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Locations — 7 Comments
25
Jul 12

Killar bonefishing

Local papers sometimes run stories about folks from their area having great travel experiences. With a Google Alert set for bonefishy news, I sometimes see these stories come in through my in-box.

This story is interesting because it isn’t your normal trip. It is actually one of the Destination X trips from Angling Destinations. Because of that, we won’t get to know exactly where they were, but it sounds interesting.

One of the best parts of the story is that the main protagonist’s name is “Killar” which sounds like a pretty hard-core prison nickname.

Ten fish is a good day of bonefishing, and each of the guys had more than 10 in the first couple of hours. Killar said the fish he caught averaged more than 6 pounds — including a 10-pounder.

 

 

Fish Tails — 6 Comments
16
Jun 12

The lexicon of tarpon

No one has ever cared about how many trout I got to eat in a day.  You don’t count the number of trout you get to jump.

The reason that no one talks about those things is because they are pretty trivial. If you get a trout to eat, it is likely going to get hooked and if you get it hooked… well… odds are good that it is going to be landed.

Tarpon fishing is different. It is an accomplishment if you can get one of those massive, per-historic piscatorial wonders to eat. If you get it mostly right and you get a little lucky, you’ll get one to leap out of water in a cartwheeling, frenetic explosion.

Only when it all comes together, when you do what you need to do and you have luck on your side do you get to see the whole thing through to completion and hold that fish in your hands and look into it’s bottomless eye and feel the coarseness of its mouth and then see it swim away, maybe coming up to gulp some air before it continues on its migration.

That’s why people care about the fish you fed, the fish you jumped and the fish you landed.  It is all hard and unlikely and intoxicating and so, so, so much fun.

That’s a very real smile.

 

Photo by Jim Klug

Gear — No Comments
05
May 12

Bonefish Shirt Week – Skinny Water Culture

They guys over at Skinny Water Culture continue to do strong, strong work.  I’m a fan and have been since I first found them a few years back.  I’ve seen more and more folks in their gear.  I even saw a guy in a hotel in Cuba wearing a SWC shirt. Nice to see good things happening to good people.

You can find this bonefish microfiber shirt here.

Yup, I have this one too.

Gear — No Comments
02
May 12

Bonefish Shirt Week – 411#3

Matt over at the blog 411#3 has a series of shirts soon to be available based on his 4 tenants of saltwater fly fishing. These certainly do ring true for me and I’ll be getting one of these in the not too distant future.

Here’s the store.

Indeed.

Gear — 5 Comments
27
Mar 12

The Quiver for Cuba

The days are in single digits and I’m starting to get really annoying on the whole “Guess where I’m going?!” thing.  The media tour with Yellow Dog and Avalon is fast approaching and my rods are finally all here.

There they are.

This is what’s on tap.

  • 11 wt – Predator from Redington (I fished this in a 9 in December)
  • 10 wt – Helios from Orvis (I’ve fished this before in a 10 and an 8 )
  • 8 wt – One from Sage (brand new)
  • 8 wt – mystery prototype rod

That’s a pretty sweet line up. The only thing I don’t really have in there is a dedicated permit rod, but that’s because I hope I find more time casting to baby tarpon and not-baby bonefish than searching for permit. I just can’t help it… that’s how I feel. Don’t hate me.

These are not my rods, of course. The sad day when I get back will be returning these rods to their corporate parents. I hope to get a sense of where the new Sage One stacks up to one of my favorite rods, the Helios.  The Predator is a good, workman rod that is the low-cost rod of the bunch. The prototype? I’ve never cast a prototype before.

Basically… I’ll keep you posted and I. CAN’T. WAIT.

Fish Tails — 1 Comment
14
Nov 11

Guides making it look easy

Well… guides can really make this look easy.  Here we have a guide in Andros make a backhand cast in some decent wind and hookup pretty much instantly.

Sure made that look easy.

Locations — 2 Comments
22
Sep 11

San Diego Bonefish

Reposted from the archives.

 

Yeah, there are bones in San Diego Bay.  They are not as big as they get… well… in most places.  Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with them though.

This isn’t the kind of bonefishing most of us think of… no walking the crystal flats looking for subtle movment.  This is sinking line and blind casting.  If you have a kayak, you can head out there yourself.

If you are looking for a guide (like SoCal Fly Fishing Outfitter), you can pick one up for about $350 (before tip).

This trip is certainly under $1,000.  You’ll just have to take another trip for the mangroves and conch.

On bait, some fish around 2-3 pounds  can be caught, although fly fisherman tend to get smaller fish from the reports I’ve read.

Gear — No Comments
30
Jun 11

A real purdy boat

I like boats.  I don’t have one, but I like them.  I like the look of them.  I like being on them.  My favorite place in the whole world (at least that I can talk about) is on the bow of a flats boat.  It means I’m after bonefish.  I’m somewhere that is probably pretty awesome.  Good things are afoot.

Hell’s Bay makes some really good looking boats… really, really nice.

That’s the Marquesa Advantage and it looks awesome.  It costs more than 2x what my new Mazda costs, but I’ll bet it is more fun.

Tactics — 1 Comment
05
Jun 11

Al Caucci Fly Fishing

Tips for bonefishing from Al Caucci.  Why not?

Rig your rods with flies before you step into a boat. This way when your guide stops the boat you are on the bow and ready to fish by the time he makes his first push with the pole. I can’t tell you how many times I caught and landed bonefish while someone was struggling to get their rod strung up.

You can read all of Al’s advice at Al Caucci Fly Fishing.

Fish Tails — 1 Comment
06
May 11

Big HI Bone

Yeah… they get kind of big out there.

I want to catch a fish that big.  I can’t really comprehend what that pull must be like.

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