TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Bonito Bash Is On

ADVERTISEMENT

By FRANK SARGEANT

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 4, 2009

The only bad thing about bonito is their taste. That is, they don't have bad taste, but they taste bad. Charlie the Tuna they definitely are not, even though they are part of the tuna/ mackerel family.

Bonito, also known as little tunny and false albacore, have a dense red meat that looks like it would make great sushi, but which in fact doesn't even make great dog food unless you have a very hungry dog.

That aside, bonito are superfish.

They possess the amazing power of their cousins such as the bluefin and yellowfin tuna, and have great speed, remarkable endurance and indomitable spirit. They are outstanding game- fish and are much more abundant and easier to find and catch than the edible tunas, perhaps not without reason: They would quickly be scooped up by commercial nets if they were as tasty as the "true" tunas.

Bonito are incredibly abundant in Bay area waters throughout much of the winter. Wherever small bait schools gather, you'll usually find "boneheads." They often announce their presence with explosive strikes on the surface, and because they travel in schools of dozens or even hundreds, it's easy to spot a feeding school from a considerable distance. They typically show up anywhere from well inside the larger passes to 10 miles or so off the beach.

Particularly from Tampa Bay southward to Boca Grande, bonito offer a great winter catch-and-release fishery, and many fly-rod specialists find that these powerful gamefish offer an outstanding challenge. While some species are very difficult to catch on a fly, bonito throw themselves on any offering with abandon. Streamers, hair bugs, leeches and hard-body poppers are all wolfed down - the only condition is that the lure be moving fast. In fact, some fly anglers use the two-hand retrieve practiced by king mackerel fly fishers, ripping the fly through the water at warp speed to attract a strike.

Area captains such as Pete Greenan and Rick Grassett home in on the species from November through early March.

"We find them around Gasparilla Island and Stump Pass frequently," Greenan said. "I use an 8- or 9-weight fly rod and 40-pound-test fluorocarbon leader, and usually a fly around 2 inches long, brown back and white or silver belly."

Greenan said he often finds the fish under rafting seagulls when they are not actively feeding on top.

"Where the birds sit on the water there's bait below, and the fish will be close to that bait," Greenan said. "Sometimes, when they're not feeding actively, we go to a larger, brighter fly to turn on the bite."

Standard tackle makes catching bonito almost too easy. Any topwater lure, jig or spoon will bring an instant attack if it lands in a feeding school, and live sardines or threads are an instant bite.

The challenge in catching bonito is figuring out where the school is going to be in a minute or two, and getting there ahead of them. They typically chase the bait so fast that it's hard to get in close and make a cast before they race out of range, perhaps coming up again 300 yards away.

You often can estimate the progress of the school by watching birds overhead. They follow along as the fish drive the bait from below, so if you can stay close to the swooping birds, you'll sooner or later find yourself right on top of the bonito.

Whatever the bonito eats, you can expect a 15- to 20-minute battle from the typical 10-pounder on 15-pound tackle. Their endurance is like that of a big jack; just when you think they can't make another run, they rip off one more long sprint. And they reach weights of more than 20 pounds.

Why bonito are not good table fare is hard to figure; the meat has a texture similar to other tunas, but it has a strong, fishy taste in most recipes. Some anglers say they have made it edible by bleeding the fish immediately, icing them, skinning and cutting away the red line, and then soaking the fillets in vinegar overnight, followed by a thorough rinse and cooking as normal. Lightly grilled to medium rare is one great treatment for tuna-type fishes.

However, there are much better-tasting fish in the sea. The best bet is to consider the little tunny a pure gamefish, like bonefish, well worth pursuing for its sporting qualities, but better released to fight another day.

For more on pursuing the bonito with fly rod, you can contact captain Pete Greenan at (941) 232-2960 or captain Rick Grassett at (941) 350-9790.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT