# Bonita Fly???



## Bonecracker (Mar 29, 2007)

Ok so all the fresh water totally messed up my water visibility here in the Gulf so my tarpon fishing has been horrible lately. Ran offshore to chase some red snapper the other day and the Bonita were crashing bait everywhere and it got me to thinking about throwing a fly at them. I did head back out with the kids a few days later and we wore them out trolling Clark spoons on light spinning rods and I brought a few home to cut up for bait and they were eating small 1"- 1 1/2" glass minnows! Thoughts??


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## CedarCreek (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm sure there are a lot of patterns that work, but I've caught quite a few on basic blue/white deceivers, ultra hair clousers, and traditional clousers in #4 to 1/0. Gray and white was a good color up in NC.


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## Colby0303 (Sep 7, 2016)

I've had luck with just some light colored flies with a marabou tail, EP brush body and mono eyes...more or less my snook flies for here on the east coast of central Florida.


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## texasag07 (Nov 11, 2014)

You don't have to get to creative. But here are some that work. Think small and white on 4 hook or maybe a 6 when they are on super small stuff.

Key is to downsize tippet 20lb or below. With eyes that big they see really well. They will not cut you off like smacks.

Also strip as fast as possible, even two hand strip if you can.


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## FlyBy (Jul 12, 2013)

Small crease flies. 12# fluoro.


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## sidelock (Jan 31, 2011)

I have always wondered why they call them bonita in Florida when they are actually false albacore.


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## IRLyRiser (Feb 14, 2007)




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## Bonecracker (Mar 29, 2007)

Thanks for the help guys!!


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## Camren (Aug 1, 2016)

In my waters, the surf candy pattern is king!


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## jamie (Jan 22, 2016)

gummy minnow!


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

This always kills it for me:










You can tie with a blue, chartreuse or black back on it. Strip it as fast as you can. Works for jacks, blue runners, small tuna - basically, anything that moves fast. I fill in the head with Clear Cure Goo.

That's a SC17 hook on there. You can use Supreme Hair, Steve Farrah's Blend (a bit pricey for this), or Flash N Slinky.


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## sidelock (Jan 31, 2011)

These are some of the flies we toss at them in Harker's island.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

sidelock said:


> I have always wondered why they call them bonita in Florida when they are actually false albacore.


Little tunny


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

These are my ties and what I throw at them. Hook size from size #2-1.






Ted Haas 3D Standup Clouser


Ted Haas Greenie Sardine






Sometimes they get very picky and have to go to a size #4-6 and no more than an 1.25-1.5" long.



Sometimes they'll be grown and think they are a blackfin tuna and just crush my bigger offshore baitfish sardine patterns on size #1/0-3/0



Ted Haas-Greenie Sardine Fly




Ted Haas


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

sidelock said:


> I have always wondered why they call them bonita in Florida when they are actually false albacore.


You are correct. 

Texasag07 is holding a false albacore (or little tunny as noted by Ted). Bonita have different, straight lines. Skipjack are another variation that seem more prevalent further offshore with those designs on the belly.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

sidelock said:


> I have always wondered why they call them bonita in Florida when they are actually false albacore.


I thought they where Little Tunny


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## scott_monroe (Mar 27, 2014)

Blue Zone said:


> You are correct.
> 
> Texasag07 is holding a false albacore (or little tunny as noted by Ted). Bonita have different, straight lines. Skipjack are another variation that seem more prevalent further offshore with those designs on the belly.


You are confusing "Bonita" with "Bonito". Atlantic Bonito are a similar looking fish with more pronounced black lines that run down deeper onto the fish. They are actually in the mackerel family as opposed to the tuna family, like False Albacore and Skipjack. Most ppl in Florida call False Albacore "Bonita" for some reason, probably because most of the Caribbean does as well. Definitely adds to the confusion between the two species. If you try to eat one you'll know the difference... Bonito are decent, similar to other mackerel, Bonita, not so much. 

To the original poster: you should definitely throw into them next time. A 10+ pounder on a 9 or 10 weight is an absolute blast. I target them off West Palm beach a couple times a year. Take some live bait and toss 6 or 8 in every few minutes after you ease up close to where they are busting surface and they will stay in casting range. I like the Rainy's CF baitfish patterns in a medium size, white and blue or dark green with black bars on it. They love them and it's big enough to avoid some of the smaller blue runners and stuff that will come in. I like a 350r sinking tip line. Gets deeper and also seems to avoid some of the smaller fish.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

The key thing for little tunny (that's how the IGFA lists them....) is the size of the Bonita and the size of the bait they're feeding on. Off of south Florida when they're blowing up pilchards out on the first reef -then chasing them all the way to the beach in late summer (right about now...) you're going to want flies in the 1/0 to 2/0 size. When they're on tiny glas minnows you're going to.need much smaller offerings... maybe all the way down to a #4 or #6.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

lemaymiami said:


> The key thing for little tunny (that's how the IGFA lists them....) is the size of the Bonita and the size of the bait they're feeding on. Off of south Florida when they're blowing up pilchards out on the first reef -then chasing them all the way to the beach in late summer (right about now...) you're going to want flies in the 1/0 to 2/0 size. When they're on tiny glas minnows you're going to.need much smaller offerings... maybe all the way down to a #4 or #6.


Right Capt Bob!

for me, it's a "match the hatch" thing. I look around and see what they are keying in on and then that's what I tie on. If they are keying in on bay anchovies, then I those on a fly that looks like that. They can be nailing and spraying glass minnows all over and you throw in a larger sardine pattern and they'll ignore it (or vise versa).

Also, I almost exclusively use clear intermediate lines and found over the years that they work better. Also spanish macks may joining in on the action and with a floater line, that's all you'll get since the lil tunnies will hang below the bait schools when the macks come in (I think they are racists and don't want to hang out with the macks for some reason. lol). So the clear intermediate, with a long "count down" will get the fly below the macks to where the Bonitos will notice it. "Why, " you say avoid the macks and target the bonitos? Because they pull harder! And that's what we all want anyways, right? 

Ted Haas


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2017)

Roger_Cook said:


> Small crease flies. 12# fluoro.


X2 on crease flies, but might need short light wire bite tippet to stop feeding fish flies.


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## FlyBy (Jul 12, 2013)

Here's my batch for Cape Lookout and Cape Fear. Not the crab fly.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

If you use floating line and have a fly with lead eyes or lead wire body then a 9' leader gets you about right. Maybe


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

trailblazerEXT said:


> X2 on crease flies, but might need short light wire bite tippet to stop feeding fish flies.


I just step it up and add a 12" section of bite leader of 30lb fluorocarbon leader material at the end of your tippet. If they get real finicky, you have to drop down to 20lb. But I've had big ones get all stupid on a feeding frenzy and get them on 60lb FC bite leader on my all around offshore rig. The only time I'll put any wire on is if my 30lb FC keeps getting cut by spanish macks or small kings. Then I'll albright a small 3" piece of thin wire at the end of my bite leader (and not the tippet). Been using 12-20lb Kinky2 tieable wire that seems to work good.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

M


permitchaser said:


> If you use floating line and have a fly with lead eyes or lead wire body then a 9' leader gets you about right. Maybe


Maybe, unless they drop deeper because of mackerel annoying them. Ideally, if you can get them with a floating line and some crease flies, it's hard to beat seeing them crush those surface flies and sometimes torpedoing out of the water to eat them. For me tho, depending on the bait they are feeding on (like glass minnows or bay anchovies), it's harder to get them to eat a surface fly than a subsurface fly, unless it's something like a thin pencil popper type fly. But if they bunched up a pod of white bait (sardines), then it's "ON" with a crease fly. But if they don't eat them, then a sardine subsurface fly like the one I have above or some sort of deciever pattern or EP minnow should work.


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2017)

Backwater said:


> I just step it up and add a 12" section of bite leader of 30lb fluorocarbon leader material at the end of your tippet. If they get real finicky, you have to drop down to 20lb. But I've had big ones get all stupid on a feeding frenzy and get them on 60lb FC bite leader. The only time I'll put any wire on is if my 30lb FC keeps getting cut by spanish macks or small kings. Then I'll albright a small 3" piece of thin wire at the end of my bite leader (and not the tippet).


Seems in fly fishing SWFL gulf coast beaches for albies topwater crease flies off the shore do nicely, but when Spanish & other toothy predators eat 30lb & 40lb + fluorocarbon in far less time than it takes to fold & glue foam in a crease fly that knotable wire comes thru.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Backwater said:


> M
> 
> Maybe, unless they drop deeper because of mackerel annoying them. Ideally, if you can get them with a floating line and some crease flies, it's hard to beat seeing them crush those surface flies and sometimes torpedoing out of the water to eat them. For me tho, depending on the bait they are feeding on (like glass minnows or bay anchovies), it's harder to get them to eat a surface fly than a subsurface fly. But if they bunched up a pod of white bait (sardines), then it's "ON" with a crease fly. But if they don't eat them, then a sardine subsurface fly like the one I have above or some sort of deciever pattern or EP minnow should work.


Years back I was on Raz Reeds boat ( Sage Rep) we where in Hilton Head chasing birds and found a school of little tunny boiling. I had a fly that did not sink fast ( bead chain eyes). Raz had lead dumbbell eyes and he caught a 10 pounder. I took a photo of him and his fish and the photo appeared in some fishing magazine


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## sidelock (Jan 31, 2011)

They generally hit from below the bait balls and a fly that sinks below the bait always produces.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

sidelock said:


> They generally hit from below the bait balls and a fly that sinks below the bait always produces.


That's why I'm usually throwing clear intermediate lines and counting it down to allow time to sink before working the fly. I'm usually throwing that setup on a 9wt, which gives me a little more backbone to get them in quicker and also deal with the wind. 

But Roger_Cook's post of the plate of crease flies has inspired me to tie some more crease flies up and bring them on a different rod with a floater line to throw at them.

Ted


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