Fly Fishing For Key West Bonefish

Bonefish Fly Fishing

The Lower Keys and Key West have arguably the most beautiful inshore habitat in the United States. The Atlantic Ocean converges with the Gulf of Mexico in a stunning display of colors. Blue, green, and white swaths stretch across the landscape and change as the tide ebbs and flows. It is in these shallows where anglers will encounter bonefish.

Finding bonefish on the flats near Key West seems to be getting easier as the years go by. Historically, bonefish were few and far between in the Lower Keys. Anglers could fish for days and even weeks while only seeing a few. Over the last 10 years, bonefish populations have been growing rapidly in the Lower Keys. Many people have their theories as to why, but the truth is that nobody knows for sure. Just up the road in Islamorada, bonefish numbers are declining, while we are seeing more than ever, doing all of the regular things that bonefish do.

Tailing Bonefish

When the water is shallow, and bonefish feel comfortable enough to be in it, a telltale sign that they are there might come as a small flash on the horizon. As the skiff glides towards the flash, a closer look reveals what is obviously a group of bonefish feeding intently. Their dorsal fins and tails are exposed as they slide over the flat. When they pick something up off of the bottom, their entire back half comes out of the water in a dance that looks as clumsy as it does beautiful.

Something about those tails can make even veteran anglers’ knees knock with anxiety. Those that can keep their cool and make 50+ foot shots and present the fly softly are generally rewarded with a bite. Once hooked, bonefish make fast long runs that almost always take fly anglers deep into their backing. The visual appeal, propensity to take flies, and the fast long runs make fly fishing for tailing bonefish somewhere near the top of most fly anglers’ bucket lists.

Mudding Bonefish

Bonefish feed in a lot of places, not just the shallowest portions of the flats. Deeper pockets, edges, and basins are prime bonefish feeding and staging grounds in between their trips up on the flats. Many of these areas have turtle grass and marl/mud bottom composition that are home to the shrimp, crabs, and small baitfish that make up a bonefish’s diet. Bonefish have great camouflage, and seeing bonefish in water deeper than two feet is a challenge. Bonefish can give their presence away in these scenarios by disturbing the bottom enough that mud clouds up the water where they are feeding.

Although individual bonefish can be difficult to pinpoint while they are mudding, it is still important to try to get the fly directly in front of a fish to entice a bite. The cloudy water impairs their vision as well. Casts at mudding bonefish are usually shorter than those at tailing fish, as an extra foot or two of water allows the boat to get closer to the fish without detection.

Swimming Bonefish

When the water is too deep to see tails, and the bottom is too firm to produce noticeable mud, bonefish are very difficult to spot. Their mirrored scales reflect their surroundings so well that they have earned the nickname “The Grey Ghost” of the flats. Bonefish in these scenarios seem to appear out of nowhere when least expected. Bonefish are almost always moving, and fly anglers in the Lower Keys and Key West use this the their advantage.

Shots at swimming bonefish are usually short and quick. The objective is to get a weighted fly in front of a fish and get it moving as quickly as possible so that the fish instinctually grabs it before it knows what is going on. It isn’t the most glamorous way to catch a bonefish, but in the Lower Keys, a lot of bonefish are caught this way.