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Bonefish Little Cayman

JOHN HORSEY.. Cayman Islands Fishing Tackle Tips.

Rods: I would recommend taking at least two 9 foot rods – one rated for a 7 or 8 and the other for a 9 weight line.  My preferred rods are Hardy Proaxis and therefore incredibly strong, but very light.  Fishing for bones in Little Cayman requires a light fly and delicate presentation – the 7 or 8 weight Proaxis will be ideal (I used the #7 on my trip).  These rods will also suffice for the baby Tarpon on the Tarpon lake, where small and relatively buoyant flies are a necessity.

However, there are some massive tarpon on the flats and for these you will require a 9 or even a 10 weight rod.  Once again, I used a 9 weight Hardy Proaxis rod and it coped perfectly with Tarpon of up to 100lbs.

If there are Permit to throw a fly at, then the 9 weight will be my rod of choice.

Reels: There are 2 things that are absolute pre-requisites for fishing in saltwater – a precision disc drag and a reel designed for saltwater use.  I used the all new Hardy Ultralight Saltwater reels and they are superb.

Lines: Saltwater or Tropical fly lines are a must for hot climates – some need to be pre-stretched before each use.  Weight forward is the profile and they must be capable of throwing big flies at times.  I used a WF8F for wading the flats for bones and a WF10F for casting at bigger species such as Tarpon.

Leaders: Standard tapered leaders for Bonefish and Permit are available from Rio and a host of other manufacturers.  I use a 10 foot length, then attach my own tippet of fluorocarbon before attaching the fly.  Normally, this length of tippet varies from 2 to 5 feet in length and I found a longer 5 foot length essential for the skinny waters and weedy flats of Little Cayman.

For Tarpon, you will need a far stronger leader set-up, with a shock tippet final length of between 40 to 80lbs to protect the leader from the Tarpon’s sharp gill plates.  Once again, a leader of approx 10 feet will suffice, using the lighter shock tippet on the Tarpon Lake and the heavy-duty kit on the flats.

Flies: On the South side of the island, you will be fishing over dense turtle grass, so weed guards are essential.  Just tie in a single piece of stiff mono at the eye of the hook which extends to mask the point of the hook – very easy to do, but incredibly effective.  Without weed guards, you will simply not catch these fish!

On the North side of the island, the terrain is less weedy, but I would still recommend weed guards on all flies.

Gotcha’s, Crazy Charlies and standard shrimp patterns all work, but keep the patterns small – size 6 being the biggest and 8 the norm.  Keep the flies light – I had best success with unweighted patterns at the end of my weeks fishing.  Crab patterns are best for the Permit, but once again, smaller rather than bigger seems to work best.  The Tarpon Lake is truly unique and is 2 feet deep at it’s max!  You will be casting into bays lined with dead mangrove trees, whose branches trail below the water, so snagging is inevitable.  Once again, a weed guard is essential and I was amazed how I could “creep” the fly over branches – both submerged and otherwise!  Normal reservoir style Muddlers tied on a 6 long shank in black, red and green worked well, as did surface patterns like the “mouse”.  However, these need to be tied on razor sharp, strong hooks as the tarpon here will “jump off” most hook sets.  For the big tarpon on the flats, you will need standard tarpon Flies tied on highest quality hooks – Owner AKI being some of the best.

Sunglasses: Take with you at least 1 pair of high quality polarised sunglasses – amber lenses seem the best coloured lenses for all-round weather conditions.  Your polarised glasses open up the sea bed for you and without them you might as well stay at home – hence the need for a spare pair in case of disasters!  I used Ugly Fish and Maui Jim – both were excellent, but the Ugly Fish were best in all light conditions.

Other tackle items: Pliers, snippers, scissors, bum bag for wading.

Clothing: The sun in Little Cayman is strong and dangerous.  I recommend lightweight flats trousers, mangrove gloves to cover the packs of hands, a buff for ears, neck and face and long sleeved tropical shirts.  Sunscreen is essential – I used P20 from Heathrow duty free and it was brilliant – I applied it once a day and it is waterproof.  Take several caps/hats with wide brims.  Finally, a pair of sturdy flats wading boots and thick wading socks make up the itinerary.