January 1, 2006

Steve Hoovler

After the effects of a few too many New Years Eve Kaliks wore off, I spent the day wading a series of bonefish flats around Delectable Bay. For the fourth day in a row, we've had great weather; 80 degees, clear skies, and light trade winds. Pat and I dropped the girls off at the beach this morning where they planed on laying in the sun and hopefully catching some snapper for dinner. We started off walking north along the edge of the flat. To our left was a huge expanse of flooded, juvenile mangroves spaced randomly several feet apart and standing only one or two feet tall. On our right was a long shallow mud flat peppered with crab holes. The tide was just beginning to go out and bonefish followed the water as it slowly retreated from flooded mangroves to the flat where it then continued through tidal creeks and out to the bay. Singles and doubles eased their way through the mangroves and an occasional school of 20-50 fish would criuse along the flat. We managed to catch a bunch of fish throughout the afternoon with an assortment of flies including a tan size 8 TDF Shrimp and a tan Micro Minnow. Not a bad way to kick off the new year. We're heading home soon, where deep snow and cold awaits. Fly tying and skiing will be more realistic than fishing for the next few weeks, but low and behold there's a trip to Belize coming up quick. So, stay tuned.