Recents.....

After last year and lots of hand outs and freebies, my buddy that's a dedicated spey fisher and moved on to the longer Next Cast lines asked me to make him flies big but sparse. I switch to a slightly longer lines as well last winter and those big, thick water logged intruders weren't getting out.... So here are a few with our eyes and a few with, enjoy!

 

 

 



 

Bantam,
Those look great.
I may need to break out my spey rod this winter that hasn't been wet in more then 10 years.
With all the new lines available since I last tried it, they might help take my terrible spey casting to half ass level.
SF

SF, Those Sculpin looks sweet! I need to tie up some more natural color intruders for low/clear conditions... I have a decent line collection, what vintage stick do you have that needs a dusting?

Bantam,
Thanks for the generous offer.
I'm not really sure what model it is. It is a Sage 14' 9 wt. It is brown, maybe a VPS or VPX? Not really sure. I'll have to dig it out from the rod dungeon.
At the time that is what was recommended to me as a good all around salmon and steelhead stick.
To me, it seems a bit clubish for the rivers around here. If I had it to do over again I'd go with shorter and lighter rod wt.
As far as casting, I was just ok river right. River left I was a danger to myself.
SF

Alright, that made me laugh.

Nice of you, Bantam. I'd like to see Stoney roaming the gravel bars on the upper Sky w/ vintage Spey in hand.


King of the bar?


c/22

SF, I have a Skagit 630 or a 650 that should get you going on you river left self destruction

Not sure if Ascots are allowed in Hawaii, but, oh well. I'll wear my baseball cap.

Going to forego a February Steelhead trip this year for a trip to Maui. My parents 50th is this year, and they're renting a house for three weeks and invited us kids and grandkids along for any part of the three weeks we can make it. We're looking forward to it.

So, I'm in the process of tying up some tropical flies. I think I may bring some of my cut throat patterns too, but, here is my latest ties from last night.

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Not sure I like the green with the pink. I'll change that up. But, I bet the fish don't care much.

Dude those look good.



Better grab that big saltwater 8/9 reel off me.

Was looking @ on WFF & a member hooked a huge bonefish like 8-10 lbs. And at one point he about 2 wraps of backing left. That's about 700' of line out, on a 8 weight.


Wow.

SRoffe,

I visited Maui last April and at nearly the last minute learned of a fishing guide there and was able to get a half-day trip with him on my last day there. Guided fishing there is way expensive compared to what I'm used to - $600 for the half-day for two of us, and it was a walk and wade trip. If you're interested I'll give you his contact info. Or I can just share what I learned.

There are bonefish, big ones. It's blind casting, rather than sight fishing. Structure and tides are key. I learned a bit about the structure part, but tides are an experience thing. Think 8 or 9 wt, and the longest casts you can make for hours on end. Typical bonefish style patterns, key colors being from light tan, medium and pinkish tan, to dark tan, almost brown, depending on time of year. Size 6 and 4, especially 4. Weighted for the depth you're fishing, which will likely range from 18" to waist deep. Expect to be wading and casting in surf that darn near knocks you over. We fished in surf that my SIL and wife took surfing lessons in the day before; you will get wet to armpit deep.

About structure. Structure is any change in substrate. Any obvious or not so obvious channel. A line formed by cobble that changes to sand; bones follow these lines.

We caught none during our limited time, but the guide had photos from the day before with one bone that was an easy 10 pounds caught by Jimmy Kimmel who he guided that day.

Sg

Thanks SG.

Ye Ole Mingo inspired me just to check out what I can catch off the beach where ever I am. I'd like to pick his brain too.

If I get to tango with a Bone Fish, that would be extra special. Just being there will be extra special. I guess I better repair my 8wt rod too. I was just planning on taking a 6wt for fishing for small reef fish, the 8wt might come in handy.

I didn't want to go to hog wild there. This is suppose to be more relaxing and enjoying time with the family. Since this is a beach house, we may have a kayak and paddle board available to us.

I've go plenty of tan calf tail. Gray and Olive too. Plenty of Mustad hooks too that have been siting around. Good time to use up my inventory of stuff!

Sam

Those look great Sam.
I've got boxes of bonefish flies if you need any bigger patterns.

I wish I had more time in Maui when I visited FAST WATER last March. I was just settling in on day 6, getting the bug to get out and fish while we were out there. Maybe next time, if there's a next time.....

SG,

I was re-reading you post, and you said a couple things I didn't really catch the first time.

The shade of fly from a light tan to dark brown depending on the year. Did your guide give you a reference to the time of year to use a particular color? It would be easy enough to tie a few shades of tan to brown to carry with me. I don't know if my arm would handle hours of casting a 8 wt. to try all the shades of tan. Maybe two. :-)

Also you mentioned tide? Incoming or outgoing better? Or is the direction of the current dictate where the fish will be coming from? Or if they're even there or not?

I figure, like any type of fishing, it's a learning game, and I probably won't do much learning on my own in 10 days with out a guide. I'd like your guides name. I may give him a call when we're there.

Brian,

Thanks for the offer of some flies. That is kind of you.

Aloha,

I've just started to do a bit of research into the fishing possibilities on the big island for a trip in Feb. Sounds like there are a few bays that bonefish inhabit and I might have to spend a little time trying to figure the game out while we are there.

From what I've found so far and in speaking with a few folks who have been, the Mantis shrimp are a major source of food and a local favorite for fly pattern across HI. Most of the Mantis patterns I seen recommended down there are longer and larger profile as compared to the typical Crazy Charlie and Gotcha styles. Hook size and general body design are similar but with a longer profile and barred materials in the body seem to be the general theme for the Mantis.

I would tie up an octopus leg fly, about 12" or so.

Sounds like a big clouser tied in the appropriate colors would work as well.
Break out the permanent marker Sam to get the barred look Coley referred to.

In all seriousness, fly fishing the big island or maui for a bonefish is doable but you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage by using a fly rod. For the fly guys, Molokai is the PLACE. Oahu also has some popular "flats." I know you are all used to not catching fish but if your trip is winding down, you are sick of casting in the heavy wind, you haven't caught a bonefish and you just want to catch one....string up an octopus leg or strip of squid, wing it out there on a few ounces of lead fished so that the bait lays on the bottom and you are in business. You can keep fly fishing while the bait soaks and if there are boners around, you will catch one. Maybe a big one.

I know it's not fly fishing, but if you want to feel like you still tied the fly (bait) that you are fishing with in order to have a complete experience.... Grab some snorkel gear, a sharp stick and go pull yourself an octopus out of the reef. Kill it and cut the lower half or 2/3 of it's legs off. Eat the rest. An experience in itself.


Here's a good one from a month or two ago.





Anybody coming to Maui that wants to catch a pacific bonefish in Hawaii, feel free to PM me and I will show you my spot.



p.s. I will not charge you $600 dollars or $.06. Unless you are Salmo G, since I know he's a bit of a sucker, I will take him to a shore break for an expensive casting session

Tako fly

My main agenda will be playing in the ocean, exploring some jungle and volcanoes, and maybe trying to ride some waves. The fishing is a bit of an afterthought, but with two weeks in the area I might waste a day or two flinging feathers around.

Sam,

The guide is Capt. Jon Jon, and his website is localfishingknowledge.com. He's a lifelong Maui resident, son of a commercial fisherman, and he seems to know his stuff. His phone number is 808-385-1337. He takes reservations months in advance. We were only able to get the half day we did because one of his clients who is in Maui for 2-3 months at a time was willing to re-schedule.

Like Coley posted, patterns of mantis shrimp are preferred. The guide ties and uses some pretty simple and crude patterns, and he went gah-gah over the flies I brought. The favorite was a pinkish-dark tan color, size 4. I didn't get a month by month color description unfortunately. Rubber legs on the mantis are good.

Incoming tide is what we fished, but Jon Jon intoned that if you know where to look, you can also fish outgoing. The fishing was a bit physically demanding, especially when we started getting knocked around by the waves. Make the longest cast you can along a channel or structure line, then fan your casts. Let the fly sink. Then make "pronounced" strips, up to 3', fast. These shrimp apparently haul ass when they know a fish is around. There are a couple other flats species that you might encounter besides bonefish, but I don't remember the names. This was a lot harder than any PS beach fishing I've done and most steelheading too, for that matter. So many casts even my arm hurt after 4 hours.

The good beaches are scattered. A good place to begin is in Kehei. Drive down to the road closest to the beach. There is public access every 500 feet, or maybe it's every 500 yards. Anyway, that's how you get to the beach unless you're already staying there. Hike N and S looking for any changes that equate to struture, which are travel routes that bones are attuned to according to Jon Jon. You may see 1 or 2 other fly fishermen, which probably means Jon Jon and a client are fishing the area or maybe some other tourist.

Good luck!

Sg

Sounds like your priorities are in order