If I were better organized, I would have been keeping a game fishing log of our times on the water, recording where we went, what the weather conditions were, how many fish we saw and casted to, perhaps hooked, even landed. Maybe a word or two about how much fun it was. But mostly, it would have been to put down on paper all of the seemingly throw-away knowledge that Stuart had shared during the afternoon. Generally peppered in with a story about a client situation, sometimes flattering, sometimes not, always anonymous. Then all of the questions I had asked him and the responses he so generously shared would not have gone to waste.

So who writes a book about bonefishing, let alone, why? (Let’s start with the fact that my writing software keeps flagging the word “bonefishing” as a typo.) Who wants to read such a book, and what could we possibly say that hasn’t been said before—and likely said better, more concisely, more broadly yet more applicably? I invite you to walk with me on this thin limb.

This book is meant to be more conversational in nature, to give the reader the feeling of sitting across the table with an expert in the field, with the opportunity to ask questions of someone who generously wants to share in plain words both his insights and how he earned them, and from whom. With that in mind, each of the chapters will have my words to introduce broad subjects relating to bonefishing, with Stuart’s own words indented in the page, edited minimally. I hope you can even hear his voice.