Bonefish Bound

For the fly tier, winter is the time to bolster ones dwindling fly collection, to re-stock near empty fly boxes from the past summer, and perhaps create a few new patterns to test out next summer. For the fly angler that ties their own flies, there is no off season

For me November was rather busy and it has only been in the past few weeks that I have had time to start tying again. There always seems to be a shortage of time around the holidays so it helps to set priorities – I like to start with the fly boxes that I anticipate using first in the coming year. In this case it will be another trip to the Bahamas in search of Bonefish, so the Bonefish box was the first one to get topped up.

I started by tying a few of the standard Bahamas patterns like Gotchas and crab flies.

Olive Gotcha - a standard pattern for Bahamas Bonefish

A simple Bahamas crab fly

After that I got creative and invented a few patterns of my own – a shrimp-like pattern in two colors along with a fan-worm pattern. Both patterns look like they might attract the attention of a bonefish. Not sure what to call them yet.

We’re heading back to Mayaguana in the New Year and I’m pretty excited about it. Mayaguana is a rather remote out island that sees few visitors each year. Endless beaches, endless bonefish flats and rarely a person in sight. There is better fishing to be had at other locations throughout the Bahamas but none are as remote and laid back as Mayaguana. There was a write-up in the most recent issue of Catch Magazine so I’m hoping the island doesn’t start to draw a crowd.

Endless Bonefish flats at Curtis Creek on Mayaguana
(that tiny spec in the distance is me)