So here is a picture of me in 2004 fishing for bonefish in Ascencion Bay, Mexico. I have to admit, I do not look cool in this picture. That is not a kilt I'm wearing but a very baggy pair of shorts that were in style about 15 years ago. A kilt would have been cool. The hat's OK, but those skinny white legs poking out from the baggy shorts is very dorky! Oh, well. My mahogony coloured guide was a Mayan named Carlos and he was trying to point out the 'nervous water'. I couldn't figure out what the hell he was talking about for the first 3 days. Notice the clouds in the background. Bonefish are very hard to see under the best of conditions and the best of conditions include bright sunny skies and light winds. The sun illuminates the white sand below and you are able to see the shadows of the ghostly schools of silver/white bonefish as they maraud for the crabs hiding in the sand. When it's cloudy like this, all you see is the surface and being somewhat windy, the surface is all chopped up with waves.
We spent a lot of time looking around for the elusive bonefish. Ocassionally, we would get out of the panga and wade. That's what my friend Karl is doing in the 2nd picture. Karl always looks cool! Eventually, after about 3 days, we started to be able to see the fish. You could sometimes see their tails as the nose around in shallow waters. The 'nervous water' the guides kept talking about was the faint v-shaped ripples on the surface created by one or several fish as they cruised just beneath the surface.
Finally, on Day 3, the sun came out , the wind died down and a school of bonefish were moving in the direction of my panga. I laid out a perfect cast, about 5 feet in front of the lead fish and he took it! then I found out what catching a bonefish was all about. A screaming run which takes out all of your line to the backing. You fight the fish back in and it takes another heart-pounding run. It is a lot of fun. One you land it, you might have someone take a photo, just to prove that you went 3 thousand miles and spent 3 days flailing away but you did catch a bonefish. Then you want to do it again. That is a genuine bonefish smile right there.
So here is a picture of me in 2004 fishing for bonefish in Ascencion Bay, Mexico. I have to admit, I do not look cool in this picture. That is not a kilt I'm wearing but a very baggy pair of shorts that were in style about 15 years ago. A kilt would have been cool. The hat's OK, but those skinny white legs poking out from the baggy shorts is very dorky! Oh, well. My mahogony coloured guide was a Mayan named Carlos and he was trying to point out the 'nervous water'. I couldn't figure out what the hell he was talking about for the first 3 days. Notice the clouds in the background. Bonefish are very hard to see under the best of conditions and the best of conditions include bright sunny skies and light winds. The sun illuminates the white sand below and you are able to see the shadows of the ghostly schools of silver/white bonefish as they maraud for the crabs hiding in the sand. When it's cloudy like this, all you see is the surface and being somewhat windy, the surface is all chopped up with waves.
We spent a lot of time looking around for the elusive bonefish. Ocassionally, we would get out of the panga and wade. That's what my friend Karl is doing in the 2nd picture. Karl always looks cool! Eventually, after about 3 days, we started to be able to see the fish. You could sometimes see their tails as the nose around in shallow waters. The 'nervous water' the guides kept talking about was the faint v-shaped ripples on the surface created by one or several fish as they cruised just beneath the surface.
Finally, on Day 3, the sun came out , the wind died down and a school of bonefish were moving in the direction of my panga. I laid out a perfect cast, about 5 feet in front of the lead fish and he took it! then I found out what catching a bonefish was all about. A screaming run which takes out all of your line to the backing. You fight the fish back in and it takes another heart-pounding run. It is a lot of fun. One you land it, you might have someone take a photo, just to prove that you went 3 thousand miles and spent 3 days flailing away but you did catch a bonefish. Then you want to do it again. That is a genuine bonefish smile right there.
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