Strike Two -

I decided to drive in earlier this week instead of taking the motorcycle - so I could bring my fishing gear.  I went back to the same part of the Flats to see if I could get one of the triggerfish to play tug-o-war.

I totally struck out.  Where I would at least get some interest and head turns from the orange fly, I used some brown shrimp flies and I didn't get a single look.  I did have plenty of humus to target, and a big solitary oio even swam right up to me (while I was snagged on a rock).  Typical.

I may go back tomorrow morning to get laughed at again - I'm such a glutton for punishment!!!  Or I may bring spinning gear...

Spin Fishing in the Trades

Marlon and I went fishing on Saturday. Unfortunately the tide was pretty high so we couldn't wade out to the edge of the shelf, but we did see a bunch of bonefish, tangs and barracuda. We also saw some of the oama that are shoaling - we'll come back next weekend to try and catch some of those ;) I did hook into a pig of a humuhumunukunukuapuaa. The trades were blowing, but casting was manageable. Fun time of the flats!

The Cycle Starts Over (Rats are Back!!!)

I went fishing Saturday afternoon. Since I hadn't been out in a while, I decided to use bait. Cut squid strips and the better solunar time frame and I got some willing participants. The smaller class of blue fin trevally are back on the flats! When I got out here nearly a year ago, these small BFTs (papio) were the fish I would consistently catch. I watched (and if you read this blog, you saw it too) these fish grow to nearly double this size and weight. It's good to see the new group of young papio show up! I caught one of these humuhumunukunukuapua'a also. Three papio and a humu - not a bad take for a Saturday afternoon bait session.

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...

Trigger Happy on Sunday 8/30/2015

I went spinfishing yesterday - chucked squid out and pulled in four humuhumunukunukuapua'as to hand and one big one dove in some rocks and managed to get unhooked. I also tried to catch some o'ama, but after chasing two separate schools, I couldn't get a single one to bite. The water was clearer than Saturday, but it was even warmer than just the day before... I remember Oahu 20 years ago - I'd get cold in the water. Constantly in the 70's. Not anymore.

Look Who I Went Fishing With!!!

One of my former employees from Diego Garcia was in town! Dante was one of the first guys to show me where the good fishing spots were and most notably, he showed me how to prepare bonefish (of which I made lots of fish lumpia). Check out the posts from 2011 to 2012 and he should be in a few of the pictures. So what to do with a person who you've gone fishing with before??? Take him fishing of course!!! I picked up Dante from b=his hotel and we were on the flats within 30 minutes, right around the bottom of the low tide. I hooked up with a decent sized roi (peacock grouper) on one of my first casts. Dante got a good sized papio (talakitok in tagalog) for his first. From there we both caught other fish - saddle wrasses, a snapper, a hawkfish (first one I caught out here I think - chubby guy!!!), papio and Dante caught the Hawaiian State Fish - humuhumunukunukuapua'a While fishing for oama I caught one of the smallest fish I've caught on a hook (size 20 limerick) - another Sergeant Major. When the kids get out here, it'll be fun to raise a few of these in an aquarium. I also got a picture of an oama - I had a great time fishing with an old friend!

FINALLY!!!!!

It only took me seven months to do it, but I finally brought a Hawaiian Bonefish to hand!!!!!! I used a mantis shrimp fly I tied a while back and blind casted at another part of the Hickam Flat. The bonefish inhaled the fly - I had to use forceps to pull the fly out! It made three runs - the first two taking me into the backing. This fish totally reminded me that I love catching bonefish on the fly!!! I can honestly say this was the best day of fishing I've had out here! I also had a papio, but it shook off the Enrico Puglisi micro crab fly. And I caught a humuhumunukunukuapuaa using the same mantis fly that the oio (bonefish) took. I have been telling myself that once I caught an oio on the fly, that I would be free to start fishing other spots. I do think I'll still fish Hickam a lot - I need to make sure this was not a fluke. GREAT DAY!!!

Saturday Fishing during the Super Low Tide

Late posts... not having internet at my studio is a little complex. Before I went to the Frame Shop to finish the gyotaku I made for Jimmy (check out the other blog I maintain for finished pictures - www.tellnolies-gtotaku.blogspot.com), I hit the flats and got in some fishing. I caught three papio - one was a good two pounder (but it got off the hook at my feet - ah the trials of using crushed barb hooks). And while I'm on the topic of getting off the hook - I also caught my first Blue Goatfish (moana kali), and I dropped it back in the water before I could get a picture of it. I caught more triggerfish than I've caught before in any one session - one of the bigger ones destroyed my size 8 gamakatsu octopus circle hook. I caught maybe five more than the three in the pictures - just stopped taking pictures to get fishing again. I found that if you release the triggers, but just keep your fingers on the 'triggers', the fish feel safe and don't really swim away. Once you let go, they bolt. I caught a rock. It had an 'ina' (rock boring urchin) on it and a patch of developing coral (I placed it back gently in the water) I decided to try out an old DOA shrimp lure that I had to see if the bonefish would take. No bonefish (what's new?), but I did see a bunch of other details on the flat. This is what digs most of the holes - a pistol shrimp. I figured they were out here (it being subtropical here), but had never seen one before. And if it isn't a pistol shrimp, it might be a small species of lobster. I'll have to look into this more. The sergeant majors were out and about. And here are some closeups of the rockstars of the flats - pincushion urchins. These guys keep the flat from getting choked out by colonial algae. But they keep a hold of rocks on their upper bodies and if you aren't keeping an eye out for they, you could easily step on one. Fun day!

A Really Good Day of Catching - 5 July

I used bait again - started fishing two hours before the low tide and it was four days after the full moon. Whatever factor influenced it, this day was awesome for fishing. I didn't catch any ginormous trevally that smashed my gear just by looking at it, but I did catch the most fish I've caught since I got back, and nearly every species I've seen to date (minus three). I ended up with six papio, two moanas (one was a giant), two nehu (coronetfish - one was giant sized), two species of humuhumunukunukuapuaa, a few saddle wrasses and one large lizardfish (checkout the teeth on this guy). On lightweight gear, all these fish were fun to catch. It's going to be tough to top this day...