Bonefishing, Berry Islands, Bahamas May 2006

[oc1]

What is your bonefishing experience in Hawaii?

Different species (two of them).  They tend to be larger; up to about 30 inches fork length.  They leave for a week or so in the summer to spawn off shore.  There is little to no management or enforcement so when the gill netters find where a school is hiding they wipe it out.  Many solitary fish caught hook-and-line are killed and eaten as fish cakes.  It's a wonder there is anything left.
-steve

[conchydong]

I always heard they school up on the flats (pre-spawn) and then go offshore as a group to spawn. I am not a scientist so I may be 100% wrong.
Anyway, I have caught Bonefish on cut bait on the bottom in 100' of water, so I know they move into deep water.

[jurelometer]

I always heard they school up on the flats (pre-spawn) and then go offshore as a group to spawn. I am not a scientist so I may be 100% wrong.
Anyway, I have caught Bonefish on cut bait on the bottom in 100' of water, so I know they move into deep water.

Schooling is normal daily behavior for small to medium sized bonefish. It is very common.  The Caribbean/Bahamian subspecies (Vulpe) also stage before going to deep water dropoffs to spawn, but I don't think that happens much in the shallow flats, and they are aggregating in one place, not cruising around like a normal bonefish school.  The staging areas are nearby the spawning locations.

Here is a nice video on bonefish spawning behavior:

-J

[Cor]

Very nice thread and must have been great to see all those fish.     Enjoyed the video!

[CapeFish]

Excellent post thanks for sharing, definitely something I would like to do

[Newell Nut]

Can't beat that water clarity. Beautiful place to fish.

Dwight

[Alto Mare]

Nice video Dave👍

Sal

[thorhammer]

Wayne-o!


Thanks for this! Three years ago in May we and friends spent a week in Spanish Wells about 40 miles due east of where you were- you can see at the northern tip of Eleuthra. A life changing event for me, and most of pics got lost in laptop crash....so yours bring me back! We would go down to the tip of the island at dusk and see the bones tailing on the flat, but couldn't get a hit on the wobble jigs. Made ceviche from yellowtail and mahi we caught ( i took own gear and rented a boat) and also drank a lot of Kalik (Klik, lol) and conch salad.


Awesome!

J

[El Pescador]

Wayne-o!

Thanks for this! Three years ago in May we and friends spent a week in Spanish Wells about 40 miles due east of where you were- you can see at the northern tip of Eleuthra.
Awesome!
J

The GREAT and POWERFUL Thorhammer!!!!

Welcome back from our self-imposed sequester.

Checking google maps, Spanish Wells is just a mile from the Deep Blue - how was your day of offshore pelagic fishing?

Sending you a PM for my summer 2020 BBQ Sauce needs.

Wayne

[thorhammer]

Had the boat four days, one was a blowout- but did manage to catch mahi daily in a 1000 feet of water a mile or so off the beach, and yellowtail in the patch reefs- enough to feed the masses with ceviche and grilling! what i liked about it was that there was really very little intel on the place being so small, so I brought my own kit and did it 100% my way in a strange place and scored. We actually took the first half day to re-rig / repair a lot of stuff on the boat at our dime- my buddy is USCG Chief, ret., and I'm just generally anal about stuff on boats working and clean, so we weren't having it. Although next time I will hit the gym before humping my shoulder bag of Internationals through ATL!!!!! or buy some TLD 2-speeds lol

I'm hunting the Q -sauce; will advise.

[the rockfish ninja]

Rockfish!  San Salvador island has the entire Atlantic ocean to the east, how was your day for Wahoo??    When are you and I going fishing??

93 lbs, I posted a pic here a long time ago. TBH I really wanted to go snapper/grouper jigging but the groupers were protected that year so to reef jigging trips weren't offered.

We might fish in the upcoming weeks but I'm working on a music project right now, gotta replenish tackle, and recover a little more from that last trip.

[Ron Jones]

I do love bonefish cakes. Like, A Lot. Depending on the time of year, you can actually catch more of them than puffer fish on Ford Island, but casting to them on the flats off of Hickam is epic.

I really enjoyed Hawaii, not as much as where I live, but there were really fun days.

The Man