- Casting short of a fish is better than casting past it. If you see a big fish cruising and you are trying to get your flies in front of it, a shorter cast is often more effective than casting far. If your cast is too long, you risk the fish seeing your line. Even if you quickly strip your line in so that the fly is directly inline with the direction the fish is heading, he could of seen or felt your line land on the water. If you cast short so that the flies land on the near side, you won’t risk lining the fish. You might be convinced that your cast is too short but wait until the fish is close and start to move it. Bonefish have great eyesight and odds are he saw it and will follow.
- Always strip away from the fish. This comes back to the predator/prey relationship. The predator (aka the Bonefish) is used to seeing its prey (the shrimp) move away from him. If you strip in a direction that moves the fly towards the fish, often times it will cause the fish to spook. This is pretty much a guarantee to spook the 10 pound fish of a lifetime that you will more than likely get a shot at, at Andros South.
- Always release the fish in a direction away from where the boat is drifting. Often times we are polling or drifting long distances over a large flat. If the boat is drifting west to east, you want to release your fish off the west side of the boat. Try and avoid releasing your fish in the direction that you are heading. A recently release bonefish may act funny and if his friends see that, it can cause them to be extra wary or even leave the flat. This may sound extreme but when some of the best flats guides in the world tell you to do something, you listen!
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