Boatless Fishing Forum, Reports, Info

okay so i was told by many friends that bonita is the #1 bait for snapper and grouper and I just dont know how to catch em watsoever........

lmk plz ASAP

guy if you cant catch a boni thats not your only problem sorry guy just being honest

As long as they're around, they'll hit pretty much anything you throw at 'em. Then all I can say is HOLD ON!

see now i just got a boat and im not as experienced as u are GK but i was just hoping for a response not a time where u would be able to make fun of me

grouperking wrote:see now i just got a boat and im not as experienced as u are GK but i was just hoping for a response not a time where u would be able to make fun of me

He didn't mean it. Sometimes he can sound like such a weiner lol. I think it's great you just got a boat because they love to hit moving fast shinny things that are being trolled around. You can catch them off piers with gotchas but as was said they have to be around. Trolling covers so much more territory. You will catch plenty of them and will end up being disappointed that it's another Bonita and not a great eating fish. But boy are they fun to catch

well some people are just born to be........
but for fishing for the bonita, will the depth matter because I have to go off of biscayne national park and it takes like 9 miles to get to the 50+ depth

Depth matters 75 -150 ft would be where I would start and they will hit anything and everything. Look for baitor color changesor just the local driftboat fleet to start. If you are targeting them for bait they are not that great a bait in my opinion for grouper or snapper. They work but sharks love it.

k man thanks for advice

gruntking wrote:guy if you cant catch a boni thats not your only problem sorry guy just being honest

Not sure if he is a duke, king or princess but he is brutally right most of the time.

Bonita = nuisance fish. That being said, they roll around with some very cool cats AKA BFT! Head out of any inlet, you will find them closer to shore in the reef and at times closer from 30 feet and out chasing bait. Just look for them busting glass minnows as the summer progresses!

-Swordfish

love them from a fighting aspect on the jig. Hate them because you cant eat it.

gdm phil wrote:love them from a fighting aspect on the jig. Hate them because you cant eat it.

Just like a Jersey chopper blue in September. All the fish you can handle on any setup but IMO you just can't eat them. I know some people do but some people eat pilchards too

they are fun to catch ,but like FF said if there's a shark around or sharks you can forget about it ,they will be like white on rice on your bait.There is plenty of other baits like gogs ,hoos etc...imho

simplest.. buy some pre-rigged ballyhoo and troll for dolphin in 150 to 300' anywhere from Dania S. ot Haulover

The funny thing to me (since I live in the northeast) is how black and white/night and day when it comes to catching this same species here in New England and off the SE coast of FL...every July I take a trip to juno just to take out my frustrations on the dumber variety of albies...errrr...Bonita after being made a fool of when they head north (actually the other way around since our albie season is more so Sept and Oct

You guys must laugh when you hear/read how tough and finicky they are to catch up here (although since we call then 'albies' or false albacore, some of you may not realize it's the same species you can catch at will down there...unless picture are included in said article)

Did you ever catch the very rare bonita fish? I heard the bonita run in the southern part of the Gulf is GORGEOUS! The "summertimes", "swirlbacks", "bobos", "boneheads", or officially named LITTLE TUNNY are out in force from 80-300' in Palm to Dade counties. catch em up!

Contender for top 10 posts of 2014?

Ya caught some but they're a bit annoying after a while

tons of them today, had 4 rods going off with them at once today