The first time I cast to bonefish, in Belize in the late 90s, I had done very little to prepare for the trip. . .and it showed. My guide ended up yelling at me for various failures on my part, and it was tough going until I finally brought a fish to hand. Here’s a handy little video full of tips to help you start out ahead of the game. There are even a few more tips in the video description on Youtube:
1 – Practice your casting seriously!!! Try to practice forming tight loops that track straight. But also practice precision casting from 20ft to 60ft being the most important distances.
2 – Make sure your gear is in order, at least 200yards of backing a good wf bonefish line that can withstand the heat. I like the normal Rio Bonefish line the best. Fast action rod and a GOOD quality reel. One of the guy’s on our trip had a fly reel that malfunctioned. seriously get a quality reel… you don’t want to loose your fish of a lifetime.
3 – Tie or buy flies tied on quality hooks. We tie all our Bonefish flies on Daichi X-452 and 2546 hooks in sizes #8 #6 and #4 with some on size #2 for the monster bones.
4 – Buy a pair of good polarized sunglasses and carry spare. No polarizing glasses and it’s game over.
5 – Practice your CASTING !
And when you’re ready to put all this good information to use, maybe it’s time to check out one of our Bonefish Bonanzas in Belize.
Excellent video, thanks
Excellent video! I love the wading bird style stalk and the tip to hold still, for me, the hardest thing to do! Another best practices bonefish handling tip is to take off your gloves to avoid removing their protective slime. Hope to see more great videos like that.