only offerings were barracudas and hard-tail jacks, but the unusual diversion was just what we needed to break the monotony.
By 3:30PM it was time to start looking for the Ocean Princess. We had planned the run in three point-to-point legs so that if we ha engine trouble, the Ocean Princess would know where to start looking.
The second leg of the rendezvous was a 5 mile run to Boat Rock. Boat Rock is actually a 1/4 mile long cay on the southwest corner of Andros. It has tiny west facing flats that are shielded from the strong easterly trades, making fishing easy but it is so small and so out of the way that no one ever stops here to fish...no one except us, that is. So without any expectation we stopped and took a short stroll up the protected side. Without warning 3 large schools of 2-3 pound bones arrived as if they had awaited our arrival. We barely had time to lock and load but did just managed to leave one small fish with a toothache before it was quitting time.
The final leg was an act of blind faith. Going out of sight of land in a 16 foot skiff guided only by dead reckoning and a hand-held box of transistors to an seemingly imaginary point in the space-time continuum requires a good bit of positive karma. The box didn’t fail us and the rendezvous went off without a hitch. We arrived at the "OP" just in time for late afternoon cocktails.
Tuesday morning had all of the promise of a new bride. After a pre-dawn double-shot coffee, two bananas, and a heavy coating of SPF 50 on all exposed parts, the skiffs were loaded with fuel and fishing gear. The game plan included morning exploration of the extensive flats on the west side of the Water Cays, midday fishing on the western flats and then an afternoon rendezvous with the Ocean Princess. This was a particularly ambitious plan since, due to draft constraints of the Ocean Princess, the rendezvous was to take place at a GPS coordinate 12 miles out into the Great Bahama Bank.
The flats on the east side of the Water Keys get really skinny at low water, too low in fact for our Carolina Skiff, Poule d'Eaux, that can usually float in only 4 inches of water. The "usually" part refers to the normal state of affairs with both transom plugs in. Tuesday simply refused to be usual and so as in many great fishing trips it started out badly. Within 20 minutes of leaving the Ocean Princess, we were stuck on a hard marl flat with more water in Poule d'Eaux than on the flat and so we had to get out and push. Except for the embarrassment of two old salts getting stuck high and dry, our misfortune quickly turned to fortune, for as soon as we got down to water level to push, we could see tailing fish 300 yards ahead. The hard marl made for easy wading and minutes later, Eric was hooked up. But all things must pass and after 20 minutes the bones moved off the flat and so did we.
For the next hour we toured the Water Cays scoping out fishing options. This is an incredibly beautiful place. The southern cays are lined by long white sand beaches and are separated by serpentine turquoise channels. This would be a great place to take non-fishermen for an afternoon of beachcombing. As we moved around from the south to the west, the topography changed dramatically. The flats on the eastern side had been marl, on the southern side sand, and now on the western side were soft mud. Although these western flats were pocked up like a moonscape from eons of bonefish mudding, we only found a few fish and caught none.. Timing, we figured, was everything and perhaps we should have been there yesterday. Because the western flats were too soft to wade and held too few fish that day to hold our interest, we began looking for alternatives. What would it take to entertain 2 bored, hot, and hungry fifty-somethings stuck in perpetual adolescence? Answer: a blue hole.
At first glance from 200 yards away it looked like a round cloud shadow on the background light green of the sand and mud flat. However as we floated closer, it was clear that we had accidentally wandered over one of the Bahamas famous blue holes. Measuring over 100 yards across, the Water Cays blue hole is one of the largest we’ve ever seen. It was clear that this was the deepest piece of water for miles in any direction and that that meant it was a unique ecosystem – reef fishes swimming circles in the equivalent of a one acre aquarium. Without a sink tip line, the only offerings were barracudas and hard-tail jacks, but the unusual diversion was just what we needed to break the monotony.
By 3:30PM it was time to start looking for the Ocean Princess. We had planned the run in three point-to-point legs so that if we ha engine trouble, the Ocean Princess would know where to start looking.
The second leg of the rendezvous was a 5 mile run to Boat Rock. Boat Rock is actually a 1/4 mile long cay on the southwest corner of Andros. It has tiny west facing flats that are shielded from the strong easterly trades, making fishing easy but it is so small and so out of the way that no one ever stops here to fish...no one except us, that is. So without any expectation we stopped and took a short stroll up the protected side. Without warning 3 large schools of 2-3 pound bones arrived as if they had awaited our arrival. We barely had time to lock and load but did just managed to leave one small fish with a toothache before it was quitting time.
The final leg was an act of blind faith. Going out of sight of land in a 16 foot skiff guided only by dead reckoning and a hand-held box of transistors to an seemingly imaginary point in the space-time continuum requires a good bit of positive karma. The box didn’t fail us and the rendezvous went off without a hitch. We arrived at the "OP" just in time for late afternoon cocktails.
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