03/01/11

bonefishing hawaii:

the double double... you never know unless you go.

 

since the last blog sean checked in with the bay report and i’ve been out a couple of times and faced two very different days out at hi kai.  the weather here still seems to be extremely shifty and it’s hard to say with any certainty what the weather or fishing will be like on any given day.  the past couple of days the rain has been looking like it won’t be bothering us for a while.  the winds however are still very indecisive, which may not mean much to many but it sure means alot to me... and the bones for that matter.

 

the first day out i fished in dark ominous clouds to the sounds of loud booming thunder over the ko’olaus and an almost unbelievable lightning show.  probably not the best time to be out waving a switch rod, but the storm stayed over the mountains due to the moderate south east winds and i did not feel electricity in the air.  i’ve been out when you can hear your rod humming from the electricity in the air... a good sign that it’s time to keep your rod low and get the hail out of there.

 

the very next day the storm had passed and it was a perfect weather day.  e.t. some how got me to drive out during the worst part of the tide.  i wasn’t against fishing that tide, i’ll fish any tide, but it happened to be early in the morning (well not that early but too early for me).  after all isn’t the whole point of becoming a good fisherman so you don’t have to go early in the morning?  normally,  i would just tell e.t. “good luck” and not go. i went anyway just to hang out with e.t. and doug.  i told e.t. to bring a spear and i would switch off with him if we found fish, which i didn’t have very much hope of doing.  we walked around a bit and to no ones surprise... crickets.  e.t. found a tako (octopus) hole and verified the tako’s existence in the hole with his rod tip (professional fly fishing guide.  do not attempt).  we got that guy and figured that would be the highlight of the day.  i began looking for another hole when i heard e.t. in the distance,”oh... oh...oh”.

 

i looked up and saw e.t.’s rod in that familiar doubled over position, line peeling off of his reel.  i walked over to him and as we were cracking jokes and laughing, we heard doug yell out.

 

"let’s go home!”

 

let’s go home is the cry that doug and i yell whenever we hook a fish.  the saying developed from the times that doug and i have gone out not because i wanted to fish for bonefish but more just to catch fish for the “stupid blog”.  anyway, doug was hooked up too.  doubles do happen here but ask anyone whose been doing this for a while, they don’t happen that often.  we landed those two fish took pictures and released them.  then e.t. handed me his rod and told me it was my turn.  i started fishing and saw doug hook another fish... well.  soon after that i hooked one and it came off.  a little while later i hooked another one and as i began fighting the fish i heard in the distance,

 

”let’s go home!”

 

what do you know, a double double.  in just a couple of hours the three of us, two rods, and a spear managed to hook eight bonefish and got a three pound tako to boot.  we cut the day short because... well because ‘nuff already.  as we waded back to shore doug commented that he didn’t think the fishing was going to be that good.  i just laughed and said, “you didn’t think it was going to be good... i never even bring one rod!”

 

 

 

sean checked in with a couple of bones from the bay.

 

sean's rig:

rod: sage 790-4 Xi3

reel: tibor everglades

backing: power pro hollow ace

line: scientific anglers redfish line 7wt.

leader: scientific anglers bonefish 16lb.

fly: grizzly variant fuzzy hand

 

 

 

in the midst of a raging thunder storm, i put a few more notches in the "death switch".

 

don't mess with the tako son... you'll get the ink.

 

doug and e.t. with the first double of the day.

 

"don't worry son.  i think these are those fly guys.  they'll let us go... i hope."

 

doug's rig:

rod: g loomis gl3 8wt.

reel: galvan r-8

backing: 30lb. dacron with a double bimini loop looped to fly line.

fly line: airflo ridge bonefish/redfish 8wt.

leader: hand tied (approximately) 5ft. .024 fluorocarbon with a perfection loop looped to the fly line, 3ft .020 fluorocarbon joined with a triple surgeons knot. 2ft. .016 fluorocarbon tippet joined with a triple surgeons knot.

fly: orange and tan charlie tied on with a non slip mono loop.

 

 

e.t's (and clay's for the day) rig:

spear: three pronged 6ft. fiberglass

rod: st. croix legend ultra 8wt.

reel: tibor everglades

backing: 30lb. dacron with a standard clinch knot tied to a loop in the fly line.

fly line: scientific anglers textured saltwater 8wt.

leader: hand tied (approximately) 6ft. .024 fluorocarbon with a perfection loop looped to the fly line, 6ft .020 fluorocarbon joined with a triple surgeons knot. 6ft. .016 fluorocarbon tippet joined with a triple surgeons knot.  the guy likes his leaders long.

fly: a no name fly that kevin used to tie with estaz, sili legs and a bucktail wing.

 

 

 

 

then doug and i doubled up.  what do you know... a double double.

 

"i can't believe we both fell for that... i knew we should have eaten somewhere else."

 

bones in hawaii do what they do when they want to and there's really only one way to know just what those crazy creatures are up to.  you gotta get out there and find out... good times.

 

clay.


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