The Bonefish Flat: The Fly Thought

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.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Fly Thought

It's almost go time on The Bonefish Flat. I'm less than a week away from the sunny Bahamian waters of Long Island. As I'm preparing for my trip, I was going through some notes earlier today and came across four fly thoughts that I had written down.

What's a fly thought you ask? I got it from my old days playing golf where you try to boil down all the thoughts and components you might have on your golf swing into one takeaway thought when you are trying to hit the ball. In saltwater fly fishing, there are lots of things to think about when you're casting to a fish. Wind. Where is the fish? The backcast. The forward cast. The Double haul. And the list goes on. Throw a bonefish in front of you and even the best angler can blow a cast with a case of buck fever. The fly thought boils it all down into one thing to think about to avoid blowing your shot at the fish.

So the fly thoughts I came up with are:

1. See the Fish - Keep looking hard for that fish to appear and keep your eyes on him, what he's doing and where he's going.

2. Smooth and steady- Take your time and make the cast.

3. Lead the fish - Ask your guide how far to cast in front of the fish. If you're fishing by yourself, start with about 5 feet.

4. Aim High - Shoot the fly above the water so that it drops softly

I think for this trip, I'm going to keep it even more simple. Be the fly, Danny...Na na na na na na na na na!!