My guess is at some point in time, every fly angler was turned on by the fact that not all fly anglers trout fish. For me, it was in the pages of magazines. The photos of the extensive flats and beautiful colors and fish in water so shallow, the tails poked above the suffice was mesmerizing. It seemed like a dream world so far off it was likely unattainable. Many years later I have now close to a dozen saltwater trips under my belt, each one made easier by the last. It is truly a venue not unlike a trout stream that is relatively easy to learn but takes a lifetime to master.
Your first experience will vary depending what kind of angler you are. Sight fishing is often the prefered method for flats angling. Have you spent a lot of time casting for distance and accuracy in windy conditions? Most trout anglers, this answer is no. A lot of trout fishing especially from a guided perspective is making a short cast from a boat and managing a drift. Otherwise your casting upstream and then controlling the dead drift for as long as possible Very little of this type of fishing prepares you for flats fishing. Also have you fished an 8 weight or heavier? These are all steep learning curves that will take most of your first trip to overcome.
A 9 foot 8 weight is your best tool for your first trip. You should just focus your efforts on bonefish. Try to find time to practice if you can to learn the timing of that rod. It will vary greatly from your trout rod. Get yourself a good machined reel with a good drag and take good care of it, rinsing and soaking it daily.
The Bahamas, Mexico, and Belize offer amazing bonefishing. While Mexico and Belize bones are smaller, they are often easier to catch than the larger Bahamas fish but this also can vary day to day, trip to trip. Mexico and Belize are a little less expensive on average as well.
Book a guide for sure, but also don’t look down on DIY fishing. Consider your chances of catching fish significantly less DIY, you will benefit from the art of having to do all the looking yourself. Find small victories in seeing fish or getting a shot.
If sight fishing isn’t working out for you, then enjoy some blind fishing. Blind fishing is where the guide puts the boat on a likely spot and has you cast blindly into likely water. Oftentimes this water is muddy or murky due to actively feeding fish. Your accuracy doesn’t matter as much, though distance is helpful. You learn your strip cadence and you learn your strip set well this way without having to be perfect. I have seen a lot of struggling anglers have great days fishing this way. You can figure out the sight fishing later.
Bring a lot of gear. Most of these destinations do not provide gear so you will need to stock up on tippet, leader, and flies. Get a lot of flies and get some suggestions on what to fish where. We would be happy with that. Also have a backup. If you break your rod on a destination trip, you don’t want to be without one.
Travel with a host. Here at Frontier Anglers we do offer these types of trips and are planning our next adventures for 2027. A trip host can help you get set up with all of the gear and flies you will need as well as choose the best destination for your best experience possible.
As always feel free to contact Steve or Shaun at Frontier Anglers, we have a shared 35 plus years of destination travel experience and would love to help you.
-Steve Wilson
