Ultimate Camouflage

After catching that bonefish on Saturday, I figured I'd try again on Sunday morning. Also the surf on the South Shore was huge and I didn't buy a new leash yet so no surfing made the fishing decision even easier. I setup the Epic 686 and lined it up with a RIO Perception 6wt line. I had also tied up another of the Mantis Shrimp flies and had that on. I think I'm going to call this fly the "Nom Nom Mantis" since several types of fish are taking it. This is quickly becoming the universal flats fly I was looking for. Seems like everything likes to eat mantis shrimp. I really like the Epic 686 - I can cast really nice loops without trying excessively hard. I can even tell when I've messed up the cast before I see the line pass me - I don't have that connection with every flyrod. I ended up catching only one fish - but what an unusual catch. A Hawaiian Stonefish. I had cast over an opening in the reef flat and thought I got hung up. I don't like yanking on hung up flies so I always end up walking over and unhooking them. As I reached down to unhook this fly, the fish let go of the rock it was clinging to and I was able to pull it up. Not a fighter at all - hardly even dead weight, but a rare catch on the fly. When I released the fish it dropped to the bottom and just disappeared. It's there, but I took the picture and I can't even find it anymore. It should be right in the center of the photos....

Fly Fishing the Pier

After I left Charlie's house, I figured I should try fishing the pier since the weather was so nice. I rigged up the Epic 686 - and brought out the full sink and floating lines to do some more comparison out here in the islands (way different fishing techniques than in Florida). I could see the fish in the water - papio or hahalalu, and some big aha (Houndfish). I decided to try for the aha first. I tied on the "bloody guts" fly to I used to catch the Atlantic Needlefish when we were living at Mayport. Strip in the fly as fast as you can and you get some eager takers! But for some reason the yarn doesn't get tangled in the teeth like it did back in Florida. I had several takes, some decent pulls - but each ended with the fish off the fly. I checked the fly and saw that I had cut off the hook at the bend - not that I would have hooked the fish anyways - they have pretty hard, bony jaws. Teasers proved just as fun (and I didn't have to handle the fish). I didn't have any looks from the other fish - even when I broke out the spinning gear and threw the small kastmaster. I have some more homework to do to get to the point where I can consistently hook up.

Relative Fishing

I took La's father (David), brother (David Jr), and nephew (Jared) out to fish this morning. It was a beautiful sunrise and we got to see a submarine and several jets go about their normal business. And we saw several fish. But none of them wanted anything to do with our bait or flies. That is fishing. On a side note, I did rig up the TFO Mangrove 6wt - nice casting rod. It formed up controlled loops the Orvis Saltwater 6wt line a lot better than the Epic 686 did (but use the Epic to cast a full sink line and it is pure magic). I think I'll break out the RIO Perception 6wt and the SA DT6 lines I have and try and get the Epic better figured out for floating line options.

First Fish on the Fly (out here on Oahu)!!!

Same place I checked out yesterday evening, but a little later in the day - the tide was really low. I saw a few oio (bonefish), but they saw me while I was making some casts. Despite the small setback, I didn't get skunked!!! I caught this small papio (baby Giant Trevally) using an All Rounder Saltwater 6wt line from Orvis with the Epic 686 fiberglass fly rod I built out. With this rig, I was slightly undergunned for the bones, but way overpowered for this guy. It eagerly took the Turneffe Crab fly entirely in it's mouth but he didn't have enough juice to pull any line out. The rod seemed a little soft with this line. I recall it felt solid casting a class V full sink line... I may try to up line it with a 7wt to see if it livens up. No matter - catching is always better than getting skunked and releasing a healthy fish is a great way to end the day!!! I guess I can call this "Trevally Tuesday"!

Second Day - First Time Fishing with the Epic 686 (that I built)

I went to Hickam Flats to try casting the Epic 686 I had built up back in Florida. I didn't see any bonefish/o'io - but I did see some schooling finger mullet (or something like that), a lizard fish and I even managed to catch this crab. I also saw the following: A mantis shrimp Several sea cucumbers A few pin cushion sea urchins This guy... I wonder if it is the same one (snowflake eel) I saw a couple of years back... and whole colonies of polyps (checkout the ones that were exposed to the air - this was a pretty low tide). So I didn't catch a single fish - but I did see a lot of what life uses this flat. I did drive out to check another spot - and I did see evidence of a larger predatory fish attacking the schooled up smaller ones (big splashes and lots of jumping fish). You don't have to twist my arm to make me go back.... Oh - and the rod casts wonderfully - this is going to be a workhorse for sure (in lighter wind conditions).

Back to Even Keel -

If you remember, a couple of rod/reels got stolen out of the back of my truck this past summer while we were staying at the Mayport RV Park. It just so happened that one of the rods was a custom built 6 weight flyrod that I considered to be one of the finest of all fish catching tools built by man. I have been slowly replacing the pieces of equipment that got stolen - and yesterday, one of the last items came in the mail - the Abel Super 5N. This replacement is even better than the one that got stolen - it has a 'click out' that my other one didn't. Now I can get that sweet sound when a fish is taking line... I posted on this earlier, but I bought a kit to build out the same blank that got stolen. The Epic 686 is such an awesome rod - you can feel the cast with the slower taper, but it still has the power to handle big wrestlers - the best of both worlds. I've got a couple of 6 weight lines from Orvis that I will meet up with in Hawaii - looking forward to casting and fishing this setup and getting "back on even keel"

Lots of Stuff Happening

We've been pretty busy with our transition. I accepted an offer from a small company in Honolulu and will start in early January - unfortunately, the family will not be coming for maybe a year. Despite that fact, we are all excited about the direction we now have and have been busy lining up all that needs to happen. I drove the minivan and ALL our boards up to Seattle - made the almost 4000 mile trip in just over 4 days. I think my real calling was to be a semi-truck driver... I finished up building a replacement 6 weight rod (for the one that got stolen). I think it came out perfect!!! The funny thing is I built it in the small confines of our travel trailer. We said our goodbyes to the beach at Mayport, Florida - it's been awesome collecting shells, surfing waves, catching fish and sharks, and just listening to the waves crash on the shore. Thanks for the memories! And just today, we were able to sell our beloved TrailManor Travel Trailer. We were fortunate to have spent a large part of our transition from Naval Service in our small house - THANK YOU Mayport RV Parks for accommodating us (we couldn't have done it without you). We had TONS of adventures and have learned so much from our time in the camper - lessons we will never forget. Driving and backing a trailer. How to truly live simply. Getting what food you need and not wasting. How to weather the storms. Loving your family. Appreciating life more and things less. Thank you TM 2720QB for being our shelter - we will miss you and we hope your new family has as much fun with you as we did!

Fishing Report 10/18/2014

I took the Hooked SUP out to the Mayport Salt Marshes again - launched from the northern side of the bridges that crosses a feeder creek along A1A. That was a mistake - mid calf deep salt marsh mud from the high water mark down to a few feet into the creek. This side seemed more attractive because it had a less powdery dirt road to get to it, but now I know why (doesn't get as much traffic). I paddled down a different feeder creek than last time - took the left at the fork instead of the right and paddled toward the Wonderwood Bridge. There was a lot of flats-shallows-drainages-oyster beds along the way and I was able to use the terrain to pick a couple of good 'fishy' spots. I caught my first flounder on the fly!!!! This guy took the supreme hair shrimp fly I cast on the first shot out!!! That is one heck of a fly (I want to learn to tie them, but they look like a lot of work...). Not legal size so back in the water - with attitude - splashed a bunch of water back at me, almost as if to say "next time I'll kick your ass!" A bit later I found another spot that was downstream of a draining feeder creek. I threw a swimming Gulp mullet on a jighead and caught this nice spotted sea trout. Nice paddle, a 'first' on the fly and beautiful weather! I'm not complaining! The tackle I have been bringing out on these salt marsh trips impress me more and more each time I use them. The Epic 686 casting a full sink line and the St Croix Tidemaster are going to be hard to top.