Bonefish on the Brain » Flies

Conundrum

bonefishbjorn — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:08:06 +0000

Where am I going to put the new flies I’m tying for Hawaii? Hmmmm…

Not a lot of room in there.

Deneki – Think like a shrimp

bonefishbjorn — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:02:14 +0000

OK, you have a shrimp pattern tied on and a bonefish at 11:00… now what?

From the first time I cast at a bonefish up until the last trip I’ve had plenty of times when I had a fly out there in the general vicinity and wondered “How the hell should I be stripping this?”

The good folks at Deneki have taken a shot at this, as you’d expect they would.

World’s best bonefish fly

bonefishbjorn — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:11:16 +0000

There are a lot (I MEAN A LOT) of bonefish patterns out there these days, but there are a few patterns that really stand out as producers.

This is over at the Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures blog and written by Capt. Vaughn Cochran.

For years now the consensus among professional guides in the Bahamas for the best bonefsh fly has been the “Gotcha”. A famous fly with a great story to go with it. I’ve always heard it this way…. When Ted McVay and his son Jim were staying at the Andros Island Bonefish Club, Jim snipped some strands of carpet from the interior of their taxi as they were heading to the lodge and used them to tie a new fly. Every time a bonefish ate the fly, guide Rupert Leadon would say, “Gotcha.”

Eric’s Gotchas

bonefishbjorn — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 07:27:10 +0000

From reader Eric…

My first trip was in May and I and caught a dozen on plain old Gotchas on Acklins. I threw my whole box of popular flies into schools or cruising big ones with multiple refusals. I tied them all so they will always be my favorite. Here’s a photo of my first few efforts and my first bonefish… (day 1 of 6) -and saw it by myself! I’ve only been fly fishing for three years and had a few months of tying and I feel like I’ve hit the big time! I really enjoy your brain dumps.
Eric English MD
Aka fishbaydoc

simple and effective.

Deneki – Rub Your Fly in the Sand

bonefishbjorn — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 09:34:06 +0000

Well, this is actually something I’ve done before. I’m not sure where I first heard this, but I’ve done this. I’ve done it when I’ve been on my own and I’ve done it when I’ve been with guides. Seems a pretty good idea. If it doesn’t work, oh well, but it certainly is worth a shot, I’d say. It is not likely to actually hurt anything.

Reach down onto the flat, grab a little handful of sand from the bottom, and rub your fly around in it.

via Bonefishing Tip | Rub Your Fly in the Sand.

Blue Crab Fly by Capt. Matt Thomas

bonefishbjorn — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:36:56 +0000

A nice fly from Capt. Matt Thomas who guides down in the Lower Keys for… well… things that eat Blue Crabs.

(hmmm… when I put this up last night the video displayed… not sure why it isn’t doing that now)

Nice video.

I’m going to have to get on the fly tying video thing here soon… I need to get a couple of the patterns I used down in South Andros up… I think they are good stuff. Sounds like a project for the weeks ahead.

Variations on a theme… the reverse Gotcha

bonefishbjorn — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:21:56 +0000

I’ve been playing around at the vice a bit and maybe there is already a name for this style of fly but since I don’t know it, I’ll just call it a Reversed Gotcha. Basically, this means putting the eyes toward the back of the fly. In truth, I have a hard time staying that focused at the vice. I find myself tying one this way, one that, one a third way. If I sit down to tie a half dozen flies, I end up with six flies that are all unique. Tying is fun though, so I won’t beat myself up for that.

I’ve also been putting a strip of Clear Cure Goo or Rio Knot Sense on the top and bottom of the fly and I really like the way it looks.

Here are some of the recent ties.

Clear Cure Goo under the UV lamp.

The reverse with a little hot bunny tail.

Bigger fly, a #1, I think, with Fox as the wing.

Throw in some rubber legs.

Heavier eyes, in case I get over to the West Side.

A #6 with just the flash for a wing.

I’ll bet these will catch fish, but I understand a great number of flies will catch fish out there. I look forward to throwing some of these flies at those Androsian fish. Catching a fish on a fly you’ve tied is a great feeling… one I hope to experience over and over and over again.

–

Let’s see some feesh, bonefeesh that is.

bonefishbjorn — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:12:53 +0000

OK, so, back in December I had several dozen flies land in my lap… well, they came in a box really, probably best they didn’t actually land IN my lap… barbs and all.

Anyway, I got a bunch of flies and I’ve been pondering a good way to distribute them to folks… good folks like you… you are good folk, aren’t you? Sure you are.

I’m figuring I’ll do a photo contest and that contest will be done on Facebook, as it’s the easiest way to get folks to upload their own photos. Upload a photo and whoever has the most “likes” at the end of February will get four dozen flies.

Go here to the FB page.

That there is a lot of flies... a LOT of flies.

So, put up some fish and let’s have some fun.

If you are not on Facebook… wow… how are you not on Facebook!? Send me a pic and I’ll try and get it up in there.

What Santa Brought Me (and Santa’s name is Bob)

bonefishbjorn — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 17:22:35 +0000

So… my dad went in to the local fly shop and it turns out someone had come in recently and given Bob (the owner) a big box of saltwater flies. Bob is more into prince nymphs and BWO’s and he just gave my dad the whole box to give to me.

I did the count last night… 1,048 flies… cockroaches, bendbacks, clousers, bonefish critters, bendbacks… dozens and dozens and dozens.

That there is a lot of flies... a LOT of flies.

I have a feeling I’ll be giving a fair number away to you good folks, but if someone wants a couple hundred flies in exchange for an old Galvan Torque or Nautilus… well… just say’n.

Hope Santa got you some nice gear, or, better yet, some air travel vouchers so you can go visit Butch, or Lori-Ann or Andrew.

Lee Haskins ties a foam bonefishing fly… and catches fish.

bonefishbjorn — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:56:25 +0000

I was on Blanton’s Board, looking around and I saw “Belize Report” from Lee Haskin. Good stuff about permit and tarpon and a little about bones. The pictures though… well… the “Shrimp Neutralizer” pattern… well… what?!?! FOAM?! I certainly hadn’t seen that before. Really creative and it looks as if it caught fish. Now that would have been handy to see before my Belize trip.

The Shrimp Neutralizer was very effective on bonefish and even had an “eat” from a big permit!

Great to use a fly that suspends and doesn’t hang up in the grass or coral!

via Trips, Flies and Fish: Belize-Rumble in the Jungle!.

Lee's bone and FOAM fly. Cool.

Lee... that's innovation. Well done.

Check out the trip report… you’ll see that Lee’s permit and tarpon were a littttttle bit bigger than mine… like… A LOT bigger. That’s what Belize has to offer.