Gorge Fly Shop Blog: Bonefish Gear

Choosing the right bonefish outfit

So you just booked that dream trip to tropical paradise to go bonefishing. Now what you need to know about the gear, because proper gear selection can make or break a trip. So while we go through the gear remind yourself that the saltwater flats are generally very windy, accuracy is critical and you need to make quick cast.

In choosing the right rod there are a few things you need to know and be honest about. First most bonefish are caught with cast between 30’ and 50’. I will stress that accurate cast at 30’ to 50’ will catch far more bonefish then sloppy cast at 60’. Second you need to be honest about your casting ability. If you are not you will probably get the wrong rod or line, or both. A true distance caster generally is looking for a completely different line if not rod than the average caster. I am going to figure that most reading this are in the 95% of average casters, 60’ would be a long cast for most.

Rod

When picking out the right rod you will need a rod that builds high line speed, but still loads easy. Line speed is what gives you accuracy and the power to pierce the wind. With that said you don’t want a rod that the taper is so stiff that you cannot feel the rod loading.

Budget is really going to dictate this more than anything. As the price of the rod goes up, generally they are built with a lighter, stronger quicker reacting graphite. This allows the manufacturer to build the rod with a little more forgiving taper making the rod easier to cast. Yet the graphite will react quicker producing higher line speed.

As the cost of the rod goes down, the manufacturer cannot use as efficient of graphite. In this case you will generally give up the ease of casting. This is due to the rod having to produced with a stiffer taper to meet the demands of saltwater. If the rod is not designed with a stiffer taper it is most likely lacking in the power that is needed for the flats.

As for the size of the rod, I would recommend a 9’ 8 weight rod. This tends to be the best all around bonefish rod. You can go lighter if you are just fishing for smaller bones and heavier if you are targeting really big bones.

My favorite bonefish rods tend to be; Sage X 890-4, G.Loomis Asquith 890-4, Winston Air Salt 890-4. All three of these tend to build really good line speed, yet load easier than most saltwater rods.

Lines

Bonefish live in a tropical environment so make sure you get tropical lines. If you take a coldwater line down to the tropics you are going to be disappointed. Line taper makes or breaks the performance that you are looking for out of your rod. For most bonefish conditions I like the shorter heavier tapers for bonefish. These allow me to load the rod quickly with just one or two false cast. There is no time on the flats to make 3, 4 or 5 false cast. My favorite shorter head lines are; RIO Bonefish Quickshooter, RIO Flats Pro, Scientific Anglers Amplitude Smooth Grand Slam.

Reels

I did list reels last, because they are important, but the rod and line should come first. Now with that said I will stress how hard saltwater is on fly reels. Also keep in mind that the fish in saltwater tend to peel line off of a reel much faster than in freshwater. There are a lot of really popular well known reels that get destroyed when fished in saltwater. There are many factors that cause reel failure. The most common is cheap guts inside the reel. Just because a reel is called sealed, water can still find its way into the drag system. This is when you find out that the couple bucks the manufacturer saved on bearings really bites you. Sometimes these failures don’t show up on your first trip to the salt, they show up after the reel has sat with saltwater in it for a year or so. Washing your reel good with freshwater every night helps, but it does not get all the salt out. Especially if the salt gets inside a supposed sealed drag.

I look for several things in a reel. I want the reel to have a large arbor, bigger the better. I want it to still be lite. I need a strong, smooth drag. Most of all I want a reel that stands up in saltwater. There are lots of really great reels out there, but here are a few of my favorites; Nautilus NVG 8/9 or 7/8, Nautilus CCFx2 6/8 or 8/10, Sage Spectrum Max 7/8.

I hope this helps a little in getting set up right for your next bonefish outing. I could easily write several pages on just rods or lines or reels, but I figured short and sweet would be better. We are always here to help you with any questions.
Trav