The variables when chasing bonefish
We usually chase bonefish on tidal flats, casting from shallow-draft skiffs. The angler is in the bow, sometimes in a “cage,” and the guide is poling the skiff from a platform above the outboard.
I refer the reader to the blog above on this part.
Bonefish are, as a rule, challenging fish to catch. Not as difficult as permit, though. To catch them, it is best to spot them. However, it takes experience to locate them consistently. Sometimes you just have to believe your guide and deliver the fly sixty feet at 11 o’clock. When you hook one, you are in for a surprisingly fast run that will take you into the backing. The guide up on a poling platform is in a much better position to spot fish. When he does, he guides you to their position, and if you are lucky, the fish can be reached with a cast. After spotting the fish, the guide might say, "Point your rod - left - stop - 45 feet," for instance. After you totally bungled it, the best guides will conduct a brutally honest post-mortem. "When you took that clumsy step up on the bow, you scared the fish away." Or "When you slapped that line down, it scared the fish.” You get the picture. There have been many more variants of my ineptitude, but when I do everything right, the fish take a look at my fly and sometimes grab it. The skiffs used are shallow-draft, very light. Bonefish can also be caught by wading the flats. Spotting them from a lower position is more difficult but doable. Sometimes, after finding a fish, the water is too shallow for the skiff. Then, you try to get into a position by wading.
Bonefish use the mangroves to escape and love to tangle you up by swimming through them.
Chasing Bonefish
It is difficult but exhilarating. Their runs are spectacular, and they are sneaky and run into the mangroves and out again to tangle you up. It is not a given that you land the one you hooked. However, that is in itself the most exciting part. To catch one, you need several heavenly bodies to align. First off, you must see the fish; then, you can cast to it, and on and on. I have broken it down to the following parts to clarify my thinking and to give you an idea of the complexity involved.
The moving parts of Bonefishing
1. Sun position and its movement across the sky
It is always best to have sunshine, then the fish will have a shadow that you can spot, and that will lead you to the fish. It is best to keep the sun behind you so you do not have to look into the glare from the surface. How the sun is moving and how you are moving is important, and the guides set up their poling paths to take advantage of that. So trust your guides to do that part - you are in their home waters. On an overcast day the fish can still be spotted, but it is much harder.
2. Clouds and where they are moving
Pay attention to the clouds and how they are moving, since this directly affects visibility. If you are under a cloud, but there is sunshine "over there," you move over there.
3. The wind
Be prepared for the wind. You might have to cast into a stiff breeze. The wind might be blowing onto your casting side, pushing the line into your body. You might have to make your back cast into a hard wind, and you must be able to solve that. Very rarely is the wind direction "right" and the wind light. The only advice I can give is that you should practice the "wind" casts before you go there.
Line control is important in the wind. Mostly, you can let the line loose on the deck if you take care to get it into the lower well, cockpit, of the skiff. There, your fishing buddy can keep an eye on it and clear tangles. It is advantageous to place this line between the leaning poles - it seems to help to control the line. One day, it was blowing so hard that I had to hold the loops tight in my left hand. A very big loop on my pinkie, a slightly smaller one on my ring finger, and a smaller still on my middle finger, similar to what one can do when using a two-handed rod for salmon. Then, you shoot it out when opportunity arises.
4. The tidal movement
As the tide inundates the mangroves, bonefish move into that maze to feed. When the tide falls, the fish move off again. So, it is vital to be cognizant of the tidal movement. However, reading a tidal almanac is not enough. Wind can block the water from rising and, conversely, can block its egress from the flats. Local knowledge is the key, and the guides are tuned onto this.
5. Travel line of fish and speed
Bonefish rarely keep still. I have seen countless bonefish that turned out to be sticks on the bottom. "Not moving - bottom," was the guides’ refrain. When you see a fish and it is moving, you must place the fly in front of it. For that, you have to gauge the speed at which the fish is moving. You assume they go straight and try to intersect their line of travel. It is preferable that the fly sinks to the bottom before the fish gets there. The correct weight of the fly in relation to the depth of water must be spot on.
6. Movement of boat and disturbance from it
I was skeptical about claims that the fish could sense the boat at 60 feet, but I came away a convert. Just by rocking the boat slightly is enough. Once I stumbled slightly and put my foot down a bit too hard, the fish in my sights bolted. This is one moving part we can have control over. Move slowly and do not make any noise that is unnecessary. Barefoot on the bow is probably the best option; otherwise, wear something soft on your feet.
7. Your surroundings
One needs to pay constant attention to the surroundings because the mangroves will happily eat your fly line if you place your back cast close to them.
How to prepare for a Bonefish trip?
It is tempting and easy to buy all the paraphernalia of fishing and equate that with success. That is not how it works. Most of the "moving parts" above are outside your control. What is under your control is your casting prowess, your movement in the boat, and using correctly weighted flies (get the fly to the bottom before the bonefish arrives). Your casting is by far the single most important point. I have never met a person who casts too well. I have met a lot of fishermen who could improve their casts with simple corrections.
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