When fish swimming around tidal flats disturb the bottom, they make a puff of sediment that’s known as a “mud”.
Locating bonefish muds can be one way to locate bonefish. Bruce Chard is back today with another bonefishing tip – how to know if the mud that you’re looking at came from bonefish.
Special note for those of you who have done some bonefishing: at Andros South we prefer not to “fish mudding bonefish” in the sense of blind casting into a giant mud produced by a giant school. Bruce’s tips today are oriented towards identifying bonefish muds as a cue to help spot the actual bonefish, which you then present your fly to.
Is It a Bonefish Mud?
Many times when fishing you see sting ray muds, nurse shark muds, bonefish muds and all kinds of things that look like muds from a distance.
If you think you see a mud, watch it for a few seconds. If it is a mud of some kind, remember that the mud will change shape in the current. If what you’re looking at is not changing shape, it’s probably not a mud. This will let you know quickly not to spend any more time looking there, so you can continue your scan of the flat elsewhere.
A ray or nurse shark mud usually is long in shape and comes from one designated area where the mud will be the thickest. Bonefish muds will look like little puffs and will be light in consistency. Usually you will see many of them if there is a school of fish. Look out in front of the muds by at least 15 feet, scanning for the bones moving around – the muds are where the fish where.
Mudding bones are really aggressive so get ready for a hook up when you find them!
When using bruce chard’s bone fish leaders if too windy for 12the ft leader do you start on fat end and cut 30# and work down?
Love your website/news letter
thanks
Dana
Fishing tailing fish the water can be murky. What color fly.