bonefish | Bonefish on the Brain

Bonefish True or False

I found this Bonefish quiz on Field and Stream.com. Kind of a fun little bit that includes…

2. Bonefish offspring/juveniles have been located as far north as (or farther than) Long Island, New York…

5. Bonefish can live at least 20 years…

6. A bonefish’s diet changes as it grows; under 16″ fish primarily eat worms and clams; over 16″ fish eat shrimp and crabs; over 24″ fish eat other fish, like toadfish and gobies (choose your fly accordingly!)…

The link at the top will take you to the rest of the quiz.

I kind of forget about Field and Stream since I’m not too interested in the “Field” part of the magazine. I recall my dad subscribing during my childhood (100% for anything about steelhead).

A search for “bonefish” turns up 210 entries at F&S… whoa. Who knew. Might be mining some more gems from them down the road.

Other Updates:

I now have water again at the Sierra Bonefish Headquaters and have used that water to wash myself in all the important places (and unimportant ones)…
I discovered that I cannot make it up my street in 4×4 High, but can in Low…
This guy went to GBI just recently and caught some fish… promising, since I’m going to GBI in just over a month…
Coach Duff sent a couple pics of a NOICE bonefish (11.5 pounder) caught by client Luke on Coach’s 1/0 “Plate Lunch” crab pattern… one of those pics is below.

That is some nice HI bonefish that in no way would make a good fish cake

Also, I’ve just hit 7,000 views on this little endeavor of mine (up since August). Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing and I hope we meet on the water some day (unless you are a total a-hole).

(Field and Stream quote used with permission from F&S)

All the other stuff — No Comments
10
Dec 09

As I sit here in my own stink, I just don’t have much energy to put into a blog post tonight… this storm and accompanying freezing temps have drained me just as sure as they busted the water line to our house, depriving me of hot water (or cold water, for that matter) and that clean-as-a-whistle feeling.

I also have the great comfort in knowing that I am not alone tonight… seems I picked up some sort of mite from the dirty river water there in Vallarta. Of course the cream I’m supposed to use does require me to shower it off after 12-14 hours… a feat that is currently impossible at my present location.

So, I give you some Simms fish porn that does include bonefish, as well as a permit. I know Simms is a good company, I own two pairs of their boots and a pair of their sandals. I don’t own their waders or, well, any of their other stuff. You can only wear one set of clothes/gear out there, as it turns out.

Locations — No Comments
07
Dec 09

Cozumel Bonefishing – Oregon perspective

The Caddis Fly Shop in Eugene, Oregon… sounds like a nice,wet, cool place to be from. Turns out November is a slow month at the shop and it also turns out that the owner headed to Playa Del Carmen for a family trip. From there, a ferry ride to Cozumel and, to his surprise, some good fishing.

Now, this is one of those things that folks with families should keep in mind… you very well may find yourself in Cancun or Playa Del Carmen on some family vacation. You may, in the midst of packing for this family vacation wonder “should I bring my rod along?”

“Yes” is the answer. This also turns out to be the answer if you are headed to Hawaii (minus Maui), Vallarta (although not for bones) or many, many other places. Bring the rod. Bring the rod. Say it with me, “Bring the rod.”

Here’s why…

A Caddis Fly Shop Cozumel Bonefish, with permission from The Caddis Fly Shop

Conservation — No Comments
06
Dec 09

Florida prepared to kick Bones and Permit in the nads

There was a great Op-Ed in Field and Stream about upcoming (and very important) meetings in Florida that will further detail what protections are and are not given to bonefish and permit.

The news isn’t so great. It appears that the good folks in the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission think that “catch and release” means you can’t touch the fish, despite C&R being on the books in lots and lots of states and countries.

From the article…

At the FWC Bonefish Workshops in October 2009, FWC staff stated that the FWC interpretation was that “catch and release” was equivalent to “prohibited species”. Based on FWC’s interpretation, this means that even touching the fish (e.g., holding a bonefish to take a photo, remove a hook, or to measure) constitutes ‘”possession” and a fine/ticket if witnessed by an FWC enforcement officer. This interpretation is counter to responsible fisheries conservation.

Catch and release is used as a fisheries management tool throughout the United States and in many places in the world. In these locations, catch and release is interpreted as releasing the fish alive soon after capture. Responsibly photographing, measuring, and weighing of the fish are permitted in these states.

They also appear set to roll back protections for permit that would include opening the species to spear fishing in federal waters and eliminating spawning season closures.

The comments to Field and Stream bit speak with one voice in opposition to the thrust of the article. In fact, they use very similar wording and recite the same points. Kind of reminds one of the Bush team hitting the political talk shows all reading from the same playbook. Democrats aren’t organized enough to do that. It all smells very organized and that smell stinks.

Midcurrent.com had an op-ed directed at the permit issue.s

You can read the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust’s press release about the issue here. Once again, BTT is the leader on this issue.

Support BTT if you enjoy the tug of a bone, permit or tarpon.

Locations — 1 Comment
22
Nov 09

Kalua Bonefish

I love Kalua Pig… I like Hawaii and I love bonefish… so, it is only natural that I’d love Coach Duff‘s 11 pound Hawaiian bonefish. Read his story here.

: Hawaiian Pig = Kalua Pig

So, to wrap up…

Kalua Pig = Ruling
Hawaii = Ruling
Bonefish = Ruling
Duff’s 11 pounder = Totally Ruling

There, that should make it all perfectly clear.

Conservation — No Comments
21
Nov 09

Bonefish Preservation

Aaron Adams and BTT are everywhere, carrying the water for most of us who love, like or otherwise fish for bonefish. Found a story from the Miami Herald. BTT went down and met with Bahamian guides to discuss increasing participation in the tagging and reporting of tagged fish. Read the story here.

Tagged bone. Photo from... MIKE MAZUR / FLY FISHING IN SALT WATERS

Conservation — 1 Comment
15
Nov 09

Don’t Boga that Bone, Please

Every once in a while you’ll see a picture of a bonefish held up for the camera by a boga grip. This would seem like a good idea. It sure must be an easy way to grip the fish and control the shaky wildness that is a bonefish. It will let you get a weight on the fish pretty easily too.

There’s a downside, however… and a pretty big one. Bonefish may have hard crushers to munch on the crabs and shrimp and worms that they catch, but they also have pretty soft mouths and a boga grip + that shaky bonefish = some significant injuries to the bonefish.

One of my favorite fishing blogs, The Trout Underground, covered the issue some time back.

The Bad Idea Jeans Boga

Bad Idea Jeans.

All the other stuff / Conservation — 24 Comments
14
Nov 09

How to cook bonefish

A surprising number of searches get directed to this website for the search terms “How to cook bonefish,” or “cooking bonefish.”

Don’t eat bonefish. Really… just don’t do it. I know some cultures have a history of doing it, and for them, I say “I wish you wouldn’t, but understand if you harvest one every once in a while.” If you are not one of those people I just say “DON’T DO IT!”

These are game fish that are way too valuable to be eaten. Go get some Mahi Mahi, go get some carnitas (mmmmm, carnitas) or kalua pig (mmmmmm, other form of pork). Don’t eat bonefish. In Florida, they figure that each bonefish, over its lifetime will contribute about $75,000 to the Florida economy, about $2,500 each year. This is sustainable, catch and release angling. These are good jobs which value local eyes and local color. This isn’t cleaning up the puke from spring breakers… these are good jobs.

If you absolutely MUST cook a bonefish, here is what you need to know….

Take a 6″ bonefish (bonefish over 6″ are poisonous and will kill you with the slightest taste) and set aside.
Get a kettle of oil, fill kettle all the way to the top and heat to 650 degrees.
Call fire department.
Run out of burning building.

If you think you can’t destroy the bonefish stock and that they’ll always be there, just ask the people of Campeche in Mexico. There used to be bonefish there and there aren’t bonefish there anymore. Haven’t been bones there for 20 years or more at this point. Netting is what did it. You can pretty well wipe out a whole population with modern nylon netting.

All the other stuff / Fish Tails — 4 Comments
08
Nov 09

How's this for a first bonefish?

I just had this pop up on my bonefish google alert… a post from Gibby’s Fishing Blog about his favorite flyfishing species.

This was 20 years ago, in a tournament…

I caught my first bonefish on fly about 20 years ago. I was fishing in a tournament. The two days prior to the tournament were calm and clear. On tournament day, the sky was overcast and the wind howled at 25 miles per hour.

But I had a great guide. He not only put me on a ton of bonefish, but also kept the wind at my back and off my casting shoulder. In early afternoon, I hooked a monster bone near Shell Key. The fish departed that flat like it was shot from a cannon.

“If that fish goes deep, you’ll lose it on the coral,” said my guide.

Luckily, the fish didn’t dive and I was able to get it out of the channel and back onto the flat.

If I had known how big that fish was, I’m certain I would have choked. But I didn’t. My guide netted the fish and said, “You might as well quit now because you’ll never catch a bigger bonefish.”

The bone was slightly more than 33 inches long and weighed an estimated 14 pounds.

I won the tournament.

Wow… that = totally ruling.

That was bigger than my first bonefish by about, oh, 12 pounds or so.

My first bonefish... not 14 pounds.

All the other stuff — No Comments
06
Nov 09

Objectum – Bumper Sticker?

I am not sure how I don’t have one of these…

Honestly... how do I not have one of these?

Available at the Reel Pure store.

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

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