SOUTH ANDROS

On South Andros, anglers don’t just chase bonefish, permit and barracuda, some chase the elusive Chickcharney—a three-foot-tall nocturnal bird of prey armed with clawed wingtips, sporting flaming red eyes and capable of dispensing island juju. Flyfish Journal publisher Jeff Galbraith and photo editor Copi Vojta travelled to the Bahamas for the fishing, of course, but lurking beyond the flats they were constantly on the alert for South Andros’ most notorious barn owl. Along the way, the anglers encounter everything from Bahamian basketball to blitzing barracuda. But did they get a chance to confront the Chickcharney? After a few Kalik’s anything is possible.

“Standing three feet tall, with three toes, clawed wingtips, flaming red eyes and a galloping bipedal gait, the Chickcharney is the most famed cryptid in the Bahaman Islands. The beast is an owl. Of sorts.

A nocturnal bird of prey the approximate height and girth of a Weber barbeque would be alarming enough to anyone slipping along the upland Bahaman pine forests, but it gets weirder. According to tradition, the Chickcharney is a keeper of the juju, and treating one kindly and with respect affords luck and fortune. A jarring or bad encounter leaves one hexed for life by the gnarliest barn owl in natural history.”

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