Orvis Helios

I had an opportunity to cast a Helios 8wt and 10wt yesterday and that is one sweet rod. The thing weighed half of what other rods in that weight range weigh and I think it would be a piece of cake to throw that 10wt at big Tarpon all day.

If you get a chance, go check one out. I think it's a great rod and would be deadly on the bonefish flat.

The Flats Cast

On a message board I frequent, i saw the question posed what does salt water bring to fly fishing. Well, the bonefish flat is getting ready to head to a famous trout stream in two weeks so i've had some time to contemplate this.

The trout cast is one where you start with the basic mechanics of the fly cast and then essentially mess it up. Casting a dry fly involves numerous slack line casts in an effort to have a drag free drift. In addition to the cast, you're also feverishly trying to match the hatch as best as possible and the bugs involved are a lot more complicated than in the salt.

On the flip side, in salt your casting into the wind (always into the wind) and casting a heavier rod with a heavier fly. If you're sight fishing, you're looking for something that's hard to see and is moving fast as hell. Slack line in the salt, unlike trout fishing, is the enemy and slack line casts will cost you a fish of a lifetime.

More to come on these differences as i think they are really worth exploring.

Scratch that Itch

Sorry that it has been so long since I've updated the bonefish flat. Fishing has been slow in more ways than one. In one way, I haven't been out too much. In another way, the two times I've been out I haven't caught anything.

Anyway, I'm now looking to next year and where my bonefish flat will be. I'm leaning toward the Florida Keys and chasing the remaining fish for my own personal "slam." I've got the permit, the bonefish, and now I need a Tarpon on fly.

It's time to scratch that itch and think about getting a tarpon date for next spring.

Bourdain in Montana

Montana is a long way away from a bonefish flat. But maybe it isn't. For those of you who have seen the movie Tarpon, it features authors Tom McGuane and Jim Harrison. These guys were some of the pioneers of fishing for poon's on the fly.

In his last weeks episode of No Reservations, Tony Bourdain visits Montana and meets, dines, and drinks with Jim Harrison. Harrison looks a bit older, but hasn't lost any of his wit.

Be sure to check out No Reservations: Montana. I think you'll like it.

Florida Keys Guide--Capt. Drew Delashmit

Ok, well my favorite guide in the Florida Keys has a Web site so I wanted to share it with everyone following the bonefish flat. Capt. Drew Delashmit is hands down the best guide I have ever fished with.

He's patient, prompt, and most importantly, the guy finds fish. I've fished with him in Key West and out to the Marquesas a few years ago and am looking forward to going back soon.

Give Drew a call and hook it up!

http://keywestonfly.com/index.htm

Permit Numbers

As I sit here pondering why my family vacation involves the cruelest of jokes, an ocean with no fish, my mind wanders back to the bonefish flat and I think of the permit.  The tarpon may be the silver king, the bonefish the ghost of the flats, but the permit is like an enigma.  Many know that these fish feed on the flats and there wariness and level of difficulty to catch is legendary.  

But are permit really that difficult to catch?  Are permit a numbers game?  All it takes is one fish, one cast, and you can catch a permit.  So what separates that one cast from 20 or even 100?  

Take a deep breathe, focus on the fish, make your cast and try to hit that permit between the eyes assuming that he's tailing.  

The Marquesas

West of Key West there is a very special place called the Marquesas.  This atoll is group of protected islands and is where Jeffery Cardenas wrote his timeless classic, The Marquesas.  Although now out of print, this book in my opinion is the best non-fiction book written on saltwater fly fishing.  

In the book, Cardenas, the former owner of The Saltwater Angler in Key West and Key West guide, takes a few fly rods, his skiff and a kayak, and lives aboard his rustic house boat, the Huck Finn.   He parks the boat in the middle of the atoll and camps out for several week.  

Get a copy of this book and enjoy.  For those of us who work a 9 to 5, or 9 to 6 or 9 to 9,  this book is a great escape.  Cardenas lives simply and intently.  

By the way, the Marquesas is a special place for me too.  Here I caught my first permit.  Here he is.