Why bonefishing in the Bahamas is a must-do winter adventure

Wading the flats

When large schools of bonefish are showing on shorelines with firm sand bottoms, getting out of the boat to wade (above) is the most exciting and productive approach on Andros. On my first day, guide Calvin Bowe and I got out of the boat and waded a shoreline where we witnessed 1000 or more bonefish staging for hours along an oceanside point. While we had massive schools roving around us for hours, our focus was on small groups milling in front of us among the scattered mangrove stick-ups.

The drill required making well placed casts in a crosswind to land the fly in an open space of water. Once a fish was hooked, it was off to the races, with rod held as high as possible to keep fly line out of the field of mangrove stems spaced out like an Olympic slalom run. It made for an exciting start to my first visit to Andros.