"Lord, Lord, Lord" ... Bonefish in a Tough Wind

What I like about this clip is it shows how critical the guide (or partner) on the poling platform is. They can see the fish way more clearly because of being so high, and in the case of a guide, they do it every day. Once you've gotten the fish's attention, the guide often calls the shots on how/when to strip the fly because he or she can better see the fish's body language and reactions. The wind blew pretty hard on this day and in this sequence, it was coming from my rod hand side ... which is bad because it blows the fly line (and fly) into you. It’s much easier to cast dead into the wind or with a right-to-left crosswind (for a left-hander). We had chased several fish around this windy point before finally nailing this one. After I hook the fish, Gary starts getting on my case about palming the reel, but I had learned my lesson and was only feathering it. Most of my boneheaded break-offs had happened when I had the line held too tightly against the grip while I tried to get the fish on the reel. At about 30 seconds in the video you can see from my shadow that I spread my arms and let the line run freely through the fingers of my right hand until the fish had taken the slack. Keeping the line hand away from the rod creates a sharp angle that puts just enough tension on the line while the fish pulls it out, and it keeps the line from looping over the reel or rod butt. I had read about this technique or seen it in videos before my trip but you kind of have to see for yourself how these fish break you off to really appreciate it and break habits you’ve formed fishing for other kinds of fish. This one turns out to be a pretty small fish and I manage to land him after one run out and back. In the end, Gary says “Lord, Lord, Lord.”