Sunday, June 19, 2011

We Talkin Bout Practice



At the put in, I carefully slide my SUP yak into the water and position the sun and wind at my back. One aides in casting and the other illuminates a whole lot more water for sight fishing. Setting up shot with a clear few of a vast mud flat, I wait patiently for the arrival of this sessions guests. Bones. The freshwater variety that mirror an upcoming saltwater adversary to a tee. Out from the glare comes a single cruiser, roughly 4-6 pounds, meandering towards me from a distance of 80 ft. Her golden scales blend in perfectly with her surroundings but movement and shadow give her away. With my line already out, I give one false cast before shooting 50 ft. of line and landing a small fly a ways ahead of her. I leave it sink slowly to the bottom and wait for my prey to come into range. Once a suitable distance away, I give a few quick strips and wait for the body language of the freshwater bone to change. Suddenly, she hits the turbo button and her appendages flare, signaling that she is onto the fly. I stop my strip and the bone rushes the fly, stops dead on a dime, and inhales the offering. Even at 4-6 pounds she fights like a true champ running deep into a mat of vegetation straining my 8wt. and 3x tippet. I give her all I have, testing the rod and the breaking strength of 8lb. line against a pissed off fish using every inch of structure to her advantage. I ease her into my hand and a vision of a real bonefish on a vast Caribbean flat pops into my head. Less than two weeks away, I need all the practice I can get before taking the real ones on. What better way to practice than on some golden bones? Also, contrary to what Allen Iverson may say, practice actually works.


















4 comments:

hawkbird said...

Nice. Good luck wit dem ghosts. Love the photos. What fly were you using? If that's not too personal

Troutdawg said...

Another great Carp day out!

Mark said...

Thanks guys,

@ hawkbird- During this outing, I caught them on damsels and sucker spawn. They are usually my go to patterns!

testflycarpin said...

Love the underwater pictures.