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02/08/14

bonefishing hawaii:

speydoug.

a couple of months ago our friend nick curcione from tfo came down and fished with us for a couple of days.  when he returned home, he left doug a tf 06 129-4 p 12’ 9” tfo pandion series two handed rod.  i remember nick once asking me if i thought doug would use a two hander if he gave him one.  i told nick that i highly doubted it.  doug is a hard-line bonefish sight fisher and, in the years that i have known him, has shown little interest in anything else despite my constant efforts to expand his fly fishing horizons.  every week i’ll tell him, jokingly, let’s go to the lake or let’s go bomb the two handed rod, or anything other than sight fishing for bonefish with an eight weight.  i’ve been telling him those kinds of things for so long and he always just laughs it off.  then he ends up sight fishing and i end up doing whatever it is i got the jones to do that week.  so it came as a complete surprise when i gave him the “let’s go bomb the two hander” line this week and he agreed.  what?????

i hooked doug and his tfo pandion up with a rio powerflex running line and a 450 gr. rio scandi head.  i brought out my sage 6126-4 sage one and abel switch reel lined with a scientific anglers monocore running line and 390 gr. rio scandi head.  my goal for this outing was not to get bit.  instead my mission was to seize this rare opportunity to get doug casting to the point where maybe... just maybe he would catch a glimpse of what an exceptional tool a two handed rod is for bombing out here.  at the very least i hoped he would be able to experience just how much damn fun it is just to chuck that thing around fish or not.

for the first time out with the long rod, doug did quite well (much better than my first time out).  two handed fly casting is not a whole lot different than single hand casting.  all of the basic casting principles of a single hand cast apply in two handed casting.  it all boils down to simply loading and unloading a flexible stick in an efficient and effortless way.  of course this means that any bad habits one may have casting a single hand rod will also compromise their two handed casting career.  this is why i always encourage beginners to invest some time and effort into understanding the fly cast and proper fly casting technique rather than focusing on catching fish right off the bat.  many believe that they can learn how to cast while fishing and trying to catch fish.  most of the time this approach leads to someone who can catch fish with highly in efficient casts riddled with bad habits.  i see this on the water just about every time out.  once improper rod movement becomes the norm, these well “trained” bad habits are extremely difficult to change.  much more so than the effort it takes to learn proper technique from start.  in the end it was these small but significant ingrained bad habits that were the only difference between doug throwing sloppy bombs and lazer guided missiles across the ocean.

with jiminy cricket (me) constantly in his ear, doug was able to keep the bad habits somewhat temporarily at bay and got off some decent casts.  the tfo pandion helped as well being a very easy loading, easy casting, and “forgiving” rod.

we “fished”, i use that term loosely for what we were doing out there, for a couple of hours.  it was evident to both of us that, under the conditions we were dealt, there were not a whole lot of fish around.  i teased doug saying that the gods didn’t think his casting was worthy of a fish yet and that he was ruining the fishing for everyone.  doug kept working at it while i watched and coached.  then just before he picked up the head to set up for yet another cast his line shot out and the pandion doubled over.  “he is worthy!  he is worthy!”  i screamed, the both of us falling apart laughing as the bone took off.  doug’s first fish on a two handed rod.

having done this two handed stuff for a few years now, i truly believe it is the best tool for “bombing” hawaiian waters.  i have used all kinds of spey and switch rods here.  my favorites are a 12’6” 6wt. for areas where long casts are the norm and the reef is not a big factor and a 12’6” seven or eight weight for fishing long over more gnarly reefs.  switch rods are great for those pocket bombing situations or those situations were some sight fishing may be done.  keep in mind though that no two handed rod can beat a single hand for sight fishing and short distance casting.  switch rods are okay and i have also caught numerous fish sight fishing with the longer spey rods, but they are just not made for that and not that much fun.  to me, the same goes for covering a ton of water with a single hand rod.  it can be done, i’ve done it for years.  since i picked up a two handed rod, though, it’s hard for me to bomb with a single hand rod knowing that there is something out there that can cover twice the amount of water ten times as easily and a hundred times more fun.

if i were to just pick just one all around two handed rod to fish out here it would probably be a 12’6” to 13’6” seven or eight weight.  two handed rods are more expensive than single hand rods due to the increased amount of materials it takes to make a longer rod (graphite, cork, guides, and stuff).  like single hand rods, though, there are a number of great casting rods priced so that anyone who is looking for something a little different and a lot of fun can give it a go.  if you are interested, here are a few rods worth checking out that won’t break the bank:

beulah classic  $435

echo classic  $270

echo dec hogan 2  $390

echo tim rajeff  $350

redington dually  $250

redington prospector  $400

tfo pandion  $380

tfo deer creek $390

we caught a couple more fish that day.  one micro bit just as doug and i were trading rods which we both found pretty entertaining.  the fish didn’t matter though.  the day was all about trying to bring out doug’s inner spey.  i don’t know if i’d go as far as to say i accomplished that.  hopefully, i at least made him consider it.  we’ll see.  i’ll see you on the water.