Fish Tails

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09
Jun 10

Taking my girl fishing

Ever since we got up here to Dunsmuir, my 3.5 year old daughter has been asking to go feed the fish at the hatchery. So… we did that today. Lots of bows, a few browns and concrete pens with twenty-five cent fists of pellets.

This is where truck trout come from.

After we ran though our change, we went to check out the spillway at Siskiyou Reservoir, where the Upper Sacramento officially begins. It is spilling over the top of the dam at Box Canyon and it is pretty clear where the high water is coming from.

This is where the high water comes from

As we left the dam I asked my dad if he knew of any bluegill ponds. He said sure, we just passed one. We turned around to check it out. I love getting my little girl on some bluegill and thought it would be a good way to spend some of the morning.

Pretty as a little pond can get.

I had my 4 wt. in the car so went to break it out… turns out it wasn’t my 4 wt., but my 10 foot 9 weight. Well… you fish with the rod you have, I suppose, so I put a 5 wt. line on it and made do. It worked just fine.

Simply, this is awesome.

We were surprised when the first fish to come in wasn’t a bluegill or little bass, but a rainbow trout. That fish threw the hook before my daughter could get to it, but the next few fish she got to hold the rod and bring it in the last 4 feet. She loved looking at them in the net, touching them in the water. She had a great time, which was the point.

Her first brown.

At some point in the future, maybe 20 years from now, when someone asks her, “How long have you been fishing?” it is my hope that she’ll simply say “I don’t know… I’ve just always done it.”

Sometimes, being a parent is pretty wonderful.

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08
Jun 10

High Water Home Water

I managed a few hours of fishing today while my daughter was either napping.

The water continues to be just silly-high. Places I’ve had locked for high water were under water. Drifts I’ve come to depend on in difficult times were nowhere to be had.

This willow normally isn't 2 feet under water...

This usually isn't under water in June either.

On a day like this you are forced to look at the river through fresh eyes and let go of the mental map you have of the river. I don’t think it was a coincidence that as soon as I came to that conclusion I caught the first fish of the day.

Lip hooked with a Mercer Stone.

Purdy.

Dunsmuir Tail

On the journey along the tracks I also took maybe the best picture I’ve ever taken of the Upper Sac. This particular vantage shows my favorite water on earth. It isn’t a bonefish flat. It is my home water. To the left, I caught my first trout on a fly by myself. To the right, my favorite riffle. Of course, there is about 3-4 feet more water in the river right now, but this water is just dear to me. I want to share this spot with as many people as I can.

This is where my fly fishing life started.

I don’t think I’m going to be getting out on the water tomorrow, but that’s OK. My dad and I have a day on some private water on Thursday before we head back South. The weather is supposed to turn with showers showing up on the weather outlook. I noticed snow still under the trees as we went over the summit to McCloud this evening. There is a lot of water still to come down.

These are classic rainbows in their native range.

I ended up landing 6 fish today, losing a handful of others. That is probably about as much as I could hope for and probably better than most would expect, given the rather challenging conditions. Still… you go fishing in the river you have, not the river as you might want it to be.

Tagged Bonefish Vid

For your viewing pleasure, a guy from TCO Fly Shop casting to and catching a bonefish in Abaco. You can see in the video that the bone is tagged, turns out they did the tagging. More people helping out the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust… I like it. Good job TCO Fly Shop!

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25
May 10

Interview with Louie the Fish

Louie the Fish not only catches bonefish in those oh-so-difficult bonefish hunting ground of Hawaii. Louie has been at it a while and he also does some pretty outstanding fish carvings.

Louie agreed to do a little interview for Bonefish on the Brain.

Louie, can you tell me about a particularly memorable fish?

I have so many fish that stand out in my memory, from my first 6 inch native brook trout in Connecticut at about 10 years old, right up to great catches 50 years later.

Here in Hawaii I have been a bonefish fanatic for about 10 years. I got my first taste of what this amazing fish can do while on holiday in the Florida Keys. I was wading around behind a friend’s house on the gulf side of Islamorada. Bonefish were everywhere, right at my feet, and they all had lockjaw. I tried every fly in my box!

Finally, in frustration, I decided to tie on a big green wooly bugger with palmered red hackle, and I waded out to the edge of the marl, and began blind casting, stripping it back, cast after long cast.

Like a cannon going off, I got a strike, that within a millisecond ended suddenly in a balled up mess of line, and a big break off. I was clever enough to repeat the whole fiasco a few minutes later….smoked by my first encounter with bonefish!

But that experience was prophetic. A few years later I began fishing here in Honolulu, and doing what most bonefishers do, stalking bones in an attempt to catch them sight fishing. Three weeks went by fishless, and then a light went on in my brain. I remembered that blind casting got me my first bonefish bites, so I became a dedicated blind caster. I discovered many hot spots, and began catching many big bonefish. I even wrote articles about it, and word got out, and I found myself guiding anglers for bonefish. I had it down to a science, where to fish, how to cast and how to retrieve, and designed special weedless flies meant for blind casting.

A blind casting Aloha Bone

Joaquin, Louie's son and a guide, with another monster blind casting bone.

Of course like all want-to-be purists, I still leaned toward sight fishing, and when conditions were good, I did that as well. This is all leading up to my story about my most memorable bonefish.

One day I was on a flat we called Ross’s flat, since friend and fly fisher Ross had recently landed a 37 inch bonefish, estimated at about 18 pounds, an easy IGFA record, had he not released it. It was late afternoon, the easterly wind was strong, and the sun was in the west. I was wading slowly upwind, since I could only spot fish in that direction. I had many, many shots, but it was hard to cast into the wind, and I spooked bonefish after bonefish. I finally got to the top of a long stretch, and decided to turn around. Downwind it was all glare, so I couldn’t see fish, but it was easy to make long casts. The water was only about knee deep, so I put on a lightly weighted fly, my Leeezardfish fly. Three casts later, a small thump was followed by a run which gradually increased in speed and distance, until that bonefish was out of sight almost, and had almost reached the distant, coral lined reef edge. Well several shorter runs later, and I slipped a hand under a 32 inch, very fat bonefish, maybe 13 or 14 pounds.

The battle had attracted Ross, who had a camera that got this shot, before I released my biggest, and most memorable bonefish, made even more memorable, because blind casting had succeeded where sight fishing had not!. This was just one of many double figure bonefish I have landed here blind casting. Of course by now I have landed almost as many sight fishing, but when conditions demand a change, go with the conditions!

I'm pretty sure that's a whale (actually, it is the fish from the story).

If you happen to come here to try your hand at our elusive bonefish, stop in at Hawaii’s only fly shop, Nervous Water Hawaii, and those guys, Sean and Clay, who have fly fished for bones here all their lives, will readily attest to the fact, that in Hawaii, due to the nature of our reef flats and prevailing conditions, bonefish are most easily caught blind casting.

Well… blind casting… who knew?

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24
May 10

FIBFest Closes

It has been fun to watch what’s come out of FIBFest 2010 down at Andros South. The week has come to an end, sadly, and now it is all but memories. Looks like some pretty good ones were made.

Here’s a stellar wrap up by Michael Gracie akin to an Oscar acceptance speech.

Fishing Jones had a rather literary take on things.

This whole thing was put together by Andrew from Deneki Outdoors. The idea, of course, was to stir up interest in bonefishing and in Andros South. I think that has been accomplished.

The hunting grounds of Andros South.

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22
May 10

Bonefish Flat goes Bonefishing

There’s a blog called The Bonefish Flat. He and I have a couple things in common… one, we really like bonefish and two, we don’t get fishing as much as we’d like.

He recently made a trip to Grand Bahama with his dad to do some bonefishing. Fish were caught, memories made.

Check it out. The trip report is in three parts. You can start at part 1 and go on from there.

Bonefish Flat gets a bonefish

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20
May 10

Interview with Coach Duff

If you have been paying attention to the Bonefishing News the past few years, you’ve probably heard something about bonefish in Hawaii and you’ve probably seen Coach Duff referenced a few dozen times. The Coach agreed to do an interview and it is worth reading.

Coach, how did you end up in Hawaii as a bonefishing guide?

I had heard rumors of big bones for years in the Pacific Northwest, where I was more or less a steelhead bum. I came here to coach for June Jones at the University of Hawaii and was lucky enough to join the program as it was coming into its record breaking 2007 Sugar Bowl Season. I went out on the North Shore my second day in Hawaii with my wife and kids to barbecue. My wife is a local girl and liked this certain beach. Well about 30 blind full line casts into deeper water with a big Clouser I hooked and landed a 9 pound Hawaiian Bonefish (Abula Glossodanta) that ran like it had a rocket shoved up it’s ass.

That was it for me, and I soon was pouring over charts, maps, Google Earth and anything else I could find to locate flats and get to the real business of sightfishing for these pigs.

Nice Aloha Bone

Do you have a fish that stands out, one you remember more than others?

Mark Hopkins landed a 13 plus and a 10 in less than one hour one day.

He is a great angler and a great guy to fish with out of New Mexico. I was with Blake McHenry one day and he hooked a pig on the North Shore which took us 150 yards into coral heads. He free spooled the fish and it took us 20 minutes to pole after it painstakingly getting line back that was tangled in a complete cluster#$%^ all over the reef. We finally got back to the 20 pound leader and damn it that monster wasn’t still on the hook! It was pretty defeated but in 8-10 feet of water so I jumped in headfirst and swam down following the leader underwater and netted it under the surface. Then I swam up and handed it to Blake who was dancing on the casting deck of my Andros 18 footer and in his complete fired up state, kicked his feet out and landed flat on his back laughing his ass off. We looked like little kids dancing around and screaming and whooping. You know, these are the moments I like the best. There are alot of great bonefish guides out there Bjorn, hell I can’t hold a candle to some of the great ones but when you can be a kid again, when you can scream and jump and let flyfishing really take over, take you to that place we all search for every day, it makes this stuff special.

The Hawaiian mentality when it comes to fish, as I understand it, is “Catch it, Kill it, Eat it.” How do the locals react when they hear you are practicing catch and release?

I want to make it clear once and for all, that there are some great conservationists in Hawaii, gear fisherman who DO practice catch and release. Sure there are plenty of the “kill everything mentality” they are by far the majority and we are trying to reach each one of those guys and gals one by one. It will take time. I’ll never surrender, you can bet on that. Overall the reception may be a bit guarded and suspicious but as I said earlier there are some great catch and release anglers here. Being Hawaiian isn’t a blood line thing, it’s an overall love of everything Hawaiian, including it’s wildlife. When locals realize you are putting “THEIR” fish back, they love you for it and respect it even if it seems crazy to them. Notice I said “THEIR” fish.

Far too often we take the “missionary approach” in all forms of conservation. That is we blast in and beat our chests and tell locals with thousands of years of certain practices how fucked up they are and start ramming legislation up their asses. Good or bad, right or wrong (and it’s often right with science backed data) that never works for anyone. I am asked that alot in my boat guiding and usually I ask the angler where his home river is. He’ll answer “The Skagit” or “The Gunpowder” or whatever it may be. I then ask him/her “Do you have any poaching problems on that river and the answer is always 110 percent “Hell yes!” Well then let’s remember this is an issue world wide in every culture, every body of water, every type of fishing. We may have a little bit higher mountain to climb here in Hawaii but also remember that we live in a special culture here and to jam our views learned on catch and release Western Rivers is not only insulting but will be met with hostility, deservedly so. I grew up on the Skagit/Sauk rivers and I saw more illegal netting on those rivers than I do here on our flats.

So yes the inshore fishery has been hit pretty hard due to lack of regulations but the bonefish has prospered in the wake of the destruction. It ain’t over and we will continue to do our part to educate each angler, each netter, one by one and maybe we can turn it around. These are beautiful people and they do care about their islands, we just have to reach them by walking the walk every day in front of them.

A Coach client with a nice bone.

Talk a little bit about gear considerations for the unique aspects of Hawaiian bonefishing.

I like a top notch 9 weight saltwater flyrod with a 10 weight Monic clear floater and a 10-12 foot 12-20 pound tapered leader (depending on how much coral is around for abrasion resistance) and always tie on my flies with a small Lefty’s Loop. If it’s good enough for Lefty, it sure the hell is good enough for my hack ass!!!! LOL I like tan, brown, Olive, Orange, Pink and Yellow flies in sizes 8 through 2-0 depending on the area fished and the fish I am hunting. I like crabs on soft bottom flats with some mantis shrimp imitations and on heavy inner reef areas or coral rock areas I go to mantis imitations matching the color of the bottom. I like one long slow strip with a mantis, (sometimes we’ll pop or jump it if they are really active) and one strip (smooth) with a crab and then with the crab we leave it alone! With smaller fish and smaller flies we will go to a shrimp type retrieve, “POP POP POP POP pause…… POP POP POP POPpause…. but those smaller fish (2-5 pounds) are very forgiving and will often take the fly out of your hand like a Westslope Cutthroat. The big boys and girls, the 8 pounders and up give you no feeling, no line movement, no “take” you have to witness their stopping on the fly, and then you look for the lifting of the tail, the “backshake” or the “fin dance” and hit em with a good long strip strike. Far too often our anglers have Mexico and Belize as their bonefishing experience and they keep waiting for the “strike” which never comes here on our big fish. I call it the “Jedi mind strike” You have to see it, believe it and “hit em”! LOL And then of course there are those times when Mr. Hotshit guide yours truly blows it, reads the whole shooting match wrong, yells “Hit em!” and they are not there on the other end, but we don’t talk about about that………..LOL

PS Practice your casting before you come to Hawaii boys and girls.

15-20 mile an hour trade winds are the norm, not the exception and if you can’t double haul your asses off, it makes it tough. Find a good instructor, get some brews and hit your favorite park. You get better casting in the park, and better and hooking fish on the water. A little something from the Coach because I care. This is a tough fishery and casting is everything.

For the size of the fishery, Hawaii has received an amazing amount of publicity as of late. There are a number of places around the range of the bonefish that have been really adversely impacted by too much pressure. Is there too much pressure on the flats now? Is that a concern?

No, there is not too much pressure. You have to remember there is no real flyfishing culture here. It is slowly growing but it will be some time before there is too much pressure here. I have a custom flats boat and that triples or quadruples how much flats areas you can fish.

Someday there will be pressure here, but it’s not here yet.

Hawaii is known for big, monster, unreasonably large bonefish. How likely do you think it is that Hawaii will break the magic 20 pound mark?

It’s here, I’ve seen it. Dave McCoy and Doug Cambell just saw a fish two months ago that was 20 easy. But it’s gonna be really hard to land one those pigs. Lots of coral, rock and other obstacles make it pretty unlikely to happen on a flyrod. It’s possible in a couple areas but………… pretty unlikely due to terrain issues. Plus when I got here a few folks who constantly claimed they were seeing all of these 20 pound fish were flat out full of shit. I now know that alot of those “20 pounders” they claimed to see where big milkfish. I’ve landed fish up to 14 pounds now and let me tell you that is a damn monster of a bonefish. Plus these guys were only wading and I am floating the flats in a quiet flats boat most of the day. I see fish pretty commonly in the 12-16 pound range, but a 20 pound bonefish is a damn freak. In 3 hard years of fishing here, I’ve seen maybe 3 fish I think were over 20. One with Florida Keys legend Jim Bokor, one with Tom Brokaw’s ranch manager Doug Cambell and my good buddy flyfishing photographer and guiding pro Dave McCoy and one while out with former Keys ace guide and IGFA world inshore guiding champion Captain Chris Asaro whom now lives here and guides with me. All of these fish were well over 38 inches in length (one close to 42-44) and big shouldered. Remember this species Abula Glossodanta is 28 to the fork uniformly to be 10 pounds and you can add a pound for each inch. So a 20 pound fish has to be 38 inches long with this species which is completely different than the Florida species.

Some tail.

When you are out on the water a lot you tend to see some interesting things… funny, strange, weird or frightening things. Is there something unique that you’ve seen out there on the waters of Hawaii that really stands out?

I saw a 15-17 foot tiger shark swim right up to my boat last Labor Day as I was standing on my platform coming off of a flat into deeper water and just about pissed myself. Man, my boat felt SMALL that day! I know, there’s no way he could have gotten us, but the mass and power of that big boy sure put my piss ant place in nature in perspective. We really are sharing THEIR water with them out there. It’s too bad we can’t see it that way some times. What an awesome, awesome creature.

I know you developed a fly called the Lunch Plate Special, a crab patterns specifically for the big bones of Oahu. Was there something specific you wanted to capture in the fly?

A big calorie filled swimming crab imitation that had some “mojo” some life, some “Ha” as it’s called in Hawaii. I wanted big bones to see it and know they needed it now, with little or no stripping, little or no angler induced movement. So far it’s working pretty damn good. But for every monster that eats it, another one turns the other way, so as with any other trophy flyfishing, I do not believe in “magic patters” or “flies that work all the time”. Bullshit I say to that. Presentation is everything with big bones and if the fly looks right, the picky bastards will reward you…………….. Sometimes! LOL

By all accounts the least bonefishy island is Maui. Are there bones on Maui for all those poor souls that don’t head to a more bonefish friendly island?

You could find some kayaking in deeper water but overall Maui is pretty tough inshore. You best bet is to get on a plane and come fish with the Coach, Captain Chris Asaro or Captain Hennessey (a good friend and a great guide in his own right.)

Anything else to add?

Mahalo Bjorn and keep on hunting those bones. No matter how good we get at this sport, how many big fish we land, how far we can cast, we are just grown up versions of little boys and girls sitting on a grassy knoll watching a bobber in a pond or in a small creek our daddy sat us down on and said “Right here son, this is the spot I told you about”.

We may use a flyrod as adults but in essence that’s all we really are.

I try to remember that every day, that special feeling of wondering what that pond might hold, and why it catapulted me as a little tiny guy on Sumas creek with my dad and uncle chasing 6 inch cutthroat to a life of beautiful places, incredible cultures and the best people in the world.

(Flyrodders) We take ourselves far too seriously in this sport and it hurts us far more than it helps us. Aloha!!!!

Thanks Coach. Hope to see you out there one of these days.

Fish Tails — 3 Comments
04
May 10

Interview with Yvon Chouinard

Yvon Chouinard has led a pretty interesting life. He founded Patagonia, sure. But he’s also lived the life that Patagonia has supported… he climbs, he surfs and he fishes. He fishes for Atlantic Salmon in remote reaches of Russia, he fishes for Steelhead on the Babine River in British Columbia, has been seen at Three Dollar Bridge on the Madison and he’s been seen wading the muck in the Marls of Abaco on the series Pirates of the Flats.

I would like to work for Patagonia... just say'n.

Yvon co-founded 1% for the Planet with Craig Matthews and is a committed supporter of wild places and the wild things that live in those places.

Is there an aspect of bonefishing that stands out for you when contrasted with the other species pursued with a fly rod?

Both Lefty Kreh and I think it’s our favorite fish because it’s like a combination of hunting and fishing. It uses up all the senses especially if you don’t fish with guides, which I have stopped doing. The working out of tides and spotting them on your own is one of the most satisfying parts of the experience.

With bonefish habitat spanning the globe along predictable latitudes, do you find yourself drawn to the same waters and the same flats again and again, or do you seek to explore?

I like to fish different places. My favorite is to go to the Tuamotos in Tahiti with my surfboard and fly rod, and fish the flats near the lagoon entrance. Trouble is these flats small and the fish are big and even with 30lb tippet they break you off on the coral.

Great anglers have great teachers. Have you had any particularly influential bonefishing mentors?

Yeah, Lefty. He is the best teacher there is. Also, Moana on Christmas Island, who has only one eye, but is unbelievable at spotting fish. He just says “fish coming over there” and nothing else and looks for the next one while you deal on your own with it. Why can’t there be more guides like this?

While one might be able to catch bonefish along the popular beaches of Los Roques, most bonefishing is done in a wilderness setting. In the wilderness things are, well, wild. Is there anything you’ve seen out on the flats that stands out as remarkably wild, interesting or unusual?

Some of the flats in the South Pacific are so full of sharks that sometimes I’ve been driven off the flats because they are so aggressive. I have to carry a long pole to fend them off.

Pirates of the Flats was a great series. What do you hope viewers take away from it?

The most important thing is to get the fish in quickly and leave it in the water. Forget the hero pose.

Pirates Casting

When I think of bonefish I also tend to think of Kalik and Cracked Conch. Are there other associations you make when thinking about bonefish?

I just love walking the flats and observing all the life around.

Thanks Yvon. Appreciate your thoughts.

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29
Apr 10

NYT Throwback – 1994 Howell Raines – Xmas Island

The Gray Lady has dished out some good stories on the Gray Ghost over the years. While searching for some bonefish nuggets I found this story from Howell Raines from 1994 all about Christmas Island… Pursuing the Bonefish Across a Watery Desert.

Albula vulpes, “the gray ghost of the sand flats,” is one of the most lied about and lusted after fish in the world. Catching one is not as hard as devotees like to pretend, but it is hard enough.

See… that’s nice.

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27
Apr 10

Interview with Bill Marts from The Fly Shop

There is a fly shop in Redding, CA simply named “The Fly Shop.” It is one of the largest fly fishing operations around, although if you aren’t from California or Southern Oregon you might not have heard of it. They sit near a river that can be fished probably 340 or so days a year and they are an hour away from some of the best steelhead, freestone trout and spring creek fishing that California has to offer. They have grown to be one of the largest catalog operations (both on-line and the paper kind, although they launched an e-catalog this last year as well), have many private waters, a guide service and an international travel business (they even recently branched out into real estate too).

A guy you might not have heard of there is Bill Marts. Bill is a Destinations Specialist and the resident saltwater destination guru with The Fly Shop. He’s had the good fortune to fish for bones all over, catching his first in the Keys in 1982 (I was 8 and it would take me 26 more years to catch my first). Bill agreed to answer a few questions about his bonefishing life.

Bill, as the saltwater specialist at The Fly Shop, you’ve had the opportunity to fish all over the world for bonefish. Is there a location that you still are itching to explore?

I am itching to explore any saltwater knee-deep or less. I would love to go to the Mauritius. I would give my next to the best fly rod to be able to go back to the Cook Islands and Tuamotu Islands to poke around. Not because the fishing was so outstanding, but they are such wild places and you can walk for miles without seeing anyone (and sometimes without seeing any bones either), and just walking the flats is an enjoyable pastime. Don’t get me wrong, I DO like to catch fish and it always adds to a trip or outing, but it can still be a good trip without “off-the-charts” fishing. I like seeing new places and finding what it has to offer. Maybe it is not bones, but another fish roaming the shallows.

It seems that there are big fish locations and many fish locations. Would you rather have shots at fish all day long or would you rather hunt the really big bones?

I am not single minded, but I would normally rather fish for fewer big fish than a lot of smaller ones. But more important is the actual fishing for them. If there were hundreds of big fish in a mud, and even though they are big and you could catch a lot of them, it would not be fun. But an 18” tailing fish that has to be stalked and the wrong cast will spook it, now that is fishing! So what I really like is the hunt, the circumstances, and the surroundings. When looking for a place for clients at the office, these are the kinds of things I like to find out about him or her.

Of all the places you’ve fished, is there one fly that pretty much works everywhere (or do they all pretty much work everywhere)?

In addition to working in The Fly Shop Travel Dept, I am also a signature tier for Idylwilde Flies and I like nothing more than to tie up new patterns and color combinations and take them for a test run. But one fly goes to every flats destination I go to and that is a Gotcha in sizes 2 through 8, and heavily weighted to hardly weighted at all. I do find that darker or olive or mottled flies tend to do better over grass flats and the whites, browns and tans work well over sand. Flies should be chosen for their color and characteristics (lots or no movement, rubber legs or no legs, weight or no weight, big or small). I also like a little pink or orange in the fly somewhere on some flies. I say “you can’t take too many flies on a trip.” So, I try to cover all of the bases on the flats, over reefs or in the blue water.

Do you have one fish that really stands out in your memory? One special fish, for whatever reason?

Yes. I was fishing with a guide named Alvin out of Kamalame Cay, on Andros Island. We’d had a good morning of wade-fishing and I wanted more, so Alvin put me on a shoreline flat that was also a bay with rocks scattered throughout the its mouth. The boat with Alvin sitting in it was anchored and I was standing outside of it leaning up against it having lunch, eating a sandwich and drinking a beer. We saw a good sized fish slowly making its way toward us and very close to the boat and we both thought it was a small shark. After it got within two rod lengths of us and head away, we both realized it was a big bonefish. Alvin started going nuts claiming its size to be about twice what it really was. But he was at one time praying, yelling, whispering and stuttering. I followed the fish and cast and cast and cast and kept following it for over a hundred yards. I could hear Alvin following along behind me. I saw the fish was heading to a shoreline where I hoped it would take a right and follow that shore. So I started cutting it off. I made my last “hail Mary” cast. It landed behind and off to the right of the fish, but I was using a big fly and the fish saw it, turned, cranked up the speed and ate it. I really couldn’t believe it, but it was on and heading directly for the boat and the ANCHOR ROPE! So Alvin took off running across the flats and turned the fish before wrapping the line. It then took off for the rocks. Alvin really wanted this fish. He took off after it again and turned it again, finally toward me. I did get it in and was reaching for it when it slipped of the hook. I couldn’t believe it and I hung my arms and head down. I looked upon hearing Alvin running across the flats, yet another time. He was after the fish, AGAIN. I had to get a picture of this. As I was getting my camera out I heard a big splash (Alvin is well over 6 feet tall and WELL over 200 pounds). He was lying on his side in the water. I was getting closer to him to take a picture of him and saw the most satisfied grin on his face and he pointed under him. Then he pulled out the fish. No, it wasn’t as big as he first thought, but it turned out to be a very memorable one.

Great story with the picture too. A rarity.

Beyond the most obvious things (rod, reel, polarized glasses), what’s the one thing you never leave for a trip without?

It is a small thing, but makes casting (and catching fish) easier and more accurate. I always take a fly line cleaner and use it often. Even if the line mfg claims it doesn’t need it, I still use it. When wading, the line stays floating behind me and therefore picks up off of the water easier, making a longer more accurate cast easier. It shoots through the guides easier and is less likely to tangle.

When someone calls The Fly Shop and wants to catch a bonefish, do you match them up with a location based on what they are looking for, or do they come to you already set on a destination, even if it might not be right for their skill level or expectations?

The biggest reason I went to work for The Fly Shop a little over five years ago was its attitude towards its traveling clients. It is drilled into our heads that we work for them (the clients), not the lodges. But by doing this we are also doing the best thing for the lodges. We always try to match up our clients with the exact right fit regarding their destination. My best tool is asking questions. Even if someone calls and wants to go to a specific location, I still ask away. I like to find out why and how they came to this conclusion. I would only send someone to a destination that I didn’t feel right about if the clients insisted and I said what I had to say. There are good and unique qualities to all of our destinations and we try to line up our clients with the one that meets their expectations.

Do you have a favorite bonefishing rig?

I like a #7 or 8 fairly fast action rod (like the Sage TCX #7, or Xi3 #8), floating tropic line (Rio Bonefish or Sci Angler Redfish) and 9’ – 12’ fluorocarbon knotless leader (I prefer no knots because they can catch on coral or grass and cause breakage).

Many people think of long casts and accurate presentations when it comes to bonefish. What’s the SHORTEST cast you’ve ever made to catch a bonefish?

When fishing in Los Roques in the late ‘80’s, I was getting ready to get out of the boat and my fly was dangling over the gunwale, maybe 2 feet under the surface. You guessed it. A bonefish ate it and I landed it before getting in the water. At another time and in another place I was wading the flats and was changing my fly. Just as I knotted the new fly on and was getting ready to start working out line, I saw a bone making its way to me about 15 feet away. I didn’t dare cast or move too much or I would spook it. So I tossed the fly with my hand to the water in front of me (3 feet from my feet). I froze and when the fish got close I just twitched it slightly. The fish jumped on it right away. It took off, wrapped me around some coral and broke me off; about that quick. So, although a long cast isn’t necessary to catch fish, I maintain that the farther one can cast accurately, the more fish will be caught. This applies to windy as well as calm days. This does not mean that one has to cast far to catch fish only that more fish will be caught with longer casts. But, we all know that numbers don’t make the trip, so no matter how far one can cast, there is no excuse for not going to a bonefish destination. I always advise clients heading to the flats for the first time to take some casting lessons from a qualified instructor (one who has fish the flats). Even if the client has fish for decades in fresh water, a lesson from a saltwater casting instructor will improve their chance on the flats. Flats fishing is different that freshwater fishing.

Where are you headed for your next bonefishing trip?

I don’t know yet. Probably the Bahamas. There are a lot of islands and flats I haven’t waded there, yet.

Bill + Bone

What happens when you go to a place to fish bonefish and they just aren’t there, for whatever reason?

Take the blinders off and look for other species. Almost all flats (or close to them) have a good barracuda and/or shark population. They will attack a fly and give a good account of themselves. I discovered the fun of fishing for and catching triggerfish on a recent trip to Christmas Island. I would never over look them again. A great gamefish. I may have my mind set on a certain path for catching a single species or size of fish or whatever restrictions I may set on myself for a certain trip. Sometimes this works out. But one thing I’ve learned is that the narrower the agenda you set for yourself, the more likelihood of failure. If one says “I am going on a fishing trip” and goes on that trip, it is a success. If the agenda is to catch a ten pound bone and one isn’t caught, the trip is a failure. I have widened my agenda tremendously in later years and I have had so many successful trips.

Thanks Bill!

Bonefish on the Brain Bonefish and all that relates (maybe a bit about tarpon too).