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03/29/10
bonefishing hawaii:
blasphemous rumors
went out a couple times this weekend. spent a day with ken “legolas” beecroft out at hickam. ken picked up a beulah switch rod from us earlier this year and has joined deano, daryl and the other hickam boyz out there. there were some fish around but not a whole lot, at least around the area we decided to fish. in a sick twist of fishing god fate. i caught an omilu (bluefin trevally) soon after getting started. though not a very big one i thought it was funny that after a week of chasing these guys i catch one right off the bat while going for bones. what can i say... sometimes like that. <i used the 7wt. g. loomis roaring river switch rod with an airflo 450 grain scandi compact. this is an absolute insane combination though not quite enough “yoy” or fish controlling power as i like to have on my side for some boney/reefy places here. i did manage to get a bonefish and i got ken to see and take shots at a bunch of fish, something he never really did before, so it was a good day all around.
yesterday went out to ke’ehi with the nwff crew e.t. and the kirksta. e.t. and i both hooked three bones and the kirksta got one. in typical nwff crew style, we wound up with seven fish and zero pictures. again it wasn’t gangbusters out there but there were enough. i fished the 8wt. g loomis roaring river switch with an airflo 480 grain compact scandi (the 510 is also a really good match).
the wind was up pretty good yesterday and "they" are calling for it to be yowling this week so be prepared. wind casting is all about using the wind to your advantage. here’s a few tips that may (or may not) help in your wind endeavors.
make sure you are familiar with your wind casting limits when casting with the wind coming from your rod hand side. rods don’t like being cracked by dumbell eyes and neither do human heads for that matter. if the wind is too strong turn around and throw your backcast or switch to your left hand. you can also tip your rod tip toward you on your backcast right before you make the forward cast and have the fly travel on the down wind side of you.
when casting with the wind it’s always a good idea to turn around and see how far you can cast into the wind. this will give you an idea of how much of a backcast you can make. if you can only cast so far into the wind, you will probably not be able to make a backcast any farther before the wind knocks your line down or toward you creating slack in your cast. slack in your cast as we all know robs you of stroke length (you gotta get the slack out first) which in turn robs you of rod load. knowing this you can adjust your stroke and the line you have out on your backcast reducing the slack in your cast. open up the loop on the forward cast (not a hard maneuver for most of us) and let the wind take the giant open loop out.
when casting into the wind, i like to hang my backcast out there as long as i can without the line falling too much. then on the forward cast i make an exaggerated acceleration going pretty slow throughout most of the stroke and ending with a very quick, short, and powerful speed up and stop. this produces maximum load on the rod and a super tight high speed loop. i also like to change the plane of the cast to a high backcast and a foreward cast aimed right at the target in the water. this gives the cast maximum time in the air on the backcast and minimum time in the air on the foreward cast for the wind to blow it around or back at you.
the flats around here get pretty technical when the winds begin to howl and the water starts white capping. fly selection, casting, leader lengths all become more critical to presenting the fly properly weather blind casting or sight fishing. that once serene, peaceful flat becomes a growling angry beast. yesterday, with the pushing tide, was one of those days as i found myself actually mending and fishing currents between the coral. it looks like this week will be a good chance to practice those wind tactics. the fish are there... why not go see if you can get some.
bone in the water.
i also got this hawaiian flounder (paki'i). trippy little fish. they love to eat flies but are usually pretty hard to get a hook in that sideways like mouth.
one of four more little omilus (bluefin trevally) that i caught on sunday while, of course, fishing for bones.
what'cha gonna do? i don't want to start any blasphemous rumors but i think that (fish) gods got a sick sense of humor and when i die i expect to find him (or her) laughing... dm. good times.
clay.
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