We have quite a few posts on our blog about bonefish flies, but somehow we haven’t addressed head-on the topic of “I’m putting together a box of bonefish flies for my trip to Andros South – what should go in it?” Today we answer that question!
Let’s keep a few things in mind as we get started.
- Most of the time, our bonefish aren’t that picky. Lots of different patterns work, so the majority of our sample box is going to be made up of types of patterns, groups of colors, and ranges of weights – as opposed to specific patterns that you just must have.
- That being said, there are a couple of patterns that we think you just must have, so we’re going to include them.
- We like having some lighter flies for lighter-colored bottoms, and some darker flies for darker-colored bottoms.
- It’s really important to have a range of weights for different water depths. We fish a lot of shallow water so most of our flies will be pretty light.
- We fish pretty big flies most of the time, so most of our flies might be bigger than what you’d think if you’ve chased bonefish elsewhere.
Your Bonefish Box for South Andros Island
OK, let’s build a box! We’ll try to keep it to a somewhat reasonable 40 flies – plenty for a week-long trip.
General Purpose Go-To Patterns
- 8 #2 Charlie/Gotcha/Shrimpy-type flies in white or light tan, with bead chain eyes or very small lead eyes, mostly with legs of some sort – example
- 8 #2 Charlie/Gotcha/Shrimpy-type flies in darker tan or brown, maybe with some dark green, with bead chain eyes or very small lead eyes, mostly with legs of some sort
Shallower Water
- 4 #4 Charlie/Gotcha/Shrimpy-type flies in white or light tan, with small bead chain eyes, mostly with no legs
- 4 #6 Charlie/Gotcha/Shrimpy-type flies in white or light tan, with small mono eyes or no eyes and no legs
Deeper Water/Big Fish/West Side
- 4 #1 or #1/0 Charlie/Gotcha/Shrimpy-type flies in white or light tan, with lead eyes, all with legs of some sort
- 4 #1 or #1/0 Charlie/Gotcha/Shrimpy-type flies in darker tan or brown, maybe with some dark green, with lead eyes, all with legs of some sort
Must Have Because They Work Really Well
- 4 #2 Veverka’s Mantis Shrimps
- 4 #2 or #1 Peterson Spawning Shrimps
And there you have it! So many different types of flies work in our fishery that there are many great patterns that didn’t make our box (crab patters and baitfish patterns to name a couple). But show up with a box like this one, and you’ll be really well-equipped for a week chasing bonefish on South Andros.
On the second rod, heavy and loaded for toothy predators, what fly would you suggest? Is there one pattern that will work for Cuda and sharks?
On the East side of the island, is there and fish to be caught from the surf?