Oio (Bonefish) Recipes

[Tony Buzolich]

What a great sporting fish this is. They're spread throughout the warm tropics of both the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Caribbean.
We see and read and watch all the videos about wading the flats and fly fishing for them, and everything is catch and release. Take a picture and put them back in the water ASAP.

Except lately. I've been watching a lot of YOUTUBE videos and there seems to be more and more Hawaiian locals keeping and eating these wonderful fish. I'm sure this has gone on wherever the fish thrive and people need to eat, but it saddens me to think that by doing so they take away the fish we so long to go chase.

Bonefish Poke, Bonefish Patties, Oio this and that with everyones favorite seasoning, hummph?

Are there that many bonefish everywhere that this is taken with disregard. I would think places like Hawaii would better protect this fish as source of revenue for sportsmen and a tourist draw to encourage fly fishermen to come visit the islands and spend more tourist dollars in their economy.

Fly fishing for bonefish in Hawaii is not the easiet place to catch them, I've tried. Stories talk about them being large there but few and far between. I've only taken a couple of juveniles in around the native ponds and would love to get a few larger ones too.

I'm sure there are large and small ones everywhere, but some places just seem to have more than others. Places like Belize have lots and lots of small bones, but then you also have places like Aitutaki where they have a fish print on a wall there with one over twenty #20 pounds. I'm sure they ate him too.
Tony

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Very good post Tony.


We both have a long history of chasing Bonefish, all over the tropics.


In many places, it is supposed to be a protected fish. The problem in the Third World, I was told, there is little enforcement.

One thing I heard was that they use them for trolling baits in the Bluewater for big pelagic fish.

Another thing I heard was that they grind them up into a fine consistency and spread them over the fish they cook.

I think they should be protected for sport fishing which is great for their economy everywhere they exist.

A guide in Belize once told me that the locals will go net up a small school of Bonefish and they never come back to that spot.


Large Bonefish over 15 pounds exist all over the Tropics but are not easy to land or even hook on a fly.

Some places are noted for larger Bonefish like Biscayne Bay, FL, Andros Island in the Bahamas, the Hawaiian Islands, and Aitutaki.

These are not good places for newcomers to Bonefishing but Belize, the Bahamas, and Christmas Island are much easier.


If you live near the West Coast, the Hawaiian Island and Christmas Island are closer destinations for you.

If you are nearer to the East Coast, the Bahamas and South Florida are the places to go for Bonefish.