Want to not catch me? Read and learn.
Don’t want to catch a bonefish? Pick one or more of these simple tips and you’ll be not catching fish in no time!
- Wear wading boots in the boat. If you’re casting from the boat and you’re wearing shoes of any kind, you won’t know if you’re standing on your fly line. Always, always, always go barefoot when fishing out of the boat so you can feel your line if it’s underneath your feet.
- Use a fly that’s too heavy for the water you’re fishing. At Andros South, we chase bonefish in really skinny water. Use that lead-eyed fly that’s designed for deep water in the Florida Keys, and you’re guaranteed to scare the crap out of a bonefish in 6 inches of water.
- Look only at the fish you’re casting to. Most bonefish like to travel together, and if there’s a fish between you and your target, you’re going to line him and they’ll all spook. Scan the area between you and your target before you cast.
- Cast too far. If you’re properly set up on a flat, most of the fish you encounter will be swimming towards you. If you cast too short, just leave it and that fish just might swim right up to your fly. If you cast too long…you line ’em and you might as well take a seat.
- Don’t pay attention to your stripped-off line. If you’re in the boat, your line should be neatly piled on the deck or on the bottom of the boat. If you’re wading, your line should be looped behind you in the water. If your excess line is wrapped around your buddy’s boat bag, or underneath the boat, or around a cleat or a hinge, or snagged on a mangrove shoot, well, you might hook him but you’re not going to catch that fish. So pay attention to your stripped-off line.
Got any firsthand input on more ways to not catch a bonefish? Leave a comment and help us all out!
More Bonefishing Tips
I am not a fisherman, but I love seeing how you are applying some of the things Darren is teaching in the 31DBB
Thanks Lorraine – your blog looks great too!
Andrew
Here’s my feedback on how not to catch a bonefish… Recalled from my very first wade on a beautiful sunny day, no wind, on a flat up in Grassy Creek, if I’m not mistaken….
Angler: “Wow, this is cool. It’s beautiful.”
Guide: “Ya mon. It is.”
Angler: “Think we’ll see any bones?”
Guide: “Maybe mon.”
Angler: “Hey what kind of bird is that?”
Guide: (no reply)
Guide: “Bonefish. 150’. 11 o’clock. Get ready mon.”
Angler: “I can’t see him.”
Guide: (no reply)
Guide: “Bonefish is 100’, mon. Still 11 o’clock.”
Angler: “Still can’t see him.”
Guide: “Ok, mon. De bone is 75’, 12 o’clock. Cast.”
Angler: “I can’t see him.”
Guide: “He’s 75’, 12 o’clock, mon. Cast.”
Angler: “Crap.”
Guide: “He’s 60’ mon. 1 o’clock. Moving right. Cast now.”
Angler: “I can’t see him. Where is he?”
Guide: “He’s 50’, mon. 2 o’clock. CAST NOW!!”
Angler: (false casting about 20times) (no reply) (casts blind in the general vicinity)
Guide: “MON! You lined him!!”
Angler: “Dude, I never saw him.”
Guide: “I know, mon.” (laughing) “Next time, mon.”
I have lived on South Andros for the last 6 years. Let’s just say I have come up with more than a few ways to blow a shot at a bonefish.
The first I will share is to get some sort of smelly gunk on your hands and ultimately your fly. If a bone charges up behind your fly and then suddenly turns off or spooks it is likely he caught a whiff of SPF50 or something else that does not smell tasty to him.
Racine, that was hilarious! That sounds about right. However, the guide should have told you when to drop the fly. I regularly have clients catch fish they never see till we land them, all by merely following instructions like:
"Ok, point your rod, more left, there."
"Cast now… little more to your right… OK DROP IT."
"Wait… strip, strip, STRIP LONG, HE'S GOT IT!"
Anyways, good blog here and great info.
Thanks WindKnot, and thanks for weighing in.
Number one biggest way to blow a shot, for me, is to turn the fly over too hard and spook the fish.
The same fly–say a #6, medium bead-chain Gotcha–can be presented feather quiet or like a spark-plug, depending on how you finish the cast. Most anglers present the fly with an overhead cast. That’s very accurate but causes the fly to flip down and make a big splash. If they side-arm the cast instead, the fly’s energy is spent sideways and it lands very quietly. Of course, that can make the leader kick into a curve, but with a little practice you can lay it out straight and quiet.
The side-arm presentation is usually the first thing I have to teach my clients if the weather is calm or we’re fishing in super-shallow stuff, and it’s absolutely essential in either situation. You can cast closer without spooking fish, and that’s what bonefishing is all about.
Guys, especially in wind, bonefishing is a TWO man job! The now resting (i.e previously successful) angler’s responsibility is NOT to be swilling a Kalik, but to be tending the “up” anglers line. Especially important in wind. This means keeping the slack line in the bottom of the boat, untangled, away from the “up” angler’s feet, unsnagged, etc. Makes all the difference!
Good stuff, Al. Sooo right.
I was redfishing in TX with a guide who used a casting bucket made out of tough foam. It had cones in the bottom and he kept about four inches of fresh water in it. Especially in the wind, this simple fix made line control simple. It also kept the line in better shape without the caked on salt. I have resisted stripping baskets attached to me in the past. This bucket sitting on the deck seemed a lot easier to work with.
http://sealevelflyfish.com/stripping-bucket-ii/the-bucket-ii-standard/
As one who has 60 days of bonefish flyfishing the list much longer or mighty than 5, but those are good tips! Another day here at the “Superbowl of bonefish flyfishing for double digit tailing fish one Ohau, then off to Christmas Isand tomorrow for a week or four”. Funny, no flights to Christmas Island, and since once a week flight on Tuesdays falls on holidays, if no plane on 19th, may just have to fish a month. Have enough flies, sunscreen and wasabi!