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10/13/13

fly fishing hawaii:

trying to get back into the groove... an exercise in futility.

 

since coming back from oregon, i’ve been having a little trouble switching back from crazy northwest metalhead clay to mild mannered hawaiian style bonefishing clay.  i did get out into the salt a couple of times since returning and it seems that the good bonefish bite that we had this past summer is still going on.  i heard about the little matson molasses mishap that occurred during my absence but from what i’ve seen and heard, it has not really affected the bonefish out in ke’ehi lagoon at all.  contrary to what some may believe the bonefish is quite a hardy fish.  they can live in a wide variety of tropical environments.  unlike other reef fish that absolutely need live coral reefs, the bonefish seems to do just as well in live coral reefs as it does in the ala wai canal.  if you are not familiar with the ala wai canal, believe me, it’s pretty nasty in there.  so fear not.  the bonefish populations in hawaii are quite fine (or at least as fine as they always were).  i can’t speak for other fish and creatures that inhabit the molassested area.  i'm sure dumping tons of molasses into the ocean is never a good thing.  fortunately our bread and butter bonefish fishery has come out of it unscathed.

 

anyway i got out a couple of days since getting back just to see what was what.  it felt great to immerse myself once again into the healing saltwater of hawaii and i found out first hand that the bone bite is still very much on.  the first afternoon out i hooked seven and the second day i hooked four.  i was bombing with my two handed rod as i didn’t get quite enough two handed fishing in oregon, but those are still pretty good numbers for a few hours on the water.  so yes still out there and still biting.  the second time out i somehow managed to lose my camera walking back to the car.  so if you find a pentax waterproof camera with a blue strap and a bunch of pictures of a kooky guy holding assorted bonefish and steelhead… yeah that’s mine.  score for you.  it is a good camera, though kind of old and beat up.  enjoy the pics and your new camera.  i’m actually surprised i didn’t lose it sooner as me and anything photography related have never really got along.

 

undaunted by my little camera losing incident, i broke out my other video camera/camera and put that back into action.  i was done bonefishing for the week and my buddy kirk called and wanted to go fish the lake.  unlike cameras, i  do like the lake so away we went.  a couple days before we went i was told tales of many peacocks up at the lake by my buddy chris of hawaiibassfishing.com and, now, top hooker fame.  chris and e.t. went out the day before kirk and i went and said they caught a bunch of peacocks.  we got out on the lake about noon on wednesday and almost immediately started hooking up.  there are tons, i mean tons of little peacocks on the lake right now.  i fished my g loomis classic glx 5wt. with an abel tr2.  i also fished and my sweet little bamboo 4wt with an abel tr1.  this little bamboo set up is quickly becoming my favorite lake rod.  talk about a pleasure to cast and the smaller peacocks were great fun on the bamboo rod.  but you know what they say, where there are small ones there are also big ones and there were also quite a lot of bigger fish around.  you definitely had to work a little harder to get them and kirk and i did just that.  we pounded hard and got a number of good sized fish.  every once in a while i would hook one on the bamboo rod that was maybe at the limit of the little rod.  it made for some sketchy fun moments though and as much as i try to avoid it i think that bamboo rod is going to get a serious lake “set” in it sooner or later.  we took a bunch of pics and the blog was saved.  it was also great to fish with the kirksta again as lately our schedules have not worked out well.

 

well that’s all i have to say about that.  kind of jinky i know but between losing a camera, a cousin’s wedding, a cold, trying to clean and pack away all my steelhead gear, watching oregon football (go ducks!), all the while still having major steelhead on the brain, it’s about all i’ve got right now.  if i can somehow wrench myself back into the groove of things soon, i’ll see you on the water.

 

my good friend hayley got her first steelie six days after i left oregon.  she said,   "Here's the picture of me with my first steelhead!  It finally happened.  Hooked it on my own cast, fought it, and landed it (with coaching from Harold/Dad)!"     way to go hayley!  just like that, another steelhead bum is born.

 

meanwhile back at the lake...

 

kirk got the day started off right with this nice peacock.

 

then it was game on.  we caught a ton of little guys but there were also some decent fish around. our first double of the day.  both good size but kirks was bigger.

 

another nice fatty.

 

kirk also got a couple of nice largemouths.

 

the gold standard of the lake, g loomis 5wt. classic glx and abel tr2.

 

bamboo is also a super fun tool to fish peacocks with.  i caught a ton of small tucs and a number of fish that tested the limits of the rod as well.

 

double number two.  this time it was my turn to hook the bigger fish.

 

i always say that it's not a good day on the lake unless all rods get bit.  so kirk fished the spinning rod he brought until this fiesty guy blew up his bass assassin.

 

 

another notch in the bamboo rod and perhaps a little lake "set" in it as well.

 

not quite back in the groove of things but definitely on my way back.  lake fishing with the kirksta, guaranteed good times.

 

clay.


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