Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

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fishinfool
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Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

Post by fishinfool »

On Halloween I went fishing with Captain Josh Luggi of Boomcoast Adventures. After hitting a few spots with moderate success he put me on a spot that had some hungry trout and redfish.
A few casts and some healthy fish later, I cast into a "pocket", made a couple of hops with my soft plastic and got a hit. I set the hook and was treated to a drag screaming hookup. The fish made about a 30 to 40 yard run and was heading toward open water and both Josh and I were wondering what I had and when it was going to run out of steam. I managed to get the fish "under control" and headed to the boat. It made a pass boatside and I looked down and exclaimed LOUDLY to Josh, "it's a BONEFISH. Of course Josh replied, "no really, what do you have?". Its a freaking bonefish!
As the fish made a pass in front of Josh he then said, WOW, it is a bonefish!
After couple of short videos and pictures, I released the catch of a lifetime to continue to do bonefish stuff.
To say I was amazed, elated, surprised and ecstatic is an understatement. According to FWC there have been a few bonefish catches in our area as well as snook.
I hope someone else gets to experience this in the near future....it's a hoot!
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doomtrpr_z71
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Re: Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

Post by doomtrpr_z71 »

Wow what a catch in the big bend!

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Red Beard
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Re: Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

Post by Red Beard »

That’s awesome
silverking
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Re: Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

Post by silverking »

Great catch, Jim. There have been a few caught in the Panhandle as well. Speculation is they were moved up here by Hurricane Ian. The water temperatures keep edging up, so that could be a factor, too. Either way, it's an usual and fun accomplishment.
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Salty Gator
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Re: Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

Post by Salty Gator »

Just awesome Jim super stoked for you. I heard the Ian theory as well and not sure I buy it. 1) There was one caught in sgi before ian hit and 2) ian sucked all of the water out of here, didn’t really push water up. Anywho, excellent fish Jim. Congratulations
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fishinfool
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Re: Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

Post by fishinfool »

After seeing Saltygator's post it got me thinking. Why couldn't bonefish migrate north from the Yucatan peninsula? They do live there as well as Central America. I Google searched bonefish range and habitat and found a map with reports all along the Texas Gulf coast and even more surprising, Long Island NY and Massachusetts.
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kenfly
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Re: Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

Post by kenfly »

Wow, great catch in these parts


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Greenbone
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Re: Bonefish in Apalachee Bay

Post by Greenbone »

WOW, that tops all those snook catches we’ve had up here. You can take that off your bucket list.
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