Bonefish Bonanza On Green Turtle Cay
by Herb Allen and Steve Marusak
GREEN TURTLE CAY, Bahamas--A five-pound bonefish dashed away with the speed of a bullet after striking a bare 1/4-ounce jig tipped only with a piece of Pro Bait.
"Hang on!," yelled my guide, Ronnie Sawyer, from his vantage point 50 yards away on a shallow flat soon after a tide began its incoming flow.
Using four-pound test line on an ultra-light spinning rod, there was little else to do other than hold my rod high and watch line evaporate from my reel. Despite the number of bonefish caught in previous years here, its velocity never ceases to amaze me. This one ripped nearly 75 yards of line from the reel before slowing down and doing a 90-degree turn to its left.
Finally, I was able to regain a bit of thin mono before the fish made another dash for freedom. After three more ever-shortening sprints, this silvery game fish gave up the ghost and was led close in for release.
Meanwhile, Sawyer saw a pod of tailing bones come into view on a flat about 50 feet from where he was poised with a fly rod. Despite gusty winds and an overcast sky, the guide was able to lay his tiny fly ahead of the school and bounce it across a sandy bottom where it was ambushed by a contentious six-pounder.
Sawyer, who has taken many bonefish scaling on the plus side of 10 pounds, expertly played his adversary on a willowy, nine-fly rod until it, too, was ready for release. What's more, he repeated this performance 15 minutes later with yet another six-pounder while I hooked and lost one of about equal size on spinning tackle.
Due to a heavily overcast day and breezes creating a moderate chop on the water's surface, it was difficult to see individual fish even with polarized sunglasses. Therefore Ronnie and the writer kept a sharp eye out for tailers, a situation in which a bone's tail breaks the surface as it dips down to feed upon tidbits.
Because they╒re so spooky in shallow water, it's absolutely vital to stalk every bonefish warily while wading or poling a boat on flats that usually measure depths in mere inches.
When making a cast, it's best to place your offering (fly, tiny jig, or bait) well ahead of the target. Shadows, sudden noises, or the loud splashes of lures and baits will most surely send a bone streaking to deeper water havens.
Found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters, the bonefish is particularly popular in the Florida Keys, Biscayne Bay, and throughout the Bahamas. They feed primarily on crabs, shrimp, clams, sea worms, and urchins.
Ronnie Sawyer, one of the world's premier bonefishermen and guides, lives in New Plymouth with his wife and three children, and operates out from both Bluff House and the Green Turtle Club. If this easy-going, eagle-eyed scout can╒t put you onto a trophy bonefish, nobody can.
Anyone planning a trip to the Abacos who wants to connect with one of the Bahamas's premier bonefish guides can contact Ronnie Sawyer by dialing 242-365-4070.
