Walker’s Cay: A Wonder of The Sportfishing World Reborn
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A mile-long rock at the northwesternmost point of the Abacos in the Bahamas was once the epicenter of sportfishing. Where enthusiasts wade in the shallows catching bonefish and permit in the morning, then boarding a boat and fighting blue marlin in the afternoon; making it back to the dock before sunset for dinner.
That was Walker’s Cay for nearly 70 years. It’s a story that has repeated itself before, centuries earlier, yet is still so relevant today.
Centuries earlier, meaning the 1700s when piracy was rampant. Real-life pirates of the Caribbean that would later inspire the West Florida Black Flags Angling Club. Thomas Walker was a judge sent to the island on behalf of the British Empire.
Now you’ve met the Walker behind Walker’s Cay. He passed away in 1721, and the island was left abandoned for more than 200 years. The lack of a fresh water source kept humans away from an extended stay until 1935.
That’s when Buzz Shonnard, a Palm Beach resident was granted a 99-year lease by the Bahamian government. Just like Henry Flagler in South Florida, Shonnard built a hotel on the island, looking to attract tourists. Then came a 75-slip marina, then a runway for small planes.
The infrastructure was noticed by the U.S. Navy, which used Walker’s Cay as forward patrol base for seaplanes with Scouting Squadron 1-D7, helping spot German U-Boats to protect shipping. USS Christiana, a seaplane tender and converted US Lighthouse Service boat, spent time docked in the harbor.
Next time you apply some SLAM sunscreen, thank a Walker’s Cay regular named Robert Abplanalp, the inventor of the modern aerosol valve for spray cans. He bought the Walker’s Cay lease in 1968, implemented catch & release programs and brought fishermen across the Gulfstream in droves. That attracted the who’s who of the time: President Richard Nixon, Jane Fonda, Roger Daltrey, Roger Staubach, all walked the docks at Walker’s.
A couple of famous sportfishing boat manufacturers used to bring their customers together every year at Walker’s for a tournament: The Bertram-Hatteras Shootout built community and determined a year’s worth of bragging rights.
The history of Walker’s Cay repeated itself a few decades later.
Abplanalp died in 2003. Then in 2004, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne leveled the hotel and the marina. Walker’s Cay would be abandoned once more, just as it was 283 years prior.
This is where we get to the present chapter of Walker’s Cay. American businessman and philanthropist Carl Allen bought the island in 2018, and has been Walker’s Lazarus ever since. An avid fisherman, Allen also has another passion: treasure hunting. With his company Allen Exploration leading expeditions across the Bahamas, raising gold jewelery and other remnants from the age of explorers and conquistadors, hidden for centuries beneath the ever-shifting sands.
An island first founded to combat piracy, now owned by a man that helps find the treasures Judge Walker was looking to protect. Full-circle.
Known affectionately as “Mr. A,” Allen first visited Walker’s Cay when he was 12 years old, and has been in love with the place ever since. The herculean feat to raise Walker’s like a Phoenix was met with another test.
Hurricane Dorian.
More destruction and devastation to the Bahamas, particularly Freeport and Walker’s Neighbor Little Grand Cay. Building Walker’s back up meant building the surrounding community back up first. Then came the pandemic.
But once the marina was completed, the boats came back. The marina was full for the first time in nearly 20 years. The chapel has been rebuilt and upgraded. Flags are proudly flying from atop the gantry once again.
Lodging will come back next, but in the meantime, fishermen and the seven Atlantic Division angling clubs are staying onboard their boats, exchanging stories of trips past and present, just like they did 60 years ago.
Walker’s Cay is back. The best part? The fish never left.