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| We refer to the information you are viewing as our “What
to Bring” list. Actually, it is more than a list because a list, in and of itself, is not
analytical. We have expanded our list with suggestions and tips to help you understand not only what to bring,
but why to bring it. This information has been tested over 20 years and dozens of fishing trips and we stand
behind it. Bahamian and Caribbean fishing lodges that provide tackle are clearly in the minority. Some lodges have a minimal amount of “back-up” rods and reels for use in case of rod loss or breakage. However, even this equipment is often in poor condition or has been poorly maintained. Some lodges carry a smattering of flies and lures, but always seem to be “out of” the best patterns. Unless your Angler Adventures itinerary letter clearly states that the lodge you are going to provides a full inventory of rod and reel rentals, leaders and flies, we recommend you bring all your own tackle and flies, including a minimum of two rods per angler. Rods Some people recommend light rods (6 or 7 weight) for bonefish, but we’ve not found these light rods to be versatile enough. They are practical under extremely calm conditions, but 8 and 9 weight rods are preferable under normal/windy conditions and you can still make a delicate presentation with an 8 weight rod and a long leader with an unweighted fly. You may want to bring a 10 weight rod for permit, large barracuda or the occasional tarpon. Longer rods can be advantageous when wading. We highly recommend 3, 4 and 5 piece “travel rods” that you can usually take with you on an airplane. With airlines continually tightening size requirements for carry-on luggage, we believe that 4 and 5 piece rods will prove to be advantageous in the future. Carry-on Bag In addition to rods that you can carry aboard an airplane, we strongly recommend that you also pack a carry-on bag with your reels, lines, fishing accessories, (except metal objects which must go in your checked luggage) a change of clothes and all necessary medications. Reels We recommend anodized direct drive reels for salt water use, preferably with adjustable brake, cork disc drag, and a capacity of at least 150 yards of 20 pound test backing plus fly line. Lines The most popular line for bonefishing is a weight forward floating line. Cleaning your fly line will greatly enhance its ability to shoot through the rod guides. If your line is old, cracked or beyond cleaning, buy a new line. The investment of $40 - $60 on a new fly line is one of the most important tackle purchases you can make before taking an important fishing trip. The Rio Monofilament Core Bonefish Line, Scientific Angler Mastery Series bonefish taper or the Cortland 444 Laserline Tropic Plus are all good choices. The Scientific Angler Master Series lines have relatively short heads, making them suitable for casting short to medium range. The Rio Bonefish Line has a longer head, which makes it a better distance casting line. Leaders We recommend fluorocarbon tippets added to conventional monofilament leaders. Seaguar & Rio Fluoroflex are the two best on the market, and both have sufficient stiffness and abrasion resistance for saltwater use. Either a double surgeon's knot or simple blood knot (see Kreh/Sosin) is more secure than a conventional blood knot (a.k.a. barrel knot) when tying fluorocarbon to conventional mono. For traditional monofilament, we recommend clear leader material such as Mason, Maxima Clear (not "Maxima Chameleon" or "Ultra Green") Ande, Rio, Saltwater IGFA or other brands designed for use in salt water. Mason is a stiff, thick leader material that offers good abrasion resistance, as well as breaking strength. The stiffness of Mason makes a good transition between fly line and leader, improving the ability of the leader to turn over the fly. Maxima, Ande and Rio are thinner than Mason, if you prefer a softer material. Bring spools of 30-lb., 20-lb. and 15-lb., Mono and spools of 20 lb, 16 lb and 12 lb florocarbon so that you can tie leaders using the formula on page 8. When adding florocarbon tippets to regular mono, it is important that you do not tie obviously dissimilar diameters together. You need to gradually taper down the diameter of your tippet for conventional knots to hold. That's why the leader on page 8 goes from 15 lb mono to 20 lb florocarbon. Every saltwater angler should be familiar with the knots described five paragraphs below, even if he or she doesn't tie his own leaders. We recommend not going lighter than 12 lb. when using florocarbon tippets. Florocarbon is much thinner than mono of equal breaking strength. Many fresh water anglers make the mistake of using too thin or too light a tippet. If using straight mono leaders, instead of fluorocarbon tippets, we recommend using a 12-lb., 10-lb., or 8-lb. tippet, depending on conditions. For example, when fishing in very shallow water (8-12 inches), in bright sunlight over spooky fish, you will need to lengthen and taper down your leader. Standard leader length is 9 - 12 feet. On a windy day, shorten your leader to 7 - 9 feet. On a calm day, lengthen your leader to 12 - 14 feet (or more). In either case, test out how your leader turns over the fly under the conditions that day and make any necessary adjustments. For tarpon use 20-lb. test class tippet with a shock tippet of 30 - 60-lb. braided, coated wire or 80 - 100-lb. test mono. For barracuda use at least 6" of wire tippet. For sharks use 24" of wire or more. Check Your Leader Check your leader regularly for wind knots or abrasion and replace if worn or weakened. Knots For connecting the leader butt to the fly line, the nail knot is fine with conventional flylines. However, when using the newer mono core (or braided mono core) lines, you MUST use an Albright Knot. Conventional nail knots can slip off mono core flylines. Use a double surgeon's knot when tying leader to leader and the improved clinch knot or better yet the non-slip mono loop knot when tying the tippet to the fly. Many experts have abandoned the blood or barrel knot in favor of the double surgeon's knot for connecting leader to leader and likewise have abandoned the clinch knot in favor of the non-slip mono loop. Your guides may continue to use barrel knots and clinch knots, but we recommend you learn to tie your own. Test Your Knots Every time you or the guide ties a section of leader to leader, or you tie the tippet to the fly, you should test the knot strength by affixing the fly to something stationary and pulling firmly. More fish are lost due to leader or knot failure than any other reason. Vision Polarized sunglasses are so indispensable when fishing the flats, we recommend you bring 2 pair (one for back up). Yellow lenses are good for flat, low-contrast days, such as cloudy or rainy days. Grey lenses are good under extremely bright, high-contrast conditions. However, the best all-around lens is brown or amber. Brown or amber is our number one choice by far. Glasses with side shading are desirable. A strap is helpful for taking glasses on and off. A lens cleaning cloth (which must be kept dry) and a solution to clean your lenses is also recommended. A long billed hat with dark underside also protects your face and improves your vision. Clothing Dull or muted colors like olive or khaki are less visible to fish. Light colors absorb less heat. We recommend supplex or other quick drying materials for shorts or long pants when wading. If traveling to areas where you’ll do a lot of wading, you may want to have more than one pair of each. When it’s buggy or if the sun is intense, most anglers wear long pants and long sleeved shirts every day and tuck the pants into their wading shoes to reduce the drag of the pant leg when wading. Sun gloves are also an important item for sun protection. Raingear Windy days can cause rough weather and boat spray. Rain can occur at any time. We recommend you bring a set of rain gear (jacket and pants) to carry with you in the boat each day. A good rain jacket also doubles as a windbreaker. Splash Proof Bag Bring a waterproof or splash-proof bag for your camera and extra clothing. Flats skiffs never seem to stay dry. Carry two hats and two pair of polarized glasses. Use a hat clip to connect your hat to your shirt so it won’t blow completely off. Carry a pair of pliers and a hook-sharpening file with you at all times. Always carry extra clothing on the boat to protect you from sun, wind, rain or a sudden drop in temperature. Specifically, we recommend you carry lightweight long pants, light weight long sleeved shirt, a light sweatshirt and a rain jacket and pants (as described above). Fishing Towel(s) Carrying two fishing towels is a good idea. A washcloth size towel is perfect for cleaning your hands of “bonefish slime”. A larger, medium-sized towel is good for drying off items, including yourself, plus, it doubles as a “rod protector”. Frequently flats skiffs in the Bahamas and Caribbean have less than ideal storage for fly rods and a towel can come in handy protecting your rods from chaffing and banging. Use the towel to wrap around your rods at the location where they come in contact with the rod holding hole, tube or device. Wading Some bonefishing locations offer more wading opportunities than others, however, it’s usually a good idea to wear wading boots or wading sneakers everyday. There are many times you’ll need to get your feet wet, even if you don’t end up wading, plus wearing wading booties / shoes allows you to take advantage of wading opportunities whenever they exist. In the past, the choice of wading shoes has been limited to neoprene booties or a pair of old sneakers. Neoprene wading booties offer little or no arch support. Sneakers do not dry quickly. In 1999, Patagonia came out with the Marlwalker, which was considered the state-of-the-art in wading shoes since they provide arch support and dry quickly. More recently, Simms has introduced the “Flats Sneaker”, which is an excellent alternative. Athletic insoles offer additional support. There are now some good thin Neoprene socks being sold by tackle shops and dive shops. Otherwise, bring at least one pair of regular socks for each day of fishing. Gravel guards wrapped around the top of your wading shoes should make your wading just about sand-proof. If you intend to do a lot of wading, it’s good to break-in your wading shoes to be sure they are comfortable and fit well. And, you’ll need a belt pack, chest pack, lightweight vest, or at least some pockets to carry your essential tackle in. Essential tackle when wading includes: pliers, hook sharpening file, box of flies, extra leader material and, if your wading will take you away from your boat for extended periods of time, you’ll want to bring a water bottle, too. While Marlwalkers are among the sturdiest wading shoes available today, you may find them too heavy and noisy for fishing out of the boat. For boat fishing, regular sneakers, the Simms Flats sneaker or bare feet are preferable. Flies The flies listed below are tried and true bonefish patterns whether you fish in the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize or Venezuela. You can certainly carry other patterns, but these are our favorites. This fly selection represents the most important colors and more importantly will allow you to fish a variety of water depths. You will lose bonefish flies for a variety of reasons. Break-offs can occur when a bonefish makes it’s initial run. Sometimes flies are damaged while removing the hook. Some flies may be lost to mangroves, coral or to barracuda. The durability of individual flies also varies greatly. Depending on your fly selection and your hooking success, you may go through 6 or more bonefish flies a day. To be safe, we recommend bringing at least 50 flies for 6 days of fishing. Many anglers are fishing barbless hooks now, so you may want to crimp your barbs in advance. If you've never fished barbless before, let us assure you that it is extremely effective and it is unlikely that you will lose fish because of this. Keep Your Hook Sharp Be sure to check your hook point periodically, especially after landing a fish, or if you think you might have ticked it on the side of the boat while casting or on a piece of coral during the retrieve. There are several hook sharpening methods, which are too detailed to explain here. If you are not familiar with how to sharpen your hook, ask your guide to show you. Technique One of the biggest mistakes a bonefisherman can make is failing to adjust his fly to changing water depth. Your fly should be weighted such that it sinks quickly to the bottom and then stays near the bottom within view of the fish after you begin stripping. If you strip the fly above a bonefish, it will never see it. Typical Depth The average flat depth, whether you’re wading or poling, ranges from 1-2½ ft. In this depth, a Gotcha or Amber Shrimp with medium sized bead chain eyes should provide close to the perfect sink rate, without overweighing the fly (and potentially spooking the fish). A good rule of thumb is your fly should reach the bottom in about 3 seconds. If you find your fly is not getting to the bottom, you should switch to a fly with lead eyes or add a few wraps of lead wire to the eye of the fly. Deeper Flats The angler who is willing to fish deeper flats will often be rewarded with the largest bonefish. Big bonefish prefer the protection of deeper flats or shallow flats close to deep water. When you’re fishing water 3-4 feet deep, you’ll need a fly with lead eyes to get to the bottom quickly. A proven deep-water fly is the Clouser minnow and the two best color combinations for bonefish are tan and white and chartreuse and white. Another killer, deep-water fly is the Simram, which is a fuzzy (rabbit fur) version of the Gotcha fly with lead eyes. Another outstanding lead eye fly is Henry Cowen’s Bonefish Scampi. Lead eyes come in a variety of weights and for joy of casting, you’ll want to carry flies with the smaller lead eyes, as well as the heavier lead eyes that cause many of us to duck when forward casting. Shallow Flats & Tailing Fish The last thing a bonefisherman wants to do is scare the daylights out of an actively feeding fish by casting too heavy a fly too close to the fish. Therefore, you must go light in skinny water. By light we mean no weight other than the weight of the hook. For this we recommend mono (or plastic) eyes and a body that lands softly. A well designed fly for this situation is a pattern called the bunny bone. The bunny bone is made with rabbit fur, rug yarn and mono eyes. Good color combinations would be the same as the other productive flies we've already described; tan and white, brown and white and the Gotcha colors, pink and white. Tie this fly in sizes 4, 6, and 8. You can throw this unweighted fly quite close to a tailing fish. Its entry into the water is soft, but it sinks well. The rabbit fur makes it look alive even before it's stripped. All you need to do is give it the tiniest of strips. Don't strip the fly too far or too fast when working a tailing fish. Weedless Flies Some of the best tailing fish habitat is a weedy bottom. When fishing over these turtle grass flats, you'll need a weedless fly. The most common weedless flies have a single strand of mono, a V-shape, or a loop of mono tied into the eye of the fly. Crabflies Crab patterns have come a long way since George Anderson introduced us to the McCrab. Actually the Mc Crab has a design flaw. It's all deer hair. To get deer hair to sink it must be loaded with lead. To cast it you need a hard hat. Del Brown corrected this flaw by forming the body of his Del Brown permit fly with Aunt Lydia's rug yarn. This fly sinks quickly with a lot less lead. Jan Isley used ram's wool and epoxy in creating the Rag Head. Bonefish like these crabs just as much as permit. When tied in smaller sizes (size #2, #4, and #6), crab flies are much more enjoyable to cast and perform well on medium to deep flats for bonefish and permit. Tie one of these on when you're fishing one of those flats where you're not sure whether the next fish you spot is apt to be a bonefish, a permit or possibly a mutton snapper. Handy Selection Before you begin fishing it is also advisable to have a handy selection of the flies you’re most likely to use that day. Have a selection that covers all water depths, so you are prepared when a quick change is required. For even quicker adjustments to changes in water depths, have a spool of lead wire handy and wrap a small piece around the eye of the fly, as needed. Before You Cast All the flylines, especially monocore lines, are subject to "twists" and "coils" (memory). Twist is caused by not casting the entire length of flyline, and each time you reel in a portion of the line, some twist will develop. The best way to remove twist is to strip the entire line off the reel (to the backing), cut the fly off and trail the entire line behind the boat. Then reel up to your comfortable casting length and tie the fly back on. Coil is caused by "memory", when a line has been tightly coiled on the reel for extended lengths of time. Light stretching of about 6-ft. lengths with only about 4-lbs pressure (best done with a partner), hold the light pressure for a few seconds, and the coils will vanish. DO NOT "jerk" or "stretch the hell out of it"! This can damage the coating as well as the core and greatly shorten the life of your flyline. Once You’re On Deck Strip out as much line as you can comfortably cast, then strip it back onto the casting deck so that the line closest to the reel is at the bottom of the loosely coiled line you have now accumulated on the deck. Next, get about 5-7 feet of fly line (plus your leader) out of the rod tip. Hold the fly in one hand and the rod in the other. When a fish is spotted, toss the fly into the water and begin to cast. Until someone developes a fly line with no memory, the most important thing you can do before you step onto the foredeck is to strech your fly line. It also helps to clean the line and apply a silicone base the night before your first day on the water. Guides Here’s a tip that will help you and your guide, compliments of Joe Clear, one of the Bahamas all-time great guides. Once you’re onboard, but before you start looking for bonefish, go through this drill with your guide: Strip out a comfortable amount of line for you to cast. Ask the guide to act as if he has spotted an imaginary bonefish and to give you his command…"bonefish 10 o’clock – 50 feet”. You then make the cast as you heard it described. Now, compare notes. Ask the guide if that is the direction and distance he called for. Frequently the guide’s view of the clock from the back of the boat is different from the angler’s. Even more frequently, 50 feet means something entirely different to the guide and the angler. Coming closer to understanding the finer points of direction and distance before you see fish should drastically improve your communication with the guide throughout the rest of the day. It’s also helpful if the guide knows your maximum, “comfortable” casting distance. Casting Cast very close to a tailing fish, as he is focusing on a small area. With cruising fish, try to lead them by 6-12 feet (depending on depth and current) and allow your fly to sink to their eye level (or the bottom) before beginning your retrieve. It is better to cast short hoping the fish will come to the fly, than to cast too far and risk having the line spook him. When casting from a boat, take your shoes off; it will help you avoid stepping on the fly line. The most common mistake anglers make when fishing the flats is taking too many false casts. Try to take no more than 4 false casts to reach a fish, hopefully fewer. When a guide positions the boat and sets up on a fish, the amount of time the boat stays in prime position is about 6 seconds. That’s generally enough time for 3 or 4 false casts. Retrieve and Setting the Hook The idea is to get the fly to the bottom as quickly as possible before the fish reaches the fly. When the fish comes within view of the fly (generally 3-4 feet away), you move the fly to get the fish’s attention. The most common retrieve is a strip / pause retrieve, where after each strip, you pause, so that the fly begins to settle to the bottom, imitating the motion of a shrimp. A dropping fly will invariably result in a take from a feeding fish. If the fish goes nose-down, tail-up in the vicinity of your fly, he’s taking the fly. When a bonefish takes the fly, you will feel resistance with your line hand as you begin the “strip” part of the retrieve. Normally this gradual pulling against the resistance is all you need to set the hook. If the fish did not take the fly, you do the same thing again, perhaps with a more active strip to start, then let it sink to the bottom. The majority of hookups and the best hook sets come when the bonefish goes down on the fly not when he’s chasing the fly straight on. However, if dropping the fly doesn’t work, try quickening the retrieve, giving the fly the appearance that it is escaping. Many bonefishermen can spot a moving bonefish under good conditions, but they can’t make out the subtle movements of the fish when it’s behind or near the fly. Most guides can see exactly what the bonefish is doing. Therefore, they know when the bonefish has picked up the fly or when it has spit it out. That’s why you should encourage your guide to talk you through the stripping process. It goes something like this: Guide: “Okay, leave the fly there. Let it sink. Okay, now short strip. Another short. Long strip. Let it sink. Short strip. He’s on.” What makes the stripping process more complicated is the action of wind and current on the movement of the boat. If the boat is drifting towards the fish, you’ll need to make long strips to pick up the slack. If you’re drifting fast and the guide says the fish has taken the fly, you may actually have to strike with both your hand and the rod to take all the slack out of the line. Striking with the rod is generally something you only do after you’ve felt the fish with your strip strike. However, if you can’t possibly take up the slack with your hand, you may have to go for broke and use the rod too. Releasing Bonefish The best way to release a bonefish is to handle the fish as little as possible. Instead of grabbing the fish, grab the fly with your pliers and twist the fly loose. If you’re using 8 to 10 lb. Ande, Maxima or Rio tippet you can hold onto the leader at the fly (with normal 3-5 lb. bonefish) in one hand and get the pliers on the hook with the other. If you bent your barb down, the hook will remove itself with a simple twist of the pliers. You should avoid touching the bonefish, because once you touch it, it releases a mucous-like slime that emits a scent that sharks can track. |
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Fly Fishing in the Bahamas BONEFISH
BONEFISH LEADERS If using all mono leaders; example: 5’ of 30 lb, 2 1/2 ‘ of 20 lb, 15” of 15 lb, plus 27” tippet of 12 lb gives an 11 footer. TARPON
PERMIT
BARRACUDA & SHARKS
Bonefish Flies:
Tarpon Flies: Permit Flies:
Barracuda Flies:
Shark Flies:
Spin-Fishing in The Bahamas BONEFISH AND PERMIT
TARPON
BARRACUDA
Bear in mind that many Bahamian guides prefer fishing bait rather than lures for bonefish and permit and locally available bait will be provided by your guide. |
TYING BONEFISH FLIES
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Anyone possessing the fly tying fundamentals required to tie a bucktail streamer can tie effective bonefish flies. All that is needed are the basic tools: vice, bobbin, scissors & whip finisher; a supply of salt water hooks; and an assortment of materials. HOOKS: THREAD: TAILS: Tails aren’t used on all patterns, but where called for, a variety of natural materials, i.e. calf tail, hackle fibers, wood duck flank or marabou, are used as are synthetic flash materials such as Flashabou or Krystal Flash. BODIES: Often flies are tied with an underbody of thread or tinsel, over wrapped with a translucent or transparent overbody such as clear monofilament (15-20# test); or Clear V-Rib. Both natural and synthetic fur dubbings are sometimes used. Chenilles are used in such patterns as The Horror or the Mini Puff series. Translucent bodies can also be achieved by simply wrapping about 12-15 strands of Krystal Flash around the hook shank. WINGS: Calf tail, saddle hackle tips, rabbit fur, marabou, synthetic fish hair or craft fur are useful. White, brown, tan, pink and yellow are the most common colors. Krystal Flash or Flashabou is often added. Some patterns call for grizzly or cree saddle hackle tips tied in as sides along a hair wing. EYES: Bead chain eyes are the trademark of Crazy Charlie type flies. Vary the size of the eyes. For shallow water use small bead chain eyes, or no bead chain eyes, or substitute mono eyes. For deeper water, lead eyes in a variety of sizes are effective. Paint the iris and pupil contrasting colors. In shallow water patterns, eyes are often painted on the fly head (tying thread). LEAD: Bead chain and lead eyes give flies sufficient weight under most conditions. If, while fishing, you find you need a faster sink rate, simply wrap a few turns of lead fuse wire around the eye of the finished fly. Fly Patterns for Bonefish The two most effective flies in The Bahamas are possibly the Gotcha Fly and the Clouser Minnow (tan and white). Vary the sizes and sink rates by varying the weight of the eyes. For example, while we recommend 1/50th and 1/36th lead eyes on the Clouser Minnows described below, you may want to experiment with 1/100th lead eyes as well. For tailing fish or skinny water use an unweighted fly like a “Blind Charlie” (tied without any bead chain eyes) or a Bunny Bone. It is also important when you assemble your fly collection to have the primary colors represented: pink, silver/white, brown / tan / amber, gold / yellow and green. Gotcha Fly (a Charlie Variation): sizes 2 – 8
Clouser’s Minnow (good, deep water, big fish fly): tan & white
Simram:
Brewer’s Amber Shrimp:
Bonefish Bitters (Brown or Olive):
Bunny Bone Tan (good pattern for tailers; skinny water):
Mini Puffs (pink, rusty orange or tan)
Del Brown’s Permit Fly
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BAHAMAS - Equipment & Clothing Checklist Daytime temperatures during the season range from 70°-95° and can drop into the 60’s (or less) at night. The sun is hot and you need to protect yourself from sunburn. We suggest you bring a couple of light-weight long-sleeved shirts and some light long pants. There is no need for formal clothing. Below is a checklist of some other necessary and/or useful items. The Patagonia Company (800-638-6464), makes state-of-the-art outdoor clothing designed for the Caribbean.
MISCELLANEOUS
ACCESSORIES
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For technical questions or comments,
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