# Homosassa bonefish?



## FLPhlats

Been seeing reports of some being caught up here anyone ever seen bones caught in the nature coast before?


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## lemaymiami

Many many years ago (1976 to be exact) it was springtime and standing on the old Lake Worth pier we were watching schools of mullet coming from the north, then swinging out and around the pier without slowing down. A medium sized school was spotted in the distance and we watched it as it approached… Finally we could see that it wasn’t mullet at all but a school of really big bonefish - in the 10lb size range.. They followed the exact same path as the mullet, maybe 100 feet off the beach, and I have no doubt they were bonefish… 

Looking back on it I’m guessing it was a spawning concentration but have no idea why they were so far north coming from the Palm Beach area… Never seen or heard of anything like that in all the years that followed…


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## Jred

How did it taste?


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## stoked

Jred said:


> How did it taste?


Best served with manatee bacon and eagle eggs.


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## Zika

Bonefish have been a fairly common catch in the Jupiter/Stuart area since the water quality declined and a lot of the seagrasses died off.


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## Naturecoastfly

Maybe something with the hurricane as well? My buddy down there said that’s the second or 3rd caught out of Homosassa this week.

We had a strong push of snook a few yrs back up on my end of the panhandle after the hurricane that sucked all the water from tampa bay. I can’t remember the storm name. Now you hear of one or two a year being caught up this way.


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## MikeCockman

I seen that. 
I’m calling BS, Looks more like a mullet/lady fish hybrid to me..😂😂😂. JK.. Obviously. 
Could be storm related maybe.Or maybe his Google maps malfunction and he took a left at Albuquerque instead of a right..


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## FMH

Echoing Capt. Bob's post ,I too remember standing on the Newport Pier in North Miami Beach as a kid and watching several schools of big bonefish swim past the pilings. And yes ,that was in the 70's.


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## FloridaFrank1992

Wow that is awesome!


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## CoolRunnings

One was caught off the beach around 30A on the panhandle in the past few days


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## TheAdamsProject

There are odd catches each year. I remember in the early 2000's a couple small bonefish were caught in a cast net in St Augustine. In 2012 I caught a snook near the Shands Bridge on the St. Johns River which is nearly 45miles up river from the intracoastal waterway. Remember last year the tarpon speared in New Jersey?


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## Smackdaddy53

Hurricanes that move a lot of water have been known to move fish to areas they normally are not frequently seen or caught. After hurricane Harvey we were catching huge golden croaker on soft plastics for a month or so then they disappeared. There were also quite a few big snook caught on the middle coast by guys fishing for trout and redfish then they disappeared too.


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## BWest

. The last record I can find of a bonefish caught in that area was from a Saltwater Sportsman article on Sept 5th 2012. Hurricane Isaac was in the gulf the week before that, so Smack's explanation makes perfect sense.


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## jrid260

There was a bonefish caught off Santa Rosa Beach (Panhandle) yesterday.


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## Naturecoastfly

@Smackdaddy53 in my neck of the woods disappeared is code for landed in the grease 🤣


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## Gatorbig

Snooklet I caught in the panhandle in June have heard guys catch permit and bones here also not reliably but they are here.

Was listening to captains collective podcast with Jim farrior I believe he said he was catching bones in Homosassa way back. I could be mistaken on that though


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## ReelBoi

RIP to that bonefish


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## Jason M

I found a dead bonefish last year off Gasparilla. The old tarpon guides used to see permit pretty frequently in Homosassa.


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## DBStoots

For gosh sakes Captain, teach your clients to respect the fish.


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## MariettaMike

The area where this fish was caught is very similar to the Keys, except for lower water temps in the winter, and there aren’t any barracudas.

Since this was the second bonefish caught in the last week, Ian may have pushed them North. Although the other was tiny in comparison, so they probably didn’t travel in the same school. With most anglers around here not being familiar with bonefish, and they don’t typically sight fish, I’m sure there are other bonefish around that are assumed to be mullet.

As for the Boga Grip pic that’s better than the angler potentially dropping that fish on the deck. Bonefish don’t stay still unless you hold them upside down, and I know I‘ve lost the handle on a few.

Considering they released the fish, I think it’s no harm, no foul.


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## DBStoots

MariettaMike said:


> The area where this fish was caught is very similar to the Keys, except for lower water temps in the winter, and there aren’t any barracudas.
> 
> Since this was the second bonefish caught in the last week, Ian may have pushed them North. Although the other was tiny in comparison, so they probably didn’t travel in the same school. With most anglers around here not being familiar with bonefish, and they don’t typically sight fish, I’m sure there are other bonefish around that are assumed to be mullet.
> 
> As for the Boga Grip pic that’s better than the angler potentially dropping that fish on the deck. Bonefish don’t stay still unless you hold them upside down, and I know I‘ve lost the handle on a few.
> 
> Considering they released the fish, I think it’s no harm, no foul.


I respectfully disagree. That fish should be held horizontally, preferably still in the water.


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## strikeout

I think Snook and Bonefish have been caught in the Orange Beach/Gulf Shores area in the last few years, also small permit are caught along the beach as well.


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## SS06

I caught a small bonefish at Sebastian inlet on the north inside flat about 20-25 years ago...didn't even know what it was till I got home and looked it up


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## Jared D

caught in Nassau Sound ( North East FL) June of this year.
Per hurricanes and moving fish. The NE FL red snapper fishery was poor prior to Hurricane Floyd… after it passed, all the offshore reefs/ ledges (I.E. natural bottom, not wrecks) were covered in 20-25” snapper. 
I am 100% convinced that hurricanes move large fish populations. If the area can sustain those populations AND no temp issues happen (hard cold snaps for example) they thrive until a new catalyst appears.


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## TroutNreds12

SS06 said:


> I caught a small bonefish at Sebastian inlet on the north inside flat about 20-25 years ago...didn't even know what it was till I got home and looked it up


They are still caught from time to time in Sebastian I know of several caught in the last 2-3 years near inlet flats


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## jonterr

DBStoots said:


> I respectfully disagree. That fish should be held horizontally, preferably still in the water.


What happens when you get freezing temperatures up there?
Are you going to pick them up the night before and take them South?😀


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## DBStoots

jonterr said:


> What happens when you get freezing temperatures up there?
> Are you going to pick them up the night before and take them South?😀


I'm not sure about your point. What is it? Do you disagree with my response?


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## jonterr

DBStoots said:


> I'm not sure about your point. What is it? Do you disagree with my response?


Everything dies from something


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## DBStoots

Certainly no need to hasten this by improperly handling a fish.


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## jonterr

DBStoots said:


> Certainly no need to hasten this by improperly handling a fish.


Agree😀


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## Wuggs

MariettaMike said:


> The area where this fish was caught is very similar to the Keys, except for lower water temps in the winter, and there aren’t any barracudas.
> 
> Since this was the second bonefish caught in the last week, Ian may have pushed them North. Although the other was tiny in comparison, so they probably didn’t travel in the same school. With most anglers around here not being familiar with bonefish, and they don’t typically sight fish, I’m sure there are other bonefish around that are assumed to be mullet.
> 
> As for the Boga Grip pic that’s better than the angler potentially dropping that fish on the deck. Bonefish don’t stay still unless you hold them upside down, and I know I‘ve lost the handle on a few.
> 
> Considering they released the fish, I think it’s no harm, no foul.


I hooked a fish in the ICW near FWB last March that I was 90% sure was a bonefish. Saw its profile when I hooked it, had it on for 30-40 seconds and it was unlike any similarly shaped fish I could think of. Didn't know bones were that far north and I'd never caught one but after talking to the guys at a local baitshop I'm now 100% sure it was a bone.


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## Jared D

DBStoots said:


> For gosh sakes Captain, teach your clients to respect the fish.


Not trying to jump in any argument on this. I personally am not a boga grip user- but I often grab fish by their tails or by a gill plate (plate- not grabbing the actual gills), or lip depending on the species. 
I would agree that the fish should be supported whenever possible- but I also know many people refuse to touch a fish in the first place (that is me picking on my 26-year-old cousin- he refuses to touch a fish) let alone one which is not keen on being held and flopping around.

Some species (never caught a bone- so could not attest to if this applies to them) are better off not to be held w two hands like your avatar pic (Speckled trout for instance) and hence the widespread use of Bogas. But these devices do put huge stress on the fish's jaw. 

At the end of the day, I 100% agree we need to try to teach how to best preserve the fisheries we have- but we as anglers can't agree on what those best ways are - and it differs species to species.
But I do agree- if it were me, I would definitely want to see that fish supported more. 

Now someone please send some big old bones up to NE FL so I can get some hands on some.


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## DBStoots

BTT Bonefish Safe Handling


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## TidewateR

For the past 10yr or so, there have been permit bonefish and snook caught annually in the northern GOM. The frequency of these catches appears to be on the increase, but that could be in part to more fishers and more social media


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## skinny_fishing

I'd assume the improper handling is mostly due to people up there not used to catching bonefish, unlike in the keys where everyone is quite aware. But yeah it's a bad look, especially here where most of us are pretty concerned about bonefish populations.

Also about hurricanes moving fish....I forget which hurricane it was, maybe Irma, but there was one where afterwards there were people catching bonefish in Boca Ciega Bay here in St.Pete for awhile. One of the stories I heard was an old guy that caught a big one off his mobile home lot on the water, and brought it in to the local bait shop we usually go to to ask what it was. Of course it was dead unfortunately, but like the pic above we're talking about, that old guy was not educated on them and had no clue, and maybe if he did he would have handled it gently and just let it go instead.


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## eightwt

Bonefish in Apalachee Bay - BigBendFishing.Net



very rare, but not unusual for animals to be out of their normal range. We’ve also had a flamingo here last two years.


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## JC Designs

They’ve been here forever just like snuke and tarpon. The numbers aren’t big, but they are here. We never had SM to spread the fn joy so much though. Hell, most folks didn’t think there were snuke hete til’ a few years back LMFAO as we’ve been catching them my whole life here! As far as “cold water” goes… there is something very special to this area and that is the multitude of warm fresh water springs that are in the flats and even offshore here. These springs are where many species will congregate when the water temp drops! How do the fish handle said fresh water though? Calcium carbonate will be the short answer and our limestone springs are pretty much comprised of it lol! Spoiler… I’ve also caught mahi in 15’, kings just outside the barge canal, gags in 3’ out of Oz, gags in the barge canal, seen pompano in the head spring at Homosassa, sailfish and tuna in 30’, a manta ray in Oz, Bull sharks in Kings bay, and more huge tiger and hammer head sharks cruising the scallop grounds than out local tourism council will ever want getting out! Have also encountered pilot and sperm whales a couple times fishing in 120’ as well as a whale shark. Just because we don’t see’em don’t mean they ain’t there. With SM as big as it is, we’ll be seeing more I am sure!


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## Flyman28

We've had bonefish caught in Great South Bay on the south shore of Long Island in New York, the occasional tarpon and we had a cobia fishery that has been consistent for the last two years. Fish move wherever the temp works for them, sometimes they get trapped and die too.


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## SomaliPirate

Weird stuff happens. I caught a juvenile Nassau grouper in a marsh creek in Savannah about 20 years ago. On a side note, Homossassa bonefish is going to be my new nickname for a sail cat. "Yeah we got on some of those Homossassa bonefish today"


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