Along with fly patterns that represent what the large flats and reef-patrolling bonefish eat, you also need patience, careful wading techniques, observation skills, proper presentations, and the right fly retrieve to catch the largest bonefish of the shallow reef and flats. To be successful, your fly must land quietly and without notice to the fish. The deer hair cushions the impact of the fly and slows its descent in the shallow water of the flats and reef.

We prefer to lead the fish by six to ten feet, casting downtide, or downcurrent, throwing some belly into the cast beyond the fish. This presentation allows the water's movement to pull the line belly and fly away from the fish. The crab appears to be running away from the attacking fish. The more belly you throw, the longer the fly runs away.

Pop's Bonefish Bitters

HOOK: Tears of Keys blanks, (TMC 800D or Mustad 3407 or 34007), #4-10. BODY: Amber, lime, orange, olive. EYES: White or pink. LEGS: Sili legs or round rubber to match body color. WEED GAURD: Natural mottled deer over a Z-lon underwing, the Z-lon matching the body color. The deer hair should be short and coarse so it flares and cups the fly around the hook point.

Another important method is simply not to retrieve. Lead the fish by six to ten feet, and as it approaches to within three feet of the fly, tighten the line and watch the line and the fish while not moving the fly. When the fish tails or turns on the fly, you should feel it or see your line move off as the fish swims with your fly and crushes it in its crushers. Set the hook. When you use the no-retrieve presentation, bones often take and crush the crab fly with such confidence that you'll get a short run and then come unhooked. You will find the fly crushed and the hook point closed.

The no-retrieve method also works well on days when the fish are so spooky that they shy away, no matter how fine your presentation or how subtly you move your fly. Again, simply present the fly from six to ten feet in front of the fish. Tighten your line without imparting any action to the fly. Watch both fish and line and be ready to strip-strike when the fish has your fly. Often, you may see the fish pass the fly, seemingly without taking it, then it suddenly bolts and hooks itself.

Another proven method of presentation and retrieve usually works all over the bonefish world. Cast your crab from six to ten feet in front of a cruising fish, and when it approaches to within three to five feet, slowly begin a one- to two-inch strip. You will know when the fish has your fly.

For more information in addition to the books already mentioned, read Coral Reefs by Eugene Kaplan, Houghton Mifflin, 1982; Southeastern and Caribbean Seashores by Eugene H. Kaplan, Houghton Mifflin, 1988; Fly Fishing in Salt Water, by Lefty Kreh, Winchester Press, 1986; and Salt Water Fly Patterns by Lefty Kreh, Bob Marriott's Fly Store, 1989.