# need my first dose of florida bonefish



## siegelreptiles (Feb 19, 2007)

Just did my first bonefishing ever in north andros-jaulter cay area. Conditions where horrible, but I am hooked. I live in north broward, but really want to try my luck on some florida bones. I have a lt25 and would like to make some trips south. Any tips would be most appreciated. I am thinking to launch out of homestead bay front park and heading south?


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## DSampiero (Oct 18, 2009)

Nice Bone!

You can find Bones on the west side of Biscayne anywhere from just south of Coconut Grove all the way down. When lived there I did best from the Deering Estate to the North side of Homestead Bayfront Park. Incoming tide was typically best, but you can find them (if your lucky/work for it) on any tide, also be prepared for some Permit, a 10wt with a crab pattern is the most common setup for Permit, and they're just as much fun! Try getting together with Cordell Baum(BonefishWhisperer.com) no one, and I mean no one, has as much experience on the west side of the bay in the past 4 years as he does. Good luck!

Oh, and I just noticed you're fishing with a Redbone/Hurricane rod! I've got two and I love 'em. Bang for buck a great deal, and supporting the cause!


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## siegelreptiles (Feb 19, 2007)

do you have to worry about running out of water on a low tide in that area?


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## siegelreptiles (Feb 19, 2007)

oh yeah--are the flats wadeable?


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

you have a PM.


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## DSampiero (Oct 18, 2009)

I named miles of coast line, some are wade-able some are mud, I've never gotten stuck, but I fish out of a canoe ;D, there are definitely a few places a Gheenoe would get stuck during low tide. Seems like you'll get together with some forum members and go learn some spots, Good luck!


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## siegelreptiles (Feb 19, 2007)

sounds good---thanks a bunch for the info. That guys website is awesome, but honestly, I am not sure that I have the fly fishing skills needed to fish with him yet!!


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

don't let your perceived deficiencies slow you down. Although this forum provides a wealth of combined knowledge there's nothing better than getting after it on the water.  

Wading will make it easier to get closer to the fish, but you want to make sure you're wading a flat that is known to have fish. So I would scout some flats first and/or spot them tailing from a distance and then try to position yourself up current and let them come to you. Easier said than done of course, but bonefish generally work into the current so its a good rule of thumb. Local features of a flat/shoreline etc can affect what they'll do as will low flying birds, flying saucers and all sort of other mysterious phenomena.


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I know a wadeable flat that holds bones and even spotted a red further north.
I was poling in my skiff and saw many bones, but there was three guys wading the same flat and two of them had said they had seen a ton. 
Most were in the 6-8lb range, but there were some 10lbers mixed in. 

Saw a big boy 30+" red on the flat.

Definitely accessible via Gheenoe, but it's ocean side so it has to be a calm day. 

The flat is about two minutes from the boat ramp too. 

PM me for details.
I've been wanting to go back.


I went with a buddy of mine who doesn't fly fish.
He made a perfect cast with live shrimp at one and it pounced on it like a crack head on a rock.
He didn't come tight on it so the fish spit the shrimp back out.
He got the shrimp back all falling apart.


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## DSampiero (Oct 18, 2009)

You've got an e-mail, it's loaded. ;D


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## james_bingham3 (Oct 22, 2009)

nice fish


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## johnmauser (Sep 9, 2009)

Ben Siegel Reptiles does flyfishing and microskiffs, who knew?


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## siegelreptiles (Feb 19, 2007)

and scuba diving and spearfishing!!


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## bsfl (Jul 30, 2009)

Ben! Whatsup man, me and my bro come in the shop pretty often, just traded u the gtp for the cage, if these guys have not provided you with enough insight, which there is plenty to go round, shoot me a pm and I will share with you my limited knowledge. I fished sbb out of an lt25 for a while.


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## siegelreptiles (Feb 19, 2007)

thanks man-- got alot of great info already, but will read anything you can send!--Thanks again

Ben


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Here's one of the ways I was taught to learn about a particular flat and the bones that do (or don't) like to use it... Pick the tide you want to learn for that spot, say from dead low to half in (about three hours).  Position yourself as shallow as your skiff will go along the east end of the flat with the sun at your back or anywhere but in your eyes... then don't move for the entire three hours.  Just watch how the water pushes up onto the flat and the critters that come wth it.  Have your watch or something to tell time and make a note of exactly when you see the water begin to move (nothing is what the tide tables say, each particular spot will have it's own sequence + or minus...  The next thing is to note when that first bone shows, and from what direction, and where it works towards.  The last thing you'll want to know is when they leave, or just aren't showing at all so you'll know how long after the dead low that the flat is fishable....

The guy that taught me this was an airline mechanic who worked a midnight shift and could be on the water almost at first light.  He spent many days on the water just watching and making notes.  He could go to a particular flat and tell you the exact time a school of permit would cross, from what direction, and the size they'd be...  Bones are tougher (I don't think any bone knows where it will be tomorrow or in five minutes...) but they do have general patterns....

For a beginning fly angler, staking up the boat, then getting out on foot if the flat is wadeable is a really good idea.  I've actually had tailing fish swim right up to me while on foot (pretending to be part of the flat, of course...).  Line management is much easier on foot when you only need to make a thirty or forty foot cast.

Hope this helps.


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## aflatsnut (Feb 12, 2010)

I too am a novice when it comes to bones. can anyone tell me where to go for a wading spot in the Marathon area? I'll be at KCB the last week of May and would like to get one on the long rod.

Thanks 

Bob


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## siegelreptiles (Feb 19, 2007)

question--I have been practicing my casting a bit--set up markers every 10 feet in the park next to my house to practice. I could cast with my 7wt to 60ft fairly accurately. Usually within 1-6 ft of a small post it paper. Is that going to be accurate enough to get some shots in? Was more accurate at the 40 and 50 ft mark.


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## Green_Hornet (Nov 1, 2008)

I was listening to a fishing report on the radio from the Snook Nook and they said a feller was jigging for Pompano and caught not 1 but 2 bones at the Jensen Causeway. If that keeps up I won't have to make a trip that far south. I would love to get one.


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