Bonefish
I moved south a couple years ago and right now I am really into
Bonefish. That might change if I can ever figure out Tarpon or Permit
on a consistent basis but right now finding new situations to catch
Bonefish is my favorite thing to do; not the only thing I do but its my
favorite. I had caught a couple before in the keys and many in one
great day in the Bahamas. Now Bonefish were a major player in my
new fishery and I wanted to catch some. It turns out Florida Bonefish
have a bad rap. They are as predictable as Stripers at Fish Stories, will
feed with the same lack of hesitation as rabid Bluefish, and can
surprise you like Bluefin showing up inside Sakonnet. Of course, in the
great scheme of it all, that happens all the time so it’s only surprising
the first time. The second time it’s probably a pattern. Ditto on the
Bonefish.
The first day I ever hit the water in the Bay I went to a gorgeous flat
with a steep edge; 1 foot deep to 10 feet. It was a pretty, clear day and
it looked like a magazine cover. I saw 2 Bonefish in 10 minutes. I was
instantly reassured that I could do this and find fish and maybe catch
some. That was a good thing. Unfortunately that experience held me
back for a while as well. I looked for really low water, perfect
temperatures, calm water and tails(magazine covers). Don’t get me
wrong, tailing fish in calm water IS a ton of fun and I do it at certain
times for the fun of it but you will only be fishing to a VERY small
percentage of the fish that way. Of that small percentage, tailing fish
are scared to the very core of their being even though they are feeding.
Their desire to feed is second to their deep sense of vulnerability. They
fully grasp the contradiction they are involved in by feeding to live in a
way that jeopardizes their life. If you’re comfortable with greatly
reducing your chances of catching a Bonefish then have at it with the
tailers. It’s a singularly unique and exhilarating angling experience
when it comes together.
The first few months, I found spots consistently almost every time out
and I saw at least 1 bonefish every time out for a long time. I felt very
proud. It only took a few spots to realize Bonefish are pretty obsessive
about their feeding habits. They will track the same spot or lane at the
same phase of tide (and current) almost to the minute (in the cycle)
day in and day out. A major shift in weather will move them
somewhere else to pick up on a new schedule and a weaker tide will
usually mean less fish but make no mistake, they are predictable on a
remarkably consistent basis. Wait, don’t other fish do that? However,
this is the first thing that will consume you about Bonefish. Will they
be at whatever spot at whatever tide…again? Once you ask yourself
that question you will feel compelled to go find out.
I never really saw more than half a dozen fish at a time except for the
first one I caught in the Bay; he came out of a school of 30 or so fish. I
saw their push and a few tails in about a foot of water as they moved
across a strip bank. I made a cast and put the live shrimp in their path
and got bit! I was very happy. I started to build a repertoire of spots
and tides and sometimes I saw 50 fish in a day so I was confident I was
on the right track. I even caught some after that first one. One spot
on the ocean side quickly became my favorite. It was a flat that
roughly pointed northeast. On an afternoon or early evening dropping
tide the water comes out from the Bay and over this and hundreds of
other small flats like it. To top it off the light is at your back. I call it
The Cape because it is shaped sort of like the cape and the edge that
holds most of the fish is the hooking edge; I see tailers there almost
every time. One afternoon it was slick calm and for some reason
things were much different. I didn’t see a couple tails, I saw a couple
hundred all on this one flat; some were loaners and some were in
groups of what seemed like 50 fish. Pure nirvana except that 3 hours
later when there was essentially no water left on the flat and it was
dark, and the fish were long gone I had not caught one. Later that
night over a stiff drink it dawned on me that what I had just seen was a
better representation of the actual population of Bonefish. “If there
were hundreds in the area, but I only see a dozen or two on average in
the area (tailing), and by my own “discovery” Bonefish are very
predictable, then these fish (all these fish) are feeding nearby when I
am chasing a few tails.” Sounded good in my own head but I went
back to fishing tailers.
A month later fishing a flat a ¼ mile south of The Cape I was staked
out on a point waiting for tails to pop up. When I reached down to
grab my water bottle I noticed movement behind me in 5 feet of water.
It was a big wake and it turned out to be a BIG school of BIG bonefish
cruising over the bottom, kicking up a mud every so often. This was a
different type of group and it reminded me of the first real migrating
school of bass I saw of the Rhode Island coast years earlier; not the
school hanging on some point but migrating. Driven by instinct and
hunger. There were so many Bonefish in this school that they were
pushing a very noticeable wake from 4 feet down. I pitched a live crab
out in front and a couple of fish charged it like jacks, one ate it, and
just kept on swimming with the school. When the hook drove home he
bolted and dumped the reel. About 10 minutes later my first solid
double-digit fish came to the boat. I was very happy.
Needless to say, I rarely fish for tailers now and almost always fish
wakes and muds in 3-5 feet of water and there are lots and lots of fish
there. If it’s perfect (tide, current, wind, sun, moon, weekday, etc) I will
chase tailers because, as I said before, it is loads of fun. You have
enough fingers on your two hands to count the “perfect” days down
here though and I’m not including thumbs. When I got the fly rod itch
again I went to tailers, relearned my own lesson, went back to wakes
and muds and hooked up 3 times. I lost them all because of stupidity
but they ate, and ate without hesitation. A week later I got one out of a
big school in 4 feet. I don’t know what the next thing to learn about
Bonefish is but I know I need to find out where the rest of them are and
what hey are doing. This spring Tarpon are my goal and I have started
noticing more of them in the deeper water.
Eds 2008
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