Lost Creek Cay

The Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge on Andros Island is south of other fishing lodges, saving anglers and their Bahamian guides 10 miles of rough water and a trip around “The Point,” where several boats have capsized. Andros Island is known as the “Bonefish Capital of the World,” with hundreds of pristine flats, many fish and few anglers.

The lodge had been recently renovated. Of strategic importance, the central hallway leads directly into the local bar, where strangers like me, if they cloak themselves in the quiet harmony of the room, may gain insights into Bahamian spiritual beliefs. Conversations during fishing centered on wind, tides and fish; occasionally women and liquor. Personal topics like religion or superstitions are taboo.

Mars Bay guides are known for their ability to put an angler in the ideal depth of water to find tailing fish, all day, a difficult feat requiring local knowledge of the complex relationships between tides, currents and the ever-changing wind.

My favorite guide was Wilfred Andrews, who had the ability to take me to flat after flat where we found