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02/01/14

bonefishing hawaii:

there's more to bones than bamboo rods. (the bonus blog)


wednesday and thursday looked good so doug and i decided to give it another go on friday.  we got on the water late (by bonefishing standards) as usual.  well actually a little later.  i got the meeting time wrong from our, somewhat convoluted, conversation.  i was downloading cheap trick songs to my ipod when doug called me to see where i was... oops.  i grabbed my stuff and raced out the door to meet him.  better late than never.


i used my sage 691-4 method and abel classic reel again.  this is such a perfect combo, i just can’t stop using it.  just thinking about it now puts a smile on my face.  doug fished the new tfo mangrove 8wt. and his “only doug” purple nautilus nv reel.


pure perfection!

it was pretty nice when we got out there but in an hour or so the weather took a serious turn for the worse.  afternoon clouds grew thick and rain was almost a certainty.  the winds picked up significantly from the south east as the front made landfall.  we toughed out the rain and the fishing wasn’t half bad.  we both caught a bunch of bones including a couple in the “good size” category.

i usually just describe the size of the bones i catch in one of four categories micro, rat, good size, and big.  there are no actual size measurements that i have ever attached to these labels but if i had to take a stab at it i would say micros are under three pounds. rat is by far the largest category and covers everything bigger than a micro to about six or seven pounds. it’s the run of the mill everyday size bone.  good size would be those that aren’t big but too big to be called a rat and big is just anything  bigger than that.  this classification system makes it easier to get the gist of how buddies did out on the water. hooked a couple rats or so and so caught a big one... nuff said.

anyway, it turned out to be a pretty nasty weather with some pretty decent fishing.  these days, especially in the winter, you just never know what you’ll be up against out there.  my advice is to hone those fishing skills and be ready to take on whatever the gods throw at you.  could make all the difference... i’ll see you on the water.


method doing some damage on friday.


meanwhile doug was doing some damage of his own on another part of the flat.


doug catches more tagged fish than anyone i know.  i think i've only caught one tagged fish ever.  maybe it is the areas he frequently fishes or maybe he is catching his own fish over and over.  i like to think that he's just catching the dumb ones that will bite anything... repeatedly.


the pig lips of a "good size" bone.


i got lucky, this guy ran off the flat then made a u turn and ran back onto the flat and i was able to land it with the six.  the next good sized one i hooked i wasn't so lucky and got wrecked.


doug and his "thick" fish.


whether it be single or two hand, bamboo or graphite, shallow or deep, rain or sun, sight fishing or bombing, biggest of bigs or microest of micros, however you choose to do it.  chasing bones in hawaii is always all about... good times.

 

clay.






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