Of all the species that fly anglers target on the flats, the bumphead parrotfish might just be weirdest-looking. These bluey-green monsters roam in herds on a number of atolls in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and I liken them to the “bison of the flats.” Growing to well over 100 pounds, these gentle monsters come with a pair of bolt croppers on the front end that bite through coral and could easily remove a digit if you’re not careful. While hunting crustaceans, they use this beak to crush and eat dead coral heads, which they then digest to produce fine white sand. What makes them so exciting to catch? The bumphead parrotfish is the largest fish you’ll find tailing on the flats, and they tend to move in schools of up to 50 fish with their large bluey-green flags visible for miles. They are a spooky species at the best of the times, requiring stealth and light tackle, but once hooked they are incredibly powerful and tend to head for the ocean. The odds are stacked against you, and fishing for them can be incredibly frustrating: For every six to eight you hook you might land one—but that is the challenge!
When tales first emerged from Farquhar Atoll in the Seychelles of these massive beasts being caught on fly, the angling community was pretty skeptical that parrotfish ate crabs, and fly anglers believed that, like milkfish, most parrotfish were foul-hooked. I can dismiss this, as I have seen it with my own eyes: bumpies tracking off the school, tilting over sideways to eyeball a tasty morsel, and then eating it. Also, things have also come a very long way since then regarding approach and tactics when presenting to these densely packed schools (which I will detail later).
The best places to target bumpies are huge, open turtle grass flats, such as those found on Providence or Farquhar Atoll in the Indian Ocean. You will see them playing in the surf line amongst the coral heads, waiting to come onto the flats. Occasionally they will tail around coral bommies. If you were to hook one here your chances of landing it would be very slim, as your line likely would be cut on the coral almost immediately. Bumpies are also fond of gravel bottoms, which seem to relax them, especially those located in the middle of turtle grass. Here they can spend the day lazily moving along as a herd, grazing as they go.
The setup for bumpies is normally a 9- or 10-weight rod. More are caught on 9- weights primarily because that is what anglers tend to be carrying on those flats (interchanging them with a 12-weight for giant trevally). Modern 9-weights such as the Hardy Zephrus work well, as they have the power to battle a parrotfish but still have the finesse of presentation. If you’re out to target bumpies specifically, I recommend a 10-weight. Bumpies are big, powerful fish, so you’ll appreciate the added backbone as it heads for the ocean. The presentation made by any outfit larger than 10-weight might spook them. The only time I’ve ever deviated from this was when targeting bumpies in Sudan. The school was on the edge of the reef, and every fish in it was well over 100 pounds. In that instance, not even a 12-weight could stop the fish when it ran, and the entire episode ended quickly and in tears.
Bumpies can be line- and leader-shy, so, it’s imperative you have a reel with very smooth start-up inertia, for when hooking these tanks you’re going to do it on a relatively light tippet. Ideally your tippet should be 40-pound fluorocarbon. If the fish are spooky the guides will often make you scale down to as little as 20 pounds. These days we use furled leaders for bumpies for several reasons. The furled leader takes a lot of the shock as well as providing extra abrasion-resistance for the harsh habitat you’re fishing in. Alternatively, tapered permit leaders will suffice (20-pound test minimum). Again, fluorocarbon works best, as it’s harder for the fish to see whilst providing a little more resistance against those big choppers.
Connect your leader to the fly line with a standard loop-to-loop connection. Choose floating lines only, and pick one with a long belly and gentle front taper. Good turnover matched with as subtle a presentation as possible is the way forward.
When it comes to choosing flies to cast at these behemoths, two aspects are vital. The first is a really strong hook. If you think triggerfish can mess up a hook, it’s nothing compared with what these guys can do. The Gamakatsu SL12S works well. Due to their mouth structure—beak and not much gum—hooking bumpies is difficult, so a hook with a nice big gape helps. The second vital aspect is that all of your flies need to have a weed guard, as the areas you’ll fish in—turtle grass and coral—will dictate it. The weed guard will prevent you from becoming very frustrated as well as help you avoid foul-hooking fish. Weed guards need to be 25- to 30-pound Mason hard monofilament tied in behind the hook eye and reaching back to the point. Weight of the fly is also key, and water depth will determine this. Ideally your fly will be weighted with a medium dumbbell eye, as large dumbbell eyes will tend to spook fish on landing. When fishing for bumpies you tend to find yourself in water that’s knee-deep to mid-thigh. In shallower water, simply scale down the weight. White Merkin patterns and white Flexo Crabs have proved to be the most effective. Tan works also, but the white flies contrast better with the turtle grass. The bumpy is a visual creature so the fly needs to pop.
Bumpies don’t wish to swim in strong currents as they will expend too much energy. Therefore, neap tides are preferable; they like slack water when they can spend lots of the time on the flats. Spring tides will require more energy of them to remain in the areas they like. If I had my choice, I think my favorite tide would be a neap tide on a new moon. The full-moon cycle can be very good, but there seem to be times when they vanish from the flats. This could have something to do with their spawning cycle, but we still know very little about them. What we have learned has come from guides’ observations based on trial and error on the flats.
Presenting the fly greatly depends on your ability to anticipate the fish’s movements. When fishing for bumpies you don’t strip the fly. The fly sits in position to intercept the moving fish and the angler simply maintains tension on the fly. This sounds simple, but when a school is bearing down on you and you have a current pushing across the flat, keeping contact with the fly can be a challenge. The true skill in hooking bumpies is in anticipating their line of movement and putting the fly in the right spot. The guides I have fished with on Providence and Farquhar have this dialed in. I will warn you now, though, that bumpies can be the most frustrating fish. You could hook many in a day and not land one. Be prepared.
I remember one incredible afternoon several years ago on the east side of Providence Atoll where there were at least four massive schools tailing across this one giant turtle grass flat. We hooked many, and I and one of the other anglers managed to land one each—so we were ecstatic. The third angler with us proceeded to hook eight in succession, and each time something went wrong. We followed him along the flat, taking turns passing him rods with new leaders and rigged flies—it was a bit like a production line—only to have the flies and leaders destroyed and the rods passed back. We were running out of crab flies when finally, as the sun was slipping down the sky, he hooked one last fish. The battle was fierce, taking us all the way to the edge of the flat before our guide finally waded out chest-deep and managed to net the fish. The jubilation was immense as our team returned to the mothership that night. But I digress….
So you have arrived on the flats to be greeted by big flopping bluey-green tails. As we touched on earlier, your approach is vital. You need to approach from the right direction, and if you get this wrong it can dramatically reduce your chances of hooking up. If the bumpies are moving from the deep water into shallow, you need to get high on the flat and present the fly down to them. It’s a bit like feeding a fly downstream to an ultra-spooky trout. This allows the school to move up on the fly without your spooking them. Essentially it’s an ambush presentation. Ideally you want to present the fly head-on. Presenting from the side increases the chances of lining them, foul-hooking one, or if you do hook one from the side it increases your chances of being cut off by another fish in the school. Think of it as trying to swim your line through a parade of wire cutters. It’s so much better to feed them head-on and allow them to come up onto the fly. Often they will feed past you, and frustrated anglers often will try to fish from behind. The chances of hooking one this way are very small. It’s far better to relocate entirely and move around to the front of the school.
When you have cast your fly to the ambush point you must let it to sink. Pick up all the slack line and simply maintain tension so that you can feel if a fish picks the fly up. If you feel your fly is out of position relative to where the school is moving, strip it into position or recast, but then allow it to sink again. Don’t strip it over their heads or you’ll spook them.
You’ve presented the fly correctly, the fish picks up the fly, and now what…? It’s vital for you to remember that you’re fishing a thin-gauge hook on a light leader—not a GT rig—so make sure you don’t give it a GT strip set or you’ll pop the leader straight away (this often happens to anglers who’ve been fishing for GTs all week).
As soon as you set the hook, all hell will break loose. The school tends to explode and moves off like the proverbial stampeding herd of bison. Clear the slack line onto the reel; if it catches on anything it will break off immediately. Once the fish is on the reel, take a moment to become aware of what’s around you on the flat. This will prevent you from falling into white holes or deeper water—as I have in the past! Once the fish is on the reel, anglers can get spooked as the fish has stripped off 150 yards of backing and just keeps going. Don’t be tempted to change the drag or you’ll pop the leader. It’s best to set the drag tension before you start fishing and then just leave it. Occasionally fish will run into a depression or turtle grass lip and just sit there, but most of the time they run with the school and keep on running. For the first ten minutes you’ll have no control at all, which takes some getting used to. Once the fish tires a bit you need to try to separate it from the school. Your guide will head out in front to try to keep the line clear and prevent you from being cut off.
Once the fish is separated from the school, the second stage commences. Keep the rod tip high at this point; with the length of line you have out, side pressure will have no impact. Once the fish is within 30 or 40 meters you can start working angles. Bumpies are incredibly powerful fish, so be patient and maintain constant pressure.
The third stage comes when it is time to try to land the fish. This can be tense, especially when you have lost a few beforehand. To land a bumpy you really need a net and a big one at that! Alternatively, you can lanyard them through the beak, which can sometimes require a rugby tackle on the flat. They are extremely slimy, making them hard to grab, and the caudal compresses, providing no wrist to gain purchase on. The best way is to cradle it, but I highly recommend you let your guide do the honors as he is going to get bullied. These fish tend to release really well as they are so strong.
The feeling of landing one of these wonderful creatures and watching it swim away is hard to describe. I think because landing one proves so hard with the odds stacked against you after a hard, prolonged fight, each fish you actually touch is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. It becomes a shared experienced with those you are with and one you’ll never forget. Are they the weirdest fish on the planet? Probably. Are they one of the coolest to land on fly? Definitely!
Bio: Peter McLeod is the Travel Editor of TFFM. As the founder of Aardvark McLeod, international fly fishing specialists, it is a position for which he is perfectly suited. For more information on fly fishing for parrotfish or any other gamefish in the fly angler’s world, you can contact Peter at peter@aardvarkmcleod.com or visit his website at www.aardvarkmcleod.com.
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