What Color Flies for Bonefish / Permit / Tarpon Flies and Saltwater Flats Fly Fishing in General?
The Most Common Colors for Flats Flies: TAN - OLIVE GREEN - BROWN / ROOTBEER - WHITE - PINK - CHARTREUSE - BLACK/PURPLE or BLACK/RED - and TAN again for emphasis.
Ok guys, quick blog post to help everyone pick their flies, whether it's Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon, or really most anything else in the tropics. What color is the bottom in this photo? Tan? Not really. White? A few spots. Olive Green? Maybe half of it. Do you match the prey species by assuming it matches its own surroundings? Or is contrast with surroundings better so the fish can find the fly easier?
My main point here is that in spite of whatever you may have seen on the internet or heard from an "expert" about how essential "one specific fly" or a specific color is, you would be shocked how many different colors will actually work just fine, due to how varied the bottom can be in the tropics. Of course some places are almost exclusively one type of bottom (super white sandy bottom of many islands in the Bahamas, for example), but most places like the Florida Keys, Belize and other popular destinations have a much wider variety of colors, similar to where I grew up in Florida. For those of you new to our site, I have been fortunate to get decades of experience fishing and exploring these types of places.
To make my point, the main image here is a drone shot by me (Ben) in the Florida Keys - unedited and no polarized filter in order to preserve "normal" color, not oversaturated to make it look more like they do in travel brochures and ads. *Fun Fact: I counted more than 20 nice-sized Tarpon in this drone photo above. Due to resolution limits on our blog I can't post the full resolution but trust me they are in there. They are well-camouflaged. Would you use a tan, olive, white, or brown fly? Or just throw chartreuse because you like to be different? The answer is yes. For this type of area I would probably start with an olive or rootbeer shrimp or counter-shaded minnow with a tan or grey back and a white belly. You can do whatever you want! These aren't trout. Saltwater is way easier and less technical. Basically any large shrimp pattern would work great here along with many baitfish types. I sell a million tan shrimp flies but nobody ever buys my favorite "Rootbeer" or brown colors so I don't even stock many of them anymore. Ever seen a shrimp that's not being served on a plate? It's not pink. In my area they are typically light brown to dark brown. Tan is close enough but it's lighter than they typically are in the flats of Florida. Still works fine.
See them now?
As always, call or email us with questions. We have tons of saltwater flies, in fact most other fly shops copy what we have offered here for years. We are flattered of course but remember guys, shop with the people who actually know why we picked all these flies. Not some muppets in Montana or Colorado (or Oregon FFS) who only go to the Keys or Belize once a year. Support the real saltwater guys - We appreciate it!
