READING THE FLATS
Ian Davis: What do you do when you climb up on the poling platform?
Bruce Chard: Know that 95 percent of the time bones are moving—so movement is always a key indicator. Color and of course shape as well. The three top things: movement, shape, color.
I start by looking at the flat itself to determine where the edge is between too shallow and too deep. This edge is where the majority of the bones on the flat should be. In most cases—but not all the time. I try to set up per the angle of the sun. I can see the best “down sun” so I can expand my visibility over the area. Most of the time this edge of the flat is where there is slightly deeper water on one side of the skiff and shallower on the other. I want to be able to watch the shallows for tailing fish from a distance. You can see them sticking out from the surface and they can push water and so are much easier to see in the shallows. Look for tailing fish with lower light levels—look for the sparkling of their tails in the sunlight. Pushes and or wakes on the surface of course helps you in all light levels but especially in lower- light levels to help see schools and or singles from a distance. Make sure to lead any pushes or wakes way more then you think because those fish are in front of the pushes and wakes big time.
If the water is deeper on the flats usually I still look for movement, color and shape but also some muds are a key way to pick up bones from a distance. Light milky puffs of mud especially if there are many separate little puffs together (if that makes sense) is for sure a school of bones feeding on the flat. Or you can of course look for big muds where they are formed from huge schools. Look for movement in these areas if you are trying to sight fish the muds.
Current flow is also important to give you the best chance to not only predict where the fish could or should be coming from but also helps most anglers especially beginner anglers stay tight to their fly. I believe this is one of the biggest reasons why anglers don’t catch fish: their ability to regulate slack while fishing the fly doesn’t allow them to stay connected to the fly; too much slack doesn’t allow them to fish the fly correctly. Since many times bones like to move against the current, this is a perfect setup to help anglers stay tight to the fly easier—as long as the guide stops the boat! When wading this is usually not an issue.
In my experience, when you fish bones in current like this you can benefit from a heavier fly than you might think. When you strip the fly against the current it makes the fly ride higher in the water column. To most anglers not familiar with this, it will help to move the fly off the bottom. And the fish sometimes will not see the fly especially if they strip too quickly and are using a lighter fly. Nothing wrong with the pattern of the fly, usually. As you know, bones eat all kinds of flies—as long as they swim properly for the conditions.
Ian: You locate a school of fish—what now?
Bruce: Read what direction the fish are heading, at what speed and depth in relation to the wind direction and light angle. Then try to get into a position that favors my odds of getting a clean shot. Situational awareness can help anglers prep for this ahead of time.
Ian: How do you walk a bonefish flat?
Bruce: Slowly. I do not like covering ground quickly. I figure that if you walk through a flat really quickly, you reduce your odds of seeing fish cuz you’re not there very long. And how perfect do you have to be, to cross the flat exactly, when that bonefish is gonna be there? I mean, you have to be Superman to do it consistently. I believe there’s only a certain range of water depth or water movement within a tide that is gonna be comfortable for them to move through. Why hurry it? So if you rush really quickly you make more noise with your feet on the bottom and splashing water. So I walk very slowly and very stealthily. And when I’m stalking fish—especially tailers that you can see from a distance, and I wanna close a gap in quick or whatever—I‘ll take my whole foot out of the water, almost like a heron or an egret. You know how they walk? I pick my heel up, pull out and then put my toe back in. I look kinda like a dork, but I move quickly but very, very quietly. I also utilize the conditions. So if I have low-light conditions, I know they’re not gonna see me as easily cuz I can’t see them as easily, right? And then how much wind do we have? What else is going on? Sometimes they get caught off guard and they win, cuz I’m a little bit too loud in trying to get into position. But then that tells me, oh, they’re a little spooky, right? So most of the time, I’m very stealthy. But I also do understand that if I need to move quickly, I’m gonna. I’m gonna take a risk to get in front of them or get lined up on that fish as quickly as I can cuz any time that’s taken off, I think it’s gonna reduce my odds of getting a clean shot, let alone catch the fish.
Ian: What do you look for when you’re wading a flat?
Bruce: If I’m wading, you know, I’m looking a lot at surface stuff because it’s a lot harder to see into the water because you’re so much lower. So I’m looking for wakes. I’m looking for surface disturbances. If I’m up higher, on a boat, I tend to be looking more for shadows, by looking into the water, depending on the depth. Yeah, so I guess that’s kind of the difference. When you’re walking across the white sand flat, you walk towards structure: little coral heads or grass patches. And I look for any bottom that looks like it could like have more current—places of different depth where the fish might just kind of slide into.
Excerpted from A Passion for Bonefish by Ian Davis
Published by Wild River Press © 2025
www.wildriverpress.com
