Lately my obsession has been bones on fly. Second outing I got lucky and nabbed one (posted about it on the other site) but been serving up donuts last few of outings. I’m not having issues finding them anymore, but I am having issues feeding them. I’m stubborn and want to only flyfish for them, wanted to start a thread to both share my experiences and maybe get some advice. I have consulted some of you privately but wanted to open up the discussion.
To be specific, I’m targeting tailing bones in really shallow water wading. This past weekend I blew countless shots at schools and singles and doubles. Sometimes these fish were as close to 20ft from me.
Right now I’m throwing an 8wt with a bonefish plus line, about a 11-12ft leader (15lb fluoro on the end) and small shrimp flies.
I’m trying to figure out which way they are heading and try to intercept. I try to lead them by a long way and then start my strip as they get on the fly. That’s not always possible so sometimes I’m throwing to a fish moving crosswise.
Here are the main problems I’m observing:
My fly is getting hung up in the grass. The flies I was using are lightly weighted (beadchain) or non-weighted. I had a couple of perfect opportunities at schools and when I started my strip was hung up, and when I freed it up they blew out. At the end of the session I tied on a fly with a guard and it was a little better but by the time I did that I didn’t have as many opportunities (I will start next time with a fly like that)
They are so damn spooky. May times just the fly or line hitting the water would cause them to bust out.
Too many false casts. On a few occasions just the line in the air was enough to cause them to bust out. I know I have to work on making the presentation more quickly so I need to practice more. These are not long casts I’m making 30-50ft range.
Obviously I’m missing something with either how I’m positioning myself and the presentation. Anytime I’ve made a perfect cast as if I was feeding a redfish it was way too close and they bolt. Anything that lands withing 3-4 ft of them seems to run them off. I know I have to lead them more.
The other thing I was thinking is I’ve been fishing ultra skinny and really calm conditions. I’m thinking next time if I have similar conditions to step down to a 6wt for a more delicate presentation with a smaller fly. Right now I’m using flies in the 4ish size but I did buy some smaller hooks I can tie up some shrimp patterns.
I’m hoping for this to be an open discussion on flies, lines, positioning and presentation, not where to find them. I got that part covered, LOL! I swear must have seen an estimated 30-40+ fish last weekend if you factor in the schools I saw. Had about 3 shots at schools of multiple fish and a handful of good shots and singles and doubles that were right in my face. One was belly crawling with his back out of the water. So cool! Anyway, looking forward to all your suggestions and discussion on the subject. Thanks!
Yes, the shallower the water the harder they are to get the fly close to. But I’m still a believer in casting at the fish. They are famous for changing directions, then your long lead is a bust. Try just a long, slow strip, instead of popping it like you would to deeper fish. All of my flies for Florida have weed guards. Size 6 is not too small. Maybe your hands smell like croquetta…
I’m hoping if I size down the tackle I will be more successful at casting at them. I resorted to those long strips purely out of frustration from hanging up but my timing was off. They do change directions quite a bit. Especially the schools for some reason they zig zag a lot!
Here’s the good news - you are getting the time spent learning the game. Even though they are being jerks, you are gaining good XP on different tactics.
Some advice above is spot on. I’ll repeat some just for clarity and add some:
Get some distance between you and the fish. 20 feet is close - they can feel everything. You mention 30 to 50. Try being 40 to 50 away - that is a sweet spot for sure due to the head of the line and the longer leader.
Since you are wading - if you are making any wake with your feet while walking, it is too fast. Sound travels 4x faster under water than on land. They can sense it.
Step down to 10lb test
Increase your leader to 14’ and see how good you can cast it. I like 8’ feet of butt and 6’ of tippet. It puts the knot further away from the fish.
Step down in fly size - size 6 or 8
Try no weight on the fly - not even bead chain. My favorite bonefish fly has no weight and works great in this situation. Bonefish will eat suspended flies and even flies on top. Yes, I’ve seen it personally.
Try a weed guard
Lead the fish as much as possible - you may wait for a while, but stick with it
If they do spook because you got close, let the fly sit. Don’t recast - leave it. They may settle and turn right back thinking they missed a meal.
You might try mono instead of flouro, I’ve had issues in really shallow, grassy areas where my tippet / leader / fly gets cause the flouro sinks, I think mono might help especially if you’re leading the fish a lot and waiting on them.
I feel your pain brother. I fished for four days last week in the Bahamas and only caught one 12” bone and I was just casting into a hole that had some cloudy water I suspected was fish…two days I saw a pod of 6-8 pounders on a grass flat and had the same issue. I’d see the tail, cast next to it and wait for the fish to get close and by then the fly would get hung in the grass and spook the fish. One bigger bone spooks and the rest haul ass too.
Thanks. Leader is mono but the 15lb tippet is fluoro. Flies are small shrimp patterns. One is a crazy charlie. Its what I caught the first bone on but that one was hanging up like crazy. Second was a simple pattern, pinkish with an orange head (didn’t tie that one) but was kinda like an unweighted crazy charlie. Last one I tied and was similar to a spawning shrimp. Even though that one had small brass eyes and a weed guard, it was the least “snaggy” of the 3.
Thanks for all the replies so far. I’m glad I posted if nothing more for the reassurance that I’m not crazy and these little demon fish can be a PITA! I will continue to post and update this as I try different tactics, I’m definitely going to try a longer leader, smaller fly and hopefully a lighter line. But watch, I’ll have the 6 weight ready to go and it will be blowing 20+ next time! Se la vie!
If you guys want to post up your favorite SoFlo bonefish flies that would also be appreciated.
Here is the Crazy Charlie I caught the bone on but was hanging up like crazy…Next to it is the shrimp I tied that was not hanging up. It looks super realistic in the water…
I got some SL45s in #4 and #6 but I have not tied on them just yet. I had some flies I tied on #4 SC15s that I was using but I’ll be tying some smaller stuff soon.
Quick story about an area that was renowned to have bonefish with PhDs. My brother and I were at a lodge about 16 years ago and there was self guiding fishing to the north. We were told by the fishing manager that the fish were super smart and had PhDs. Very tough to catch. So we took it as a challenge. We were told “good luck, you may get one or two if lucky.” This was after a day with guides and about 2 hours before dinner. So we grab two bikes, some beers, and our rods.
We find fish. We lengthen our leaders, drop the tippet size, go with unweighted flies since the fish were over turtle grass. We caught 12 - 6 between us.
So we get back and at dinner we get asked how we did. Nobody believed us, even the fishing manager. Another pair of guys actually accused us of lying, saying there was no way we caught that many.
I may have rubbed it in a bit, and probably now would only say “we did ok” and not give a number. But it shows sometime a different perspective and tactic can work.
I’m assuming you’re fishing generally somewhere in the Miami area. The bonefish around here can be spooky as all heck, way worse than anywhere else in the world that I’ve fished for them. I’ve had them spook out at 80-100 ft just by lifting the rod. Definitely work on being able to shoot enough line in just one or two false casts. Stay absolutely still in the water, too. Try longer leaders, the lightest fly that you can have still sinking fast enough, and if they keep spooking on the drop, lead them further. I usually use flies that look pretty close to yours. My buddy has a theory that the drab colored floating lines underperform compared to bright colors like orange and yellow. Seems reasonable, but I’m not ready to say it’s a fact yet.
Interesting. Care to eloborate as to the “why” he thinks that? I am really curious.
@rovster - I broke off the one bonefish I hooked… so don’t take anything I say as noteworthy.
But I was in Miami earlier this year fishing and some pompous donkey came over running his mouth… he was running a beautiful Chittum… hopefully not someone on here…
Anyway, as we was pulling off, one of his bonefish flies fell off the boat. I can post a pic of it when I get home. Very original design but bigger than I would have expected.
I think Lefty once characterized bonefish as being as skittish as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Seems right.
Lots of good advice above. You might also throw in some low to the water side arm casts just to keep the rod out of the sky. Regarding hooks, keep in mind the sink rate you want. Heavy hooks help sink the fly. The SL 45 is a little bit weak for big fish. I’ve had quite a few open up and only use them when I want a light hook. I’ve been using the Mustad SC70SAP a lot. Also tie small dime and nickel sized crabs on the Gama SL12s. The short shank helps keep a small overall size, AND a bigger gap.
The other thing is that sometimes it’s good to wait until you get the perfect shot and sometimes it’s good to hurry up. If the fish are happy and hanging around, take your time until you get a great shot at a fish that you can see actively eating or rooting in the bottom.
On other days, they’ll eat anything you throw in front of them.
! If they’re acting especially spooky, I’d go with a longer leader and drop down from 15 lb. to 12 lb. or even 10 lb.
