It’s farm ponds choked with smallies in the Midwest; stripers in the Northeast; tailing redfish in brackish Carolinas’ tidewaters; and it’s a collection of supercharged pelagics from the Everglades to the Florida Keys. But when someone mentions the Bahamas, one fish comes to mind: bonefish.
The Bahamas has been synonymous with bonefish since anglers first began seriously exploring its waters, with fly rods, in the 1950s and ’60s. What those pioneering fly fishers found was a skeletal island archipelago, stretching more than 500 miles under azure-blue skies and over an emerald-green Atlantic Ocean.
Best Bonefishing Lodges in The Bahamas
The northern end of the chain starts about 75 miles offshore of West Palm Beach, Florida, with Grand Bahama Island. Great Abaco lies just to the east. And scattered southward you’ll find the resort-choked hub of Nassau, followed by a string of laidback southward sprawling “out islands,” beginning with Andros and picking up Eleuthera, Cat, Long, Crooked, and Acklins—to name a few.
All told, the Bahamas has more than 700 islands and thousands of cays. Its total land area is somewhere around 5,000 square miles. More importantly, it also has more than 70,000 square miles of prime skiff- and wade-friendly habitat, home to one of the most robust bonefish populations on earth.
So finding bonefish in the Bahamas isn’t all that difficult. And pinpointing a place to begin your next adventure is often the tougher task. Truth be told, there are myriad options—from rustic, DIY operations to more opulent digs—spread throughout this tropical nation. But when it comes to a higher overall experience, one defined by immaculate accommodations, spectacular dining, and convenient, guided access to unrivaled bonefish flats, Nervous Waters brings two formidable considerations to the menu.
