When guiding I often get the following question:   Why does a ‘trout set' not work on bonefish when a strip-strike does?

The responses that most of us saltwater anglers are familiar with are variations on a theme: “raising the rod pulls the fly away from the fish.” “If your strip-strike misses the fly only moves a foot or so and it will still be in the zone .” “A strip-strike gives better control of the hook set since you can feel what you're doing.” All of these responses certainly have merit, but I'm not sure I've ever heard or read the real reason it's so hard to hook bones with a trout set. The answer is actually very simple but requires an overview of how bonefish feed.

Most of the other species we fish for with a fly rod eat a fly and turn... this is opposite from bonefish.

Most of the other species we fish for with a fly rod - trout and tarpon, to choose the most extreme examples - eat a fly and turn. Trout turn back to their lie after taking a fly from the surface or snatching a nymph. Tarpon, like bass, often take their food in a turning maneuver. In either case the fish is headed away when we strike and has his mouth closed around his prey. Raising the rod means you come tight and usually hook the fish in the corner of the mouth. Perfect.

This is almost exactly opposite from bonefish. Bonefish feed primarily on food that doesn't continuously flee but prefers to hide from predators instead. Now, I have certainly seen bonefish feeding like jacks on minnows and will at those times strike a fly hard. But day in, day out, bonefish pick their food up off the bottom.

This is important. Most of the time when a bonefish grabs a mouthful of crab or shrimp, it gets a mouthful of bottom with it. I used to think that most puffs (patches of milky water made by feeding bonefish) were cause by bonefish blowing holes in the bottom. That's what I'd read.

Careful observation, however, showed otherwise. Many bonefish puffs are actually debris expelled from the gills. In other words, a bone grabs a mouthful of crab-and-mud, crushes the crab with its crushers (the teeth in the back of the throat), and shoots the remainder out his gills. To do this comfortably a bone needs to have water running over his gills the whole time, to keep them clean. In fact, his mouth remains open during the feeding process. Raising the rod at this point simply moves the fly too fast for the hook to catch. In effect, you are pulling the fly back out of it's open mouth. Remember his teeth are in his throat. There is no reason for a bone to close his mouth around his food, or your fly.

So, why does the strip strike work (Fig. 1)? Why doesn't it pull the fly out? Well, it can when performed incorrectly. Trying to set the hook with a jerk often has the same result as a trout set. That's why guides harp on a long, smooth strip to get it done. A proper strip-strike moves the hook just fast enough for the tip to catch somewhere in the bone's mouth, preventing the fish from spitting it. Sometimes this is a very tenuous hold.

When the fish realizes something is wrong it turns and bolts pulling the hook to the corner of the mouth. I'd say darn near 100% of the fish my clients take are hooked in the corner of the mouth (Fig. 3). That's a bit puzzling considering about the same percentage are coming directly toward us when they eat the fly, and keep coming at us afterwords. I finally figured it's actually that first run that moves the fly from wherever it first caught to the corner of the mouth for the perfect hook-set.

To understand this better, try this little experiment. Tie a hook onto a leader and drop it into a cardboard box. Now, jerk the fly really hard and it will fly back out of the box. No hook-up. Try it again but instead pull slowly and steadily on the leader. The fly should hook the corner of the box, at least a little. That's the basic idea. It's an over-simplification and the more experienced bonefisher learns to use a combination of the strip-strike and proper angle of the rod to really hook the fish right off. Still, merely coming tight with a smooth strip and then lifting the rod (to cushion the bonefish's first run) will get the job done nine times in ten.

Addendum: The peculiar eating behavior of bonefish has some other implications.

First, since the fish are swimming at you, maintaining contact with the fly is immensely important. Many bonefish are missed because they keep swimming in the same direction after they suck a fly in. When they realize your fly isn't food they simply blow it back out again. If there is any slack in your line - which is likely since the fish is swimming at you - you won't even feel the take. That's why watching the fish at all times is so important. You need that visual sign the fish has eaten. That's also why we check the fly so often when bonefishing. If they eyes are twisted around that means the fish ate it and spit it before you could strip-strike. Often bonefish won't eat flies with the eyes twisted since they ride funny.

Secondly, if you're tracking fish over dark, grassy bottom by their puffs, remember these are almost always behind the fish. A fish tips up (sometimes tailing), takes a mouthful of bottom, eats whatever food he finds in it, and after he tips back to horizontal , ejects the puff from his gills. That's why casting to the puffs will often line fish. Instead, cast a little ways ahead of the puffs, let the fly sink, and start a slow retrieve.

Try these simple tips before your next time you have a bonefish tracking your fly. I guarantee your odds will go up.    << Back to SALTY TIPS Page

~ Davin Ebanks, Fly Fisherman & Bonefish Guide