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04/26/11

fly fishing hawaii:

the squilla hunt and busting bass.

 

there’s a lot of pictures so i’ll try to keep the blab to a minimum.  as some of you blog followers may remember, a while back e.t. introduced us all to the giant mantis shrimp that inhabit the flats here (blogs 07/06/09a and 07/06/09b), after that we all went on the hunt for mantis holes but, like so many other temporary distractions, we kind of just lost interest in it.  we still spotted holes while we were fishing but never really got back into actually catching them.  well recently sean took what ed taught us about locating the holes and added the grabbing technique of catching them that he learned from the christmas island guides and has resurrected the squilla hunt once again.  pops (greg) checked in with some nice uluas he pulled from his back yard.  he doesn’t get to fish as much these days but makes the most of every opportunity he gets.  i did a little squilla hunting and also spent another afternoon on the lake, this time with craig.  we caught a bunch of tucs (peacock bass) and got into a nice afternoon bass bust.  it looks to me like it is getting to that good time of year and if you haven’t gotten out on the water recently, it may be time to start thinking about it.

 

a basket o' squilla.

 

sean used e.t. and christmas island "know how" to resurrect the squilla hunt...

 

and the kirksta finished them off.

 

sash, rice, and mantis... doesn't get any better than that.

 

hurry up and wash it down before it crawls back out!

 

the next day a bunch of us joined in on the resurrection.  this guy got released for future consumption.

 

and, of course as always, bones too.

 

it's good to see pops again doing his thang whenever he can.

 

<meanwhile back on the lake...

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gotta get the red, if you're gonna pull off the slam.  we got out on the water and got after them right away.

 

craig brought a 5'6" pygmy glass fiberglass 4wt (by scandalous sticks) for his devil duties.  he got on the board and let me try the rod out.

 

and i got more than i bargained for.

 

quiz for those who are new to the sport.  would you consider this rods action fast or slow.

 

not exactly built for this application, the pygmy glass small stream rod handled extremely well and was a pleasure to cast.

 

later the bass began balling up the shad and having at them.  we caught them on top with poppers...

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deep with sinking lines and streamers...

 

and everywhere inbetween.

 

the lakes been fishing well and the salt has not been too bad either.

 

it's not a good day on the lake until all rods get bit. here the loomis nrx gets in on the action.  believe it or not, bonefish all the time can get a bit run on (doug).  sometimes it takes a little squilla hunting and busting bass to keep you in the good times.

 

clay.


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