I took this photo while fishing one Sunday morning with Captain Steve Venini in Key Largo, Florida. We were out before dawn, and had set up on a good spot to intercept tarpon as they moved along the coast. I call this photo 'Waiting'. Unfortunately, we waited, and waited, and waited. And then boat traffic showed up. And then we had a boat try to troll right past us. Needless to say, we lost our patience, and temper, and called it early.
I took this photo while fishing with Charlie out of Andros South lodge, South Andros, The Bahamas. We'd been wading a nice sand flat along a mangrove shoreline, finding mostly small to medium fish, when this fish (the photo doesn't show it, with the fish half in the water, but it was approx 8 lbs) came cruising over the with a school of fish a couple pounds smaller. The school fanned out, coming at us like a formation of geese, and it was easy to pick out the biggest fish in the school.
This is a bonefish feeding hole. Bonefish are able to blow a jet of water out of the front of their mouths, and use this method to excavate for prey. I assume they smell the prey first. You can tell by the darkness of the sand to the right of the hole that the feeding event happened recently. The sediment below the surface has little to no oxygen (the chemical cycle is sulfur-based) so it is black. As the exposed sediment is exposed to oxygen, it lightens in color. You can also tell that the fish was on the left, facing right, when it blew the sand away from the prey, which may indicate the general direction of movement of fish along this shoreline. What kind of prey? Maybe a worm (ploychaete), clam, shrimp, buried crab.
A shallow, narrow entrance to a backcountry pond. Low tide. You can see by the distance between the mangrove leaves and the water that the tide is very low. Since the depth of the creek obviousl gets much greater, this indicates there is a lot of open water up above this spot.
Below are a couple bonefish shots, after the fish has been released. That's when it's a lot easier to get the shots, and is the same way they get a lot of the shots you see in the magazines. I do, however, sometimes stand absolutely on a flat and get photos of fish as they cruise slowly by.
This is the type of shot you see promoting tourist beaches. But to me this Bahamas beach screams bonefish! Rising tide + high sun = great place to do some walking with fly rod in hand. And expect to see bonefish right up against the shoreline.
The next few shots are of sand flats adjacent to mangrove shorelines - great places to find crusing bonefish.
Above: Note the black mangrove roots sticking up from the sand - this indicates the intertidal zone between high and low tides. It's near low tide, tide is rising, bonefish should show up any second.
I took this photo with the polarizing filter off to make sure the water in the background was visible. It's close to high tide, and you can bet there are bonefish feeding up in that skinny, mangrove-covered water. With a dropping tide, they'll come wandering out, great place to intercept these fish.
Another nice flat next to a mangrove shoreline. Notice the dark shape about half-way down the shoreline? A small Lemon Shark.
This photo is all about 'edges'. The edge between a grass flat and sand flat, the edges of sandbars and troughs. All places to focus on sight fishing for bonefish.
The drying rack at the end of the day.
Heading out.
Derelict vessel.
Sailboat at dawn.
Vultures waiting for the next meal.
All material copyright Aaron Adams 2007, 2008, and beyond, unless otherwise noted.
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