Happy Sunday all… hope you all had a enjoyable and safe Halloween.  If you are nursing your hangover, maybe this little clip of an entirely not little Florida Bonefish.  The video quality isn’t so great, but the fish gets its size across.

How long is your commute?  I once had to drive 100 miles, but only had to do it twice a month.  Mr. Bonefish, it turns out, can put in some serious miles.

Florida has a tagging program thanks to the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust and  the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association.  One of those tagged fish was caught and tagged near Key Biscane.  From there it crossed the Gulf Stream (something researchers didn’t know they did) and was caught off Andros, about 186 miles away.  This more than doubled the longest known movement by a bonefish.  This has all sorts of implications… it means Florida bonefish may be intermingling, and maybe interbreeding, with Bahamian bonefish.

Here is the news from Science Daily.

That's a long commute, Mr. Bonefish

The Fly Fish Chick just got back from three days in the Keys and is considering selling her home to go chase tarpon.  Now, she didn’t mention bonefish at all, which leaves me sad, disappointed, weeping tears of regret and sorrow.   Sounds like good fishing with so-so catching, but the setting is just amazingly beautiful, if my memories from 1984 are to be trusted (my last trip to the Keys).

Fly Fish Chick chasing Silver Kings

The fact that FFC didn’t  chase bonefish and had to settle for tarpon may have something to do with the fact that bonefish are really tough in the Keys (and yes, I am joking about the “had to settle” thing).

I recently posted on a couple of message boards asking for perspectives on Florida bonefishing and here are  some of the comments I got:

You can certainly target the bones in the Keys. Lots of tournaments do just that, but combining it with a pursuit of other fish can be more enjoyable and productive. I’d say that bones in most of the Keys are just as tough as permit these days. While you’ll rarely go an entire day without seeing a fish, it certainly is possible to go an entire day or more without seeing an interested fish. I have fished entire days there without a hookup.

I fished the Keys for a week every month for just over 2 years.
I have fished from Biscayne Bay to Key West and have had about 15 different guides.  I can’t remember not seeing a bonefish but I have had a good number of days when I have not caught a fish.  Having said that, the fish that you do catch can be large. I have caught 6 fish over 12lbs.  A good day bonefishing is 2 fish. The fish are very spooky. You need a perfect presentation and even then the fish may not take.  There are of course opportunities to catch other fish such as reds, snook, tarpon and permit not to mention Jacks, ladyfish, snapper etc. etc.

I have friends(not FF’s) I usually fish with in the Keys. The one time I got a guide I asked about Bonefish, he had one question, “can you put the fly in the ice chest at 40′ in a 15 knot wind?” If the answer is yes “let’s go” if the answer is no “let’s try something else”.

The advice in a nutshell was this… bonefish in FL are tough.  They get fished over a lot and are very selective, although they are big.  If you go to Florida to fish, you may catch some bonefish, but other species are more available and can provide an excellent experience.

So, I forgive the Fly Fish Chick for not targeting bonefish.  When I finally make it to Florida to fish, I may be looking for poons or cuda, although I’m going to have to get beyond this singular fixation on bonefish first.  Maybe my trip coming up this weekend to fish the Truckee River will help.

Belize beat Florida and Hawaii to the punch, enacting new statutes that make it against the law to keep bonefish, permit or tarpon.  They have seen the light (that light  being the 1,800 jobs created by the sport fishing industry and the $60M that comes with it).

The Belize Sports Fishing industry is applauding the action taken by Fisheries Minister Rene Montejo, to protect high value sports fish like Tarpon, Bone Fish and Permit from exploitation, by insisting on a catch-and-release policy.

A new statutory Instrument states that “no person or establishment shall have in his possession any bone fish (albula vulpes) Permit (trachinotus falacutus) or tarpon (megalops Atlanticus), save and except in the act of catch and release.”

The Belize Sports Fishing Industry notes that several economic studies have been conducted in Belize, focusing on these three species for sports fishing tourism. The studies indicate the high economic value of these species for the local economy.

It has been estimated that these three species – bonefish, tarpon and permit together  bring in some $60 million a year and create some 1800 jobs.

(the above is from The Reporter)

Ya know, it’s good news.  Of course, there is the matter of enforcement, which is where this sort of thing falls down in practice.  Gotta  pay someone to go out and catch poachers.   Still, this step is more than has been done in Florida or Hawaii.  So, I say to Belize, “job well done!”

In California, with our small and geographically limited bonefish population, I don’t even see mention of bonefish in the CA regulations.  Might have to ask someone about that.

I would read the Puerto Rican bonefish regulations, but… I don’t speak or read Spanish.  If you do, you can find those regs here.

This says that bonefish and tarpon are Catch and Release only in the US Virgin Islands… that’s good.  I have no idea if that is enforced or  not.

Preach it, brotha!

Find that shirt here.

As a kid growing up in a small mountain town in Northern California (the State of Jefferson, as it is called by some), I wanted to be Mel Fisher.  This seemed a rather dreamy prospect… we had rivers but no oceans, a gold rush past, but no sunken Spanish treasure.  My family drove from Dunsmuir to Key West (that’s about 3,500 miles) one summer and I went to the Mel Fisher Museum and got to touch a Spanish gold bar.  At the aquarium in Key West I had a horse shoe crab put on my head.  I was about 10 and this was simply awesome.

Today, I live in a different small Northern CA town with a history of Gold (Sutter’s Mill is about 20 minutes away). I am  still haunted by Florida, but now the object of my desire is the Grey Ghost, the bonefish.

Florida intimidates me when it comes to bonefish.  I’ve talked to too many folks who have gone for glory and produced goose eggs.  Days without even seeing a bonefish have been recounted.  Stories like this one from Florida Fly Fishing Magazine, make it all seem like a pursuit for only the top tier, the elite.  I just want to have a good day on the water.  I’m devoid of the need to prove myself as some expert bonefish master I know I’m not.

I’m absolutely positive that more than one horrible angler has caught a bonefish in Florida, but it does not sound like a common occurrence.  Maybe some day I will have caught enough “dumb” bonefish and I’ll get off the plane in Miami and exit the airport instead of flying on to the Bahamas.

I’d love to hear your words of either encouragement or discouragement.  What’s your Florida experience been?

Planning my trip for 2010 I’ve been mostly looking at the Bahamas… the Bahamas have loads of fish, after all, and DIY fits my budget (I would say lifestyle, except we have a house cleaner, dry cleaner and tax guy).  I had sent out the first inquiries to grandparents to come in as substitute daddy-daycare.  I was starting to get focused on a destination and a handful of dates (my wife thinks this is stupid silly, since these dates were in March, April or May).  This is how my mind works and it gives something for my bonefish fixation to chew on.

Then… then I got a message from a reader who forwarded on a link… now I’m on a detour that may very well lead to a better overall experience.  No, I’m not going to the Seychelles.  The link was for a guide out of the Miami area who offers some really attractive rates/packages.  Attractive = Bonefish-on-the-Brain for cheap… $150 for a half day and $250 for a super-long 10-12 hour day.  That’s my kind of fishing day.  I don’t need mints on the pillows and I’ve rarely ever stepped foot in a hotel/resort gym.  I’m utilitarian and this sounds… well… utilitarian.

There is no skiff, it is kayaks and canoes.  There is no shore-lunch, there is a Quick-Stop on the way to the water.

The guide is Cordell Baum,  Jr. and his website is The Bonefish Whisperer.  The pictures on his site are enough to put the faint taste of salt on your lips and the prices make a whole world of piscatorial day-dreams possible.

The site says “world class fly fishing with Cordell Baum, Jr.” For my part, I hope it isn’t world class; I doubt I’m up for it.  However, the prospect of guide tutelage for three LONG days sounds too good to pass up.  I’ve been a trout guide (only for one season) and I certainly know the value of a guide when in the green & growing stage of a new pursuit (and that’s where I am… way more interest than experience).

I’ve heard how difficult Florida bones can be and I’ve heard tales of how some FL guides can be demanding/degrading.  That all gives a little apprehension to diving in, but, if all of my familial negotiations go well, I think I’m diving in anyway.

UPDATE: In the end, I didn’t go fishing with the Bonefish Whisperer.  I ended up heading back to Grand Bahama since there were more DIY opportunities there.