Guided fly fishing trips allow clients to experience angling at its purest. If your fishing bucket list includes catching an elusive Bone Fish on the fly, you might need to make some subtle changes to your fishing techniques and tackle. Here are some of the ways that guided fly fishing charters help clients stalk Bone Fish on the fly.
Sizing Up and Down
Bone Fish are infamous for spooking easily and ignoring a fly unless it's just right. To improve your odds of tricking Bone Fish, your guided fly fishing expert can help you pick the gear and tackle to get the job done.
- Leader: Most fly fishermen are use to fishing with small, relatively light leaders. Because Bone Fish are both powerful and picky, standard leaders can lead to painful break offs and skittish fish. For most Bone Fishing excursions, tying on a longer leader will make your presentation less visible. Additionally, the longer leader will allow your fly to sink more naturally into the strike zone. Some guided fly fishing pros also encourage their clients to use slightly stronger leader material. 10 to 15 pound, fluorocarbon, tippet material is more abrasion resistant than traditional monofilament leaders.
- Combo: Your rod and reel combo can make a big difference when targeting Bone Fish on the fly. To improve your casting distance, opting for a slightly longer rod than you normally use can improve your casting range. Fighting a Bone Fish can involve drag-screaming runs that never seem to end. To ensure that you don't get spooled, you'll want to choose a reel with a deeper spool for extra line capacity.
- Bait: Bone Fish feed on crustaceans like shrimp, small lobster, and crabs. One of the biggest benefits of booking a guided fly fishing trip with a local pro, is knowing what fly to tie on. In addition to picking the right fly pattern, you'll also need to pick the right size fly. In most cases, smaller flies will be a better bet because Bone Fish tend to look for easier, safer, prey to feed on.
Making the Right Moves
Sight fishing for Bone Fish can get your adrenaline pumping, which can cause you to aggressively strip and maneuver your fly. Bone Fish, however, aren't likely to be fooled by a fast, erratically moving, target. Most guided fly fishing pros encourage their clients to experiment with making subtle movements like dead sticking or slow twitching.
