Bang Bang Club Bonefish Lodge Resurrects on Andros Island, Bahamas

Article Date: August 2007

You may have heard rumors that the legendary Bang Bang Club of Andros Island in the Bahamas has reopened. Well, it's true, and none other than famous flytier Charlie Smith is behind the club's resurgence. The Bang Bang Club is Andros' oldest fishing and shooting lodge, originally built by Colonel Hank Thorne in the 1950s. Those were the days of fishing legends Joe Brooks, Lee Wulff and W. L. Thompson, who were guided by Joseph Coakley, Bill and Arron Behring, Rudy Bell and Ivan Neymour. The name Bang Bang is a reference to the duck and boar hunting that the club offered alongside the fishing. The place eventually fell into disuse and lay dormant for many years, but now Smith and his son Eddie have resurrected it.

The Bang Bang Club is located on Pot Cay on the North Bight of Andros Island an equal distance from either the west side or the east side of Andros (see map). The location provides great flexibility in fishing both sides of Andros and also gives anglers easy access to productive interior flats, all three bights and inland lagoons and lakes. Because the tides are very different on Andros' east and west sides, the Club's location also allows guides to fish favorable tides all day long without long boat rides. The west side offers some excellent fishing, but it seldom sees many anglers because it requires more than an hour by boat to reach it from any of the other lodges on Andros.

There are no roads on this part of Andros, so access is strictly by boat, giving guests of the Bang Bang Club a secluded fishing experience.

Besides the fishing, the other attraction of the Bang Bang Club is the opportunity to spend time with Charlie Smith, considered the godfather of bonefishing........(continued)

CONTACT DETAILS FOR COMPANIES/INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN ARTICLE (if any)

Brad Ehrnman, Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures. PO Box 11241. Bozeman, MT, 59719. Tel. 406-585-8667, 1-888-777-5060. Fax 406-585-8657. E-mail: brad@yellowdogflyfishing.com, Web: www.yellowdogflyfishing.com