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A Laid Back Approach To Fishing
Long Island
Anyhow, after a few e-mails last autumn, Stephen recommended we check out a place called Chez Pierre Resort. The resort is located in the northern half of the island in a beautifully secluded area by the name of Miller’s Bay. Chez Pierre is not for those looking for the hand-holding found at full-service resorts. However, in our opinion, it has all of the really important features, including a peaceful setting, a secluded cove with schools of bones, hot showers, great food and the resources to meet most reasonable tropical needs. Rustic would be the perfect way to describe Chez Pierre. It is clean and well maintained. At the time of our visit, Chez Pierre consisted of six cottages and a main lodge, all utilizing the power of the sun and wind. There is no air conditioning here, but all of the cottages are elevated to take advantage of natural breezes, which of course helps protect from insects. Our daily routine included a delicious breakfast with good coffee, followed by fishing explorations all day. As the afternoon faded, we would return to our cottage to enjoy a nip of aged rum on our small, screened deck, watching the sun set into the ocean, hoping for a green flash. After dark, we would make our way down the beach to the main lodge. Two local kitties, which we nicknamed “Conch” and “Fritter,” often greeted us in the evenings and escorted us to dinner. Pierre, you should know, is an excellent chef with a successful restaurant in Canada. He and his wife, Anne, have put together a quiet retreat with food and wine selections that were beyond our expectations, especially considering the remote setting. Splurge on his special lobster if available - it is worth the additional fee! His Escoffier-inspired scrambled eggs, laced with butter and cream, are not to be forgotten. We have even borrowed his recipe for conch fritters - easily the best in the Bahamas! They are also happy to arrange box lunches for anyone venturing off the property for the afternoon. Anne handles the reservations and guests. She is a pleasure to deal with and followed through with hospitality from start to finish. She felt like our personal concierge without ever disturbing our privacy. The cost for all this, mind you, was an amazingly low $130 per night per couple, and that included breakfast and dinner (alcohol extra). Again, this is not a corporate-style facility. You shower here with hot brackish water - a welcome amenity on a sunburned, chilly evening after the usual afternoon thunderstorms. The rooms are clean, simple and without locks. Chez Pierre guarantees extra fans and clean linens. The only amenity we missed were hooks for storage, as we always travel with our own robes. As for the fishing, we rented a jeep to check out the island, exploring and fishing on our own. Long Island lives up to its name. It is about 80 miles long and four miles across at its widest. On the extreme northern tip is Columbus Point. The cove is thought to be Columbus’ third stop in the New World, and is definitely worth the visit. Climbing the hill to the lighthouse provides a great view of the island. From there, one can witness the distinct differences of the dark blue sea crashing along the ocean side and the tranquil, bonefish-filled, turquoise waters of the leeward bays. There are some flats near Columbus Point, by the way, where you can chase bonefish on the incoming and outgoing tides. The weather was bad the day we visited, so we settled for spending a memorable afternoon with a local farmer learning about the yuca roots and watermelons he grew. Ten or so miles south of Columbus Point are the airport flats. You can just park on the side of the road and walk 10 minutes to access the wide expanse of flats. Moving farther south, there is a great flat right in front of Chez Pierre. The facility has complimentary kayaks that we used to make our way around to the next bay. Actually, the best fishing turned out to be right in front of our room. Schools of medium sized bonefish swam around our feet there with reckless abandon. They would regroup shortly after we landed each fish. About 30 minutes south of Chez Pierre, are the salt flats. During the times of salt production, the areas on the west were flooded with seawater and channeled to assist in the harvesting of salt. We spent some time here, having particularly good luck fishing the channels on both tide cycles. Directions to this area can be a bit tricky, but Anne and Pierre were happy to oblige with directions and a map. If you want to come here, make sure you follow their directions! Moving still farther south, you come to Clarencetown. Just south of there, pay close attention for signs to Lochabar on the east side of the road. This is actually a small, remote, rental villa set just steps from a great blue hole. A short walk along the beach to the south will take you to some nice flats that can be explored easily on foot. The locals told us the fish are larger here because of the proximity to deep water. Please note that we did not verify this statement, but nonetheless this is another beautiful and remote location to cast a fly. Still heading south, toward the end of the road, is Gordon’s Settlement. Where the road ends, make a right and travel the short distance over a bridge to yet another beautiful and secluded beach. We saw a number of bonefish here from atop a bluff, about 10 feet above the water. This area deserves a lot more time than we were able to give it. We definitely recommend renting a 4wd vehicle, by the way, if you plan to go exploring the way we did. Help for a stranded vehicle could be hours away here. We used a handheld Magellan GPS to keep our track and ensure that we didn’t get too lost. The mobility provided by a 4wd was terrific. We simply stopped at any location that even remotely resembled a flat. Most of the time, at least some bonefish would present themselves. Although the self-guided fishing was great, we spent two days with a local guide named Docky Smith. He may be one of our favorite guides of all time. The weather was far from ideal both days, but we still had a good experience, landing several fish. Smith also operates a small fly shop on the island if you need anything fishing related. Chez Pierre works with another guide named Locksley Cartwright, who focuses on the middle and south parts of the island. Dockey Smith focuses on the north part. In sum, we heartily recommend Chez Pierre if your vision of a fishing holiday is anything like ours. The best way to arrange your trip is to contact Anne by e-mail at: anne@ chezpierrebahamas.com. The lodge’s web address is: www.chezpierrebaha mas.com. You can reach the lodge by phone. Enjoy! (Postscript: The Ekwalls do not give the cost of their days of guided fishing, but the Chez Pierre web site cites a price of “…from $250 per day.” The Ekwalls do note they had a problem on this trip, but it had nothing to do with Chez Pierre. The problem was with the outgoing charter flight they booked through Stella Maris resort (www.stellamarisresort.com). They booked a private flight, they say, so they could depart in the late afternoon, only to find themselves summoned in the mid-morning by a cab driver, who found them landing fish on a flat. The cab driver rushed them back to their room to pack, threatening to leave them if they did not pack and depart in less than 10 minutes. That left them with no time to even shower or clean their fishing gear. “Upon arrival at the airport,” they write, “we voiced our frustration with the pilot, who acted as though the whole thing was normal. He was far from apologetic. Our ‘private’ flight turned out to be full of people and gear. It delivered us to the George- town Airport on Exuma, where we sat salty in the heat all afternoon waiting for our evening flight.” The Ekwalls recommend that would-be visitors avoid this kind of problem by working with Chez Pierre on incoming and outgoing flights.)
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