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:64360 documented in database.
Earliest Record:7/2/1758 12:00:00 PM and located at 11.00000, 72.50000.
Latest Record:6/17/2024 9:31:00 AM 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

September 1-25 2024 Report - 9/26/2024 9:28:00 AM

Welcome back guys or should I say it's good to be back.  I had some trips in the early part of the month and then took a nice long vacation and (View)

Month End Report August 18-31 2024 - 9/1/2024 9:16:00 PM

The month of August always allows me to take a breather from an otherwise really busy season and while many don't travel this time of year it i (View)

Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 30 August 2024 🎣 - 8/30/2024 3:04:27 AM

96 Recfishwest Newsletter View this email in your browser Recfishwest Fishing Report 30/08/24 Fremantle Ports have confirmed that vehicle acces (View)

Weekly Report August 1-17 2024 - 8/21/2024 9:38:00 PM

These two weeks have been hot but they have been fun!  Fishing with a number of clients I've had the opportunity to fish for different species (View)

Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 02 August 2024 🎣 - 2/8/2024 10:35:00 PM

96 Recfishwest Newsletter View this email in your browser Recfishwest Fishing Report 02/08/24 @kurtkrispyn managed to snap this remarkable phot (View)

End of month report July 15-30 2024 - 8/1/2024 10:10:00 AM

The second half of July got HOT and the fishing was still good with most trips being fun catch whatever is fun trips.  These are great trips be (View)

Autumn/Winter 2024 Newsletter - 7/13/2024 7:22:44 PM

96 Autumn/Winter 2024 Newsletter Autumn/Winter 2024 Newsletter View this email in your browser Autumn/Winter Newsletter 2024 What a mix of weat (View)

The end of June 17-30 2024 - 7/6/2024 3:52:00 PM

  The second half of June had some tough conditions that kept me at home and rescheduling trips thanks to 7 days of constant rain we had move a (View)

Week Report July 1-14 2024 - 7/15/2024 4:58:00 PM

The first week of July was off to a hot start. The first week I was fishing with repeat client Ron and we fished in Biscayne Bay and Everglades (View)

Wet Report June 9-16 2024 - 6/17/2024 9:31:00 AM

This is a short report due to the weather we've been having.  I was scheduled to fish with Ron Monday through Friday but we rescheduled due to (View)