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03/16/14 bonefishing hawaii: bombing defined, clarified, and classified.
before i get started here's a little blast from the past.
early nineties clay. while i was attending the university of oregon, i would return home and poke around during summer and winter breaks. back then no one was really fly fishing in hawaii or figuring stuff out here. needless to say it was pretty tough sledding in the beginning out there on my own. it was the lowly trumpet that kept me going and perhaps who we all have to thank for the hawaii fly fishery that we all enjoy today.
wow that
was some good times. that photo, by the way, was taken by one of my spin
fishing buddies who were always there to tease me and give me a hard time about
my new found "mainland style" passion. i'll try to include more
early pics as i come across them. i don't have many real early
ones. growing up fishing "hawaiian style" you never
brought a camera on the water. any pictures you took of the fish you
caught were always taken in the drive way or kitchen of your house.
fly fishing taught me about bringing a camera on the water so you can take
pictures of fish and then release them. even so, i never really liked
carrying a camera. as you can see by the photo i was quite a
minimalist. for those who care about such things, that is my
sage 790-3 rplx and a ross cimmeron 3. i no longer have the c3 reel but i
still have that 790-3 rplx in my arsenal.
so it has
come to my attention that my blog with its rather “loose” style of writing and
somewhat unorthodox use of fly gear (and the english language) has caused some confusion among some out
there looking for concrete information about just what is going on out here on
this crazy island we call oahu. two
things that i have never claimed to be is a writer or a photographer. bum... yes.
writer? not so much. not suprisingly, there is very little that is ever concrete
when it comes to crap that comes out of my mouth (just ask me what fly is good
for bonefish). so in this blog i will
try to clear up some of the confusion that i may have caused.
first of
all, there are basically three ways fly guys go after bonefish here on the
island. the first two are the world wide
accepted techniques of fishing tailing bonefish and sight fishing. the classic looking for fish either sticking
their tail out of the water or cruising in the shallows, casting a fly
somewhere in its path, and getting the fish to eat the fly. this is, obviously, done on “flats” or reefs
that are shallow enough for a fish to stick its tail out of the water or shallow
enough that the fish can be spotted.
on
islands like ours, these shallow reefs make up only a tiny fraction of the
total inshore habitat. the rest of it is
not conducive to sight fishing due to its depth. some of these deeper areas can be sight
fished relatively easily with a boat like the flats boats that some of the
newer guides around are using. still for
the most part even they tend to sight fish areas that can still be sight fished
on foot by “aggressive” reef wading sight fishers as i once was. look
again at that old photo at the top. getting to that rock on foot is quite
an adventure in itself but since that photo was taken in the early nineties i
have caught lots of bones sight fishing the deep water surrounding it. the north east side of the island also has a plethora of these "high spots" that can provide great deeper water sight fishing opportunities for the adventurous. a little different than the walking the shallow stuff. this type of deeper water sight fishing involves more moving from rock to rock and waiting for fish to come into view. the ability to tread water with a stripping basket and all your stuff in it on your head also comes in handy. as i used to tell some of my early clients,"follow me... unless you just see my hat."
as far as
gear goes sight fishing is best done with a standard 8wt. single hand rod,
weight forward floating line, and stout saltwater reel with a good drag. some may find nine weights better to deal
with wind, presenting larger mantis shrimp type flies, or extra boosting power in
gnarlier reef situations. others may
find a seven helps in calmer wind and shallower water where more delicate
presentations are required. i have been using a six weight a lot with a click
drag reel lately but that has little to do with what actually works best out
here... especially if you value landing fish and not wrecking fly lines. i lose quite a bit of fish, especially the
bigger ones, with the six and a click pawl reel than when i have an eight
weight and my trusty abels
in my hand. my main reason for using the
six set ups recently are because they are lighter to lug around all day as
sight fishing out here often involves a lot of lugging around of rods. they are also a pleasure to cast (with the
appropriate size fly) and appeals to my nostalgic senses that tell me what fly
fishing should be regardless of the quarry.
doug is a perfect example of a hard core sight fisher. the sight fisher will spend hours on the water with a fly rod in his hands and cast it only when a fish is spotted. this can sometimes be tough on those who simply love the act of casting a fly rod.
now there
is one more way that bonefish, as well as many other species, can be caught on
the island. this way involves
fishing the deeper zones that go largely
untouched by the sight fishing community. this is the technique that i
affectionately (because i love doing it) call bombing. this way of fishing is more commonly, and
incorrectly, known as blind casting. i
say incorrectly because if you ask anyone who knows anything about fly fishing
on oahu they will tell you that fishing the tailing bonefish here in situations
where all you can see is the tail sticking out of the water is more “blind”
than what most refer to as blind casting. the true bomber knows exactly where the quarry is, or should be, at any given time at any given location, though they may not actually see the fish. i always have far more confidence that a fish will be "there" when i am bombing than when i cast at a low light tailing fish that just popped its tail up. so which is the true blind casting? that's up to you. i don't even think there is such a thing or at least there shouldn't be.
to
clarify, or confuse, further i do not consider the guy that can’t see fish and
makes repeated casts over areas that can be sight fished to be bombing. not that i have anything against anyone doing
that. i just think that guy is probably spooking more
fish than actually hooking them but we often forget that this whole fly fishing
thing is about having fun. so i say as
long as it’s fun, go for it... but it ain’ t bombing. bombing, as defined
by clay, is systematic covering of water with a fly that can’t be sight fished
because of water depth. i do realize
that there is some overlap as i do bomb water depths that could conceivably be
sight fished from a boat but for the most part i have not seen anyone trying to
spot fish in areas that i bomb. now many
of these bombing areas are located on the outer edges of reefs and flats which
i think has also caused some confusion.
i often say that “i bombed the reef” or “i was out on the flat
bombing”. when i say that i don’t mean that i was bombing in knee deep water (though i may be standing in knee deep water), i just mean that there was a flat or reef there but i am actually fishing my fly off the edge of it where it drops off.
one of this weeks "bombed" bones. a great way to fish for those who love casting a fly rod.
another
misconception is that bombing is specifically done to catch
bonefish which is not entirely true. one
of the best aspects of bombing is that you can and do actually catch other
things besides bonefish. whenever i feel
that initial doo doo thrills bump, tap, pull, yank, or tug of a fish on my fly
i’m almost always hoping it is something other than a bonefish. a trevally, ladyfish, pa’o pa’o (golden trevally), barred jack
or any number of fish that would bite a fly but that is much rarer, at least in
these waters, to be caught on a fly.
bombing is a far more effective way to hook these other creatures than
sight fishing for them. of course, most
of the time it does turn out to be a bonefish that bites and that’s okay
too. cannot help... it is what it is and
we’ve got what we’ve got.
now bombing can be done with either a single hand or two handed rod. eight or nine weight single hand rods are good for long casts and to throw the bigger and heavier bombing type fly patterns. two handed rods in the six or seven weight range are ideal and definitely my choice. again a stout saltwater reel with a good drag, a floating or intermediate weight forward line for single hand rods (or even shooting head setups for distance), normal skagit or scandi stuff for two handed rods and bombs away! i have used sinking lines and sink tips successfully in the past but it is pretty tricky business with so much deep reefs here. reefs love to gobble up sinking lines that venture just a little too deep. so if you are going with that be careful and bring extras.
one of my favorite bombing "tools" is the sage 6126-4 one with a rio scandi 390 grain head. an absolute joy to cast.
just
as nymphing is looked down on by some dry fly fishers and fly swingers
in the trout and steelheading world respectively. bombing is also sometimes considered a lesser
form of fishing by the “elite” sight fishers.
while they are certainly entitled to their opinion, don’t ever let what
someone else says keep you from doing what is fun or make you feel that you are in some way
inferior to them. i have sight fished
for bones in these waters years longer than anyone else you may run into out here and i can
tell you that between sight fishing and bombing neither takes any more or less
skill than the other. they are just
different. some say bombing is done by
those who can’t see fish to which i always reply that sight fishing is done by
those who can’t cast properly (as bombing often takes lots of long casts). i’m just a wise ass and they are actually all fun
to me. it always baffles me that in such an individual sport as fly fishing is, so many are so interested in and concerned about what others are doing. it’s all fly fishing and always remember that this is america, you
can do anything you want. i'll see you on the water if homeland security doesn't show up at my doorstep for using the word "bombing" so many times online.
whether
it is sight fishing the shallows or bombing the great wide open, it’s all done
in the name of enjoying nature, life, and the pursuit of good times. clay.
"Nervous Water Fly Fishers- your guide to fly fishing in Hawaii"
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