OK, I did the list of reasons why bonefishing was better than trout fishing, but Soren suggested it was a lazy list. It may have been. So, I thought I’d give a non-tongue-in-cheek list of why I have come to prefer a day on the flats over a day on the stream.
- Frequency. I don’t get to do it very much and scarcity, as I recall from Econ 101, has a direct and inverse relationship to value. Maybe if I lived 10 minutes from a bonefish flat I’d feel differently.
- Climate. I love me some flip flops and that’s what I wear post and pre, if I have anything on my feet at all. I love the weather. I shouldn’t, as I’m whiter than Wonder Bread, but I do. There is an appeal to a crisp fall morning, I love the sun.
- Drag. This was on the original list and for good reason. I love hearing the drag sing and the pull of the fish creating the music. The first bonefish pull I felt was a revelation. How do they pull that hard?
- Visual goodness. When trout fishing I seldom, if ever, see and target an individual fish. I fish to fishy water. I’m making educated guesses. In bonefishing there is little, if any, blind casting. You cast when you see the shape, somehow, sliding through the water. You SEE the fish. You know what you are getting into. That can make you choke, but it makes it all very real and kind of spectacular.
- Learning. I don’t know everything about trout, but I have a lot of experience with them and we have a certain understanding. Bonefish and I are, really, still strangers. I’m kind of stalking bonefish, writing “Bjorn Bonefish” in my secret journal. I have a crush on bonefish, but we are not on a first name basis. Life is about learning and I have a lot to learn.
- Hunting. I am not a hunter. I grew up around hunting and know many hunters, but it has just never been my thing. However, bonefishing feels very much like hunting and I enjoy that element of it. You have to stalk the fish. You have to know its environment. You need to exercise patience and discipline. I like that.
There are likely even more reasons and I’m not saying these are “the” reasons, these are “my” reasons. Can’t wait for my next trip, be it bonefish or trout (or even bait fishing for shark off the pier). Really, I love it all and every day I get to spend on the water is a good day.
Fishing is good.
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Tags: bonefishing, fly fishing
Hi Bjorn,
#3…”Drag”. All of my reels…fly, spinning and/or otherwise have the drag clicker removed. I hate the sound of a screaming drag. Perhaps it goes back to the days when I didn’t want to draw the attention of other Steelhead fisherman on the river. I hate the sound of and in/outgoing “click” on my fly reels. I prefer to only hear the sound of a taught line whistling in the wind and the crackle and ping of my backing trying to burry itself into the wraps. The loud buzz of a drag screaming out turns heads and that’s not what I want.
Henry
I love the hum and whirr of the new clickless drags! I don’t hunt either and this comes close.