Welcome to The Bonefish Flat

There's a stiff wind in your face as you squint in the sun trying to see what the guide sees. "Bonefish at 12 o'clock about 90 feet, do you see it, mon?" You don't and keep squinting, your hat pulled low to keep the sun out of your eyes. "Bonefish at 11 o'clock 70 feet out. Come on man, do you see it?" As the guide is calmly shifting the skiff into position, this time you spot the fish, "I got, it," you reply.

"OK, Mon, Bonefish 50 feet at 10 o'clock. Cast when you're ready."

Cast when you're ready. And with that you drop your fly, roll out a cast, false cast once, and then...

Welcome to the bonefish flat.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

A Couple Thoughts on Guides

On a lot of blogs, you'll see write-ups from guides about what to expect from them. But what about what we expect? Remember, I'm writing from a perspective of someone who gets a couple trips each year here, so here is what I think.

The number one thing I expect is to put me on fish. They can't cast for me or make the fish eat my fly. But if they can show me fish, I know the rest is up to me. Fish won't eat a fly? That's just fishing for you. Fish spooks on a cast? That's just fishing.

I also expect guides to be courteous. If they get ticked at me for missing a shot, that's fine. I'm probably upset too. Just don't be irate like the stories you hear from the old crusty Florida guides of yesteryear. Granted, I think a lot of these guides are gone.



Here's a picture of me, my dad, and a great guide, Bully.

I say this because when I'm fishing with a guide, I'm on vacation. Guides must go on vacation, too, and they wouldn't want to be yelled at on vacation, would they?

All of this being said, I've had great luck with every fly fishing guide I've fished with. There has been only one guy who was kind of a jerk. He didn't really get upset so much as he was just lazy and couldn't find fish. He didn't seem to look very hard, either.

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