We got a great piece of advice on hooking bonefish last week from Josie Sands, one of our guides at Andros South.
If you see a bonefish charge your fly and then stop, set the hook – even if you don’t feel a thing!
Why? Two reasons.
- Especially right after your fly lands, there’s often more slack in your leader than you think. If you’ve got slack, you’re not going to feel the eat.
- Bonefish can inhale and spit flies really quickly, so it’s easy to not be fast enough on the trigger if you’re waiting to feel the fly stop.
So once you make your shot, watch that fish closely. If the fish charges your fly and then you see him stop – anywhere in the neighborhood of where your fly might be – set that hook! He’s probably tipping down to eat, and you might be surprised at how often you wind up with a hooked bonefish on the end of your line.
Bonus: Since you’re using a strip set (right?), on the off chance that the fly isn’t in the fish’s mouth at the time, all you did was strip once more, so the fly’s still there in the zone – waiting to be munched!
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