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VISIT Eleuthera - Spanish Wells - Harbour Islands Mayaguana - Great Inagua - Ragged Islands San Salvador - Rum Cay - Conception Islands
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Island News: - WE'RE BACK! BOOK YOUR BAHAMAS TRAVEL DIRECTLY WITH US - BFFG TRAVEL PLANNING AND BOOKING SERVICES -- We use our extensive experience to personalize all trips to your specific needs. You can fish with our favorite guides in our favorite locations. The beginning of your ideal vacation is just a click away. Email Kim directly to begin planning your ideal trip. As always our travel bookings services are free. You pay nothing extra, so why not leave it to us to plan and book your trip. And that goes for DYI anglers too. We can save you time and money. Winter Haven Inn, Clarence Town - This is our top choice for staying in the Clarence Town area, which is the perfect location to relax, and to enjoy the areas wonderful fishing. The Inn has 8 spacious rooms, all with ocean views, and some overlooking the pool. The on-site Rowdy Boy's Bar and Grill serves the breakfast, lunch and dinner, authentic Bahamian fare at reasonable prices, though the lobster and steak dishes are expensive. The owners are friendly and helpful, and they can book anything you need.....fishing guides, car rentals, island tours, all you have to do is ask. Bonafide Bonefishing, operated by top guide Docky Smith, is our choice as the best guide to fish with on Long Island. Please visit Docky's web site, which is a wealth of information on fishing in Long Island. Here you can book Docky directly, learn more about his operation and experience, see his tackle recommendations, and look at some great photos. Check out the permit shots. Wow. Chez Pierre Bahamas - DIY anglers, this is a nice spot to hang out, and you can bring the spouse, or the entire family. Six elevated cottages with spacious bedrooms, bath, and airy screened porches line this secluded Millers Bay beach location, halfway between Stella Maris and Deadman's Cay. Chef Pierre whips up fresh innovative dishes with homegrown ingredients and daily caught seafood in the relaxing oceanfront restaurant. Explore nearby cays in sea kayaks, wade the adjacent flats for bonefish, or schedule a diving adventure through the Stella Maris marina. Fishing guides, car rentals, and airport transfers can be arranged. If you really want to cover the island, visit remote Atlantic beaches, and access the best southern flats, you need to rent a car. Updated Note: Good reports from returning anglers who fished with guide Loxley Cartwright. Loxley can be booked through Anne at Chez Pierre.
A nice facility adjacent to Clarence Town, on the hillside overlooking the beach and bay, is Gems at Paradise Resort. The resort has one bedroom condos with kitchens, regular hotel suites, and a stunning beachfront location. Gems also includes the use of a Boston Whaler for cruising around and fishing on your own, plus the resort owns a 31' Bertram for offshore fishing. Anglers and adventure travelers booking trips to the Deadman's Cay and Clarence Town areas need to be self-sufficient and able to cope with plenty of little things that can go wrong. This is a laid-back location, and not for travelers looking for resort facilities or lots of attention. The marina in Clarence Town, Flying Fish Marina, is is the only full service marina in this southern zone of the Bahamas, making it a very important stop-over for boaters going south to Crooked, Acklins, and Turk and Caicos. This is an ideal location to spend some time, as it offers nearby access to productive wading flats for bonefish, and some of the best offshore fishing in the world is no more than a quarter mile from the marina. FLATS FISHING PATTERNS: Fishing the southern Bahamas, including Long Island, is a way to play the odds against tricky weather patterns, and in the spring, summer and fall the weather is almost always gorgeous. March through July and October through November are prime months, with December through February having a good chance of nice weather. Hurricane season runs from June to mid-November. May 26, 2009 Fishing Reports STELLA MARIS/CAPE SANTA MARIA - Stella Maris Resort head guide, Docky Smith, is our favorite guide in the area. He fishes out of a perfectly-maintained Maverick Mirage 16' flats skiff with a poling platform and 90 hp Yamaha outboard. Running times to the flats are short, from 5 to 15 minutes. Docky is also exploring a number of new flats to the south of Stella Maris with good results, and in good weather he can head out to Sandy Cay, a nice spot for permit. The guides out of Cape Santa Maria fish out of Florida Flats skiffs with similar running times. Many of the flats from both resorts are within walking or biking distance and anglers can wade these flats on their own. Docky Smith will also guide guests staying at the Cape. Our favorite flies include #4-6 Gotchas, #4-6 Clouser Minnows, #6-8 Veverka's Mantis Shrimp, #4 Borski Bonefish Critters and #4-6 Beck's Sililegs. These are ideal resorts for couples, families and serious anglers alike. Spring and Summer are great times to fish Long Island, so now's the time to start booking. An independent guide for this northern area is Ken "eagleeyes" Capron. His guide service is located in Burnt Ground. Web site: Ken Eagleeyes Bonefishing.
Colin Cartwright has a good bonefishing operation under way....The Triple Seas Bonefish Lodge is located on the waterfront near the Deadman's Cay Sound. The lodge can accommodate four anglers, and is just minutes away by boat from the inland flats. All rooms have a/c and private baths. The Hot Spot restaurant and bar is a short walk away. Anglers fly into Deadman's Cay Airport. Colin is also available as an independent guide if you are staying somewhere else. For more information contact Colin Cartwright at 242-357-1067 (cell), or 242-337-0443 (home). Email: Colin Cartwright. Another good guide in the Deadman's Cay area who is recommended by readers is Capt. Phillip Cartwright. You can contact him at: 242-337-0143. #6 Tan Yarn Crabs, #6 Kwan's, #6-8 Veverka's Mantis Shrimp, #4-6 Miheve's Flats Fly, #6 Pink Bonefish Puffs, #4-8 Pink and Tan Bone Shrimp/Rubber Legs, #4-8 Gotchas, #4-8 Darting Coral Shrimp, and #4 Borski's Bonefish Critters are our favorite patterns. If the fish are being particularly spooky, present your fly at least 20 feet in front of the cruising bones and let the fly sit on the bottom. Keep the slack out of your line, and when the fish approach give your fly just a slight twitch. At times you won't even need to twitch the fly, the fish will just tail down on it and all you have to do is set with a line strip. Local guides usually work out of Rahming flats skiffs. Running times to most flats are 5 to 20 minutes, though a 45 minute run will put you out into the Sandy Cay area, which is one of the most beautiful and extensive flats systems in the Bahamas. REEF/OFFSHORE: Good fishing for dorado and tuna off the deep drops just outside from Fly Fish Marina. Both Cape Santa Maria and Stella Maris Resort offer reef and offshore fishing in a variety of boats from 26’; center console Mako’s to 31’ Bertram’s. Packages are available that include flats, reef, and offshore fishing, or you can choose the type of fishing you like best.
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©
2003 Stephen and Kim Vletas
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LONG
ISLAND 
For
anglers looking for a combination of fishing with a guides a few days,
then fishing on their own, there are a number of good options, including the Lochabar Beach Lodge, which is located just south of Clarence Town. Lochabar offers 3
rooms, and is situated on a white sand beach and a blue hole.
Good wade fishing is right out front. Anglers staying at Lochabar need to rent a car, as the lodge is
15 to 20 minutes drive away from Mangrove Bush, and Deadman's
Cay. The Forest Restaurant, on the main highway near the turn-off to Lochabar, is a reastaurant we recommend. Lochabar can be booked through Nancy and Judy Knowles, plus Judy has a number of homes and villas for rent as well in the areas around Clarence Town and Deadman's Cay. 
DEADMAN'S
CAY/CLARENCE TOWN - An hour's drive south of Stella Maris is the island's
largest settlement, Deadman's Cay. The entire western coast off Deadman's
Cay is a vast protected area that includes more than 80 miles of wadable
flats. We really like fishing the outside flats in the Sandy Cays and
Conch Cay areas. This is a vast area of white sand flats laced with blue
channels. It's common for large schools of bones to move over the shallow
white bars, making them very easy to see. There is also a decent chance
to see permit in this area. Many of the guides, including Sammy Knowles,
Loxley Cartwright, Bradley Knowles, Frank and Jerry Cartwright are exploring
this area more and more.