Labor Unrest in Paradise

Several bonefishing guides from the Deep Way Cay Club have taken legal action against owners for unilateral changes of employment and wrongful dismissal, among other issues.

LINK (Via: The Freeport News)

Documenting the secret lives of bonefish

In the Loop, which is covers faculty news at U. Mass Amherst, features a profile of Andy Danylchuk and his bonefish research.

Now that Andy makes his home in Massachusetts he has turned his attention to studying the impact of catch-and-release and other angling practices on striped bass in New England waters.

LINK (Via: In the Loop)

Just out of diapers...

Another update from Carl somewhere near Aitutaki.

Fresh out of diapers (according to Itu) this Bone went 29 inches against the tape and 17 inches in girth.  We've seen plenty of big Bones but very few eats this week - what they're eating I have no idea - it certainly isn't any fly in my box.  But whatever they're munching they're certainly getting plenty of it, by comparison the Keys and Christmas Island Bones are racing sardines.

  LINK (Via Itu's Bones)

I thought it was a pretty good fish, until a slightly disappointed Itu informed me it was "just a baby"

An update from Carl McNeil and the Itu's Bones film project.

Three times I've asked Itu what an average size Bonefish on Aitutaki would weigh - he keeps telling me 15kg (33lb), I'll keep asking...

Itu's Bones

Carl and the crew at On The Fly, of Once in a Blue Moon fame, have a number of new film projects in the works. Their latest project takes them to Aitutaki in the Cook Islands to follow the story of a young local man as he hangs up his bonefish nets to become a fly fishing guide.

According to Carl there are very sizable bonefish in the beautiful lagoon on Aitutaki, but they've been subjected to fair amount of pressure by local netters over the years. The hope is that through this film project a few more of the locals can be encouraged to hang up their nets and help manage the resource in a more sustainable manner. This change would see the creation of valuable jobs and much needed income for the Island and decreased pressure on the monster bones of Aitutaki!

Follow the project here at Itu's Bones.

Bonefish census yields positive results

The results of the South Florida spring bonefish census are cautiously positive.

University of Miami researcher Jerry Ault said the count was up from the 11 previous censuses. But that doesn't mean the population of the gray ghosts necessarily has grown.

Ault said this year's count yielded an estimate of 450,000 bonefish in 1,575 square miles of the census region. The average since 1998 has been 330,000. But April's count was influenced by unusually good weather and the distribution of fishermen in the census area.

Read more: LINK (Via: THe Miami Herald)