Thursday, April 23, 2009

Everything I have learned about fly fishing in Maui - Part III


If you have made it this far in the amazing saga of my Maui fly fishing adventure, you really do not have anything else to do. So let's dive into the details. I had gear, I had a fishing spot, now all I needed was to get out there and fish. So in the winter of 2008 we arrived, ready to bend the rod on some O'io which is the Hawaiian name for the bone fish.

What I knew at this point was from research I did on the Internet. Now be careful with the following information, it is my interpretation. I have very limited knowledge of bone fish habits and beyond what I have read, little time on the water. I learned about 'tailing' and looking for the groups of fish that may be doing that. I learned they are very skittish. They tend to come in to the reef areas to feed as the tide is returning. They nose toward the tide and particularly toward the small surf waves that are bringing food stuff their direction. And so, it began.

I was armed with an amazing Winston rod, however, while I was set-up for typical bone fishing and line weight, it became painfully obvious that my line was way too light. That year I fished 9 times. I caught fish 8 times, lost 7 of them immediately because of the light line. My ignorance was killing me, I just did not understand what I was hunting in these waters.

My eight fish, on my eighth trip however, stuck. I had switched to 15 lb line and had no problem landing my fish. When it hit, the fish ran, and ran, and ran. With unlimited space, i.e. the entire Pacific Ocean, I was nervous about that. I played it like a large trout and sure enough it tired and when I got it in close enough, I had now idea what it was. Later research determined that I had caught a Jack fish. It was beautiful, it looked like a traditional 'ocean fish' -- that is nothing like a trout. What a fantastic fish to catch on a fly rod. But no O'io yet, the fish I was really trying to catch.

Now it was the winter of 2009, I am writing this final segment as I await our flight back to the mainland and my other paradise in Montana. This was the year everything changed. When we first arrived, it was cool, some say the coldest winter they have ever experienced and very windy. Regardless, I hit the water and had no success at all. The conditions were brutal. I would try again several times when the wind calmed down, but tide conditions were not matching what I thought might be the best. Then the fateful day arrived.

Looking off our lanai later in the day around 3:30 PM, the water was calmer, but nervous enough and the wind was light. The light was dim due to the overcast skies and offered what I thought would be some good cover for my sneak attack. Small surf waves were formed over the reef in a perfect diagonal with the wind. So I planned my attack this way. I would sneak up the deep side of the far end of the reef and climb on to it midway. That way I would not disturb anything on the other side if they were there.

Additionally, my plan was to cast with the wind, and in the direction of the small surf waves coming over the edge of the reef system I was standing on. Bone fish apparently do not like a fly that comes toward them as they are very nervous fish. So casting in the opposite direction of how they were feeding was my thoeretical tactic to avoid the possibility of scaring them. If you consider this I was hopefully blind casting to the right or left of the fish and getting the chase on. I love it when a plan comes together.

This was my first serious tactical approach, previously I was basically practicing my casting and getting lucky. Finally, a strike and a take and then the run of my life. I have no idea how far out my line went, but I can tell you there is a red burn line in my hand from trying to slow it down. I caught a fish and it felt like a good one. After nearly 10 minutes, I hauled it in, my first bone fish and my first bone fish in Maui! It was exciting.

The entire process was fairly dramatic and drew a bit of a beach side crowd. I finally walked it to the beach to have a better chance of getting it off and I was headed that way to begin with. My new Canadian buddies were right there to snap the shots you see. I was not only estactic about the fish, but I had pictures. I am hooked on this whole idea.

The bottomline is that Maui fly fishing is not that great. I for one am going to continue the hunt holding out hope that there are giant fish in there ready to take my bug. So now the game has changed and the search for that spot, the one you tell no one about has begun. If you are headed to Maui take your fly rod and your gear because you never know what will happen.


I will tell you that Matt at the Kingfisher Fly Shop was outstanding again. I needed a reel and some flies. He put it all together for me and even delivered it to my workplace since it was getting close to my departure. He did not have the flies I wanted and had trouble getting them ordered in time. They arrived three days after I arrived in Maui, at our condo. If you need anything fly fishing, call them, they will just take care of it for you. No worries service is my kind of service.

And now for a shameless plug -- I have a 1 bedroom, 1 bath oceanfront condo that sits just 100 yards from the reef. I am offering huge off-season (April 15th-Dec 15th) discounts for stays of 6 nights or longer. You will not find a better deal or a nicer place to stay. As a bonus, if you book your trip and I get a confirmed deposit I will personally give you all the details of what you need to know to have a great experience fly-fishing Maui. You can find my email address here to contact me and get started: t...@v...s.com

Monday, April 6, 2009

Bonefishing - Crooked Isand, Bahamas















Two couples left Conn. early friday morning bound for JFK and an appointment with Jet Blue to Nassau in The Bahamas. Peter and John, hard core fishermen, Eileen and Anne, a fair weather fisherwoman, and the Eileen a why would any one want to do that person. We choose Crooked because we wanted a place where a non-fishing spouse could have a rewarding trip and the fishermen could have a out standing trip. Pittstown Point Lodge fulfilled this desire to a T. Matt at the Kingfisher outfitted us with rods(a Sage 7x9 with rio 8wt. line on a Ross reel for Anne, Peter fished a sage 8x9 and when the wind was really bad a 10x9 on Ross reels, John was armed with a winston bxII 8x9 with a rio outbound on on a Ross reel. An interesting note was that there were six hardcore fishermen staying in the lodge and everyone had ross reels. Good value for the money I guess. We overnighted in Nassau and left early Sat. morning to go to Crooked Island. Crooked Island is about one hour flight south of Nassau, it along with Acklins Island has the largest flats system in the Bahamas.


We all arrived at the lodge along with luggage(thank goodness) unpacked and were served a very good lunch before gearing up to go fish on the one flat that was accessible by car as Sat is the guides day off. Four of us fished for about 3hrs and saw no bones but yours truly did hook up with a barracuda however the hook pulled before I could land it. Breakfast came early the next day and everyone was on time as first day anticipation was running strong in everyones blood. We met the guides about 8:30 for the run to the flats which, I am sad to report was over an hour long one way. I think that this was the main draw back for this fishery. The flats were larger than any that I have ever seen.

They were mostly hard bottomed and light colored making it a good area for a novice bone fisher man to go. Three to four hours to fish across the largest of them and you could have to or three groups on each flat with out bothering each other. I thank my lucky stars that a good friend said that it had been cold and windy in the Bahamas that spring and to bring a rain jacket/wind breaker (Simms In-vest) fit this bill perfectly. The fishing was very tidal dependent. There was to much water on the flats for the bone fish to be happy at high tide. The good thing about this was that is a alternate fishery there. The reefs are quite close and at high tide one can take a boat to the reef and throw a sink tip line and catch all kinds of reef fish, not quite like stalking the silver ghost on the flats but it keeps a bend in the rod.
The rooms were clean and comfortable. the swimming and snorkeling, right in front of the cabanas, as good as any place I have ever been. The bar was a nightly stop where guests and locals gathered to share tails of the days events. Food was good to very good concentrating on the productivity of the local waters. One night we had coconut creme pie made from coconuts on the grounds that was outstanding.

John Potter - Washington, CT.