Fly Fishing - Bimini, Bahamas

montanabc · Posted: Sun 01/04/09 1:27 pm Post subject: Bimini, Bahamas - Flats Fishing Help

I will be fishing in Bimini the first week in March with a seasoned angler knowledgeable in offshore fishing (conventional tackle), but not offshore fly or flats fishing. I've been looking for sites with info on flys, techniques, etc & have found 1 or 2, but not many. Any first hand experience tips would be greatly appreciated. I have 5,8,9,11,and 14 wt rods.

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

Hey, Nice to meet ya .. I am no pro or anything - but can tell ya what I have learned .. Also, I am friends with this guy (pete) who wrote this fishtale about bimini bonefishing - http://www.fliesandfins.com/article298.html - I will shoot him an email, maybe he has a couple quick tips.

1. Standard flies - merkin crab, bonefish slider, even clousers.

2. 9 weight rod is fine

3. Floading line

4. No blind casting to speak of .. look for fish and GROUPS of fish (they do swim in schools .. sometimes huge schools)

5. get ahead of them .. don't chase their tails .. like tuna off-shore .. try to figure out with way the fish(s) are moving .. get ahead of them

6. Cast in front of the .. lead them ..

7. let the fly sink and start stripping .. don't strip too fast cuz you want them to see it and you want to keep it in their zone as long as possible .. short little strips or sometimes long and slow/smooth .. try to emulate what a crab might be doing

8. TIDE - not sure how big or not big the tides are on bimini? but, think of it like .. HIGH tide . they are going to be closer to shore (assuming you are wading) .. LOW tide they are going to be closer "the drop off" . you know, where the flat drops off into the deeper whater .. SO, a good time is often the first 1/2 of INCOMING tide as the water is coming on the flat (the bonefish come with it) .. or the last 3/4 of the FALLING TIDE as the water is peeling of the flat and the bonefish are moving off with it ..

Again - this is just the "down and dirty" .. and a crash course ... i am still learning the bonefish game too. Good luck

montanabc · Posted: Mon 01/05/09 12:53 am Post subject: Flats Bimini

Thanks, Jeremy. That's good info to know.

peterdk · Location: Denmark

Hi Montana

I have fished Bones a lot in the Bahamas, and the most importent thing for me is accurate casts. The Bones can be very spooky in shallow water so as Jeremy says cast well ahead of them, and bow down and stay low so they don`t see you.

I use a lot of tan flies size 2-4

Peter

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

PeterDk,

Good advice .. "stay low" .. i will keep that in mind on my next bonefish outing.

PS. Peter does have a nice article on fly fishing for bonefish on his website. Check it out.

http://www.flybox.dk/template_saltwater2.aspx?eid=17S5VCXMFHVSSTSWSTYYXQMZR