Preface

Bonefish are creatures of the flats. They respond to the primordial rhythms of the tides, charging and retreating over beds of bright sand and blankets of turtle grass. They are sleek and slender, shy and suspicious. They blend in perfectly with the turquoise waters and the shimmering bottom; their silver sides reflecting all giving them the ability to seemingly change color.

Bonefishing combines the best of hunting and fishing. You must have the visual concentration and patience to find the fish and a hunter's stalking ability to get within casting range. Your cast must then deliver the fly quietly and precisely. You must entice the fish, with a proper retrieve, to accept and eat your fly. You must develop a feel for the hookset. In bonefishing rarely is blind luck rewarded. Usually, the fisherman with the most skills catches the most fish.

The reward for all this concentration and applied technique is the hookup. The magical moment when that ghostly shadow is attached to your casting arm. The run is explosive and blazing. You struggle for control; your line rattling through the guides in a demonstration of pure power; 50, 100, then 150 yards of backing evaporate into the mix of sizzling tropical heat and turquoise gin clear water.

This is bonefishing. For many anglers, after all the trout, salmon, tarpon, and sailfish, the bonefish is still the ultimate quarry. The bonefish, Albula vulpes, the white fox, brings anglers back to the flats time and time again, year after year. Many words have been written about why we do it but its really just "damn good fun".

What follows are a few hints to improve your bonefishing. If you are an expert we invite your suggestions and additions. If you are a novice we will be happy to clarify any of these recommendations.

Here's to bonefish tails shimmering and twinkling in the sunlight, delicate casts and screaming runs.

Preparing to Cast

The majority of bonefishing is done with a weight forward floating line. These lines lift easily off the water without spooking the fish and rarely get hung up on the bottom. Use a neutral or pale colored fly line; gray or sand is best. Very bright lines, especially fluorescent colors, can be as easy for the fish to see as it is for you. If you use bright fly lines make sure your leader is long enough to compensate for the line's increased visibility.

Throw a wet towel over any obstructions on the casting deck of your boat. Cleats and handles can easily snare your fly line and ruin a cast or worse, break off a fish.

Don't strip out more line than you need to make your cast. Make a practice cast, then leave that measured amount of line trailing in the water (if you are wading), or stacked carefully on deck (if you are casting from a boat). This will minimize the amount of line that can tangle on your feet or form knots. Do not pull line off your reel and stack it on the deck of the boat. If you do, the forward portion of your line is underneath the pile, when you cast with the line stacked in this way you will end up with a tangled bird's nest. Make sure you make a practice cast, then stack your line.

If you are casting from the deck of a boat take off your shoes. This will allow you to feel the fly line stacked on the deck and you can avoid stepping on it.

If you are using a monofilament butt section nail knotted to your flyline, for loop-to-loop connection to leader, use .025 or heavier medium to medium limp mono on an 8 weight. This will transfer the energy from your cast to the leader. A butt section of less than .025 causes the cast to die as the energy is transferred from line to leader.

Using loop-to-loop connections allows you to change leaders quickly. Attach a two foot butt section to your fly line, as mentioned above, then tie a loop in the end. Then depending on conditions, you can use a pre-looped 7 foot leader if its windy or up to a 15 foot leader if it is calm.

A ten pound clear mono tippet works well on bonefish. Check your leader regularly for abrasion and re-tie your fly after each fish. Test your knot every time you tie on a new tippet.

Seeing and Being Seen

The most important aspect of fly selection is sink rate. When tying or purchasing bonefish flies, vary the sink rate of your assortment through no eyes (lightest), to pearly eyes, to bead chain eyes, to lead barbell eyes (heaviest). This allows you to fish different depths of water and to fish tailing (cast close with light fly) and fast cruising fish (cast well ahead with quick sinking fly), effectively.

Bonefish have a powerful sense of smell. They can smell shrimp and crab they cannot see. They can also smell insect repellent, sun block, gasoline and after-shave. Keeping your hands clean will help keep your fly clean.

As a general rule, use light colored flies on light (sand) bottom and dark colored flies on dark (turtlegrass, coral) bottoms. In nature, overt visibility can make any animal prey. Most prey on bonefish flats are well camouflaged. Try smaller flies (6,8) to fish that are spooky or are tailing on clear shallow flats in calm weather conditions. On deeper flats, or in windy conditions larger flies (2,4) work well on larger fish that are cruising very fast. Larger flies should be cast further away from bonefish.

Subtle earth tone flies, (tan, brown, olive, green, gold, yellow) work best on sunny bright days in shallow water when bonefish are spooky. Bright flies, (pink, orange, chartreuse) work best on cloudy or darker days in deeper water or later in the day especially at sunset. When the Excitement Starts

Polarized sunglasses are absolutely essential for spotting bonefish. Brown or gray lenses work best on bright days; yellow or amber work best on cloudy, low light days. Side shields will eliminate peripheral light. Make sure you use an eyeglass retainer strap to avoid losing your expensive glasses.

Wade quietly and slowly. Bonefish can "feel" water being pushed by your legs. Use your eyes; scan constantly, you are hunting as much as fishing. You are pitted against an animal with an incredible array of sensory organs.

Bonefish have an acute sense of vision enabling them to see colors well and in a wide variety of light conditions. They can see motion in muddy or clear water and when they are stationary or traveling at top speed. That mango Hawaiian shirt looks well in pictures - but tan and pale blue will allow you to spook fewer fish. Remember to remove shiny jewelry. Also, don't hesitate to cast from your knees or to crouch if fish come in very close.

Use the wind and sun to your advantage. If possible, wade a flat with the wind behind you. If there is little or no wind, have the sun behind you. Also often, after spotting fish, you have time to navigate upwind of the fish, but wade slowly until you are in place.

A hat with a long bill will protect your face from the sun but will also improve your vision especially if the bill's underside is dark. The dark underside absorbs reflected light.

Scan the water constantly, you can look for surface disturbances (nervous water) but to consistently spot bonefish you must imagine the water does not exist, looking through it to the bottom

The Hookset and After

False cast away from the fish, especially with slow moving or tailing fish. This will keep the fly line from spooking the fish. Cast away at a 45 to 90 degree angle to the direction that the fish are heading.

If it is windy, make your false cast holding your rod as parallel as possible to the plane of the water. The wind's friction with the water lessens its velocity in the area 3 to 4 feet above the water's level. This casting technique makes it harder for the fish to see the fly line and allows for a very quiet presentation since the fly does not drop from much height.

Never cast too early or begin to cast when the bonefish is out of your range. Be patient, know your comfortable casting range. If you try to make too long a cast and your fly falls short, it will take too long to cast again and the bonefish will have moved on.

It is better to cast too short and hope the fish sees the fly, than to cast too long and spook the fish. In nature, prey never moves toward a predator. Never place a fly so that when retrieved it moves toward a bonefish. Predators chase their prey, they expect their prey to be moving away from them. When confronted with an approaching fly, a bonefish will change roles, from predator to prey, and flee. Few fish can leave a flat as quickly as a bonefish.

Generally, a tailing fish has his head tipped down and is already occupied; consequently, the fly must be dropped very close to him. In contrast, cruising fish can see a fly from a much greater distance and the fly can be presented further away.

Learn to strip strike..Trout fishermen, (there are lots of us), usually raise the rod tip to strike a fish. This technique when used on a bonefish will quickly remove the fly from its field of vision if he has not eaten the fly. The strip strike keeps the fly in the bonefish strike zone and will give you a second chance. A 1 to 3 foot strip strike done firmly by the hand not holding the rod accomplishes the strip strike.

When retrieving your fly, point your rod tip directly at the fly. This allows the fly to be imparted with the proper action.

Lift your fly line quietly and slowly off the water to initiate another cast. DO NOT use the initiation of the back cast to load the rod tip. Many beginning anglers do this to allow themselves to make longer casts or to cast into the wind - this noisy lift off will almost always spook bonefish.

Do your homework before going fishing. Learn to cast accurately and quickly. Do not false cast excessively. Learn to make 2-3 false casts playing out line with each cast then shooting your line accurately to the fish on your last cast. As well as wasting valuable time, repeatedly false casting over a fish in an effort to "measure" distance and accuracy often spooks fish as they repeatedly see the fly line whipping in the air.

When Day is Done

When a bonefish follows a fly he will almost always take it. Other clues that a fish has taken your fly are: his dorsal fin or tail flutters or quivers, he flashes his side in the sun, the fish races a second fish to a spot or the fish scurries to another spot leaving his companion or school behind and most importantly, if he tips down and his tail comes out of the water. If any of these occur, chances are he has your fly. Count off one or two seconds and strip strike. Sometimes if you can't see the fish, you can feel your line vibrate or jump. In that case strip strike again.

If a fish follows closely but does not take your fly, change your retrieve: speed up, slow down or stop entirely. This change will often elicit a strike.

A bonefish can travel 26 m.p.h. for several hundred feet in six inches of water. Set your drag before you cast to a fish, and once hooked, get all the spare line safely out through the guides. Always fight a bonefish on the reel; to do otherwise invites disaster. Until the fish is on the reel, watch your line, not the fish.

After getting the line on the reel, hold your rod high. This will create a steeper angle and help the line get over coral and mangrove shoots, resulting in fewer break offs.

The harder you fight a bonefish, the harder he will pull back. If a fish gets tangled around a mangrove or in the weeds or coral, take all the pressure off the fish. Bonefish will usually stop. You can untangle your line and resume the fight.

Handle a landed fish as little as possible. Pinch the barbs on your hooks. Hemostats will often allow you not to have to touch the fish at all.

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