bonefish, bonefish, bonefish

I'm guessing Seychelles with the GT stick.

Thanks for the compliment I appreciate it.  When readers write in and say they love the magazine it charges me to make each issue better and better.  I started fly fishing in 2007 and became absolutely fanatical about saltwater fly fishing.  I searched for information and media about the sport and culture but I couldn’t find the type of material that I craved.  I’ve always related to the skate, surf and snowboard culture and was searching for a similar progressive voice.  I think This is Fly filled a void that was missing in the industry.  Most importantly I feel it speaks to a wider demographic and even attracts non-anglers and introduces them to the sport.

I enjoyed Coach Duff’s recent story in issue 22.  Duffer is intense and takes his hunting very seriously.  I love that type of focus and passion especially since the fish he’s targeting are monsters.  It was also great to see that you can catch big bones in populated areas in front of hotels and condos on the beach.

Zee Bone

In the last 3 years I have covered the globe pretty well and hit most of the popular bonefish destinations.  I have been fortunate enough to visit most of the Bahamas, Mexico, Florida, Kiribati and the Seychelles.  I’m heading to Los Roques this month and excited to experience that fishery.  It will be bizarre to see bones crashing the surface eating minnows.  Future trips that I’m hoping to take are Hawaii, St Brandon’s Mauritius and western Australia.  These places hold huge fish.

The cold front we experienced on our recent trip to Kamalame Cay made the fish very peculiar.  We had to down-size our patterns and ended up fishing gotchas and pink puffs.  My favorite fly right now is Borski’s fur shrimp.  I fish Grand Bahama often and have had awesome results.  Others would be McKnight’s Crimp and a Bonefish Deep Minnow.

A slower pace and lifestyle.  I live in New York City and the pace is both invigorating and exhausting.  The pace keeps you alive and sharp but you do need a break.  Everyone is frantically headed somewhere and that focus can wear you down.  I cherish each trip that I take when I can escape my rigorous cycle.

G Loomis GLX 8wt and Abel 7-8 QC, the ultimate bonefish outfit.

Just your typical New Yorker.

Found this little nugget… the guy who plays Sawyer (Josh Holloway) on Lost out fishing in Hawaii with the Familiar Waters crew… nice.

Hawaii doesn’t suck.  I love Hawaii, although we go to Mexico these days when we are looking for tropical climes… but we’ll be back to Hawaii… and I’ll bring along a 9 wt. and some heavy tippet and at least a day carved out in the schedule to allow me to go get humiliated by those big, educated bones of the Aloha State.

Lost... is that still on?

I have no idea if this emerging concept in fly tying carries over to the world of bonefishing.  I have some reason to think it doesn’t, but the idea of a fly that works when nature turns the lights out has me intrigued.  At my local fly shop I saw some glow-in-the-dark materials… flashabou and EP fibers.  I bought them, having no idea what I’d actually do with them, but powerless to resist.

Just as I’m trying to wrap my mind around the possibilities I get the new issue of Flyfishing in Saltwaters which has has the Neon Knight highlighted, a glowing saltwater fly.  Looking around the intertubes I found more materials and even glow in the dark head cement.

I’m headed to Mexico soon, Pacific side, no bones, but some Jack Crevalle, maybe some snook and precious few fishing hours (family trip, not fishing trip).  However… if I can fish after my daughter goes to sleep… well… this would be good news.  How much sleep do I really need… really?

Just in case it might work for bones… here’s what it might look like…

In the light...

Chernobyl Gotcha

Now… non-bonefish applications are probably the most reasonable…

White Clouser in the light

See… now this is where it  gets interesting…

Chernobyl Clouser

If anyone wants to TRY that Chernobyl Gotcha… let me know… I’ll send one to you, but you have to promise to try it and let me/us know how it goes.

I’ll bet you’ll want to after seeing this…

My blog here is changing to be a self-hosted blog… that means I’ll have a little more control over things and can do things like offer advertising… in this case, I’m going to promote some of the people and companies that I like… BTT, Skinny Water Culture, Deneki, Off the Hook Fly Shop, etc.

Things will have a new look and you’ll see some new things.  Thanks for reading.

The most recent issue of This is Fly is out and not only is it their longest yet, all full of fishy goodness, but it has two, COUNT ‘EM, TWO, stories on bonefish.

This, of course, meets with my approval.

The first story is about Coach Duff and those big, huge, massive, unreasonably large bones of the Aloha State.  You can find that story here.

The second story was by one of the guys behind This is Fly, Paris Fleezanis.  This story takes the TIF crew to Andros and Kamalame Cay.

Kamalame is a place that has shown up on Bones on the Brain before.

TIF, I salute you.  Keep putting out the good stuff.  They remain the leading edge of the e-zine revolution.  A lot was made of the fact that Catch Magazine came out on the same day, but they really are different fish, even if they are both fly fishing-centric.  TIF is for those who read the stories and Catch is for those that like the pictures more than the text (I like Catch, even saw some places I’ve fished in this recent episode).   TIF adds the crazy art… none of which I’d want in my home, in the homes of my friends, on the walls of my friends’ friends, but, ya know… different strokes.

To keep the paper still circulating, I recently subscribed to two magazines… physical magazines… Fly Fishing in Salt Waters and Fly Rod and Reel.  I’m doing my part… ya know, mostly.

I was at the Pleasanton Fly Fishing Show and I saw a book I had heard about a few times, but had not seen close up… Fly Fisherman’s Guide to Saltwater Prey by the Grand Poobah of bonefish knowledge, Aaron Adams.

Hot Damn.  What a book.

Want to see what a “Depressed Mud Crab” looks like (no, I’m not making that up and I don’t know why he’s so down in the dumps)?  There are two pictures and comments like this…

This species is the most abundant on intertidal and shallow sub-tidal oyster bars of the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast.

See… good to know.

Not only does the book have just about every bit of bonefish (or, for that matter, tarpon, permit, snook, etc.) food possible, but it also has flies tied by some of the greats that mimic those food sources.  Fly tiers like Dr. Adams, the late Jack Gartside, Marshall Cutchin, Tony Petrella and Oscar Feliu do a damn good job of tying up the flies and giving tips.

Just simply a fantastic book with the information you need to show up wherever your next trip takes you with a fly box or two full of the right flies.

MAN!  I hadn’t checked the Flatwalker blog in a while… he’s been hard at work putting all sorts of choice bonefishness up.

Check it out.

The idea of fishing competitions/tournaments is met with utter disdain not universally embraced by the fly fishing community… at least the trouting part of it anyway.  In the salt, it seems there is a whole different attitude… one that includes lots of tournaments for lots of species, including bonefish.

I saw the results of the Redbone Deep Water Cay Celebrity Classic.  I couldn’t find a list of folks that entered, or what makes them “celebrities,” maybe they don’t wear panties, I don’t know.  Deep Water Cay is the uber-exclusive lodge/operation on the far, far end of Grand Bahama… actually, just off shore on their own cay… Deep Water Cay… they have their own airport.

I caught my first bonefish right behind Deep Water Cay, although I was with an independent guide.  I don’t begin to have the the kind of obscene wealth resources it would take to  have bought in at DWC.

The story can be found on the ESPN site here.  The winner was Cal Collier Jr. who posted 22 fish over two days.  Points were given for Permit too, but no one caught one (no one caught one the year before either).   Sounds like he had to battle some difficult conditions (like a 57 degree morning and 20 mile per hour winds).  He got 16 in the final day to end up on the podium (do they use podiums?).  The guide was Cecil Leathen… can’t find too much about him.  I’m guessing he should have won half of whatever was won if he’s like any of the many, many guides I know.

The biggest fish of the tournament went to David Collier (yes, related) with a 28.5 inch fish.  Um… that is frigging massive, by the way… 12-13 pounds according to the chart I looked at.  TWELVE PLUS POUNDS.  I would have liked to have seen that fish.

Maybe people don’t actually GO to Mexico to fish for Jack Crevalle, but I’m going for a little 2/3 family trip to Vallarta and I’m going to bring a couple rods.  Tying up a few patterns to complete my beach box.  Last year I got a nice Torro from the beach, so I’m bringing some bigger flies this year.  We’ll see.