Salmo Bytes
December 3rd, 2004, 03:49 PM
On a recent trip to the Bahamas, I'm convinced I saw, at close range,
a world record bonefish: a panic stricken double digit bonefish swam
past me no more than 3 feet away, while being chased by another fish
that looked twice as big. At first I assumed it (the chaser) must
have been a big barracuda. But that fish came within 5 feet, saw me and
spooked. I got a good look at it in knee deep water. It was definately
a bonefish, and it looked twice the size the itty bitty 10-12 pounder.
This got me thinking about big bonefish, as you can imagine.
I found a Florida Marine Institute study on bonefish stomach contents.
Small bonefish, it turns out, eat mostly insects, various worms and
small shrimp. Big bonefish eat mostly bigger crabs--and toadfish.
Big (3-4" across) crab flies are hard to tie and nearly impossible to cast.
But a toadfish is essentially a sal****er sculpin. They (Toadfish) tend
to take on the color of their surroundings (tan to light olive).
So, if you want to catch a big bonefish, I think you have to fish
the ocean flats (not way back in the mangrove bight) and I think
you might want to try fishing with extra-large Toadfish flies.
But no such fly exists--unless it's a long tan Clouser maybe.
But a 4" Clouser would require a big, extra heavy, hard to cast
hook (if you put a 4" tail on a smaller hook, you get too many
short strikes, I think).
So there's the challenge. How do you design a long but lightweight
yet still fast-sinking and easy to cast sculpin (Toadfish) fly?
I've got one in the works, that I'll post links to eventually.
In the meantime I'd like to see or hear about anything anybody
else comes up with too.
a world record bonefish: a panic stricken double digit bonefish swam
past me no more than 3 feet away, while being chased by another fish
that looked twice as big. At first I assumed it (the chaser) must
have been a big barracuda. But that fish came within 5 feet, saw me and
spooked. I got a good look at it in knee deep water. It was definately
a bonefish, and it looked twice the size the itty bitty 10-12 pounder.
This got me thinking about big bonefish, as you can imagine.
I found a Florida Marine Institute study on bonefish stomach contents.
Small bonefish, it turns out, eat mostly insects, various worms and
small shrimp. Big bonefish eat mostly bigger crabs--and toadfish.
Big (3-4" across) crab flies are hard to tie and nearly impossible to cast.
But a toadfish is essentially a sal****er sculpin. They (Toadfish) tend
to take on the color of their surroundings (tan to light olive).
So, if you want to catch a big bonefish, I think you have to fish
the ocean flats (not way back in the mangrove bight) and I think
you might want to try fishing with extra-large Toadfish flies.
But no such fly exists--unless it's a long tan Clouser maybe.
But a 4" Clouser would require a big, extra heavy, hard to cast
hook (if you put a 4" tail on a smaller hook, you get too many
short strikes, I think).
So there's the challenge. How do you design a long but lightweight
yet still fast-sinking and easy to cast sculpin (Toadfish) fly?
I've got one in the works, that I'll post links to eventually.
In the meantime I'd like to see or hear about anything anybody
else comes up with too.