Rio's little Boney Foo Foo doesn't hop through the forest, scoop up field mice or bop them on the head. It does, however, catch a lot of bonefish throughout the Caribbean and beyond. Like other popular bonefish patterns, the Boney Foo Foo is small, mildly flashy and incorporates a lot of movement, loosely suggesting a fleeing shrimp. I pretty much exclusively tie mine in a size 6 but a larger 4 could be useful in the Bahamas or Cuba for bigger bones.
Between all of the various Grizzly Barred Flutter Legs, Crusher Legs and Hot Tipped Crazy Leg colors and both solid and two-toned rabbit strips available, the possibilities are endless for matching your fly to the prevailing bottom substrate. As I mention in the video, shades of tan, pink, peach, orange or white will be your top colors. I mostly tie this fly with medium bead chain eyes, but also do them with a size small Pseudo Eye for situations where I am fishing deeper water or faster currents. While I admittedly have not tried the Boney Foo Foo in Puget Sound for sea run cutthroat, I'm confident it would be a solid performer in imitating our various local shrimp and amphipods that are staples in the beach cutthroat's diet, particularly during the winter months.
Confluence Beer Pairing: Like a lot of folks, I'm having a dry January so my beer palette is as dusty as ever and the well is empty on pairing ideas. I will, however, suggest a drink that I very much look forward to enjoying during future bonefish tying sessions. Brandon made me a bottle of jalapeno and cucumber infused tequila for Christmas and I must confess that I sampled a thimble full after the new year. It's good...really good. The recipe is as follows:
One bottle of your favorite Blanco Tequila (Brandon used Trader Joe's Tequila Blanco).
Pour it into a large glass jar.
Cut the tip off of a jalapeno.
Take half of a cucumber and cut it lengthwise.
Add the ingredients to the tequila and let is sit for a day. Taste after a day.
You can let it sit for multiple days until you get the desired spice level and flavor.