Saturday, April 14, 2007

Bonefish Time!....

In a stern rebuke of superstition, Friday the 13th featured beautiful weather and excellent bonefishing in South Biscayne Bay. I started off the morning by hooking a monster that ran one hundred-fifty yards into a 15-foot deep channel. As the arbor of my reel started to show, I gave thought to pulling anchor-bear in mind this was only 30 seconds into the battle-but, alas, the fish successfully cut me off.

As the tide ebbed, I ran to another spot about two miles away. After a few minutes, I spotted a pair of fish headed my way. I made a good cast 3 feet in front of them, and the fish were all over my shrimp in seconds! The line tightened, I struck, and the line flew off my reel in a repeat of the first fish's long run. This time, there was no deep channel to cut me off. In a long battle of about ten minutes, I finally released a beautiful 9-pound specimen. I saw more fish on that flat, but they were slightly spookier in the last stages of the outgoing tide.

I called Captain Jon Cooper on my cellphone to check on his results. Jon was fishing the ocean side of the Bay with his angler, Harold Berliner. He reported an excellent "tide" of fishing, with Harold going 3 for 6 fish hooked.

I reflected that spring is indeed an excellent time for bonefishing in Biscayne Bay!

Jan

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