The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FWC proposed draft rule amendments Thursday to provide more protection for bonefish, a premier saltwater game fish in Florida.”Bonefish are a tremendous Florida resource,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto.  “These proposed rules will strengthen our management approach to protect and preserve bonefish so that anglers can continue to enjoy fishing for this great Florida game fish.”The proposed rules would include all species of bonefish in the FWCs bonefish management rules to help ensure that all bonefish in Florida waters are protected, extend FWC bonefish regulations into adjacent federal waters to aid enforcement and enhance bonefish protection, and require that bonefish be landed in whole condition to help officers in the field identify bonefish and aid in enforcement of bag and size limits.

Since 1988, it has been illegal to commercially harvest and sell bonefish in Florida, and a daily recreational bag limit of one bonefish 18 inches or greater in fork length applies.However, there is a temporary harvest and possession prohibition on bonefish in Florida until April 1 as a precaution, because of possible impacts to fish populations that may have occurred from the recent prolonged cold weather in Florida. Anglers may still catch and release bonefish during the temporary closure, and the FWC encourages everyone to handle and release them carefully to help ensure their survival upon release.A final public hearing on these proposed bonefish rule amendments will take place during the FWCs April meeting in the Tallahassee area.

via FWC News – FWC proposes more protection for bonefish.

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January 15, 2010
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554
Executive Order 10-02 (Dead Fish)
Executive Order 10-03 (Snook, Tarpon, Bonefish)

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has issued executive orders to protect Florida’s snook, bonefish and tarpon fisheries from further harm caused by the recent prolonged cold weather in the state, which has caused widespread saltwater fish kills.  The FWC has received numerous reports from the public and is taking action to address the conservation needs of affected marine fisheries.  The orders also will allow people to legally dispose of dead fish in the water and on the shore.

One of the executive orders temporarily extends closed fishing seasons for snook statewide until September.  It also establishes temporary statewide closed seasons for bonefish and tarpon until April because of the prolonged natural cold weather event that caused significant, widespread mortality of saltwater fish in Florida.  The other order temporarily suspends certain saltwater fishing regulations to allow people to collect and dispose of dead fish killed by the cold weather.

“A proactive, precautionary approach is warranted to preserve our valuable snook, bonefish and tarpon resources, which are among Florida’s premier game fish species,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto.  “Extending the snook closed season and temporarily closing bonefish and tarpon fishing will protect surviving snook that spawn in the spring and will give our research scientists time to evaluate the extent of damage that was done to snook, bonefish and tarpon stocks during the unusual cold-weather period we recently experienced in Florida.”

Snook season currently is closed in Florida under regular FWC rules, and there are also regular closed snook seasons that occur in the summer.  However, the FWC executive order extends the statewide snook closed seasons continuously through Aug. 31 and provides that no person may harvest or possess snook in state and federal waters off Florida during this period unless the fishery is opened sooner or the closure is extended by subsequent order.

The order also establishes a temporary prohibition on the harvest and possession of bonefish and tarpon from state and federal waters off Florida through March 31, unless these fisheries are opened sooner or the closures are extended by subsequent order.  The FWC executive order for the snook, bonefish and tarpon closed seasons takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 16.

The other FWC executive order temporarily removes specific harvest regulations for all dead saltwater fish of any species that have died as a result of prolonged exposure to cold weather in Florida waters.  It also modifies general methods of taking dead saltwater fish from Florida’s shoreline and from the water to allow the collection of saltwater fish by hand, cast net, dip net or seine.

All people taking dead saltwater fish under the provisions of this order may not sell, trade or consume such fish, and the dead fish must immediately be disposed of in compliance with local safety, health and sanitation requirements for such disposal.

In addition, all people taking dead fish under the provisions of this order are not required to possess a saltwater fishing license, and all fish taken under the provisions of this executive order shall be those that have died as a result of prolonged exposure to cold weather.

This FWC executive order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 16 and will expire at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 1, unless it is repealed sooner or extended by subsequent order.

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Staff biologists with the state Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will make a presentation on bonefish to the FWC board at its Thursday meeting in Crystal River. On the table: Making it a no-take species, with possible exceptions. “We have been asking for the state to essentially make bonefish a catch-and-release species,” said Aaron Adams, a researcher and director of operations for the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.

Bonefish are stealthy, fast-swimming fish that are challenging to catch.

A study by Ault’s UM research team calculates that a single bonefish may generate $3,600 to the Florida economy in a year from recreational interests, and up to $75,000 over the fish’s natural lifespan of 20 or more years. Florida has an estimated bonefish population of 300,000 to 321,000, mostly limited to the Florida Keys and Biscayne Bay shallows, according to reports.

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While an annual census taken by the Trust indicates the bonefish population has not significantly changed in recent years, Ault and Adams said that may be misleading. “The old-timers say [the bonefish population] is nothing like it used to be,” Ault said. “It may only be 5 percent of what it was.” Declines in habitat and prey species are significant concerns, along with accidental or intentional harvest of bonefish, Ault said.

“There’s a pervasive attitude that everything is OK because most bonefish are released,” he said. “That’s kind of a false belief.” Florida law now prohibits commercial sale of bonefish, and limits anglers to keeping one fish over 18 inches long per day.

The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust — members include many flats-fishing legends, along with noted Keys anglers and guides — will ask for the daily limit of one fish to be stricken. In coming months, if the FWC board approves, a series of statewide workshops would be held to consider revising bonefish regulations. Possible variations might allow a bonefish to be kept for record consideration, or requiring a bonefish tag similar to the $50 per-fish tag now required for harvesting a tarpon, Adams said.

“About 70 percent of the world records on bonefish were made in the Florida Keys,” Ault said. “People come from all over to world to go bonefishing in South Florida. This is a heritage that needs to be preserved.” Since there are no federal regulations on bonefish, the FWC also may consider extending state law into adjacent federal waters (allowable under the Magnuson-Stevens Act).

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Big bonefish? Think of these fish as a different animals than any small bonefish you’ve taken? There is a sharper sense of awareness in these fish and for you to have a good chance it’s going to require casting skills in the wind, good accuracy and yet, a delicacy of presentation. “And there are no margin for error, no freebies, you earn every fish,” says Sandy Moret of Florida Keys Outfitters, the top fly-shop in the Florida Keys.
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The fact is that you often get one shot, maybe two, and after that, you are false-casting and the fish is leaving. Think of it as a larger version of technical trout fishing. It’s great fun. And when you hook up, the emotions can be overwhelming.

Most flies for these big fish are a size or two larger than the rest of the bonefish world, with most flies falling between a size 2 and 1 and even size 1/0s. As a matter of fact, most of these flies double for a good redfish fly. In the Islamorada, Florida, area, most flies are extra large. Capt. Dave Denkert uses mostly flies imitating toads in size 2s and 1s. And Capt. Tim Klein, who has won more bonefishing tournaments than any other guide (and that’s saying a lot), mostly uses big shrimp and toad patterns  in 2s, 1s and even 1/0! “These fish want a big mouthful” Tim often tells me, and who is going to argue with his record? As a matter of fact, the largest bonefish I’ve ever taken, caught in Islamorada, was an estimated 14 pounds tailing in a foot of water and was taken with one of Tim’s big size 1 shrimp patterns. It was a windy overcast day 6 years ago, and I still get chills when I think of it.
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But Sandy Moret, who has also won many tournaments as an angler, and Capt. Steve Hoff, are bigger fans of a crab patterns, weighed depending on water depth. Personally, I’ve taken some very large bones on crab patterns like Merkins and Tim Borski’s Crab Critter, mostly in size 2s. And it’s my favorite bonefish fly in the Ocean Reef area, located between Islamorada and Miami in upper Key Largo.

In Miami, Capt. Bob Branham is also famous for only using one fly pattern for bonefish, a brown epoxy shrimp pattern, in different weights; he’ll use no other fly. I’m just giving you the facts.

The standard bonefish outfit for the Keys and Miami has always been an 8- and often a 9-weigh, because the flies are big and often weighted. And that is still true. But in the last few years, some of us prefer to go to a 7-weight and smaller flies on flat calm days.

Any good reel with 200 yards of 20-pound backing will do the job. And a leader from 9- to 12-feet depending on wind conditions is ideal. In tippet, most anglers use 12-pound test. But when I use the 7-weight, I may go to 10-pounds, and Sandy Moret will even fish 8-pound tippet with the lighter rods.

Raingear should always be in your tackle bag. It can rain at any time, you never know. Besides, often it can get cold in the winter months, or in summer during a thunderstorm. A hat or cap with a dark under brim to cut glare and good polarized glasses in a warm color, even a spare in yellow for low visibility day and early and late in the day is also great. A large Cuban sandwich for lunch is not strictly necessary, but it’s encouraged.

Ultimately, fishing for big bonefish is not a numbers game. But instead, it’s about going out and trying to catch one big fish, that’s all. You may be lucky and take a few bones in one day, it’s done daily in the golden of Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys area, but mentally, is about looking for one fish, and I like it like that.

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