GPS Coordinates: 26°54’41.20″N 77°49’09.05″W
Trip Questionnaire: Please click on the link below. This will take you an electronic questionnaire form that we ask you to complete and submit to The Fly Shop®. Please be sure to click the “Submit” button at the end of the form. The information provided will help us — and the outfitter best coordinate your trip.
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Based in the quaint fishing community of Crown Haven, with thirty miles of flats stretching to the south, and fifty miles of ocean-side islands and flats to the northwest, the variety of fishing locations surrounding Little Abaco is unbeatable. The nearest fishing lodge is better than fifty miles away, so you are assured of unpressured fish that often exceed the magic ten-pound mark.
Getting to Little Abaco Bonefish Lodge
Marsh Harbour is the 3rd largest airport in the Bahamas, and there are numerous daily connecting flights into Marsh Harbour through Nassau, Orlando, Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and more. You’ll be met at the airport by a transfer agent and enjoy a scenic ninety minute drive to the lodge.
We recommend arriving into and departing Abaco from mid-day through mid-afternoon, but they can accommodate arrivals and departures at any time. If you are traveling with a group, it is best to coordinate arrivals and departures, otherwise you may have to wait at the airport for the remainder of the group as the transfers are generally done together.
Please make your flight accommodations as soon as possible to secure seats and the best fare. We recommend giving Alicia at Holdy Tours a call at (800) 446-1111, to help with your flight information and fares. She books the majority of the travel for The Fly Shop’s travel staff, and many anglers traveling throughout the world.
Contact Information
Should any problems occur during your travel, including significant flight delays please be sure to have the following emergency contact information with you. Please contact the Little Abaco owners or The Fly Shop® directly.
Little Abaco Bonefish Lodge
Sidney and Ketta Thomas, owners
Sidney’s cell phone: (242) 727-7576
Ketta’s cell phone: (242) 727-5033
The Fly Shop®
(800) 669-3474 | (530) 222-3555 | travel@theflyshop.com
U.S. Embassy Nassau
Queen Street #19
Telephone: (242) 322-1181
Emergency after-hours telephone: (242) 357-7004 | facsimile: (242) 356-7174
Emergency Assistance:
In case of emergencies involving the death, injury, welfare, or arrest of an American citizen in The Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos Islands, please call (242) 328-3496 or (242) 311-1181 x9 during business hours, and (242) 357-7004 at all other times. (Please note that the Duty Officer who answers this number will not be able to assist with visa or routine passport matters.)
Little Abaco Bonefish Lodge
The lodge has a fully stocked bar. Beer is $4.00 per bottle. There is no hard liquor/wine at the lodge, so if you would like of bottle of your favorite spirits or wine, let your driver know to stop by the liquor store to grab additional beer or hard alcohol or wine upon arrival in Marsh Harbour. There are some mixers at the lodge and water, soda, juices and Gatorade are included in the price of your trip. Sidney and Keeta use a simple honor bar system, so just jot down what you drink on the bar pad and Keeta will tally the total at the end of your stay. Payment for bar tabs is cash only please.
The lodge is happy to do a load of laundry for you while you are out hunting bonefish. All they ask is that you consolidate your dirty clothes into a full load and let them know that it’s ready for washing. They’ll have it cleaned and dry when you return from fishing and of course, there is never a charge.
Almost all of the U.S. cell phone carriers support roaming on the Bahamian cell network. Your cell phone should work quite well while you’re staying at the Lodge. If you have a “smart” phone that supports email or web browsing it should function just fine. That being said, many U.S. cell companies can charge as much as $2.00 per minute for international roaming. You should definitely check with your cell carrier to see what their Bahamian rates are prior to your trip.
In the mornings, they offer coffee, tea and a hot breakfast, and serve the usual types of foods for breakfast and will do our best to honor your request. Cold cereal, yogurts, juices and fruits are also available to get you properly fueled up for a full day of fishing.
The staff will carefully pack a large cooler for your lunch. Most lunches include freshly made sandwiches; various kinds of chips, snack bars, candy bars, sodas, Gatorade and of course, plenty of bottled water.
The lodges Bahamian cook, Kay Babbs, will prepare delicious down-home-cooked Bahamian family dinners. If you have a favorite island meal let her know at the beginning of your stay and she will do her best to serve it up one night.
The fishing day usually starts between 8:00 and 8:30 am. Most of the year, the sun angle is so flat, that with the exception of finding tailing fish, it really doesn’t make a lot of sense to start earlier. It is just too difficult to see fish well. The guide staff usually fishes an eight (8) to nine (9) hour guide day. For safety reasons guides are asked to be back at the dock no later than 5:30 to 6:00 pm at the absolutely latest! Please keep in mind that the locals do not have the U.S. Coast Guard at their fingertips for rescue and must use common sense to ensure safety. As always, if you have a specific request, please talk with Sidney about it and he’ll do his best to make it happen.
Little Abaco’s guide staff is outstanding, highly experienced. Their mind set is to put you on top of fish regardless of the weather and tide conditions. Sometimes this means that your best shot at hooking up is going to be fishing out of a poled skiff and sometimes, when the tide is right, big tails and wading will provide you the best opportunity. Regardless, if you have a preference, let your guide know and they will do their best to fish you the way you’d like. This being said, because of conditions, sometime wading is the only option and at other times, standing on the bow looking for shadows is your best bet. The guides will certainly let you know their opinion.
The goal is to put big fish in your hand and soothe you after a long day on the flats with good home cooked meals and the gentle sound of the water lapping on the shore edge. The biggest compliment and proudest moment usually come when a guest decides to return to the lodge for a second trip.
Visa & Documents:
A valid passport is required for all travelers and must be valid for six months beyond the arrival date. All travelers must have return or continuing tickets to pass through customs. A visa is not required for Americans, Canadians, or most European countries. Residents of other countries should contact the Bahamian embassy in their country to check on visa requirements.
You will complete an immigration card upon arrival. It will be checked at your first point of entry, and a copy will be given to you. Be careful not to lose this copy, as it must be returned to immigration upon departure. For charter flights only, there is a departure tax payable at the airport upon departure.
General Information
Bahamas License Requirements:
To pre-purchase a Bahamas Fishing License, please use this link. www.gooutdoorsbahamas.com
Health Concerns:
As always, check with your personal doctor about any health concerns you may have. You do not need any inoculations to travel to the Bahamas. If you have a health condition, please make sure to bring ALL the medication you will require for your stay. Please notify us of any health conditions or concerns we should be aware of. You can do this with the Pre Trip Questionnaire. The lodge has a basic first aid supply, but do bring any item you think you might need. As with all destination travel, you should be covered by a Health and Travel insurance plan. There is an efficient Air Ambulance service available for serious emergencies. The service evacuates to Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach, and it is very costly. We recommend you always buy private travel insurance before any trip to cover you in case of an emergency.
Inoculations:
Not required for the Bahamas, but take your own medical advice as to recommended precautions.
Electricity:
The electrical outlets are AC 110 volts (same as the U.S.) and most appliances will work fine. Make sure that you have plenty of spare batteries for cameras and other small appliances, as the cost for replacements in the Bahamas is high.
Insects:
Mosquitoes and “doctor flies” in the Bahamas are prominent during the rainy season, from April through September. Year round, tiny biting “No See’ums” can also come out at dawn and dusk and whenever the winds are exceptionally calm. The Bahamian doctor fly is basically a large horsefly on steroids, whose bite will draw blood. (Why do they call them doctor flies? “Because when de bite, mon, it feels like a SHOT!”) They prefer salt-coated skin, and love to harass anglers who are wading shallow waters and mangrove-filled areas. Wearing long pants and long sleeves while fishing, and insect repellent (with DEET) will deter these bugs. If you can find it, Avon Skin-So-Soft is the best deterrent for No-See-Ums.
Gratuities:
Gratuities come in two forms: daily tips for guides at the end of each day, and a single tip for the lodge staff at the end of your stay. The economy in the Bahamas is primarily cash-based, so the preferred method for tipping is in cash. US Dollars and Bahamian currency are interchangeable on the island, and either works fine.
Guide Gratuities: Guide tips vary widely but have averaged roughly $100 per boat per day ($50 per angler if two anglers share a boat). Tipping for guides can be done at the dock each day or at the end of the week. If guides are tipped at the end of the week, you will need to indicate what amount is intended for each guide and on which day. If you intend to tip at the end of the week be sure to let your guide know that at the end of each day. The best time to give the guide his tip is at the dock just before getting out of the boat. It’s helpful to be prepared, have cash handy and if possible to discuss tipping with your fishing partner before reaching the dock. When preparing for your trip, it’s helpful to come with a sufficient amount of $5, $10, and $20 bills to cover tipping each day, and to allow for the possibility of an exceptional tip for an exceptional day.
Lodge Staff Gratuities: Tips for the lodge staff are collected once at the end of your stay, and are pooled and divided among the entire lodge staff, including the cooks and housekeeper. Lodge staff tips vary widely but have averaged roughly $25 per angler per day.
Time Zone:
Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5)
Cell Phone Coverage:
The lodge has cell phone coverage, BUT not all foreign networks have reciprocal agreements with the Bahamas telephone company, so yours might not work. If in doubt, check with your service provider.
Currency:
The local currency is the Bahamian dollar, but US dollars are readily accepted everywhere on a 1-for-1 basis.
A Day at Little Abaco
Your fishing day at Little Abaco begins with a cup of fresh brewed coffee enjoyed on the deck, and a glorious sunrise over the water. Breakfast is served in the open air dining room, with eggs to order and a variety of Bahamian side dishes. Your skilled professional guide will be waiting at the dock in a well maintained, state of the art skiff, and ready to run to some of the most productive flats in the Bahamas. Travel time to the flats varies, and you could start fishing just minutes from the dock. Bonefish run large, averaging 3 to 6 pounds; with fish over ten pounds landed every year. Permit live here too, so having a skilled guide and the right gear puts you in the game. Lunch is typically taken “between casts” on your skiff. Returning to the dock in the afternoon, a cold drink and snacks on the deck overlooking the water is wonderful time to share with your friends. Dinner is the served family style in the dining room, the local dishes reflecting true Bahamian cuisine, and some of the freshest fish and lobster you’ll ever eat.
Weather:
Cooled by the prevailing south-easterly trade winds in the summer and warmed by the surrounding waters and the Gulf Stream in the cooler months, the Abacos are rarely uncomfortably hot or cold…..Although the central Abacos are on the same latitude as Palm Beach, Florida, the winter temperatures average ten degrees warmer than Florida, and the summer highs are generally somewhat lower than those found on similar Florida latitudes due to the moderating effects of the surrounding waters. The average daily highs and lows rarely differ by more than twelve degrees, with monthly rainfall averaging about two inches in the winter and six inches in the summer, primarily in the ‘twenty-minutes-and-they’re-gone’ afternoon showers.
Tackle & Equipment
Multiple Rods:
We strongly suggest that you have an arsenal of fly rods strung-up, handy and ready to fish. Most of the flats fishing you’ll encounter is what we call “opportunistic fishing.” This means that at any given time, on any given day, on any piece of water, you may see bonefish, permit, tarpon, barracuda or jacks and it may all happen in a matter of minutes or all at the same time. The idea here is to be ready for anything at any time. If you have three or four rods, bring them with you. Have the rods ready to fish, one with a bonefish fly, and another with a permit crab, or maybe a ‘cuda fly, and another with a tarpon streamer or shark fly. If you are wading the flats, have your guide take one of the other rods along. At the least, it will double as a great fish pointer.
Tackle & Equipment Lists by Species (click on links below):