That evening Victor and I  relaxed and read book after book of local and general knowledge books on bonefishing to aide in tomorrows adventure. I barely slept at all that night and before I knew it the birds were chirping to greet the first rays of a clear and dead still day.The sun was peeking out of the pine trees as Rodney waded out e skiff with his fly case and coffee in his hand. Boats are moored to permanent moorings to offset any dock damage due to the frequent days when the wind blows there from the West. We were fortunate that morning as it was dead still. With the no see -ums reminding me there was no wind we quickly left them little biters in the dust and were soon skimming over glass covered flats that held legions of flats dwellers that spooked out of our way. The skiff was a nicely sized  rig and had a strong motor that soon had us miles away from our starting point. I saw no other fishermen or boats of any kind the entire time that we were there and it was almost like we were in our own world . Slowly we came off plane and idled for about 150 yards or so until Rodney slipped into the water and slowly pushed us along.
 
We eased up to a sand sprint and quietly waited for a few minutes. All of us peering into a glass surfaced flat that stretched in all directions."there" Rodney said as he pointed with suntanned fingers."You and Victor walk in this direction and wait for them to come to you". Victor and I eased out of the skiff into bath water that slapped at our shins and slowly we shuffled out to meet the area of water that was quivering nervously. Bonefish! There was literally an acre fo them slowly feeding and happily splashing in our direction and I  felt myself crouching down way too early. Victor had a 8 weight Sage fly rod and had it matched with a reel that was loaded with 30 pound gel spun backing that had 350 yards attached to it and had a floating line that was connected to a 9 foot tapered bonefish leader that had a 12 pound test tippet. I was using a larger 9 weight rod and also had the same fly reel set up as he had .We both had on a Crazy Charlie fly that Victor had tied and soon we were false casting in order to get our flies out and ahead of the approaching school of fish.We both let our flies settle 10 yards or so in front of the approaching school and when they were on top of our flies both of us slowly stripped the line in small 6 inch strips until we felt a strike and almost at once we were both hooked into a bonefish.As the school panicked and sped for the nearest horizon we looked at each other for a moment and holding rods high each went off in a different direction to help gain line being lost by the yard as we splashed along in vain. Within several minutes I had my fish in control as the nine weight slowly and steadily tired out my fish and Victor had a larger fish on a smaller outfit and he was happily getting extended play time when I released my first Bahama bone .I soon became aware of 4 foot brown shadows that were lurking behind the bonefish schools like cowboys following cattle.


These shallow water bullies had other intentions for our fly hooked bones and soon it became evident that we had to play the fish harder than wished in order to keep our fish from being added to the menu by the lurking lemon sharks. In fact one shark was so bold that I had to literally kick him out of the way when I was releasing a bonefish .Rodney told us that the sharks are always there and if we should  break our fish off before the shark catches him to save the bonefish .Soon we became quite good at catching the bones in fast mode and never lost a single fish to the lurking gin su brothers.... In fact we took a 12 weight rod with wire and had great fun with the sharks on fly as they were eager biters and we soon knew exactly where to look for them each time a school of bonefish approached.We were there for bones but the shark on fly program had its moments. Rodney carried the extra rod and reel for the moments when sharks became a viable target.It was a fine system we had going indeed. Wading along we soon discovered that the flats were not so flat. There were numerous holes created by bonefish "blowing out the sand" to flush crabs out of hiding and areas that rays and other critters had plowed under. Also, the sand was soft in some places and rock hard in others which made us look like two uneven legged waders plodding along in the shallows. Rodney suggested that we shuffle our feet in order to avoid stepping on a sand covered ray .Both Victor and I wore wading shoe booties. The booties were nice to wear but filled with marl and sand too frequently and made wading uncomfortable. I opted for socks that were rubber banded at the top to keep sand out and an old pair of sneakers.

Rodney would walk to one side or the other and was easily the best spotter but Victor and I learned quickly what to look for when it comes to telltale bonefish signs. Pushes or v wakes were the easiest to spot. Lay ups ( where fish is simply still) were the hardest to see as their mirrored sides reflect the surroundings and make them very hard to pick out.They truly are the ghosts of the flats as many times we were  literally too close to shoot a fly to them before we saw them.That was not an issue though as we saw thousands of bonefish in our short 2 day stay there.Both days we were ushered off the water by sudden pop up storms that quickly turned the calm flats into a sheet of wave washed opaque water with no visibility.We hull slapped back to the dock each day with quite a few bonefish taken on fly and so thrilled to see and hook that many fish on fly. Walking back to the house along a conch shell lined path we were told to put our shoes in a water bucket placed near the back door and to relax the rest of the day in our lovely accommodations at Knolls Landing.ours quickly passed as Rodney Victor and I re-examined each special moment of the morning and watched and learned as Rodney taught us new knots and showed us his favorite flies for various conditions and time flew by each day until our time at the brass ring was over.

If anyone is interested in bonefishing in an area that is too beautiful for words and you are either a beginner or an advance fly thrower then Knolls Landing is a place that ranks as one of my top trips. Going there with my son was even more special and watching him hook and land his first bonefish is a memory that cannot be given a dollar amount.You can contact Rodney or Dianne at www.knollslanding.com and set up a trip of a lifetime to catch these magnificent ghostly fighters of the flats or spin fishing for these speedsters is as good as it gets there. Combine that fishing with top of the line accommodations and a really patient and knowledgeable flats guide and a consummate host and you will become a regular there I promise. I know that I am