Fishing report from Oahu.....sorry no pictures.

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
Just got back from a week in Hawaii staying on Oahu. I took some fly rods with me along with enough bonefish flies to be dangerous. My first full day there I was invited to go fishing off of a military base that had limited access flats. I met the guy taking me fishing at sunrise that morning and we made our way onto Hickam AFB and hit the flats. Immediately tailing bonefish were everywhere. And these were not little ones.....they all looked as long as my leg and they were wariest fish I have ever encountered (that is up until that time, little did I know). If a fly landed within 6 feet of them they headed for the horizon. I did get one take that morning by one that was every bit of 10 lbs if it was an oz. I blew the hook set, I did a Florida redfish strip set, which I was to come to learn is a wee bit too much for o'io. The next day I had a charter with Hi Tide Charter and was on bonefish all day.....seeing them and catching them are two different things though. The first one I hooked, I hooked it at about 20 ft. and before my brain could register what was going on, I was over 150 yards into my backing and it was over the reef and broke me off. I tightened my drag down where I it was a chore to pull line out for a cast on my Tibor Everglades and danged if the same thing didn't happen, only this time I shredded my fly line on the reef.....All told that day I went 0 for 5 on hooked bonefish, most of the time the reef is what got me. The next couple of days I DIY on some flats just east of Diamond Head (anyone going message me and I will tell you how to get there) and bonefish were everywhere.....but these fish were the most skittish fish I have ever seen, even more so than the ones at Hickam. They always run as singles or every now and then in pairs and they all are monsters..I mean bonefish of a life time. I never saw any schools even when I was with the guide, even though I saw one group of four with the guide. The native Hawaiians eat them and fish for them with cast nets...I saw some caught by a local on the flats I was fishing, the smallest one was around 8 lbs...like I said, these are monsters. He was using a cast net...and the way these fish were you could tell man was their only predator they had to worry about....if they saw you move at 30 feet they high tailed it out of Dodge. I finally got one to hand on my second day of DIY but I had been fishing for about 7 hours and my phone was dead and my girlfriend had had enough of following me around while I fished and she stayed in Honolulu that day......In any event, bonefish have now replaced tarpon as my favorite fish to hunt with a fly rod...they require good eyesight and the ability to figure out where they are going (and that ain't easy). If they are tailing or feeding they zig zag and you gotta put your fly where they are zigging and zagging . As a for instance on their size, in knee deep water (and I am over 6ft tall) their whole tail would be sticking out of the water when they were tailing......So, if you ever go to Hawaii to either Oahu or Molokai (only two islands with bonefish flats from what I understand) take your 8 wts and a bunch of fly line, there is only one fly shop in the whole state and it is small, so bring what you need. They like larger flies with not much flash, they are mainly feeding on a crab that is the color of the sand ( I watched the local clean his bonefish and cut the stomach open to see what they were eating...that is all that was in their stomach.) I am going to go to Christmas Island next spring with the guide I used in Hawaii....it is cheaper than you would think. If anyone is interested in going on that trip, let me know....they say you get 100 or more shots a day there and they are not near as skittish as the ones in Hawaii.....plus you get a shots at GT almost every day.
 
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