Shallow Water Bones Tough to Catch

Its great when bones are found tailing in ankle deep water., other then the fact they are tough the catch. Spotting them is the easiest part but hardly means that fish is as good as landed. The bones can be spotted with their dorsal out of the water as well as their tails making splashed as they scrounge around the shallows looking for food.

Once a fish is located making a presentation and getting the fish to eat is a different story.

The art of the cast is about getting the fly close enough to the fish so it lands in his “zone” at the same time not close enough to spook. What is this distance? I don’t know. My method is to cast to what I think is the right distance erring on the side of caution. Then moving each progressive cast closer till I get an eat or spook the fish. A light fly or unweighted fly will create a light splash allowing for closer presentations. Many times the fish are highly focused on the bottom right by their snout making a close presentation mandatory.

Many of the flats in Hawaii have a good amount of seaweed on the bottom. Meaning once the fly is cast any strip has a good chance of picking up salad causing the fish to spook or not eat. Again an unweighted or light fly is essential to give yourself a better chance to move the fly without picking up sea weed.

If all goes right the cast lands without spooking the fish. The angler makes 1 small strip and the fish moves right to the fly. The angler pauses while the fish finds the fly. Does another stirp…. Line comes tight and the fish is off and running. Leading to a nice release like below.