Awesome Surfing Conditions Yesterday

No wind, head high to head +3' south swell, only a handful of people out (at one spot 1/4 mile offshore) = awesome 3 hour surf session! Oh - and no broken leashes (although I finally measured the one I'm currently using - it's now three feet longer than the 9' it started at).

Stalking the Humu

We're closing on our house this coming week. Between the meetings, moving out of my current studio, and keeping up with work, I figured I'd better some fishing in before the time slips away. I broke out the Orvis Helios, RIO Bonefish Quickshooter line and the Hatch 7+ for some fly fishing at Hickam Flats. After two hours of blind casting to papio and oio that weren't there, I down shifted and started casting into the potholes. I managed to put a hook in this piggie!!! Quick fight, but it was struggling to get itself inside the pukas in the pothole and that wrestling match was a ton of fun! Way better than getting skunked for sure. Patience is a virtue and a requirement when trying to get one of these fish to take a fly (they'll trip over themselves to eat bait though). So now I bet you're asking yourself "what is a pothole doing on a reef flat?" - the pictures above show the potholes. Fish tend to congregate in these depressions, especially the ambush predators. When the sun is up and the water is calm (so all the fish on the flat see you coming from a mile away) these potholes are always worth a shot. I also saw several of these boxfish swimming around. I've seen a few out towards the section of the flat closest to the Pearl Harbor Channel, but never as many as I saw today. I'll have to tie up a minuscule shrimp fly to try and coax a wrestling match out of one of these guys...

Big, Bumpy Tongg's

Hit Tongg's on Saturday with Charlie. There was some size coming in on the South Shore, but at Tongg's the wind was up and the seawalls were reflecting the waves back out to sea. That meant a bumpy ride. I caught a few bombs, but only got pictures of this ride - promises of down the line juice and a long ride, only to be smashed by the closeout section. Yes - those are my slippers in the small of my back. Normally there are places I can bury them, but the launch we ended up at had no such hiding places. And these are relatively new so I used my sun shirt to haul them with me.

Fly Fishing for Arapaima

I don't know why, but I really enjoy watching River Monsters. I think it is odd to combine homicide investigation with fishing - but there isn't any other show on that has the suspense of hooking up a fish quite like this one. And he catches big fish - really big fish. I guess I can also relate to the effort he puts into stalking a particular species. Borderline OCD (and I would know). I caught two episodes last night after I got home from work - "Face Ripper" and "Body Snatcher" both had arapaima action. In general, I am a pretty quiet person. I don't yell at games or concerts. I usually don't talk to people unless there is something to talk about. And if there are loud noises, I tend to move away. BUT I found myself cheering for Jeremy Wade as the anticipation of a set hook came up and hooting and hollering as the fish broke the surface and tried to shake the hook. Epic battle on any tackle, but he was doing it with a fly rod (Orvis Helios 2 I believe). Epic - simply epic.

I think I've posted this before...

Sears at Pearlridge. Copper carp. I'm pretty sure I've posted this before... at least it feels like it...

Re-use Hawaii

Reduce - reuse - recycle.  And hang cool nautical signs.

I checked this place out because I'm thinking of building a few tables from reclaimed wood.  Cool place with lots of well priced recycled items.  

O'io Tagging Tshirt

I called in the tag from the bonefish I caught two Fridays ago and I got this in return!!!

There are few things better that getting T-shirts you can't buy with money!!!!

Friday Catching with the Kastmaster

I hit the water after work on Friday. I started out whipping curly tails, but eventually switched out to a 1/4 ounce gold kastmaster. That's when the catching started. This barracuda was a lucky prize - considering I didn't have a bite tippet on the line. Usually they hit the lure and if they get it mostly in their mouth, 'ping' - bye-bye lure. A few casts later I brought this papio to hand. Just a hair under legal, so back to the drink to get bigger. It's funny how Friday afternoons have become the times I've caught the most (without bait that is).