Bonefish report..

Part I, I hope..

Had a chance to work remotely for a few months, and my wife has worked remotely for a few years, so we packed up the kids and are spending a few months on Oahu while we have the chance. Been doing some DIY bonefishing here, with some internet reading, google maps, and advice from a couple people (thanks Mems!) on here. Figuring things out for locations, tides, and conditions over the last month+ or so, getting my chances at making casts to sighted, unspooked fish. Today was the first day I got the hook into 2 really nice ones sight fishing, so it feels like progress to me. Got destroyed on both, did not survive the initial run. Broken off on the first when I couldn't clear my fly line, and the above is what came back to me just as my backing starting going through the guides on my second. They certainly can move right along when they want to!

I'll post part II, when I close the deal and touch a good one. Caught a medium sized one last week, 3 lbs or so, but that was blind casting and doesn't really count the same. I also caught my first little omilu today. All of about 7" I think.

 

[mcswny]

View attachment 7092

Part I, I hope..

Had a chance to work remotely for a few months, and my wife has worked remotely for a few years, so we packed up the kids and are spending a few months on Oahu while we have the chance. Been doing some DIY bonefishing here, with some internet reading, google maps, and advice from a couple people (thanks Mems!) on here. Figuring things out for locations, tides, and conditions over the last month+ or so, getting my chances at making casts to sighted, unspooked fish. Today was the first day I got the hook into 2 really nice ones sight fishing, so it feels like progress to me. Got destroyed on both, did not survive the initial run. Broken off on the first when I couldn't clear my fly line, and the above is what came back to me just as my backing starting going through the guides on my second. They certainly can move right along when they want to!

I'll post part II, when I close the deal and touch a good one. Caught a medium sized one last week, 3 lbs or so, but that was blind casting and doesn't really count the same. I also caught my first little omilu today. All of about 7" I think.

Well I guess its better than losing your whole line right? Good luck!

 

[mems]

Congrats you got a warm up bone and came tight on a couple of big ones. To clear line make on O with your stripping hand and that will help keeping the line from getting wrapped, took me ten years to learn that one. I hope your flies aren’t on tiemco hooks. I had a client last week and his son hooked a nice 5lber. He didn’t trout set but didn’t let it go and it popped him on the initial run. They go 20 feet a second, gotta let ‘em run.

 

[Tallguy]

I will try that technique, see if it helps.. I do tend to prefer to make them work for the line a little as they run, so I was lightly pinching it between my fingers and one little loop wrapped on itself hit my fingers and broke it off. Wasn't even a tangle or knot, just a twisted loop that dropped away in about half a second, but I didn't have that time. I was shaking after that fish, something that doesn't happen to me very often, it was a nice fish and I picked it off on my second cast to it after we played "will it bite" at 15-20' distance for like 40 seconds with me crouched down sitting in the water. I did have a lot of line to clear because of the close in action.

For the bent hook, (I have been tying on Daichi 2546 hooks, will use a thicker shanked hook if it happens again), i was bringing the rod from pointing straight at the fish over to the side (where i often play fish) and I think the little bumps of the backing knot going out might have been just enough to pull it out. I sort of suspect I just didn't have a great hook placement, or maybe i bent it myself on my too aggressive strip set, and the result might have been inevitable.

Trout set is not the issue at all, if anything, I am trying to lay way off my coho strip set, where you just keep setting and stripping until the fish turns! These are more like setting into a rock that is ready to go the other way, so a little strip set is what I am working on..

Good times. Coming from PNW and steelhead fishing, where you might not see fish all winter, the flats are interesting places.

 

[mems]

The little strip set works well. If the fish stops he probably has the fly in its mouth so a little strip set is good. If it didn’t have the fly then they go into search mode and look for the fly. If they stop and shake they definitely have eaten the fly. It is amazing how much they pick up and spit out stuff. When in doubt set. I have had so many clients who have fish eat but they say they felt nothing.

 

[Kado]

Ahhh...you give me hope! It's been great doing the research as far as any diy flats. I'll be out there at the end of March. It's pouring rain here and rivers are now closed...very envious. Good luck...learning a new fishery is sooooo much fun.

 

[PhilR]

Nice work. I keep telling my friends in Oahu that they need to take a long vacation so I can house sit for them again