Conventional wisdom says that when fishing for bonefish you need long leaders with relatively fine tippet in order to fool weary bonefish. However, at Andros South we’re lucky to target bonefish that aren’t overly spooky. Spooky is relative of course – After all, they’re still bonefish!
Regardless of how spooky the fish are, long leaders do offer a greater margin error from the fish seeing your fly line – But only if you’re able to straighten out the leader when presenting the fly! Long leaders can be tough to straighten out in the heat of the moment. Couple that with a stiff breeze and it can be down right difficult.
That’s why on windy days we recommend our anglers fish a shorter leader. Commercial bonefish leaders are typically made (or tied) in the ball park of 10 – 14 feet. That length is often necessary at other great bonefishing destinations. However, we find that a simple 9 foot leader does just fine on a day to day basis in our waters, and a leader even as short as six feet week works well on windy days.. Yes, really.
So, the next time you’re having trouble turning your fly over in the wind, try cutting back your leader a bit. We think you’ll appreciate the results.
Is that 9 and 6 feet not counting the line class tippet.