14 replies to this topic

[Joel52]

Headed to Cayo Coco in a few weeks, and packing a 3pc saltwater fly rod hoping to get into some bones. Anyone know a good setup - I'm thinking flurocarbon leader, but the toothy baraccudas may chomp right through that so I shoud have extra gotchas. I picked some of these up years ago at BP along with a few crab and needlefish patterns, but looking for suggestions on other saltwater flies in the GTA. Anyone know if BP still has a decent selection?

[ChasinTails]

small crab patterns are the best, im not good with naming flies but the (streamer?) the ones that look like pin fish are good, when i go fishing for them i use size  0,1,2 spinners on a M rod 8ft and 14lb mono with alb leader. im not sure if you can but if you can convert that into fly fishing stuff you should be good to go. don't forget to check out the piers there too! you can get sharks, cuda's drum and a lot of other inshore species 

[Joel52]

Here's an assortment I picked up. Might bring a few spinners too. The needlefish looks like it could catch Jacks or Barracuda.

Attached Images

• 

[staffman]

Enjoy your trip!

[Joel52]

thanks!

[MuskieBait]

Try small, simple flies. If the bonefish are hit hard, they want something that is natural colour and small. I ran into that problem in Belize. I tied my own flies (Christmas Island Special, Gotcha, some crab and shrimp patterns I tied up)...but even #8's were too big.

 

Try to go with natural colours like tan and olive.

 

I know the obsession people have with bones and flies...but bring a travel medium light spinning rod just in case. Sometimes, you run in to bad luck and the wind can blow for days during your vacation. If you can't throw the fly rod, at least you can toss small jigs and shrimp tails to the bones and still have fun.

 

I got my bones and tarpon in Belize on spinning rods and bait...they were way too shy for fly gear. At least I can say I got my bones and tarpon which is more than other fly anglers who went home emptyhanded.

[Joel52]

Thanks for the tips! You've caught a lot of fish in a lot of different locations - wow! Quite impressive. I have my heart set on getting a bone sightfishing on a fly, and that would be best but I hear you when it comes to dealing with the wind. CSM posed several challenges the wind being the biggest. I did manage some barracuda, jacks and grunts on red/white patterns there. Nothing else seemed to work for me. Maybe too big? Caught them wading onto a nearby reef and then some from a paddleboat too. In your opinion, are there better times (high-low tides) than others for salt water fly?

[MuskieBait]

I had my heart set to get a bone sightfishing on the fly in Belize too...and had one hooked but it wrapped me around a dock piling. It's fun to watch them chase the fly though.

 

But what I learned that day is that they quickly turned off the fly. I tried to get another one to go and the fish would back off the fly. We're not talking about individual fish in a small pod either...we're talking about a school of 50 bones in shallow, calm and gin clear water right by some busy docks.

 

The thing was...if I switch to my spinning rod and toss a 1/16oz jig head tipped with a shrimp tail, they would swarm all over it. Same school of fish. I tried to switch between fly rod and jig/shrimp and the jig/shrimp always win. Then I tried to cheat and put a chunk of shrimp on the fly just to understand what the factors were. The fish would be interested and they would follow, but they would not hit the fly. Fussy little buggers!

 

Just in my experience, cudas, jacks and grunts are much less picky. Give them some kind of moving target that looks like food and they will usually hammer it. From the sound of it, you were using a red/white clouser type streamer which mimic a baitfish? If the bones are that fussy, they generally shy away from streamers. Streamers are usually tied larger as well.

 

My suggestion...go smaller, less flash and more natural. Try maybe #10 with a black bead or dumbell eyes. Sometimes the dumbell eyes are too heavy in calm waters and the fly sink too fast. If you are fishing seagrass areas, the fly may sink out of sight. So tie a few flies with smaller bead eyes and no lead wraps on the hook shank. Try to have them sink slowly so you can get some decent hang time when the fly is visible. But of course, it all depends on current and wind. If it is rougher and blowing, you may need that weight to get the fly deep...or go with an intermediate sink line.

 

Reefs also tend to hold the species you mentioned. If there are seagrass around, bones generally prefer the seagrass beds. Strangely, Hawaiian bones are mostly reef associated since there is no seagrass bed in Hawaii that I know about.

 

Tide is a tricky thing...it is so spot dependent. Some areas fish better on moving tides and some better on slack tides. I can't really make suggestions. But what I can tell you is to pay attention to what's happening around you. If you start to see bigger predators on the flats (like big barracuda and sharks), chances are that the bones would start to vacate the flats. Generally though, fish shallower as the tide rise and deeper in channels and troughs are the tide drops. Fish moves up onto the flats to feed as the tide rise and drops back to deeper holding areas as the tide drops. Strangely, during my time in Belize, the bones were found by the docks at slack low tide and they would disappear after. Once the tide rose, I saw stingrays working the seagrass beds. Maybe the little bones know to move out when the water gets deeper.

 

That's all I know...I'm still pretty new at this as well but that's what I've observed from the little experience I have.

 

Have fun and share some pictures after! 

[Joel52]

Thanks! I will, if I catch anything...

[Joel52]

Okay, just back. Unfortunately I only spent 1 morning on the flats. Sight fishing is interesting. I saw 1 bone, casted 3 times just behind a bit. Are they ever fast! Saw a couple of snapper, one was pretty big - I managed to spook both of them but not before getting off a few good casts in their direction. I guess I didn't have what they were looking for.

 I have a spot and will return, a little better prepared this time. Thanks for your help.

[Joel52]

Finally caught my bone <grin>

DIY beach fishing Cayo Coco, red and white gotcha. I think it was as surprised as I was. 18" - gave me quite a run, almost got into my backing. Super fun to catch and release!

 

Attached Images

• 
• 
• 
• 

[IR4J]

Nothing beats your first... Great fish

[MuskieBait]

Congrats on your first bone on the fly!

[Joel52]

Thanks!

I had two good days. I caught it on the first day, towards the end of my time. I saw and spooked a few before that.

On the second day, I saw at least three good size barracuda... no bones in sight - go figger! I'm sure with a guide this would have been easier, but there's no fun in that <grin>