A Beginner’s Guide to Catching Bonefish
John Byron
Yup, I’m a real bonefish beginner.
Been chasing bonefish for just 3 years. Half-dozen trips. Lifetime of fly fishing and fly tying, couple decades in Florida saltwater, but new to bonefish. Thanks to some patient guides, I’ve caught a fair number. But not as many as I want and not as big as some I’ve lost. You’ll see me on the flats.
As a buddy says, “when you’re fishing, you’re learning.” These are some of the things I think I’ve learned.
The Fish
Bonefish prove evolution. Their entire genome is built around two imperatives:
Find lunch.
Don’t become lunch.
A year and a half ago I was in the room with the late great Lefty Kreh as he held forth in a day-long session at our fly-fishing club.
One of the members asked this question: “Lefty, you’ve fished the whole world, for just about every gamefish there is. If you could only fish for one species, what would it be?”
Lefty paused a few seconds and then gave his answer. “Bonefish!”
Fishing
Beginners catch fish! Go to any good lodge (nearly all are) with any decent guide (nearly all are) and you will get shots and you will catch fish. On a decent first day with typical luck fishing, you will see backing flying through the guides.
Get the right fly in front of them the right way and bonefish will hoover it up with no hesitation. Chase it, even. Fight to see which fish gets the fly.
Or … splash too much wading, line the fish, false cast once too often, hit the fish on the head with your fly, and the fish won’t wait around to see if you’re a barracuda or an osprey … it’s gone.
Your learning efforts should go to getting more shots and blowing less of them.
Catching bonefish is easy.
Catching bonefish is hard.
The flats give you time to think. And yes, you will see barracudas and sharks. Turtles. Rays. And if you squint hard enough, more different kinds of little critters than you ever knew existed. Bonefish flats teem with life.
The right books will improve your luck:
The basics: Dick Brown’s Fly Fishing for Bonefish; Chico Fernandez’s Fly-fishing for Bonefish.
Best for fly patterns: Dick Brown’s Bonefish Fly Patterns.
Best for seeing life through a bonefish’s eyes: Aaron Adams Fly Fisherman’s Guide to Saltwater Prey (noting that Chico has some good stuff from Aaron in his book too).
There’s a ton of good writing and videos online too, on every aspect of bonefishing.
Check out windfinder.com for the likely conditions where you’re going. You’ll learn the weather and wind patterns if you look at the website daily in the weeks before your trip.
You’re likely to catch more fish wading than from a boat.
But you can’t wade everywhere.
Soft bottom is treacherous. Be careful.
And the farther you wade, the farther it is back to the boat.
You’ll prefer sun to cloud shadows. Watch the clouds for breaks and really scan hard when the sun comes out. Morning and afternoon, looking with the sun at your back is ideal (lunchtime most places, it’s pretty much overhead).
Look for dark shapes, shadows, flashes, tails, nervous water, a push ahead of fish, a big troubled patch of water in the distance.
Look for fish close, mid-distance, and way out there. I’ve seen schools at a quarter mile … and missed fish ten feet away. Ghost of the flats? You betcha.
Take a 360-degree scan fairly often.
The fish will often be coming towards you. Think about it: if they were going away, you’d never see ‘em.
Should you move or let the fish come to you?
Sunday Classic / The cutthroat and the sweet sixteen
“HE IS OUR LEGACY. HE WAS LEFT HERE FOR US BY A LOVING FATHER, IF YOU BELIEVE IN THAT SORT OF THING, AND ONCE HE IS GONE WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO REPLACE HIM.”
My friend Gary Lacey did me a disservice while shooting clays one day. I fell one shell short for the round and he handed me his beautiful Beretta SO3 EELL to finish the round. I wish I had never touched that gun.
What a beautiful sensation it was when that elegant little side lock fell into place against my shoulder and the bright orange disk disappeared in a puff of black powder. How could I not covet this gun that I would never be able to afford? As pleasant to look at as to shoot the Beretta, with its lavish engraving and gold inlayed pheasant and duck, was a far cry from my clunky old Browning automatic.
Square jawed and utilitarian, it’s a poor gun for the job. The Browning A-5 Sweet Sixteen was never made for shooting clays, not that it matters, I’m not very good at it. Still, I enjoy shooting my Sweet Sixteen. Of all the guns I own, it is the most dear to me.
The gun belonged to my maternal Grandfather. He wasn’t, I suppose, what you would call a sportsman. He fished and hunted but when he did it was for food, not for sport. He taught me to shoot squirrels and catch sunfish. He taught me to
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Atonement
Southern Culture on the Fly is back.
I’m honored to have a piece in this issue of S.C.O.F.. This true story of atonement fits perfectly in the issue, titled “Doubling Down On A Bad Decision.” S.C.O.F. is still one of the shining lights in the fly fishing media, in spite of my contribution. Slide on over and check it out. It’s still free.
S.C.O.F.
Read More »Scott F Series Fiberglass Fly Rods: Video
The new Scott F series is fiberglass with a big difference.
The new F Series rids from Scott are striking in every way. Feather light, ultra-deep loading, and fast recovering, these rods are not like any glass rods I’ve cast before. All of the feel and buttery smooth action you expect from fiberglass but with a precision you don’t see coming. It’s the highest teach fiberglass rod I’ve cast.
With most of the push in fiberglass rods focused either on nostalgia or beast building, it’s really nice to see a rod company take on making a glass rods that’s simply the best it can be. these are small stream rods made for super accurate presentations at short distance. The 4 weight is the heaviest in the order.
“When fifteen feet is a long bomb…” Jim tells me.
These rods have a lot more than fifteen feet in them, but they excel at making beautiful loops with little or no line out of the rod. The video is worth watching just for Jim’s thoughts on small stream fishing.
WATCH THE VIDEO TO LEARN ALL ABOUT THE NEW SCOTT F SERIES FLY RODS.
Read More »Fly Fishing Stillwater
by Gareth Jones
THE OTHER HENRY’S
Mention to any flyfisher that you’re heading for Island Park, Idaho and they’ll immediately think you’ll be packing a selection of CDC and biot creations intended to deceive the wonderfully selective leviathans of the Henry’s Fork.
However, my latest visit to see Rene Harrop and the boys at the TroutHunter, was all about fly fishing the incredible Stillwater’s of the region, and more specifically, Henry’s Lake. The plan was to see how fishing UK flies and techniques would work on the great Cutthroat and Hybrids that inhabit the lake. This wasn’t the first time I fished the lake. I’d visited it ten years earlier, and I remembered enjoying some wonderful sport-fishing from a float tube, fishing damsels through the gaps in the summer weeds. Needless to say, I was fairly confident that some of my own fly patterns and techniques would produce on this trip, and I was excited to hit the water.
Being mid-October, It’s always a little risky with the weather, but the fishing gods were in a kind mood and when I arrived at the county boat dock on the eastern side of the lake, I was greeted by a gentle breeze and mild temperatures. This certainly put the fish in the mood to eat.
Starting from the shore, I waded carefully into the water, and immediately saw a fish swim right by me. It was a nice cutthroat trout of about 18 inches, a prime target for settling me into the swing of things. I quickly made a short cast to the fish, then paused for the fly to sink, and like clock work, the cutthroat took my ‘Minkie” streamer on the drop. One cast, one fish–I really couldn’t ask for anything better than that.
With Henry’s being such a shallow lake, a good cast was only putting my flies in about six feet of water. Add to this, the extensive remains of summer weed growth, and my set up needed to have my flies fishing just over the weeds. This would put them right into the path of any cruising trout between them.
I chose to fish a 10’ 7 weight fly rod matched with a 7 weight intermediate fly line for two reasons. First, it gave me the ability to
Read More »Maxine McCormick Interview, August 2018
Now fourteen years old, Maxine McCormick is headed back to the world fly casting championship.
On the 17th of this month the World Casting Championship will be held in the UK. Maxine who, at age eleven, dominated the trout accuracy competition in the last world championship, will be competing on the USA team in all categories, including spey distance.
I took some time to sit down for an interview with Maxine and her coach, Chris Korich. Have a listen and see what’s on the mind of one of the worlds best fly casters going into the competition.
You can follow the results here.
Read More »Sunday Classic / Relax, Read the Water and Believe
Sometimes, wanting too much can get you in trouble on the water. If you set your goals too high and lose sight of the real reason you’re out there in the first place (to be blessed with catching a few fish and relaxing), before you know it, you’ll find yourself standing in a river feeling lost and heart broken. It’s not that wanting is bad, it’s just that too much of it, like most things in life, can be detrimental. Want has the ability to turn into greed very quickly if you aren’t careful. And fly fishing with greed on the mind is the quickest way to doom yourself to failure. Greed fogs your mind, keeps you from thinking rationally on the water and your fishing, in turn, suffers.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / My First Fish
Do you remember your first fish?
This great video, sourced from Orvis News, follows a five-year-old boy on his journey to becoming an angler. What a treat to see the wonder in his eyes, holding his first steelhead. Take a few minutes to watch and share. It’s magical.
MY FIRST FISH
Read More »Seigler Fly Reel: Video
The new Seigner fly reel is one of the coolest new products in fly fishing.
You don’t see a lot that’s really new in fly reels. Yes, you see reels getting lighter or cooler looking but it isn’t often something comes along that’s actually different. This reel is.
You might know the name Seigler if you are into blue-water gear fishing. They have made heavy-duty gear reels for years. It turns out that Wes Seigler is an avid fly angler and he decided to make a fly reel that solves some problems he found in fish fighting.
Among the cool features you’ll find in this reel are a lever action drag, which allows you to quickly and accurately adjust your drag within establish safe parameters while fighting a fish, and an asymmetrical spool that stacks your backing for you. Best of all, there’s a solid possibility that you could get one for free.
Check out the video for all of the details on the new Seigler fly reel!
Read More »Deschutes Steelhead Update
Things are looking up for this season’s steelheading on the Deschutes.
Last year was an interesting one for Deschutes steelhead anglers. Between the fires and low numbers of returning fish, a lot of anglers decided to sit the season out. It was nice having the river to ourselves, and in spite of the well publicized low return, we had great fishing.
Things look much better for this year. Numbers of returning fish are up significantly over last year and guides I know are reporting good catch rates and reduced river traffic. There’s some blackened grass in spots but the bushes and trees are in good shape. It looks like it’s lining up to be a good season.
We still have a few spots open for our Deschutes camp trip in Sept. Shoot me an email at hookups@ginkandgasoline.com if you’d like to join us for one of the funnest fishing trips I know.
Read More »