Abaco Bahamas Trip

[OMC]

I need to start this post with a huge thank you to JHBOWHUNTER. A few months ago we were having a discussion about fishing in Florida and the Keys and Jack said go to Abaco you won't be disappointed. 

The trip started as a quick getaway with the family and turned into a 14 day vacation which was fantastic.

We stayed on Green Turtle Cay which is a small 3 mile island off of Abaco. The main transportation are golf carts and boats, you need both to get around to the bars,restaurants and exploring all the nearby islands. We rented a 21 foot Whaler Outrage with a 225 HP and full electronics which was perfect for fishing, diving and cruising. Now on to the fishing, since we were going in late June the offshore bite was off and not really worth the effort but I spoke to a lot of people that said Feb - May it can be very good. The reef fishing was incredible and a blast with a wide variety of species. Yellowtail fishing was great and it didn't take long to fill the cooler with enough for dinner in fact in an hour we had more than enough. Drop a little deeper and the grouper were more than willing to cooperate we hooked a lot of fish we couldn't even stop or get out of the reefs. Then the Sharks would arrive and we would have some fun with them and trust me there are plenty of Sharks.

We had quite a bit of wind the first week and it kept us from fishing outside but whenever we did it was great. While we were cruising to the different Islands we would always slow down and search the expansive 3 - 5 foot flats for Cudas and there are a lot, they are big and willing to attack tubes on light tackle. What a great fish on light tackle,screaming runs with multiple jumps and willing to hit. Even though everyone from Florida hates them we couldn't get enough of them. The reason I am mentioning Florida is 90% of the people there are from there and most just boat over to vacation homes. 

What I liked the best was the Bonefishing with the flyrod and it was a blast. You aren't going to see a lot of big schools but you will see some of the largest Bonefish anywhere. They aren't easy to catch but if you think like a hunter,still hunting the flats and only taking the shot when it was perfect we were rewarded with some great fish. My largest of the trip was 29 inches yup thats right 29 inches!! I lost one the next day that looked to be bigger after a really long fight two ft from shore the hook just popped. No picture of my largest, way out on the flat and by myself.   

We also took a trip one day with a guide to fish the Marls which is on the other side of Abaco. In the Marls there are big schools and multiple shots at fish all day. We fished a half day and got 9 which for the end of June is pretty good. 

Along with the great fishing my wife was also kept very happy with plenty to do. Feeding the green turtles and swimming pigs, petting stingrays and sharks at the different uninhabited islands. Went to Hopetown and also Great Guana to visit one day and party at Nippers and Grabbers. 

Dinner

Average Bonefish

 

Huge Cuda 

Cero mackerel

[Rusty]

Great trip OMC, nice fish.    

[Buck154]

Wow great trip. Those are some big cuta!!!!!!!!!! Think I may have to try a trip down there. Looks like the same kind of fishing as Florida

[JHbowhunter]

awesome!  glad it all came together, can't wait to get back there myself.  You did great on the bonefish, i would always want to spend more time on the flats but my son always wants to get out on the reef for the action. A 29" bonefish is world class, that had to be near 10lbs and fight of a lifetime. Better one of those, than 10 2lb'ers!   I did forget to tell you that the barracudas are exceptionally large there, but I see you found out for yourself! 

 

Hope you ate that cero mack - they are delicious. I see you got a margate snapper as well, I got one of those last time there too and again - delicious.

 

I sit here in the OBX with everyone complaining how much the fishing sucks here, had yet another disappointing trip to Florida recently, and dream of going back to Abaco with my own boat rental again!

 

BTW - Exuma fishing is just as good, but the boat rental options are not as good but there is one, and there are some good bonefish guides there that are fairly reasonable. You can talk them into filling the cooler with snappers after some bonefishing...

Edited July 3, 2017 by JHbowhunter

[OMC]

Jack what makes it all come together is the rental boat options that are reasonable. We ate a lot of fish and I forgot to mention the conch diving which was really fun and delicious. I looked at the Exumas also but as you said not many rental boat options. Its fine to take a guide for one day but the whole experience is doing it yourself.

[Njkoren]

Awesome down there. I spent a week on great guana kay a few years ago with some friends. I wasnt that interested in fishing back then but we pulled the boat up to a reef and every time you casted there was a fish on right away. This post brought back some good memories. Thanks.

[Nanuk]

Great Pics , that trip will be the talk for a while. Thanks for sharing

[LPJR]

That definitely looks like a dream vacation especially when the fishing is as good as it was...Great pics OMC  

Edited July 3, 2017 by LPJR

[rgw]

awesome trip

[BowhunterNJ]

Wow, that's one hell of a trip!

[OMC]

Guys thanks for the feed back it really was fantastic great place for the adventurous type families. If you want to lay around at a resort don't go there. Don't get me wrong you can still lay around on some of the most beautiful beaches but there just aren't resorts. Mostly rental homes with plenty of restaurants and bars to keep everyone in the family happy.   

[Sotaroas]

Great story and the pics say it all , congrats on a awesome trip !

[Gobblengrunt]

Looks like an awesome time! Those barracuda are GIANT! Congrats

[mazzgolf]

Sounds like a really fun time and the pix look like its paradise!!

 

That looks like fun! Can you post some specifics for those that might be interested in doing that one day? Where did you stay? Who/what/where on the boat rental? They let you rent a 21' boat to take out without a captain? Not sure I would trust renting out a 21' boat to some schmo from Jersey Did you have to bring your own tackle or did the boat rental include all of that?

[hammer4reel]

looks like a great trip.

some of your pics you got are awesome. def will allow you to relive great memories