Saw this in the pages of This is Fly (which remains a solid, solid publication).

This is from

The Stand Up Paddle Skiff

This is from the folks at Bote.

One story that has stuck in the dark recesses of my brain was a story by Kevin Perry called Ninjas and a Saltwater Dragon.  The trip was to Los Roques, a brothers and wives fly fishing trip.

Of the fishing Kevin said:

It’s bonefishing is notorious for both quantity and quality but ends up on more people’s to do lists than on their biography.

I love that line.  That line has driven me on a bit towards my own personal pursuit of bonefish/saltwater flyfishing.  I like the idea of moving the stuff that is really important from the to-do to the biography.

Hope you enjoy it.

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.

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.

Drew is a Jackson, WY kind of guy… devastating with a camera and pretty frigging deadly with a fly rod, it appears.  He’s written several pieces for This is Fly and his work is popping up in all sorts of places.  This particular account is from a trip to Acklins with his girlfriend and some camping gear.

Here’s the story.  Enjoy.

A non-bonefish pic from Drew featured on Cloudveil.com

While checking out their latest issue (#20), I saw an article from one of my fav’s, Aaron Adams, Executive Director of the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.  In the article, Aaron is hopping from Florida over to the Bahamas for some epic fishing while pondering why more folks aren’t pissed off that Florida bonefishing has declined significantly since the days of Ted Williams.

Those that know (I don’t, by the way) will tell you that there are fewer fish around, all the dumb ones have left and the game is just harder than it used to be and harder than it really should be.

There are remedies, actions that could be taken if enough people raised their voices to be heard by those in the places of power, but nothing will happen if more folks don’t get barking mad.

Where I live, in California, we may be seeing the last of once mighty salmon runs.  One of my favorites places on earth, the McCloud River, once had a salmon run estimated at one million fish, but now sits behind Shasta Dam, while the Klamath River is at 20% of it’s historic numbers and they will likely disappear all together by the time the dams are taken out… in, maybe, 2025 or so. Our the concrete symbols of progress have proven to be be destroyer of species, towns, industries and native peoples.

Let’s learn our lessons.  Let’s start speaking up and try to at least keep what we have now and maybe even see  it improve a bit.  Wouldn’t that be nice?

Think about the day when bonefishing in Florida used to be like the video below, get angry about what has been lost, and write a big, fat check to the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust so they can do what needs to be done.