How to Fly Fish for Bonito
- 1). Look for the fish. Bonito are pelagic free swimmers and can be easily spotted moving through the water. Though they can be caught blind casting, there is much more luck if you locate the fish first.
- 2). Tie a fly to the line. Something flashy is best as bonito feed on smaller bait fish that are in the water column.
- 3). Cast the line out to the fish using a 10-and-2 motion. Think of the numbers on a clock and try to replicate these numeric positions with the rod releasing a bit more line on each successive cast until your fly has reached the location of the fish.
- 4). Once the line is far enough out, give the rod tip a few pops to attract the fish.
- 5). Provided that a fish has struck the fly, let the fish take the slack out of the casted line until the line is almost completely taught and raise the rod tip to set the hook.
- 6). Reel the line in, letting the fish take the drag if you are not sure of the strength of the line.
- 7). Use the hemostats or pliers to remove the fly once the fish has been landed.
- 8). Repeat the process to catch more fish.