Bonefish

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Bonefish

Species Information

Scientific Name:Albula vulpes
Common Names:bonefish
Environment:Inshore, Surf
Ideal Temp:70-85ºF (21-29ºC)

About Bonefish

 

Bonefish is a popular gamefish and are known as "grey ghosts of the flats" because they are stealthy, fast swimming fish that are fun and challenging to catch. Bonefish mature at three to four years of age (17-18 inches total length), may live longer than 23 years, and grow to be three feet long and 15 pounds.

Description: 

Body elongated, silvery, with darkish areas at the tip of the snout and at the base of the pectoral fin. May display faint bars. Dorsal fin single, tail deeply forked. Mouth short, underslung, ending before the eye.

Size up to 1 m.

Habitat:
Inhabits shallow coastal waters, estuaries and bays, over sand and mud bottoms, down to 84 m. Often in schools, except for large individuals that are solitary. More or less pelagic, but feeds on benthic worms, crustaceans and mollusks. Tolerates oxygen poor water by inhaling air into a lung-like airbladder.

Distribution:
Abundant to occasional South Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean; rare North Florida.

Catching:

Live shrimp and crabs make good bonefish bait, but bonefish also respond to fies and artificiallures. They also can be enticed to bite by anglerschumming with chopped shrimp. Casting is another test of the angler’s skill; casting too close to a fish will send it scurrying, whereas a line dropped too far away will never get its attention.Once hooked, a bonefish makes a mad dash for deeper water, often breaking the line on rocks or corals as it streaks across the bottom. Most anglers use 10-pound test line on bonefish. Although bonefish can be caught any time of day, tailing fish are most likely to be spotted in the early morning or evening. In the winter, bonefish are not as numerous in the shallows, and deeper waters are a better choice for the angler

Bonefish Fishing

World Record:8.61 kg (19 lb 0 oz) Zululand, South Africa
# Fish Caught:64427 documented in database.
Earliest Record:7/2/1758 12:00:00 PM and located at 11.00000, 72.50000.
Latest Record:1/16/2026 6:38:00 PM and located at 25.78888, -80.25030.
Common Techniques:Casting, Fly
Popular Lure Types:Flies, Plugs, Spoons, Topwater
Fishing Spots:10 Bonefish fishing spots.


Latest Bonefish Fishing Reports and Spots

This is the way to go out! April 16-30 2026 - 4/30/2026 7:23:00 PM

Welcome back everyone and here we go with the end of the month fishing report.  We wrapped up the month of April with solid fishing although th (View)

The slick has started! May 1-15 2026 - 5/14/2026 6:56:25 PM

It's May it's hot and it's slick!  I mean it is slick clam no wind in the mornings and tails everywhere.  May is the month when we start our su (View)

Check out our new 22' Pathfinder addition! - 5/14/2026 6:59:34 PM

  Capt. Mo Estevez  786-853-1409 www.MiamiBonefishing.com (16' Flats Boat) www.MiamiBayFishingCharters.com (22' Bay Boat) Follow me on Instagra (View)

Hot in a number of ways May 16-31 2026 Report - 5/31/2026 3:18:01 PM

Welcome back everyone it's the end of May and everything is as it should be now.  The strange  20 MPH winds we had the fist half of the month a (View)

Autumn 2026 Newsletter - 5/12/2026 8:14:26 PM

96 Autumn 2026 Newsletter View this email in your browser Autumn 2026 Newsletter Autumn delivers! True trophy Spanish mackerel Once again our A (View)

The ups and Downs of Spring April 1-15 2026 - 4/20/2026 4:34:00 PM

Welcome back everyone and it's been a strange spring so far.  The typical windy spring days have been few the air cooler than normal the mullet (View)

Out with March with a bang! March 16-31 2026 - 4/2/2026 6:03:00 PM

As we end the month of March we had a cold front to deal with high winds no wind cold and heat what a crazy month!  Thankfully fish still have (View)

It’s almost April and the Tarpon are here! - 3/27/2026 9:39:30 AM

The post It’s almost April and the Tarpon are here! appeared first on Key West Tarpon fishing Key West FL Permit fishing and Bonefish with fly (View)

Permit fishing in the Lower Keys and Key West - 3/28/2026 10:57:13 AM

I’m happy to tell you that the Permit fishing has come back after a slight lag the past couple of years. The post Permit fishing in the Lower K (View)

It's Spring! March 1-15 2026 - 3/15/2026 6:32:00 PM

This first half of March has been very interesting and just as expected in some ways. March is typically a windy month and that has been the ca (View)