Braving the Storm

It had been a while since I last got out fly fish and since I was itching to get out I texted Craig early in the week to see if he was up to fishing on the weekend. Craig said he was free and after consulting the all-knowing tide calendar, we decided the best chance of hooking up would be a dawn patrol session at one of our favorite spots. Craig asked if his friend Nick could join us and I figured the more people the merrier.

I had the pleasure of meeting Nick once before when we fished together on another occasion. He is fairly new to the Hawaii fly fishing scene, but has already caught a bunch of quality fish. One fish of interest to me was a huge Kala (unicorn fish) he caught on the fly. Of all the years I have fly fished, I have never heard of anyone catching one and I was quite skeptical until he showed me the video on his phone. The characteristic I like most about Nick was his never-ending enthusiasm for the sport and the willingness to continually learn and experiment. He is always gung-ho and game to do anything.

As the week progressed the weather forecast looked pretty grim due to the remnants of Hurricane Guillermo passing the island and the approach of Hurricane Hilda. The weather called for higher than normal winds and lots of rain. I had my fingers crossed hoping to catch a break between the two storms.

We decided to meet at zero dark thirty in the morning to maximize the tide. As I made my way to the flats, it was just as I feared, the weather report was right. As I pulled into the parking lot, the rain was coming down by the buckets and the winds were howling and whipping the palm trees around. As I sat in my truck, I heard the buzz on my cell phone notifying me of an incoming text message. I looked down to check the phone and it was Craig letting me know that he just got up, and he was going to be late. Just then there was a lull in the rain and I got out and assessed the situation. Should I rig up and fish or should I do something else (like go home and sleep). That’s when Nick stepped out of the darkness all amped and ready to get started. We quickly broke out our gear, strung up the rods, and headed into the darkness to find our holes in the ocean to fish. We quickly settled into our spots and went to work. Within 10 minutes, I got a bite and quickly hooked up. I knew it was a small fish since it didn’t pull hard enough to get on the reel.

I glanced back to Nick and saw that he was also hooked up.

You know it’s going to be a good day when you start the day off with a double.

We both released our fishes and each got another bone before Craig showed up.

The tide had slacked so the bite slowed down but we all kept pounding hard. When the tide switched, so did the bite. Craig was able to follow the rainbow to the “secret spot” and was rewarded with a nice bone.

We eventually all got our fill and called it a day before lunch. Although it was a little windy, the weather stayed nice for the entire morning. I guess sometimes you can get lucky when you take a chance braving the storm.

Dean-O