Fishing Report 9/15/2014

Caught three new (to us) species today. Pinfish Sergeant Major - this was a significant event for us as we have spotted these fish but not been able to catch one for the entire duration that we have been fishing at the jetties. BAM!!! Juvenile Grouper - really small guy. He's got big shoes to fill as the King of the Reef. I wasn't expecting this at all (I thought it was another black sea bass). We also caught a bunch of the blennies and Marlon caught something that looked like a juvenile Pompano - but it came off the hook as he almost got it to hand. Lastly - the mullet are starting to stack up for their annual run. The river is getting thick with them and I even saw a bunch of splashing going on as a predator fish (likely a Jack Crevalle) was taking shots at various schools. La took a walk on the beach and reported the birds were diving in pretty close to shore - I'm going to have some fun very shortly (on the fly and on topwater poppers) - oh boy!!!!

Memorial Day on the Flats

Pretty cool camo pattern on this guy. It took the clouserish fly I tied long ago - that fly has caught more fish than I can remember!

Fishing Call Signs

This is not common knowledge, but the core guys that are as crazy as I am to go fishing the way and in the frequency that I do are pilots. One Navy, the other Air Force - but neither one has a call sign. From having other Aviators around, I have come to learn carrier aviators and helicopter pilots are the only ones that hang on to call signs.

So today, we had bad weather - but there was a window to get out and we were on the small boats and fishing in a matter of minutes. I brought in a pretty big Jobfish on the offshore trolling reel I have. Good chance to test out the knots I tied between the monofilament and the braid (it held). Then I switched to a smaller lure because we were moving over shallower water - before I could get the lure down, a big mouth came up to the surface and pulled the lure under - and broke off the swivel. We turned around and Mike hooked into a good sized grouper (probably the culprit that took my lure).

Then he got a hit on a second pole he had out with a squid skirt lure on it. When he took it into the boat, it was a pretty small Bonito. This coupled with the barracuda he caught yesterday, establishes a trend of reliably catching smaller fish (when going for the big sea monsters). It is in situations just like this when call signs are born -

And just for the record, here are some rules for fishing call signs:
- people cannot give themselves call signs
- two other people have to agree to the call sign (Rodney agreed with me on this one)
- call signs can change, but only after trends are established/are broken/a profound event occurs

Mike's honorary Navy Call Sign is "Small Fry" (sorry Mike for publishing this, but I couldn't pass this up!!!).

Sunday Fishing Part 1 - Mini grouper flyfishing

Early morning start -

I started out flyfishing with a Bonefish Bitter fly. These grouper are feisty little fish.

I caught three of them (and one wrasse, but I didn't take a picture of it). Each one seemed to get smaller than the one before it.

These guys hide out under the rocks and coral heads - knowing the fish in the area you are at means you can always catch a fish.

BTW, everything except the last fish (in the last post, coming up in two posts) was caught and released.

The grouper in the second picture took the hook pretty deep, I had to go back in, grab a pliers and take the hook out. I went ahead and grabbed by light spinning rod and after the tiny guy in the picture with the fly reel for size comparison, I figured I try casting a lure.

I had a good hit - a Yellow Spot Trevally - about 10 pounds. I was going to keep it, but I couldn't get a noose around it's tail and at one point, it was able to get off the hook. I did send it off with a lot of expletives and cursing, but you should only take what you can eat.

OMG!!!

The first fish I caught this weekend -

A 25# GIANT TREVALLY!!!!

I know it was 25# because I weighed it at the marina scale. It took 15 minutes to land her (she had eggs) and it was an epic battle. Light weight tackle with 30# braid and a 30# leader. It took out a ton of line before it was tired enough for me to start reeling it back in. We went back and forth like that 3 times before I was able to bring it in. This is the largest fish I have caught from shore to date.

After that, I did not think I could top that ulua - so I switched to flyfishing.

I caught three double barred goatfish, a grouper and I had a surgeonfish take and then bite through the hook. I did see some bonefish, but they were not interested in playing.

Today was a good day -

Some Weekends are Better than Others

And this one (in terms of fishing) kicked arse!!!

Went on an early dawn patrol to the southern part of the island with Mike.

My Rattling Rapala that has repeatedly caught big fish, met its end at mile marker 14. I got a big hit in the surf and for fear of snapping the line, I loosened the drag and the fish kept taking. It seemed like it was getting tired so I started taking the line back. As the fish was coming in from the drop off, the line went limp - looking at the frayed line at the bitter end, the Trevally (what else out there would pull like that, this close to shore???) cut the line off on a coral head. Smart bugger - it deserves to live another day (so I can fight it again).

With the last of my surface lures swimming in the Indian Ocean, I decided to push the flyline. Last night I switched out the leader for a Blue Sky furled leader. I also paid attention to an experienced flyfisherman yesterday that was fishing with us. His casts were longer on the stroke distance (0930 to 1430) and a lot slower than mine. With the leader swapout, the longer stroke and the slowing of the cast, I was delivering much better.

Before I go further, I need to post a disclaimer. I did not use squid on the fly today, so all catches were legitimate flyfishing hits.

Ok - I started with a brown and white Clouser and I landed the grunt (or sweetlips). This guy put up a good fight and had the distinction of being the biggest fish I caught on conventional flyfishing gear to date. And it was the best fighter (although the parrotfish on the Tenkara Ito was also a great fight).

I wasn't getting any followup hits, so I switched to an orange and red Clouser. Second pitch out and WHAM!!! Another fish and this one was running! I let it take some line to get tired and then started bringing it in. It fought every inch of the way! When I saw it was a Bluefin Trevally, I felt a wave of emotion rush over me - with this fish, my much cleaner casts and the smooth hook up, I transformed from a flyfishing pupae into a flyfishing killer bug!!! That was supposed to be a play on words - flyfishing = bug - in case you didn't catch that one...

I pitched the fly out again and soon after I pulled up this eager grouper (it amazes me the size of things a fish will try to eat - plugs and flies bigger than the mouth and stomach trying to take it down). With this guy I hit a triple on the fly!!! The rain moved in and we called it a fishing trip.

So - this was an awesome weekend (in terms of fishing) - I got a wide variety of fish, I landed a good sized Giant Trevally and Bluefin Trevally on a surface lure, and I made legitimate catches on a fly. I have tons of cuts and prick holes in my hands from hooks, fish spines and worn skin from casting and retrieving. I smell like fish from all the fish I've touched this weekend and I can't wash the smell off. I am sore, and tired from fishing and filleting several big fish. But my belly is full (fish burritos that were exquisite) and I can't wipe the smile off my face...

And my gear and tackle are clean and ready for use (not a good work forecast though - busy with a big crowd coming in this week for business).

This weekend did not suck!!!

Saturday Fishing - Round Two

After some work, two lunches and a great nap, back out for round two.

O'Club Point - spinning gear with squid.

I caught a bunch of triggerfish, a yellow snapper, a grunt, a small grouper and I got a couple of harder hits that ended up with spit hooks (maybe bonefish). The picture has Mike's grouper in it - my fish was smaller but had the same coloration.

There was a lot of other things going on around the water - frigate birds harassing a booby, schools of baitfish being chased by something big, schools of fishing birds feeding (offshore).

And an awesome sunset - time to clean some fish and get ready for tomorrow (more fishing)!

Second Outing - Second Fish

1745 - a little less than two hours of light left.

I hop in Mike's truck and we're off to go fishing. I bring the flyfishing gear today.

We hit "Cables" first. No bites, but some large fish were tailing in the shallows. We've seen them before at Cannon Point (I'll have to ask some of my workers what those are and what do they like to eat). No takers on fly or lure/squid - so we decided to go to Eclipse Bay.

Back in the water, the picture is of the view around 1900 - Orange and Purple Indian Ocean sunset. With the seasons changing, the winds are starting to die back to the "light, but steady" range. For reference think "16m kites on a surfboard" - soon it'll be a lake and flyfishing will reign.

Now back to fishing - I ended up catching another "MONSTER" - this time a tiny grouper - maybe 5". I did not get a chance to take a picture of it, but it was very eye catching.

I'll take it!!! I have no shame about catching the smallest fish. Two fish on the fly to date!!!

Tomorrow I may try for bonefish behind the O'Club - especially if the wind dies down even more.