Beginners luck...

Maybe the biggest bonefish I'll ever catch - or at least for  long time - and only the second one ever fishing without a guide.

I spent yesterday afternoon on the flats, catching a small menagerie of porgys and a metre long needlefish. So things were looking up compared to most holiday fishing trips.

Later on lots of tails appeared above the surface as a shoal worked over the turtle grass. Much excitement and ceeping into position upwind. Fifteen minutes of fruitless casts and they swung past, turning out to be milkfish - a species renowned for being almost impossible to tempt with a fly.

I headed out to the same area this morning and after a while saw more tails in the air. More milkfish? The tails looked and moved a little differently but the sky was too cloudy to see the fish below.

I flicked out a cast that landed a little short but seemed to get some interest. The second one dropped perfectly a few feet ahead of the tails (mostly blind luck...) and I started to strip the fly back. The line went tight, I gave a hard pull and the water bulged upward before the fish took off so fast the reel handle was cracking my knuckles. And it wasn't intending to stop. Watching the line on the reel dwindle it seemed like time to make chase on foot before it ran out completely. 

Finally the fish stopped and I was able to make gains back to it, but the battle was far, far from over. I was still in the dark as to the identity of the fish after 10 minutes as every time I got within 20 yards it would streak away again. Eventually it was close enough to see the sleek grey silhouette of a very large bonefish, however it was far from done and it was at least the same amount of time again before I could grab the leader and guide the fish in to the beach for its photo call.

How big? Certainly 6 but maybe as much as 8lb. There was no way of picking it up one handed for a photo!

With that, the hook was out and it cruised away back onto the flats.

:)