Bonefish itus

[camelbrass]

Having just got back from a difficult trip to the Seychelles (such a thing?) I've been catching up with social media and the number of claimed 10lb Bonefish is amazing.

A 10lb bone is more than likely over 30 inches long and does not comfortably fit in a normally sized landing net. I've probably seen hundreds of bonefish caught in some of the best bonefisheries in the world and only a handful of those have been genuine 10lbers.

I know that the 'that fish has to be 7lb' is a common call from many guides (it's not) and people extrapolate from there but please refrain from making silly guesses.

Rant over.

Regards,


Trevor

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[Lewis Chessman]

Hello, camelbrass, welcome back. I hope you had a few high spots on your trip, however tough?

I'm not sure where the blame lies with your bonefish claims. Is it the rods boosting the weight or the guides - or both?

Exaggerating weight isn't uncommon with Atlantic salmon fishers either but I don't always put it down to self-aggrandisement. Many guests on my waters don't fish often enough to catch in sufficient numbers to 'educate the eye'. Also, with so much catch and release here in the UK it's often not possible to verify one's guesstimate and learn better judgement.

Gillies/guides should know, though. On my current river we use McLean weigh nets with spring scales built into the handle. I dislike using the scales as it's more time with the fish out of the water. Accuracy varies, better at higher weights and also they're not always close to accurate. I doubted mine and checked it with the first dead fish of the season (gill-hooked casualty). It was 1 3/4 lbs out! I'd thought 'pound and a half short' but regardless, I like an occasional empirical example to keep both net and eye calibrated.

If the guest and I can agree a weight for 'the book' without weighing, all the better. If .....
Now, I'm not saying I do this. No, no, no. I'm just saying I've heard it said as a tactic if a guide believes his man is upping the weight:

An 8 lber is caught. If you tell them that you think the fish is 7 lb you immediately undercut the ''9 lbs!" conjuring in his mind. The immediate reaction is, "Eight, surely?!!?". After further inspection the guide generously acquiesces and the true 8 lb weight enters the records. Guide and his man are still friends and the guest's eye might improve, too.

 

[karstopo]

People exaggerating the weight of their catch? What are you kidding? Kind of goes with the territory, doesn’t it.

I just shrug that stuff off from strangers, but assiduously avoid any exaggerations with my friends. The people I fish with know what fish weigh just by looking at them and won’t tolerate anyone getting out of line about fish weights without some major hazing, sarcasm, ridicule or whatever else thy can think of to put someone in their place. But we all know people whose 7 pound fish is really a five pounder. Just the way it is.

 

[denver1911]

Here’s mine:



Caught on an 8wt NRX using a fly line whose first 30 feet weighed 210 grains +/-8 ..

 

[camelbrass]

All fair and deserved comments. You'd think I'd have known better than to post. Don't know what got into me.

Let's just leave all those 10lb bones to rest in peace.


Trevor



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[Gerard]

Providence: 69cm (27.25 inches) from fork of tail to nose. Largest bone I have caught. No idea of weight. No landing nets.
In that particular spot they were all about this size. Cruising the flat as individuals.

Sorry to hear to had a frustrating trip.

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[denver1911]

To avoid this issue, I almost never state the weight of a fish I catch. Sometimes I’ll say, “Thd guide said it was a 4 pound bonefish,” “Or the guide said it was a 25 pound GT.” I go with those weights because I just don’t know. If I really want to know how “big” a fish is, I measure and state length. .. Like the 42 inch GT on Kiritimati Island. I measured fork to nose with my rod, then measured that on the boat cooler when I got back in. They had a chart back at the lodge that converted (estimated) length to mass. It said 55 pounds. I go with that. The bonefish in that pic? Beats me. Three or four pounds? Guide said five. I struggle to believe that one though.

 

[sweetandsalt]

Denver, Is your fish from Biscayne Bay, I feel like I recognize that casting cage.

CB, Here in the Sates we are having rampant issues with what is and is not the truth. So I've taken to saying that I hold fishing licenses from several States which affords me the right to distort the truth come fish size. Our elected officials, unless they are licensed anglers too, do NOT have that privilege.

Tell us a good story of what can make a trip to the Seychelles difficult.

 

[camelbrass]

S and S,

Difficult, in this context, is a relative concept. I've been plagued by bad weather the last few trips and more often than not have found myself rain jacket fully zipped up, hood up and drawn tightly, rain tumbling over the peak of my cap and a 35 knot 'breeze' hitting me straight in the face. The only good my $300 Costa sunrise lenses were for was keeping the stinging rain out of my eyes when I chose to look up while on the flats. You can't even get solace from your fishing companions who are 20 metres away because they're lost in the grey wall of water. 2 out of the 6 days were like that all day, another 2 partially fishable, 1 OK and one absolutely stunning.

However, as every saltwater guy knows you just have to make a plan and get on with it. You can fish and see fish under heavy cloud cover (grey overcast days are much worse), casting into the teeth of 30 knots is near on impossible so you take time to put yourself in position and get a shot across the wind. It's tough but doable. Downwind shots land like a hand grenade so aim high and try and lead the fish a little further away.

We had a really good crew and caught some great fish but it wasn't for the faint hearted. The apres fishing was, of course, first class.

I've included a photo of a non 10lb bonefish caught on the last and best weather day of the trip

Regards,


Trevor

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[denver1911]

Denver, Is your fish from Biscayne Bay, I feel like I recognize that casting cage.

CB, Here in the Sates we are having rampant issues with what is and is not the truth. So I've taken to saying that I hold fishing licenses from several States which affords me the right to distort the truth come fish size. Our elected officials, unless they are licensed anglers too, do NOT have that privilege.

Tell us a good story of what can make a trip to the Seychelles difficult.

How about the skyline?

 

[brokeoff]

Are the bones in the Indian ocean slimmer than the ones in S. FL?

 

[bonefish41]

Yes...the Indian looks like Maine Pickerel belly...you want DD and sow belly come to Biscayne ...why would you travel 20,000 thousand miles and lighten your pocket book by 20 thousand for a Pickerel belly in the Indian ocean on some mothership scow with smelly rich f...ts...when you can get a DD sow belly in Biscayne ... spend the evening on South Beach watching the tide walk by inhaling the scent of a... whilst sipping a Pina colada or Cuban Libre for under 4 thousand. My biggest was my first Biscayne taped 28... according to Bonefish and Tarpon Trust weight methodolgy ..it weighed 12.8 lbs ("Length to weight calculations are based off measurements from 453 bonefish caught in the Florida Keys. The girth of an individual tarpon varies quite a bit, but bonefish girth is generally consistent across individuals, with a few exceptional fish that are very fat or very skinny. Therefore, just entering a fork length measurement gives a fair estimate of how much your bonefish weighs.") and that's a fat fish
I'm 6' 230 that fish is on my chest not arms out

 

[okiekev]

Well I feel safe saying I have never caught a 10 lb bone... though I have seen 2.

One was the first bonefish I ever saw when I was in college in the keys. My buddy caught one on a spinning rod and a shrimp that weighed 11.4 on the digital scale we had.

The only other one was on an Oahu flat about a dozen or so years ago. I watched that fish nose down on my fly and I was so excited, I trout set with the best of ‘em! It was just a different looking fish than the 4-7 pounders I had been messing around with... oh well, that’s what keeps you coming back right?

 

[dynaflow]

Be mindful that the Kiritimati Bonefish are a different species to those of Hawaii and the Cook Islands.The latter are thicker and thus heavier,which can make the often used nose-to-fork measurement open to interpretation.I agree with the OP...I've seen plenty of ten pound Bonefish that weren't.Here's a thirteen pounder from eight years ago in Aitutaki.The Guides there record the weight then tag any fish over ten pounds.

 

[dynaflow]

I meant to add that I've hooked and lost some good Bonefish in Kiritimati over fifteen fortnightly trips,but I've never landed a ten pounder.The biggest I've personally seen landed was on the wrong side of twelve pounds (on a Popper believe it or not....the angler was chasing a GT at the time) and the biggest Bonefish landed on C.I.that I'm aware of was managed by Moana Kofe's son off the bow of Moana's Tinny..he told me it was twenty pounds.An absolute monster.

 

[camelbrass]

Bonefish41, jeez that's a fat bonefish. I've caught fish up to 71cm fork length (28 inches) but have never seen a pig that fat.

I think that one of the attractions of the Indian Ocean and CXI destinations as far as bonefish goes is the sheer number of fish, if that's your thing. Compared to that fish though they're all pickerel bellied.

I hate liveaboards and rather spend my money on a bit of comfort. Alphonse Island is exceptional and Cubans, with a good malt were all part of the experience.

Regards,

Trevor


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[bonefish41]

T: " Alphonse Island is exceptional and Cubans, with a good malt were all part of the experience.": You're talking about a good smoke...my wording was vague, not complete, and incorrect I apologize "... spend the evening on South Beach watching the tide walk by inhaling the scent of a... whilst sipping a Pina colada or Cuban Libre..." edit...
"...spend the evening on South Beach watching the flesh walk by, inhaling the scent of a woman... whilst sipping an overproof Pina colada or sipping an overproof Cuba Libre
ray

 

[camelbrass]

Ah Ray, thanks for the translation.

You're right, there's no Indian Ocean equivalent. Must do the Keys thing myself one day. Perhaps we could share stories over a rum


T

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[sweetandsalt]

Ah Ray, thanks for the translation.

You're right, there's no Indian Ocean equivalent. Must do the Keys thing myself one day. Perhaps we could share stories over a rum


T

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Lets make it a threesome.

Not 10 lb. but a fat Abaco fish.

 

[Gerard]

Yes...the Indian looks like Maine Pickerel belly...

You may well be right. My 69er.

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