First Fishing in Awhile

The weekend is here - Marlon and I checked the tides and the surf report - then decided it was probably best to go fishing.  We were at the flats with spinning gear just a little bit after dawn.

I was using the TFO Mangrove rod that I recently rewrapped - everything is back to normal with this rod!

And after a long period of seeing fish (lai, kaku, and others) either just following the bait, or even stealing rigging (the kaku), I finally got one to take and fight!

Small is better than none!!!  This guy was released to fight again another day (when he gets bigger).  Fun day!

Re-eyed Rod

The last post I made on going fishing with the kids had a note about my favorite spinning rod losing the rings in a couple of the eyes.  Well, its been several weeks but I finally got the motivation to redo all the eyes on this rod.  I decided to redo all of them since these were the second and third rings to pop out.

I paid a visit to Brian's Fishing Supply and bought a full set of titanium ringed guides.  Hopefully these will holdup for a while.

I spent the last few nights removing the old guides and wrapping the new ones on one by one, and I put the epoxy on last night.

And since I'm on a roll, I'm going to do the same for the 13' Nitro, and redo a few of the wraps on the Epic Fiberglass Fly Rods I put together.

Using Bait to Break the No Catching Streak

I took Marlon out this morning to get some fishing in.  I saw a bunch of tailing bonefish on the way out to the channel (I should have turned around and grabbed the flyrod...) - but the mission was to catch fish and not just fish.  Ika strips and spinning gear = catching!!!

Marlon caught the first fish - a good sized po'opa'a (po - o - pah - ah).

And I got my first fish in quite some time - a "just too small to eat - because these should grow and spawn first" papio

The next fish I hooked up to was a coronet fish - this one was barely hooked (I think it just really wanted to the eat the squid).

And I even picked up a third - another papio!

Next time I'm going to bring my light game St Croix Triumph rod.  We called it after this fish and pressed our luck at the harbor side.  We tried flyfishing for the humuhumunukunukuapua'a but the tide had filled in and the wind picked up substantially.  Well - we at least got to catch a few!!!

Not Skunked Saturday on the Flats with Big M

I took Marlon to fish the low tide at Hickam Flats today. I've been rethinking my equipment distribution and put the Stradic FJ 3000 back on the TFO Mangrove rod - and boy am I glad I did!!! This is the perfect setup for whipping the edge of the flats. I'm going to move the Stradic FK 4000 to the Nitro 13' rod - but that will be another post. After a few casts I brought this guy to hand - Marlon caught two back to back - first this Hinalea. He referred to them as "the Bluegill of the Sea"! And then this fat hawkfish put a good bend in his rod!!! We wondered if it was the same one I caught a few weekends back... We kept walking south and Marlon found a moray eel - and then another. They were holed up in the flat and we only saw a small part of their bodies. After a couple of snags, I decided to call it and we started to walk back in. Marlon saw some moving black things on the way back in - turns out they were blacktip shark fins so we walked over to take a closer look. There ended up being four sharks on the spit. Knowing there were probably kaku in the area, I tied on the kaku crack fly and cast out. I got two hooks ups and now a new go to fly!!! This drew more interest at a faster rate than the Kaku Candy fly (so I know what I'm tying more of now). Oh - I did break out some kit I got a while back - the Umpqua Chest Pack worked well. It was where I would normally carry my arms while retrieving, but the pack does hold more than the TOPO sling and keeps everything right up front. I'll keep using this for a bit. Great day fishing!!!!

First Day of Fishing in 2017

I took Marlon and Noe to the flats to get some fishing in. Noe hung out at the water line and read some books, while Marlon and I went to the edge of the shelf. I brought the TFO Mangrove out with the Shimano Stradic FK 4000. While setting up the rods in the backyard, I gave the TFO and the Fenwick Steelhead a comparison - the TFO is just slightly softer throughout - just the action I prefer in a saltwater inshore rod! My first fish of the year was this bluefin trevally - nice fight on the TFO Mangrove!!! I caught and released this guy so I will have better luck throughout the year - but if it wasn't for it's first fish status, this guy would have been sashimi ;) Marlon's first fish was a hinalea - he's getting good at rooting these fish out. And he got a second with this hawkfish. At first he thought it was a snag - but after trying to free the hook, the fish came loose. Awesome day of fishing!!!!

Rod Repair

I haven't had to replace an eye on a spinning rod (or any rod for that matter), but the wrapping I've done over the past few years made for a relatively easy repair. I recently rotated this TFO Mangrove spinning rod (yes this is based on the fly fishing rods that Flip Pallot helped design - the guys at Black Fly Outfitters just get them set up with spinning rod eyes and reel mounts), but noticed the second eye up from the reel had a crack in the ring holder. I tried using some epoxy to lock the ring in place, but that didn't work. Time to break out the tools - sharp razor blade, empty cardboard box, and the wrapping stuff. All pau!!! The hardest part was cutting off the old epoxy - you don't want to dig into the blank, but you do want to trim off all the old stuff. I may put one last layer of UV inhibitor, but I think I'll take this one fishing again first. The action on this one is so nice - a lot like the fly rod action on fiberglass. Definitely not for everyone, but if its for you it'll be awesome!!!

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.

Fishing Report 10/26/2014

With the loss of my two workhorse rods (I'll say it again - some bastard stole my Epic 686 and the St Croix Tidemaster from my truck), I'm having to use other rods (which is ok - I needed to use the others) to fish. Even though it was way overkill, I rigged up the TFO Mangrove 9wt. Lots of rod just to fish for needlefish. The cork filler started to crumble - I'll have to get used to the voids left (right where I put my thumb and index fingers... - the old adage "you get what you pay for" proves itself again). I'll still cast this rod - I'm sure it'll grow on me. I think this rod wants a heavier line (like a 10wt). I'll try it again soon with an added sink tip extension to see if that perks up the casting. This fish took the Bloody Guts fly and was jumping a bit - enough to attract an observant osprey. The bird picked up the needlefish while it was entangled in the fly, and started to make off with it. It didn't get far before the line went tight and the needlefish slipped from it's grasp. That doesn't happen everyday.... I also saw a few other fish (maybe slot reds) rolling in the shallow surf, and stepped on a couple of fleshy (and angry) fish - maybe a flounder??? Nice day in the surf flyfishing!