Capt Rick Grassett, The Bahamas

I hosted a group of friends and clients at Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge in South Andros, Bahamas during the past week. Stewart Lavelle from Sarasota, FL, Kirk Grassett, from Middletown, DE and I drove from Sarasota to Ft. Lauderdale last Saturday where we met up with John and DJ, from NY and Mike, from TX and traveled to Congotown, South Andros on Watermakers Air.

We fished hand-picked tides on the quarter phase of the moon, low tide in the morning progressing to slightly later each day throughout the week and it paid off.  Bill Howard, the resident owner/operator, does a great job making things run smoothly during our stay at the lodge. We dined on a variety of excellent authentic Bahamian dishes including fresh fish, lobster and conch. One of the best things about Mars Bay Lodge, the southernmost lodge on South Andros, is fishing the vast sand flats and scattered mangrove keys to the south

We mostly waded and fished everything from large schools of bonefish to cruising or tailing singles and doubles. Despite tough conditions due to a stalled front early in the week, clouds, wind and some rain, we still had action with bonefish including some 4 and 5-lb fish. Larger bonefish were in the 6 to 7-pound class and several were close to double digits. Top producing flies during the week were Ververka’s Mantis Shrimp and Gotchas. Like fishing anywhere, there were some great days and some slower days, but overall it was a great trip to a great lodge!

Back home in Sarasota, tripletail, Spanish mackerel and false albacore in the coastal gulf should be good options now depending on conditions. Look for bait schools, diving birds or breaking fish to find albies and mackerel. Look for reds and big trout mixed with mullet schools on shallow flats. Trout, blues, Spanish mackerel, flounder and more should also be good options on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay.

Tight Lines,