Return Of The Bonefish

Finally some great news: the bonefish have returned with a vengeance down here on Vieques. And after spending a week in the way too cold waters of Southwest Florida, this has really been a welcome change. Our big flat in Ensenada Honda has basically been a field of tailing bonefish each morning after sunrise, although only for the first few hours of the day. The fish we’re seeing out there right now are huge, but unfortunately they don’t get huge by being stupid.

The average Vieques bone is a five pounder, and bonefish of this size rarely travel in big numbers down here. We commonly spot them tailing by themselves or along with a similar sized partner. This makes them a more difficult target than the smaller bones that school up by the hundreds in places like the Bahamas. Every once in a while we do come across swarms of two pounders that will eat anything that’s cast near them, but this is the exception, not the rule.

The last few days in Ensenada Honda have not only been full of big tailing bonefish, but the occasional small school of baby tarpon, too. We haven’t landed any of those yet this week but that will happen soon. The tarpon of Vieques are amazingly dumb when you compare them to their cousins in the Florida Keys. They’ll eat anything at any time simply because no one down here fishes for them. I actually get kind of spoiled after tarpon fishing for a few days in Puerto Rico. Coming from a Key West background, it’s amazing to watch these fish eat with such wild abandon.

So to sum everything up for this past week, we’ve had calm winds, tailing bonefish, and brain-dead tarpon. Throw in the occasional permit that wouldn’t eat but still showed up anyway, and we’ve had a few great days on the water. Let me also mention that the average temperature down here on Vieques is about 82 degrees. So if you’re stuck in one of those ice storms but still have power, give me a call.