Some would say the Florida Bonefish don’t need redeeming, and, just to make sure everyone is clear about this, I have no way of knowing.  Since I started the blog back in August I’ve been looking for some encouraging news about Florida bonefish and haven’t found much.  I even put the question out on a couple message boards asking for someone to share the good news with me.

The Cliff Note version of the replies I received went something like this…

Bonefishing in Florida can be great, as long as you don’t want to catch bonefish… fish for ‘cuda.

Yeah, see, that wasn’t what I was looking for.  Are Florida Bones just impossible?  Do you need to outcast the Rajeff Brothers to even consider boarding the skiff of your ill-tempered, prima donna guide to go out and look for bonefish that you likely won’t see, and if you do see, won’t be able to cast to, and if you get the cast to the fish, the fish will laugh at your pathetic offering and flip you the fin?

So, I was relieved to have a little email correspondence with Captain Luke Kelly from Key Flat guide service.

A nice Captain Luke Kelly Bonefish

When I asked him about Florida Bonefish here is some of what he had to say:

I have spent my entire life in the lower Florida Keys and have been guiding flats for the past six years or so. I can honestly say I have handled somewhere around 1000 bonefish in those six years, no BS. There are a lot of bonefish down here and the fact is somewhat overlooked. I too have heard of people’s bad experiences bonefishing in the Keys and I know that is due to bad guiding, not the fishery. I often see them poling vacant flats, and showing people no fish.

Now, the lower Keys certainly are not the Bahamas. I have been to Andros several times and that is a different world over there in terms of bonefish, I always tell people the same. However, they don’t have nearly the amount of permit and even tarpon that we have here (especially the permit).

My honest summary on bonefishing in the lower Keys would be that we don’t have the numbers of that as the Bahamas, but we certainly have large adult bonefish. And most importantly, they offer promising potential for the official inshore slam (tarpon, permit, bonefish in one day) in an area where it is best offered, the lower Florida Keys.

Made in the USA, no passport required (for all you running from the law)

Captain Luke Kelly

Another vote for the “Made in the US” bonefish is just the overall travel time and cost… SFO to Miami can run about $280, but SFO to Andros is about $700… and the SFO to Andros journey times out at about 20 hours there and 18 back.  As has been said by many anglers in many places over the ages, “you are only fishing when your fly is on/in the water.”

I’m a West Coaster… so, I’m a little uneasy at the idea of a tournament when it comes to fly fishing… for me that’s still something that bass folks do while trout fly anglers, like myself, go about our business in solitude all River-Runs-Through-It and whatnot.  The Marathon International Bonefish Tournament (MIBT) turns 50 this year and starts soonish (Sept. 17-20).  It’s a three day tournament, costs $1,000 and the winners get to see Megan Fox naked… ok, I made that last part up.  They have long since dropped the Miss Bonefish crown to acknowledge the fact that women are competent anglers in their own rights… so, good on ya MIBT.

The MIBT has old timey cred

While tournament play doesn’t really set my reel a cranking, this seems like a pretty interesting event.  It’s got the history, it is a no-kill format, allows un-guided teams… doesn’t sound so bad.  I have heard there are other tournaments down in the Keys and places beyond and I’ve never paid much attention.  I won’t be flying down and plopping down my $1,000, but part of me (specifically, the part without $1,000) will be wishing I was on the deck off a skiff getting skunked with a guide berating me for my incompetence.  Instead, I’ll spend the 19th flying from Boston to SFO with my toddler sans my wife.  Should be pure joy.

This = Totally Ruling

Old school… vintage video of flyfishing for bonefish in the Keys.  I can only imagine…

It seems the one constant when it comes to watery ecology is this… things appear to be heading toward utter and total destruction.  The AP story below says that Florida Bay’s ecology is headed toward collapse with the cascade of damage and ruin already a good number of domino’s down the path.  The culprits are pollution, diverted flows, urban sprawl… really this could be just about any water issue around the country.  The more things change, the more they stay the same, they say.

AP Story relating impending doom.

ISLAMORADA, Fla. — Boat captain Tad Burke looks out over Florida Bay and sees an ecosystem that’s dying as politicians, land owners and environmentalists bicker.

He’s been plying these waters for nearly 25 years, and has seen the declines in shrimp and lobster that use the bay as a nursery, and less of the coveted species like bonefish that draw recreational sportsmen from around the world.

“Bonefish used to be very prevalent, and now we don’t see a tenth of the amount that we used to find in the bay, and even around the Keys because the habitat no longer supports the population,” says Burke, head of the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association.

Doesn’t that sound good??  No?  Yeah, to me either.

Everglades Foundation, one of the orgs trying to get things sorted (and it looks like they are having some success).

This was sent to me recently and I thought I’d share.  I’ve been fairly scared off of DIY Florida bones after hearing countless assertions that the FL Bones are smarter than most, less numerous than many and just plain tough to find in the first place.  So, it gives me heart to relay this little tale from Vince Stanley.

This June after years of blown casts, broken leader, and fouled flies I finally landed my first Florida bone at Islamorada, the PHD capital of bonefishing. For several mornings as we prepared to go tarpon fishing a very large school of double digit bones appeared around the condo dock. This little flat is a flats boat magnet. We had a “Captain” fish over us as the jerk stated we didn’t have a chance in this wind.”

After our engine took an unscheduled vacation I had time to really pursue this action. I noticed the bonefish favored one little sandy hole. They would turn on their side and flash as they ate SOMETHING. I had a MOE size #8 in my “possible” fly box. It was tied from junk cluttering up my tying bench. Third cast, 6 pound bone. No guide, no boat, no sweat until it made a run to go under the dock. My host snagged him with a huge net.

The Junk Fly

And so, there you have it… the tale of Vince’s first Florida Bone, caught on a self-tied fly.