As I toured the grounds that make up Hawk's Nest Resort & Marina on Cat Island in the Bahamas, that sense of island tranquility immediately took over. A light onshore breeze tossed the palm fronds around as I started to get the lay of the land. I strolled past the marina's 28 deepwater slips with all the fixin's and stopped to watch a plane bank for its approach to the private airstrip, located within walking distance of the boats. But I officially didn't fall in love with the place until I walked into the main clubhouse building, which also serves as the resort's bar and restaurant, adjoining the pool area.
J.R. Holder, who manages the property along with her husband, Randy, motioned me behind the bar and handed me a clipboard. "It's an honor bar," she said. "Help yourself to anything you want; just write down what you take, and we'll settle up at the end of your stay."
An honor bar — that pretty much sums up how things operate at Hawk's Nest.
Located on the southwestern tip of Cat Island in the southern Out Islands, Hawk's Nest has served as a home to rumrunners, pirates and dope dealers over the years, but other than the embellished stories you might hear down on the docks, that's all in the past. Jerry and Jane Clayton purchased the property in 1995 and went about turning it into an ideal spot for the family-oriented sport-fishing crowd looking to cash in on some fantastic fishing action without dealing with the hustle and bustle associated with the big resort towns.
You won't find any cruise ships docking in Cat or any Club Meds or other super resorts. Other than the fishing, Cat Island is pretty much as quiet as a cat. And for the folks who come here each season, that's what makes it so great.
Fishing First
No matter what time of year you decide to make your way down to Cat Island, you'll find something biting. Inshore and offshore, this Bahamian oasis lives up to the hype. A bonefish flat right next to the channel is always worth a few casts, and if the wind is too much offshore, you can explore a maze of mangrove creeks on a kayak. You can wear out your anglers deep-dropping for 100-pound misty grouper as well. But most of the boats come to Cat to troll the deep blue for all the usual suspects — blue marlin, whites, sails, tuna, wahoo and dolphin.
It doesn't take long to find deep water off Cat. The ledge drops like a cliff, and you can fish in 2,000 feet of water within sight of land. Depending on what time of year, you'll find plenty of action just a stone's throw from the marina. And with very little fishing pressure and a steady supply of bait, the offshore fishery in Cat rivals that found anywhere else in the Bahamas.
The main run of pelagic action kicks off with the arrival of tuna and dolphin in the spring. You can score some nice yellowfin tuna all year, but the main run starts in March and lasts through June, then picks up again come August. "You can even catch some decent-sized yellowfin from December through February," says Randy Holder, resort manager and captain of Cat Tales, a 43-foot center-console for hire. You can almost always find a yellowfin at Tartar Bank, just six miles offshore where the depths go from 5,000 feet to 40.
The dolphin show up right behind the yellowfin and get so thick at times that crews often find themselves running away from the bait stealers just to catch a billfish. "We catch dolphin all year. You can go out and catch as many as you want from March till mid-June," Holder says. The billfish follow on the heels of the dolphin and tuna. Come April, crews break out the heavier tackle and alter their spread with just one thing in mind: blue marlin.
If you are looking to score a grand slam, Holder suggests coming down in the beginning of the season. "Lots of whites are around in May and June, and even though we don't see as many sailfish, they are here too. Most guys start to target blues when we reach into May and run from dolphin to keep their baits. I'd say that in April, May and June it's fairly easy to get a grand slam."
