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The croissant- shaped Jumento chain compromises islets, cays and rocks stretching over 110 miles. They include Great and Little Ragged Islands, Raccoon Cay, Hog Cay, Knife Cay, Nurse Cay, Flamingo Cay and Double –Breasted Cay. Located 60 miles north of Cuba Lost Key Lodge is on the edge of the Bahamas in an undamaged Caribbean ecosystem. The waters teem with a wide variety of flats, reef, and pelagic fish. Here natures balance remains undisturbed in the wake of mans progression. The beaches are polished silver, trackless and spangled with rare, delicate shells. Rainbow-hued fish that aren’t afraid of you will nose in to your feet as you wade and beach comb. Unless you see your angling partners you won’t see another soul. Even conch fishermen who come in from Spanish Wells, Bahamas, to collect conch, are rare. You are alone amid the vast tropical sapphires of sky and sea. The Jumentos are as healthy as any wilderness can be today. With all the places in the Bahamas why choose Lost Key Lodge? The Jumentos Cays are a place lost in time. There are no other sport fishing operations and zero angler pressure. We are focused on showing you a truly once in a lifetime experience!
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INFORMATION
About Lost Key Lodge
Phicol Wallace has lived on Ragged Island his entire life and his family has lived on the Islands since the 1700’s. He is a seasoned blue water captain and is excited to have the opportunity to take you on incredible excursions. He is also the master of logistics and able to handle any and all situations that might arise in such a remote location.
The other partner, Will Blair has spent the past 22 years operating on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Eastern Russia, the most remote wilderness fly fishing programs on planet earth. He brings the fly fishing enthusiasm to a place virtually untouched by humans and in our own backyard. Will is sure he has found a reliable and wonderful Bahamian partner in Phicol Wallace.
We are excited to show you the best fly fishing the Bahamas has to offer.
Bahamas Reopening Plan
Last Updated on : 16 June 2022
STEP 1: TESTING REQUIREMENTS
These protocols are subject to change at any time in response to new COVID-19 measures. Please check this website frequently for ongoing updates.
VACCINATED TRAVELLERS
- Effective 19 June 2022 fully vaccinated travelers will no longer be required to submit to pre-travel COVID-19 testing to enter the country. Instead, valid proof of vaccination must be presented before boarding a flight to The Bahamas.
- COVID-19 testing is no longer required for persons travelling inter-island (domestic) within The Bahamas, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status (unvaccinated or fully vaccinated)
UNVACCINATED TRAVELLERS
- Through Saturday, 18 June 2022, unvaccinated travelers, ages 12 and older, entering The Bahamas must obtain a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR Test (including PCR, NAA, NAAT, TMA or RNA) test taken no more than three days (72 hours) prior to the date of arrival.
- Through Saturday, 18 June 2022, unvaccinated children between the ages of 2 and 11 are required to obtain a negative COVID-19 test (either a Rapid Antigen Test or RT-PCR Test), taken no more than three days (72 hours) prior to the date of arrival to The Bahamas.
- Effective 19 June 2022, all unvaccinated travelers ages 2 and older will be required to obtain a negative COVID-19 test — either a negative RT-PCR test or a Rapid Antigen test — taken no more than three days (72 hours) prior to travel and present the negative test results at check-in before travel to The Bahamas.
- Children under the age of 2 are exempt from any testing requirements.
- COVID-19 testing is no longer required for persons travelling inter-island (domestic) within The Bahamas, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status (unvaccinated or fully vaccinated).
STEP 2: BAHAMAS TRAVEL HEALTH VISA APPLICATION
Please Note: Effective at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, 19 June 2022, travellers will no longer need to apply for a Bahamas Travel Health Visa in order to enter the country.
VACCINATED TRAVELLERS
- At this time, the Bahamas Government will only be accepting vaccinations by AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria/Covishield), Janseen (Johnson & Johnson), Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty), Moderna (Spikevax), Sinopharm, Covaxin or Sinovac.
UNVACCINATED TRAVELLERS
- Effective 27 December 2021, all unvaccinated visitors, ages 12 and older, are required to upload their negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test results. Tests must be taken up to three days (72 hours) prior to the date of arrival.
- Effective 27 December 2021, Children between the ages of 2 and 11 are required to upload their negative COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test or COVID-19 RT-PCR test results. Tests must be taken up to three days (72 hours) prior to the date of arrival.
ALL BAHAMIAN RESIDENTS & CITIZENS
- All Bahamian citizens or residents planning to travel abroad for two (2) days or more must secure a test in the destination they visited before travelling back to The Bahamas. Any COVID-19 RT-PCR or COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test taken in The Bahamas prior to travel will not be valid for re-entry unless a person travels from The Bahamas and returns within a period of 24-hours.
ALL VISITORS
- As part of the Bahamas Travel Health Visa application, travellers will be required to opt in to the COVID-19 health insurance that covers them for the duration of their stay in The Bahamas, up to one (1) month. The cost of insurance is included in the Bahamas Travel Health Visa application fee.
- Bahamas Travel Health Visa applications can take up to 24 hours to process and should be completed with adequate lead time.
- The cost of the Bahamas Travel Health Visa is dependent on length of stay and vaccination status.
- All visitors eighteen (18) years and older are required to complete an individual Bahamas Travel Health Visa application.
- Persons seventeen (17) years and younger are to add a profile within the account of their parent or guardian and complete an individual Bahamas Travel Health Visa application.
The Fishing
THE EXPERIENCE
Think of Lost Key Lodge as access to your own private pristine Caribbean islands. Accommodating 4 anglers maximum Lost Key Lodge is like no other saltwater experience for the adventure angler. After breakfast and a beautiful boat ride we will reach the flats and start fishing. Like all great flats programs we will work through the tide at the optimum times and locations. In between tides can be an exciting experience whether it is monstrous barracudas or tricky triggerfish.
We gear everything towards your desires and you having a great and safe time. The fact is you will have untold miles of Cays to explore with your guides. Every moment of your vacation if precious and we will treat it that way.
While we are a sportfishing lodge first and foremost there are other things of great interest around these pristine Islands. The sheer number of fish will astound even the most seasoned explorer. Snorkeling can be almost overwhelming when one sees the volume and diversity of fish and live coral reefs. We do offer the opportunity for spearfishing if anglers so desire.
THE FISHING
THIS IS THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS.
We understand remote destinations and seek them out. Lost Key Lodge is such a place. When one reaches the edge of human influence this is where the largest populations of mature gamefish still exist.
Phicol owns a beautiful 39-foot Hatteras Convertible blue water boat with twin diesel Caterpillar engines. It is rigged and ready to go with the best equipment. Unlike most locations in the Bahamas the cuts and drops for these monster fish are close to the island and long runs are not necessary.
An 18 ft Beavertail Skiff with a 70 Hp Yamaha for poling in the back mangrove bays surrounding the island. It is also a perfect boat for hunting the flats for the huge permit that inhabit the area.
A 17 ft Classic Skiff with a 70 Suzuki is fast and light perfect for flats fishing all along the Jumento Cays.
25 ft Center console This boat is great for dropping off anglers on the supremely wadeable flats as well as taking anglers to the untouched locations surrounding all the islands as far north as Nurse Channel. Comfortable, clean and fast it is a perfect boat for reef fishing and close bluewater.
A 15 ft Custom Dolphin Skiff Mangrove canoe. Perfect for exploring the large shallow mangrove just behind the lodge.
BONEFISH
Thanks to its forgotten location, the bonefish around Lost Key Lodge are by all accounts the least-pressured in the Bahamas. Throw in Permit and plenty of prehistoric and super aggressive Cudas, and you have a near-perfect flats fishery. A plethora of expansive white-sand flats means all the fishing is done by wading or poling from a flats skiff.
There are miles of easily-waded white sand flats as well as hidden, unspoiled mangrove creeks. Inland lakes fill up with eager schools of bonefish on the change of every tide.
Remote, rarely visited cays are home to schools of bonefish numbering in the thousands. The diversity and size of the fishery means a completely different fishing experience every day of your trip.
BARRACUDA
Primarily targeted with 9 or 10 weight rods and tropical floating or intermediate sink tip lines. Wire leaders are a must, as barracuda are very toothy critters.
Poppers, Bangers, needlefish flies and large Deceivers are all very effective in antagonizing these aggressive fish into striking.
PERMIT
While we don’t have big numbers of permit, a day spent looking for them under the right conditions is likely to result in shots.
There are specific locations – particularly the near shore cays on the Southwest side and some of the ocean flats – holding good populations. And, there are specific periods in the spring season where their inshore numbers increase significantly.
Permit here are generally in the 15 to 30 lb. range and are best targeted using a 10-weight fly rod with a tropical floating line.
TARPON
The tarpon fishery has not yet been patterned to deliver highly consistent fishing. We’ll keep you posted as this fishery further develops.
BLUE WATER
If blue water is your game we can accommodate that as well. Off the eastern shore we have large schools of pelagic fish.
There are no creatures more perfectly suited to their environment than the ocean’s top gamefish: the white or blue marlin, tuna, wahoo, dolphin (mahi-mahi) or sailfish. For an angler, there’s no greater challenge than pitting yourself against one of these fish that can provide the adventure of a lifetime. The fight against a big blue marlin, tuna or wahoo can last for hours – and will be an experience you will never forget. Yet no one who’s ever done it would trade away a moment of the experience because there’s nothing more rewarding for a sportsman. While billfish are released to fight again, a wahoo, tuna or mahi-mahi will provide a great feast for the dinner table.
The reef fishing is second to none with large snappers available along with groupers and a myriad of other sport species in natural abundance. From incredible Mutton Snapper bites to grouper and yellowtail the reefs surrounding Lost Key Lodge are unspoiled and a wonder of natural abundance.
Accommodations
THE LODGE
Phicol Wallace built Lost Key Lodge in collaboration with a marketing firm in the US way back in 2009. After one season this American partnership dissolved and Phicol busy with four children and running Bahama Power and Light for Ragged Island decided to wait until his kids were older and he could find a reliable American Partner. This took almost ten years. Once Phicol and Will struck up their partnership in the fall of 2018 Phicol set about remodeling and updating the virtually new lodge. He is a skilled craftsman with the drive to make everything as perfect as humanly possible.
Lost Key Lodge was originally designed and built with the advice of American anglers.
5 rooms allows us to offer single room occupancy to our anglers!
Lost Key Lodge is comfy and clean. All rooms are air conditioned, with tile floors and private baths with showers. In the lounge area you’ll find a bar (tabs are settled at the end of your trip), a 52 flat-screen satellite TV and a fly-tying bench. Built in 2009 and rebuilt since Irma in September of 2017 it has all the amenities any angler might need for a comfortable stay. The lodge was built on a hill to take advantage of cooling breezes and to provide a scenic ocean side view. The boats are about a 2-minute walk.
DAILY ROUTINE
Breakfast will vary depending on the tides and the plan. With only 4 anglers we have a lot of leeway with ensuring we are not only fitting our schedule but the best schedule for the tides and the fishing.
Breakfast from 6-9 Am : Coffee will be available at 6 am
Lunch will be on the water or at the lodge depending on weather and schedule. Most days lunch is on the water and is a hearty but light fare.
Dinner will also vary depending on the fishing schedule. Usually between 7-9 pm
Travel Details
GETTING HERE
The logistics of getting to the lodge are easy. There are many direct flights into Georgetown Exuma, Bahamas. American Airlines is very convenient out of Atlanta.
Once in Exuma we have a couple of choices for travel to Duncan Town. This arrangement will be finalized in early spring 2021.
Final cost will be coming shortly but our best estimate for the charter is around $850 per person round trip.
The island is not set up for non-anglers; there are two bars and a small grocery. That’s it. The total population is 32 souls.
We are really excited about Lost Key Lodge and think it offers adventuresome anglers superb fishing opportunities. Lost Key Lodge is perfect for those who love wild and untamed locations.
Terms & Conditions
Hosted Trip:
OCTOBER 28TH – NOVEMBER 4TH
The cost for 7 nights 6 days of fishing is $4,395.00 per angler plus $850 per person for the round trip charter.
Blue Water charters for monsters are available at an additional cost of $400.00 per day per person. The lodge has a full complement of blue water rods and reels (spin and stand-up). The use of all of this tackle is included in the price of the trip.
Included: single occupancy room accommodations, 2:1 Guide/Skiff ratio, meals and daily-guided fishing.
Not included: Charter Airfare to Ragged Island, a fishing license, liquor and items of a personal nature.
Cancellation/Refund Policy
At the time of booking 50% of the trip is due and payable. At 90 days the remainder plus all VAT and taxes are due. Cancellation greater than 90 days from the date of trip, all monies refunded less $100 fee if a replacement angler is found. Cancellation within 90 Days, no refunds are provided unless a qualified replacement angler is provided. No refunds are provided for trip cancellation due to Weather, Acts of God, Airline/Travel issues.
Travel Insurance
Front Range Anglers recommends all anglers to have Medical Evacuation Insurance- we recommend Global Rescue, and we HIGHLY recommend Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance. FOR ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT: Jessica Minard at 617.210.8106 (direct) or email [email protected].
CLICK HERE TO VIEW FRA GENERAL TERMS & CANCELLATION POLICY
Trip Insurance is strongly advised & recommended!
TRAVEL PROTECTION
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