Fishing Hawaii – Bad to the Bonefish
I have been a bad boy. This morning I put on my bad boy shorts. You see, when I wake up in the morning I have a hard time deciding what to wear. Do I wear my work pants and go earn a buck at my “real job”? Do I wear some casuals and run errands that need to be taken care of? Do I wear something more appropriate for mowing the lawn and doing chores around the house? No. Many times I find myself headed out the door wearing a pair of quick dry shorts. My bad boy shorts. I shun responsibility, and I drive to the nearest saltwater flat to feed my addiction.
I know I will hear it later from the Wife. “You were a bad boy today weren’t you? You went fly fishing, I saw the picture on Instagram”. Busted.
It was actually more of a pre-determined destiny. The night before was spent checking tide charts, watching the weather, and tying mantis shrimp flies. I had already made the decision in the back of my mind.
The struggle is real though. Living in Hawaii we are blessed with fishable conditions year round and my home island of Oahu has some world class bonefish flats. If you have ever been here you would see how an avid fly fisher could easily become a bonefish bum.
Work is for people who can’t fly fish; errands can be run later; and there are a bunch of fly rods blocking my way to the lawn mower.
Off I go with a six weight outfit, a hat patch full of flies and a sneaky looking grin as I turn up the truck radio to try and shake off any lingering guilt.
My attention switches to the sky and assessing the weather. That will determine which flat I fish and the direction I will fish. That’s all I care about now. I have already committed myself to the fact I am gone fishing. I turned my phone off and have started to enter ninja mode. Anybody who has been with me during this phase can tell you as I get closer to the destination I may start to day dream, fixate, and even begin to whisper. We are going hunting. Fly fishing the flats is so much more than just fishing. So many factors come into play. Tide, wind, sky, temperature, water clarity, other people…what are these other people doing here! Don’t they have jobs! Jeez. I try not to let them break my focus as I wade into the water and begin my hunt. I am at a flat I have been fishing for over 15 years. I know it like the back of my hand. I know I have to fish it from East to West. I know exactly what spot I have to sneak up on at what time of the tide. I see the other fly casters. I can tell they don’t have a clue, but they are headed right for my spot from the wrong direction. I begin my plan to throw them off. I head inside to a shallow flat not far from them and begin my display of flats trickery. Are they looking? Yes. Do they see I am crouching down to stalk this imaginary fish? Yes. I cast and strip, strip, trout set! Oh! Dang, I throw my arms up as if I just missed a monster fish. Then I back off in the other direction. After a little while I glance back and see them headed right to the very spot I put on my show. Works every time. Now my target area remains undisturbed and I can resume my hunt.
Right on schedule, I close in on the patch of reef where I can assess how much water is on the flat I am about to fish. It needs a couple more inches of tide before the fish move up and feed so I look around to make sure I don’t have anymore party crashers. Nope, even the other two anglers I fooled earlier have left the scene. Just me, my fly rod, a beautiful day and a scenario that is about to play out perfectly. These big Hawaiian bonefish are as smart as they come so everything has to be done right or it’s a fail.
I have a little time to blind cast some deeper holes before my meeting of the minds with Mr. Silver Fox. Hawaii has plenty of other species of fish that also feed up on the flats so along with sight casting for bones it can pay off to fan out a few random casts every now and then. Jacks, goat fish and trigger fish can also join in the fun.
I can now see the amount of water on the flat is perfect and the fish will soon be moving in up from the reef cuts and begin a feeding pattern flowing toward me. I watch for nervous water, tails and of course that emerald green glow that keeps me coming back for more. There is a reason most of the other folks that fish this spot are not successful. They wade the wrong direction and blow out all the fish. They wade from the wrong direction because it’s easier. Easier because they don’t have to cast into the wind. Doing things the easy way will not get you fish here. The normal weather pattern for this spot is trade winds blowing about 15-20 mph from the same direction the fish will be moving from, so casts directly into the wind are a must. It can be frustrating to say the least. I try and match the rod weight to the wind conditions whenever I can. I use everything from 5-weight when the winds are very light, to a 9-weight if it’s really snotty. This day is blowing 10-15mph.
Right on cue, I see a pair of good size bonefish feeding toward me and to the left. I throw a big side arm backcast on my left as if I am casting behind me and then haul it backhand toward the fish on the left. The fly lands softly about five feet in front of it. I pause and then give a subtle strip. The lead bonefish sees the fly and rushes it. I watch for the eat. I don’t see the fish eat but I feel a bite. I strip set and feel a fish on! Both the bonefish take off like they owed me money but my line went the other direction! Dang, this happens. You see a bonefish, you make the perfect cast, the bonefish comes to eat the fly and along comes a crumb grabbing little jack to steal the fly right from under its nose! Arrrgggh!
Back to business. I continue to wade further along the flat hunting the Grey Ghost. I am getting patchy cloud cover now that makes things more challenging. I see a fish but before I can place my cast the sun disappears and so does the fish. I am nearing the end of the reef flat and starting to think maybe I should have made a more responsible wardrobe decision this morning. Just then, there’s a fish. I don’t think he has seen me yet. I barely have enough time to flip a quick cast. It was a short cast, maybe 25 feet. The wind and the excitement made it tough so the fly lands right on top of the fish. Yikes, I blew it! No. The fish spins, eats, spins again and takes off like a rocket before I could even react. I get all my line cleared and the fish is on the reel screaming for the reef edge. This is one smart fish and knows exactly what its doing. I button down and palm the reel but I can’t stop the fish without popping the 10-pound fluorocarbon tippet. Just before the fish makes it to the reef edge I raise the rod and run toward it. The fish stops and doubles back. Now it’s coming at me full steam and I can’t reel fast enough to keep up. I start running backwards to keep pressure on the line. Finally, I get back my fly line and have the fish off to the side and I am slowly gaining. Just then the fish sees me and takes off again on another run into the backing. This time I feel rub. Oh no. I make another mad dash toward the fish and see my fly line hung up. I quickly free it from the reef and I have the fish clear again. A few more head shakes and tail wagging efforts later I have the fish at leader. A decent fish on the 6-weight and just enough shoulder to make it a fair fight.
This is the kind of thing that keeps the obsession alive, the stuff that prevents work from getting done, the reason why there are weeds on my lawn and I never got around to running those errands. I love it though. I love these fish. I am an addict, so I keep doing it. This fish is not the first and it wont be the last. It’s a vicious cycle. I will take a picture of this fish. I will release it and then post the picture on Instagram. Busted! I will never learn and I will do it again.
Capt Dave Winters is a Photographer Fisherman resident of Hawaii for 25 years
