acklins island

Thanks for the pic Jeff. Makes me feel warm on this brisk day. That fish took a real mouthfull.
Never been to Acklins. I like the sound of DIY. Who did you stay with down there?

the bonefish were aggressive and ate about anything....  a fun trip. saw some permit, and got chased from the waters near a blue hole by an 8-10 ft shark.

we stayed at Ivels B&B at Mason's Bay just north of the airport. nice place, great folks.

jeff

saumsk wrote: Jeff, Did you do a "DIY" bonefishing trip?  I've looked into this before, but wasn't able to find enough info on a place with enough wadable flats near land for a week long trip. Ken

yes, entirely DIY. for 2 week trip.  there were more accessible flats than we could ever hope to cover. we returned to several that were the most productive. all were easily accessible, except one at atwood harbor area that we used a kayak to access at high tide.  a lot of walking and wading. one flat was about a 10 mile round trip along the beach to a cay with mangrove bays and creeks - beautiful untouched spot, but a lot of work for this old man to get there.  a rental car is a necessity if you want to fish a variety of spots.  however, you could stay at chesters or fedel johnson's on the north end of the island and spend the week fishing the lovely bay flats just out the front door. they will also transport you to other nearby flats.  we stayed at Ivels, with a rental SUV, and traveled the island. if accommodations are primary, it's probably the nicest place to stay from what i saw, but all of the other places i looked at (salinas point, chesters, grey's, fedel's, top choice) are plenty comfortable.  acklins lodge near Ivels was closed at the time, so didn't get into it.  the road south of the airport is awful and tough driving...so only went south a few days.  found bonefish everywhere we went, though the winds and clouds made casts and catching tough many days.

jeff

StillSearchin wrote: Ivels website says: "It is a non-smoking, non-alcoholic facility" yet in your photos I see a bottle of rum. What's with that?

ivels doesn't have a bar, doesn't sell tasty adult beverages... but, other spots sell alcohol and there was no prohibition (at least none expressed to us) on having it at ivels. we ordered 2 cases of kalik gold from nai mackey's place near the airport, which was delivered on the mail boat on the 1st thursday.  btw, the tonic wine from england was not a tasty beverage.

jeff

johnmauser wrote: Jeff,     Glad to see you had a great time at Acklins Island.  I may pick your brain sometime about your trip.  I would really like to put something together for next winter.  Thanks for the great report.

any time John... but be warned, pickings in that venue are getting slimmer every day.  i'll be happy to share what i learned and know about the two places i've been in the bahamas....acklins or south andros.  there are some others who show up here from time to time who know much more than i...