Bonefish

Albula vulpes

Depth0–5 ft

Bimini's flats hold bonefish year-round and are regarded among the best anywhere. The IGFA all-tackle world record — 16 lb, caught 25 February 1971 about 300 yards from the Bimini Big Game Club — was landed by Jerry Lavenstein, poled by Ansil Saunders.

Typical3–8 lb18–28 in
Largest recorded22 lb3 ft 5 in
Depth range0–276 ftspecies-wide
IGFA all-tackle16 lbBimini, Bahamas (approx. 300 yards from the Big Game Club) · 1971

How big, really

A bonefish and a six-foot adult, drawn to one scale.

A six-foot adult man standing for scale, drawn to the same scale as the fish — Both drawn to one scale from the sourced length below. The fish is an illustration, not a photograph; the human figure is a stipulated 6 ft (1.83 m) reference, not a measurement.

Bonefish drawn 2 ft 4 in long beside a six-foot adult at the same scale — Both drawn to one scale from the sourced length below. The fish is an illustration, not a photograph; the human figure is a stipulated 6 ft (1.83 m) reference, not a measurement.

The bonefish year

Twelve months around the dial, straight from the island's season data — peak months reach the outer ring. Pick a month to see what else is running. Peak: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.

Field notes

How it is fished: Sight-fished on skinny-water flats: a guide poles a skiff quietly downwind of the angler while spotting tailing or cruising fish, and the angler casts a small crab or shrimp fly pattern (or live shrimp/jig on conventional tackle) roughly 5 ft ahead of the fish, working it with short strips to imitate a fleeing crustacean.
What it eats: Shrimp, crabs, worms, and other small invertebrates rooted out of sand and mud flats; occasionally small fish.
Depth: FishBase: 0-84 m (0-276 ft) overall range, typically 1-15 m (3-49 ft). In practice, flats anglers sight-fish bonefish in water often under 1 ft deep (FWC).
Worth knowing: Bonefish can gulp air into a lung-like extension of their swim bladder, letting them tolerate the oxygen-poor water often found on shallow, sun-baked flats.
Conservation & rules: IUCN Red List: Near Threatened (assessed 2011). Since January 9, 2017, Bahamian law (Fisheries Resources (Jurisdiction and Conservation)(Flats Fishing) Regulations, 2017) makes bonefish catch-and-release only on the flats, bans commercial harvest there, and requires an angler license for anyone fishing for bonefish, permit, tarpon, cobia, or snook on the flats.

The record

16 lbIGFA all-tackle world record

Angler Jerry Lavenstein · guided by Ansil Saunders · Bimini, Bahamas (approx. 300 yards from the Big Game Club) · 1971 · 2 ft 10 in long · 19 in girth

Source

Where it lives

The island's relief model with the flats lit — 0–3 ft, gin-clear over white sand. Drag it to change the angle.

4 of 8 mapped — 4 without usable coordinates, all listed belowEvery charter and guide the directory holds. Which boats work which water changes with the season and the weather — ask when you call.Seabed: GMRT · Coastline: © OpenStreetMap contributors

The Bimini story

The IGFA All-Tackle World Record bonefish — 16 lb, caught February 25, 1971 roughly 300 yards from the Bimini Big Game Club — was landed by angler Jerry Lavenstein while guided by legendary Bimini bonefish guide Ansil Saunders. More than 50 years later it remains the all-tackle world record, and it is also the largest bonefish ever taken on 12 lb line class.

Sources

What we could not verify (1)

Exact ounces on the IGFA all-tackle record (sources consistently give whole '16 lb' without an ounces figure; the '16 lb 3 oz' figure found elsewhere is the separate Florida state record, not the IGFA world record).