Location:
Clint Kemp: Proprietor of Black Fly Bonefish Club
The Abacos are a 130 mile crescent shaped string of Bahamian islands located approximately 200 miles east of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and 75 miles northeast of Nassau Bahamas. With nearly 50 square miles of landmass, Abaco is the second largest island in the Bahamas. The Abaco Islands are rich with bird life and several areas have been set aside as preserves. The interior of the island is lush with Bahamian pine trees and here you will find the habitat of the Abaco parrot. Offshore, Abaco is also known for its elkhorn and staghorn coral reefs. Marsh Harbour is the principal town and hub of the island and is only a 30 minute drive from the Black Fly Bonefish Club and Black Fly Lodge.
The Lodge:
The Black Fly Bonefish Club, also known as Black Fly Lodge, is located at the south eastern end of Great Abaco Island halfway between Marsh Harbor and Sandy Point. For the time being, home base is an attractive beach house situated adjacent to Schooner Bay overlooking a beautiful white sand beach and the Atlantic Ocean. This unique beach house is perfectly located to fish some of Abaco’s finest flats (more on this the later).
The Beach House is comfortable and very inviting. The spacious home can accommodate six anglers very comfortably in four bedrooms, sharing three baths. There is a large great room, dining room area, living room, lots of porch and deck area, full bar and a fully equipped fly tying table. The lodge has telephone and internet access and provides maid and laundry service.
Black Fly Bonefish Club is managed by Captain Clint Kemp, one of the proprietors of the Lodge. Clint is a native Bahamian and can trace his family Abaco Island roots back the 1700’s. Clint is the type of guy who makes you feel right at ease in his presence. Clint is as good at what he does as anyone we have ever met. Clint is versed on many subjects, whether it is Wall Street finance, Bahamian history, politics in the Bahamas or the US, and especially fishing and fly tying.
David & Mandy Knowles: Black Fly Lodge's Management Team
The management team is rounded out with David and Mandy Knowles. David is a native Bahamian, and like Clint Kemp, can trace his family roots back more than two hundred years. While attending college in Colorado he ran into his sweetheart and future wife Mandy. Now they are back in the Bahamas and are helping make the guest at Black Fly Lodge feel comfortable. We found David and Mandy to have that rare combination of grace and knowledge which are the essence of a fine host anywhere in the world.
Between Clint Kemp, David and Mandy, they are not only tremendous managers; they may be the best Bahamian cooking team in the Bahamas. The atmosphere, the camaraderie, the great cuisine are as good as the fishing.
For breakfast you will have a assortment of eggs, egg omelets, pancakes, fresh fruit, breads et cetera. For dinner you can expect a variety of beautifully prepared Bahamian and American specialties including fish, lobster, conch, and of course steak. Your cooler lunch will be a pleasure as well, with perhaps a lobster wrap, conch and/or lobster salad or a variety of sandwiches made on homemade bread.
How does this sound for evening dinner …. let’s start with an appetizer of thin sliced fresh Conch Ceviche marinated in sour orange and pepper, mixed with onion, peppers, and pickled ginger.
Great Cuisine of Black Fly Lodge
And for the main course let’s have Surf and Turf Tenderloin with basil butter lobster served on spinach smashed potatoes, or Steamed Filet of Hog Snapper with locally vegetables sever over saffron rise with grilled asparagus, or Roasted Pork Tenderloin with silky saffron potatoes with a roasted red pepper and garlic sauce.
And for desert, (if there is any room left) a Guava Cobbler with rum butter sauce, or home made Aztec chocolate ice cream with double chocolate chip brownies, or home made coconut sorbet with grilled pineapple with fresh mint garnish.
As Captain Clint Kemp likes to say “You can’t control the fishing, but you certainly can control the food”. He does!
The lodge includes a premium selection of liquor, excellent red and white wine, beer, juices, sodas and other appropriate mixers and garnishes for your pleasure. Help yourself as all drinks are included during your visit.
Other Activities:
For the non-fishing guest there is plenty to do. Around the lodge, let’s start with exploring the local beaches, investigating the famous blue holes, bicycling around the Abaco pine forest, kayaking the tidal marshes or searching for the elusive Abaco parrot. Or take the thirty minute drive into Marsh Harbor and shop, dine at one of the fine restaurants, a day of golf or perhaps take a day trip to the picturesque Elbow Cay and Historic Hope Town where you can see the last operational kerosene-fueled lighthouses in the world.
The Fishing:
Paul Pinder; Fishing Director for Black Fly Lodge
The lodge fishing director and our guide for the trip was Captain Paul Pinder. Paul was born and raised on Abaco and knows the Island like the back of your hand. Paul’s vast knowledge of the fishery and good nature make for a pleasant day on the water. In short, Paul is one of the most knowledgeable guides we’ve fished with. Paul is organized and focused on maximizing productive fishing time. And for those of you who have fished around the Bahamas, the Pinder name is synonymous with great guides. You may have heard of David, Jeffery and Joseph Pinder, well Paul is their first cousin.
Southern Abaco has been fished lightly in the past. The new Black Fly Bonefish Club is in the right place at the right time, located on the threshold of some of the most pristine bonefish flats of all of the Bahamas.
The Black Fly Bonefish Club is currently using two amply powered 21’ Hewes Redfishers and two 16’ Beavertail skiffs all of which are trailered to various nearby boat ramps. The house ramp at Crossing Rocks is just a few minutes away. The longest haul is to Sandy Point and approximately twenty-five minutes.
Most of the flats close to Abaco Island are protected by numerous outlying cayes and small islands. This is a visual fishery and these island flats can be fished while wading or fished from the boat. Plenty of wading opportunities exist on white sand flats. During windy days, you can expect to fish the coves and inland lagoons. These shallow flats are protected and ideal for stalking tailing fish and bones pushing water. When the weather is settled, the flats close to Moore’s Island and Sandy Point’s Cross Harbor lagoon are protected by coral reefs, resulting in calmer, clear waters.
Black Fly Lodge: Pointing at Bonefish
The Black Fly Bonefish Club has divided lower Abaco Island into six distinct zones, or fishing grounds, each area large enough to spend an entire day or more. In fact it will take you several days in each area to thoroughly cover it with the exception the hundreds of square miles of the Marls which will take you a very long time to explore. Fishing on Abaco is exciting and life plays out intensely on the flats. Every day is different. Over the years, I have fished all these areas with the exception of the Blue water out of Schooner Harbor.
From the lodge ramp at Schooner Bay north to the Big Mangrove Cay is the first zone. If you have previously fished the now defunct Great Abaco Bonefish Club or Nettie’s place then you are familiar with this area. This is the lower part of the famous Marls’s which is a vast mangrove studded area with a labyrinth of deep penetrating creeks and miles of rarely fished territory. Lots of pine and mangrove islands, hard and soft flats separated by numerous shallow cuts. The second zone is from the lodge ramp at Schooner Bay south to Sandy Point is very similar in terrain and environment as zone one but is more linear from NE to SW. Mostly bonefishing in these zones with jacks, barracuda and possibly a chance at stray permit.
Dr. Herman with a nice Bonefish: "What kind of fly reel is that?"
The third zone on the southern tip of Abaco is the Cross Harbor flats from Sandy Point out towards Hole in the Wall. The Cross Harbor bay has one of the most beautiful flats you will find anywhere and a lot of this area is wadeable. There is a very good chance you will see and have casting opportunities at permit, as well as bonefish, snapper, jacks, sharks and big barracuda.
The fourth zone is blue water and ocean flats starting from mouth of the Schooner Bay Harbor. This zone requires a calm day for inshore fishing. The Lodge intends to add big game blue water fishing in the future. Bonefish in the morning and billfish in the afternoon, nice!
The fifth zone Cherokee Sound; again if you have previously fished the Great Abaco Bonefish Club then you are familiar with this area as Nettie usually kept a couple a skiffs there. There are numerous blue holes in Cherokee sound which attract a multitude of species including bonefish, permit, mutton snapper and barracuda.
And last but not least is Moore’s Island. Located about eighteen miles from Schooner Bay, Moore’s Island is the largest of a dozen small cays. Like Cross Harbor, here you will find beautiful unspoiled flats and unquestionably the best permit fishing in the Bahamas. You will find of bonefish, sharks, snapper, big barracuda and perhaps a shot at tarpon.
Getting There:
On arrival at Marsh Harbour you will be met by a Black Fly Lodge representative, who will transfer you to the lodge. It is a short 30 minute drive and the cost is included in the package. On your departure day, you will be taken back to Marsh Harbour in plenty of time to catch your flight.
Abaco Island has direct flights from Florida to Marsh Harbour. It is also possible to fly via Nassau, however a direct flight from Florida is by far the easiest. For more information on flights to Marsh Harbor click here.
The future of Black Fly Bonefish Club:
The new Black Fly Lodge for the Black Fly Bonefish Club
On the main land of Abaco Island there is a place where the land narrows and the blue water of the Atlantic on the East and the vast flats on the west are only separated by a half a mile of pine forest, locals call it the “neck” of Abaco. Here you will find the new harbor side town of Schooner Bay. The project is situated on 330 acre parcel of land and will occupy those 220 acres. The remaining acreage will be preserved as common green space which will only include native trees, vegetation and sand dunes. A lot of thought has gone into this development as it is being built to exact environmental and sustainable standards.
As of writing, Black Fly Bonefish Club has a new inn under construction in the new Schooner Bay development and completion date is scheduled for January 2013. Black Fly Bonefish Club will be located in the center of the Schooner Bay development at harbors edge overlooking the marina. The classic Bahamian lodge will be an intimate two story veranda house with cozy living room, bar and open family style kitchen/dining room on the first floor. On the second floor there will be eight guest rooms that open to a second floor veranda where guest will enjoy the beauty and community of the surrounding environment.
Foundation of the New Black Fly Lodge
Black Fly Bonefish Club plans to add a new fleet of boats including Hells Bay skiffs for the inland areas and Action Craft bay boats for the run out to Moore’s Island and South of Sandy Point. An offshore boat is in the plans as well.
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Leisure Time Travel – Your best and most knowledgeable choice for fishing the Caribbean
Leisure Time Travel Inc.
531 N. Citrus Ave.
Crystal River, Florida 34428
352-795-FISH (3474)
1-800-771-2202
All Photgraphs by Edward R. Johnston
Copyright © 2012 Edward R. Johnston & Leisure Time Travel, Inc. 1996-2012
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