As the holidays end and the dreariness of winter sets in, avid fly anglers can do several things in preparation for the spring.
They can sit indoors, mend and care for their fly rods, reels and line. Many prefer to settle in to their tying desks and bang out hundreds of flies in anticipation of melting snow and a new season, or they can head for warmer weather and break the winter doldrums and go sight fishing for Saltwater Bonefish. The powerful bonefish can be pursued in many warm water destinations and while Stephen Vlaetas’ book The Bahama Flyfishing Guide is a great guide to that vast chain of cays, the Staff of FlyFish.com took a trip further south recently, and want to briefly share one of the “Must See” Bonefishing experiences of a lifetime.

hundreds of miles of open flats

A Venezuelan National Park since 1972, Los Roques lies just 80 nautical miles north of Caracas, Los Roques is an archipelago encompassing forty-two coral reef islands and hundreds of sandy cays. To the delight of fly anglers, its National Park Status severely limits commercial development and continues to preserve the true beauty of this unspoiled area. Luckily anglers who reach Los Roques will find it quite and uncrowded, except for the seemingly endless schools of bonefish!

Los Roques is bonefishing paradise. The weather, the local people, and the lack of crowds make this national park among the best bonefishing places in the world. Experienced anglers have landed and released fifteen and more bonefish in a single day. Most bonefish, or “pez raton”as the locals call them, weigh three to five pounds, but anglers often hook some considerably larger; several ten and fifteen pounders have been landed.
By day, most inhabitants are out at sea, fishing scuba diving and enjoying many of the hundreds of little cays. In the evening, the sound of music can be heard for a few of the little taverns in town, or from the restaurants located in one of the several small Hotels called Posadas. While there are no real non fishing or scuba activities, no golf, no tennis , the shear beauty of the park offers a place for those that want to really get away and can be enjoyed by all.

Huge Schools.
FlyFish.com has gone on several bonefishing trips over the years and has tried to bring back honest opinions and information to assist other anglers in making their trips more enjoyable. ( see Exuma ) Without question, Los Roques offers fly angler of all abilities the chance to cast to many, many bonefish in a most picturesque setting.

We were guests at the Macanao Lodge http://www.macanaolodge.com/english.htm The Macanao was a wonderful quiet posada, right on the beach, with terrific food, and friendly staff. All bonefishing trips should be planned well in advance, but the staff here is capable of finding guides and boats if plans change. The few staffers who spoke English were extremely helpful on the occasions that our plans changed.
We would need many, many pages to tell of all of the incredible and varied fishing conditions. Best we highlight a few, and you experience the rest in person.

Most Posadas will arrage to take you away to a remote cay for the entire day,

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While on Los Roques, we waded among large schools of hard to spot bones in the early morning, cast from the boat into transitory schools in the deeper water. Hopped in between many small submerged cays where we hopped out and sight cast to lone fish or very spooky pairs in 6-10 inches of gin clear Caribbean Sea. We also experienced some of the most unusual bonefishing tactics we’ve ever seen. Blind jigging to mudding bones!

Our Guides enjoying a cold brew after a long day on the water

In order to appreciate the shear number of bonefish per acre here. Imagine a stretch of turquoise water 3 miles by 2 miles, surrounded by little, uninhabited cays. In one such football field shaped flat, where the water was 3-5 feet deep, (deep by fishing flats standards) In the center was a stretch of milky white water approximately one quarter mile wide, which extended out over a mile long as the cloud was stretched by the outgoing tide. Our guide maneuvered the skiff in the center of the cloud and instructed us to change our flies to pink Crazy Charlie’s. then we cast out and let the flies sink. Upon which we were instructed to gently jig the fly, bouncing it quietly over the sandy bottom. Using this unusual method, we landed 8 good sized bones in 45 minutes before we’d decided that as productive as that method was, we just assume see the wily fish and moved into more shallow water to wade for the rest of the day.