nu2trout
07-23-08, 11:38 PM
Hello Everyone,
I am sure no one has paid much attention, but I have been gone from here most of the summer. I have been out of town for four weeks this summer, and three of those I was fishing a good bit.
I was in Oklahoma for a week, just after school released for the summer, doing some baseball stuff, and then the real fun began.
I will apologize now that there is no fish porn (for two reasons - one because I do not own a water proof camera yet and two because I just did not catch enough fish to show).
I have spent one heck of a summer throwing my new Orvis Helios, 8 wt, loaded with Sharkskin on my new Nautilus N0.8 reel. I have fished, literally, from one edge of the Great Country to the other, having fished in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.
I started this summer of fishing in Hawaii, Molokai to be more precise. I did a lot of research on this island of 8000 people. I joined a board from the west coast, where people routinely talked about Hawaii, and was able to get a little information from there. I read as many articles as I could find, but there was just not much written about Molokai fishing. Most sport fishing in HI is done for big game fish like Marlin or Yellow Fin Tuna.
I was staying in a small hotel that was located on a large (flat) for lack of a better term. The water was not very clear (and I did not venture too far out as a result - locals don’t get in murky water so I don’t either). There was fish activity as soon as I looked out the morning I arrived. There were bait fish jumping, because they were being chased by something, everywhere. We landed about 8 days after the full moon, and if you are not familiar with HI you may not know that the Box Jellies show up about that time. Box Jellies are nothing to play with. They are small, and usually deadly, so there was another reason for me to stay out of the water. I did see some small jellies on the beach one morning, gasping for water it seemed.
Each time I was able to get out and fish here I really did not have much luck. I am not sure if I was using the wrong flies, the wrong presentations, or what. I brought a box of crazy charlies, shrimp scampis, bone fish sliders, big clousers, and some various crab patterns.
I was seeing a lot of small fish chasing smaller bait fish, and occasionally I would see a big swirl or splash off shore, but for reasons already mentioned I could not get to them.
I drove around the island looking for some spots I could get into deeper water, by walking out onto some rocks, and I found a few. I walked out about 150 onto one out cropping and was in some fairly deep water. I was hoping for some Pop'io (small jacks), and hoping for some Ulua (large jacks), but no luck. I am not sure if you know much about HI but the wind is always blowing there, and normally pretty swiftly in your face. I made many casts giving it everything I had, only to get 40 or 50 feet out, and the waves made it difficult to keep the fly in the "zone" for long.
There are many "fish ponds" on the islands and I tried to get on the rock walls, with little luck. The fish ponds are ancient structures built by the Hawaiians out in to the ocean. They are like most rock walls, just built in a large half circle with a couple of lower areas to allow fish to swim in on the high tide and get stuck on the low tide.
Many of these ponds were located in areas behind people’s houses in areas I could not access, but there was one good one I could get to. About mile marker 19 (the island is only 38 miles long with three major roads forming a kind of T in the middle) I saw this great looking fish pond with some beach access, so I trucked it over there only to see a sign that said something like Burial area, sacred, stay off. Well, I am not sure if you ever saw the episode of the Brady Bunch where they took the Tiki statue home from HI but removing things from the islands is a big no no (serious bad luck) and so I was not willing to chance steeping on a sacred place and getting some bad island mojo, so I left after a few minutes of thinking about it.
I did go back to that spot again, after talking to some guy from the Netherlands about that exact spot, and that is when I cam across Rodney. Rodney lived next to this fish pond under several tarps held up by poles, with his several various mutts, and tons of coconuts for decorations. I parked across the road exited the car and yelled, "Hello". Rodney stepped out and in his gruff Hawaiian accent said "ello!". I asked him if I could fish in his fish pond, and he asked why. I told him because I like to fish, and he said "I like to fish too". He said, "How much money you got to fish here?" I told him I was just a poor school teacher and did not have much money. He said, "well then you betta go find a poor place to fish", and turned and walked off. (If I have not mentioned yet there is not a lot of sport fishing in the Islands, these people fish to eat and they eat everything they catch)
As I was driving back to the hotel I saw a sign the said public beach access, so I turned around and headed down this little dirt road through the dense canopy and then I came out to a small opening near the water. I saw two locals, in their 20's, hanging out by their pick up truck wearing their board shorts drinking their beer. on the other side of the small dirt parking lot there was a jeep with some local girls getting ready to leave. As I pulled up one of the locals started over to me. At this time I am wearing a pair of Columbia fishing (zip off) pants, and a Columbia fishing shirt (with the sleeves rolled up) and my Oakley polarized glasses (in other words I did not look like a local).
As he came over to me I thought I should start the dialogue, so I said what's up?, and he responded with a sort of smart arse "what's up" back to me. I explained, as he continued to walk closer. I was looking for some place to fish. He explained that he and his brudda was hangin out drinkin their beer. I told him I really wanted some bone fish and he said they were around and said he knew some spots. He asked me if I was looking to buy some land on the island or if I was a tourist (they don’t like Haoles coming onto the island buying their land). I assured him I would be leaving soon and he warmed up a little. He asked if I had my pole, which of course I did, but I told him no I was just scouting some spots. I did not see anything good coming from me bringing my new expensive rod out, as a matter of fact I envisioned me leaving with out it. After a few more minutes we parted ways, and I was off to the hotel.
I did go all way to the other end of the island and fished a secluded beach with no luck. I walked out onto the dead black and craggy coral until I could reach the deeper water, but I had no luck.
In the end the tally on Molokai was one crab and a few interesting people.
Off to Kauai for 5 days, for trout and bones
We landed on Kauai and headed to the little Inn which was up in the mountains about eight miles off the beach. There was a wonderful river, Waialua, flowing along the road to the Inn, and I was pretty pumped about that. I fished a beach on the western side of the Island and caught a few needle fish, but did not see anything else. I kept eyeing the river each time we drove past and dreamed of great fishing, so I finally went to a local store in Poipu to get a ten day permit and the guy told me to go to the marina at the river to get some better access, so off I went. I had the three weight with me and threw some small WBs with no success and then I saw it...schools of bait fish being chased by something. I knew it had to be Pop'io, so I drove to the Inn and exchanged my gear for the eight and some clousers. There was a Tommy Chong looking guy there with a weird set up, fishing. He had a heavy action spinning rod with a large oval plastic "float" about 18 inches above his lure, and he was jerking the bait. He was throwing about 90-100 ft into the middle of this area where the tour boats were docked. I walked around to the neck of the "bay" so I could get into a better position to target the jacks. Did I mention the wind blows a lot in Hawaii? I ended up walking back around to the area the guy was fishing and struck up a small conversation with him, but he did not want to talk long. He told me he was whipping (hence the rig - the float makes noise and the fish turn toward it and eat the lure) and he said he caught a small one while I was out on the edge. I fished this area hard, only getting my casts out about 70-80ft and really having to wait for my shots at the fish. I figured out after a while I did not have the noise maker to attract the attention of the fish so I did a lot of casting practice.
I remembered I had made some notes before I left home so I pulled them out and planned a serious day of fishing. I looked up the beach I had read about, Anini Beach (west side of the island and it is a large reef protected "flat"). I pulled up some tidal info and decided I needed to leave about 6 AM to make the 40 minute drive and get ready to be in the water at the appropriate time.
I pulled into the parking lot and strung up the rod and scouted it out for a few minutes. Several hundred yards off shore the waves were breaking but the reef (flat) was as slick as glass. The water was so clear it gave a false sense of the depth. I stepped from coral out cropping to coral out cropping trying to get up high enough to see something in the water, ever mindful not to step into the holes in the coral. I likely would have gone under and been stuck if I had not watched closely for the holes, and then there are the Morey eels that reside in them.
I blind casted and blind casted and did not see much moving, and then bam the line got tight (and I thought BONE FISH) but it did not put up much of a fight and after a minute I landed a 24+ inch Coronet fish. Word to the wise if you plan to go salt water fishing, DO NOT lip salt water fish. I made sure to take my forceps with me and let this guy go. I some small reef fish chase my flies but nothing really worth talking about. I did have a Green Sea Turtle pay me a visit. I left after a couple of hours as the tide was sneaking up on me.
I had to cross this small creek each time I drove some where, so I finally decided to give it a shot, since I had my permit. I pulled off on the side of this pretty busy little road and strung up the 3wt and went after some fish I had seen in a previous pass. I threw my olive WB to the other side of the pool and after a couple of casts the line got tight and heavy. After a couple of head shakes he was done and I pulled in a nice 9-11 inch long Cichlid (sorry for the spelling) of some type. He was a dark brownish color, but did not fight very well. After a few more minutes I thought the people who lived adjacent to my fishing spot might get upset if I was in their yard so I left.
That morning I was to go into the mountains and hit their little trout streams, but there was a lot of rain the night before and the mountains had heavy dark clouds around them for a couple of days, and the locals said the small streams get very high very quick. So, there was no small stream trout to be had.
The last day I was there we decided to go to another beach, Kalapaki beach, and I would fish along the sea wall. Did I mention the wind blows a lot in Hawaii? I was casting into a 15-25mph wind while standing on this wall, and I could not carry much line behind me due to the public road I was right next to.
I made a lot of casts, and I was using a small clouser, and bringing it back across this drop off near the wall. I was retrieving one cast and here he came out of no where, seemingly from against the wall, and he was headed straight to my fly. I anticipated the strike and readied the strip strike and as the line tightened I stripped and missed him. I quickly wanted to get the fly back the zone and after another cast felt something strange. I slowed the cast and looked to find no fly. That bugger had cut me off like a razor through 6x. Everyone said it must have been a small barracuda, whatever it was went about 24 inches and a few pounds. I then started fishing again when some friends showed up. Out of no where this big Green Sea Turtle showed up and started feeding on the rocks, and then another, bigger, one showed up. I fished and watched the turtles for a while, and then went to get some lunch at a little place right on the beach.
In the end, on Kauai, one Cichlid, a Coronet fish, some Needle fish, a bunch of friendly turtles and a cut line.
The next day I was off to Oahu, this is July 4th.
When we landed we decided to go straight to Pearl Harbor, and I feared the lines would be terrible. There was hardly anyone there and we were able to ease through all of the exhibits, go to Ford Island to see the Missouri, and then get back to visit the Arizona Memorial. Being there is awesome (been twice now) but being there on the 4th of July was extra special.
The next day I was scheduled to go bone fishing with a guide. I had to leave the North Shore about 530AM to make sure I was where I needed to be on time. I met the guide and off we went to a place he called the Triangle flat (near the Airport, very near the Airport). We had to Kayak about 10 minutes to reach the flat and then we walked a long way around searching for fish. If you have ever fished for Bones in the Keys this is very different (I have fished there too). These fish like rising tides, not falling tides. They will chase more Crazy Charlie type of flies, not so much crab patterns. We spooked a couple getting on to the flat and tied up the yak. These were big wakes. There had been some heavy rain the night before, and the water was stained because the Mountain Rivers flow into the ocean. Visibility was about two feet, maybe. We saw a few, and when I saw that first tail I almost drowned as my jaw hit the water. This was not a Keys Tail, this was like the sail from a nice sail boat. It was a huge tail! I did get a decent shot at one or two, and then I had a good shot about 40ft straight in front. I followed the guide's direction and stripped and the fish came in closer (I was thinking I needed to stop and let the fish pick it up but I don’t tell people how to do their job). The fish finally turned and left. The guide saw a net in the water, which are illegal, so we walked that way to see about it. There are people that have make-shift houses on the water and they set the nets for food. This net was set near a ledge to trap fish coming onto the flat. The bone fish move on and off the flats most of the day. We saw a bunch of goat fish and a little hammer head trapped, but they were all dead. About that time a big swirl went off about 50 ft in front of us and this torpedo was screaming around like it had lost its guidance system. We had spooked a big bone fish and it was trying to get off the flat. Finally after it decided it could not get around this 500 ft long net he tried to go trough it, and got stuck. We walked over and I gave the guide my knife and told him we should throw my hook in its mouth so I could reel on in. We laughed and he cut it free and he was off like a missile.
Speaking of missiles, the Armed Forces were playing RIMPAC while I was there and as I fished on that Saturday there were 20 to 30 jets taking off with in hundreds of yards of us. We were about 4 or 5 miles from Waikiki I am don’t think they could fly over the residential areas so they came off the run ways and went up the elevator shaft. It was awesome to see those guys defending our freedoms. Occasionally we would look up and see them “dog fighting”, and we could see the battle ships cruising around and turning toward and away from each other. I do not think I would do very well on a battle ship when it is turning; it looked like it was going to fall over on its side.
We were seeing fewer tails and wakes so we decided to blind cast for a little while and let the tide start to move. We were now in a very very low tide. I blind cast for a few minutes and the line got tight and I thought BONE FISH, but the line did not come off the reel. It was a puffer fish. The guide said do not ever put your finger in these little guys mouth because he has seen them bite through a hook. He had two little buck teeth, like a beaver, and a bad look on his face. A few casts later the line got tight and heavy and again I though BONE FISH but no line was coming off the reel, and when I landed it was a goat fish. The guide kept talking about how this was the strangest thing he had seen about there, the tide I mean. It just sat there and did not want to change. The fish really like the moving water. We walked a bit more and decided to call it a day. On the ride back he mentioned how sorry he was that the day was no better and said his policy was to take the client out at half price the next time. Anyway we talked about it and he said his dad Louis the Fish (pretty famous guide in Hawaii, you can look him up) would be back the soon and I should go with him. Louis called and we decided to go on Monday (it is Saturday). I called and cancelled my Peacock bass trip and Louis and I were on.
I drove to the flat on Monday and we loaded up and kayaked out to the flat. Louis is a character to say the least but that is another story all to itself. We really had no set time to be back, he said we could fish for 5 or 6 hours he did not care. We saw a few fish and did not really get a shot. The wind was up today as well. The tide did not cooperate again, and he said he had not seen a tide like this. It was just still. We fished for hours and the tide would not turn. He said come on we can go to this other flat and he would call it research. We paddled about 20-30 minutes and then started walking and hunting. He saw nothing, and said he almost always sees fish moving on that flat. It was like they were all on vacation, I mean nothing moved. He was very apologetic and we headed back in. As we hit this small strip off flat he saw movement so we jumped out and walked this strip for a few minutes. I had a decent shot at one and put the fly right on his head, literally on his head and spooked him. We paddled about 20 more minutes and then blind cast for about 20 minutes. He continued to say how strange this was. We finally made it back to the truck and talked for a minute and he said he was so upset by the fishing my two days that the next time I am in Hawaii we would go fishing at no charge.
I continued to fish each day at the resort I stayed in, on the North Shore, using the tips I had gotten from the guides. I walked out on to the coral that reached out into the bay and found a really nice drop off about 30 ft out from me, and tried to fish it. The problem was with the waves pounding in their sets. I only had a shot every minute or so and then I could not keep it in the zone long enough to really do it any justice.
So, in the end on Oahu I caught a couple of puffer fish, a goat fish, and the sympathy of the guides for two miserable days of bad tides and few fish.
There are bone in Hawaii, and big ones. I read an article while I was out there about a guy bottom fishing off of Lanai, at night, and he caught a 24 pound 38 inch bone fish. Like I said people out there eat everything so this guy had it cut in half and scraped the meat out for fish cake before it could be officially weighed. The guide I was with, Louis the fish, told me a lot of stories about trying to get the people of Hawaii to put more controls on the fishing so more generations could enjoy the beautiful species. He says he has helped make some head way but the people in the government are peoples from cultures that do not understand the concept of releasing fish for any reason. It is sad, really, to think that there is a World Class fishery waiting to be born and its guardians cannot see it. Louis has told the people in the government about the estimates the people in the keys put on the value of one bone fish, approximately 3500 dollars per fish, and they just do not understand that.
All in all I would have to say I had a blast fishing the Pacific Ocean and learning all I could from the local people. I will definitely be better prepared for my next trip out there. I will arm myself with some different flies next time, if I plan to do the same type of fishing.
Well, that was a great trip and I would be happy if that had been all of my fishing this summer, but I had one more trip to take. I told you I reached from one edge to the other. Now I have to go east. I went to Hilton Head for a week.
I was with the family on this trip, not just the wife, so I could not spend as much time fishing. I was surprised to see we were staying on a golf course, and you know what that means, ponds. I called the rental company and asked if I could fish there and they said as long as I stayed out of the golfer’s way. I was out there before the first tee time and after the last one. There were fish busting the water all over the place, and I had to figure out what they wanted.
The next day I was scheduled with a guide, scheduled him from Kauai, in Beaufort South Carolina. I drove about 30 minutes outside of HH to the Checessee (sp) River and met Richard Sykes for a half day. We had some rain the night before and it looked like more was coming. As soon as we headed out Richard said something about the rain and the stained water and more rain coming, so I knew I was probably in for a rough day. I told him that always happens when I get a guide. He said we were going to make it a good day.
We started out and I was asking what to look for and how to present, etc… I think he was a bit impressed that he did not have a total goober on his deck that morning. We talked a lot about fishing as we looked for fish. I heard a lot of racket behind us and asked what it was, and he said it was the Marines at Paris Island. They were on the firing line and it sounded awesome to hear those guys protecting us, or at least preparing to protect us.
We saw fish jumping everywhere and he told me they were mullet, and man they can get your blood pumping if you like to see fish jumping. We tried a couple of spots and the tide was moving out, and man is that an impressive site when you realize that it is going out and exposing hundreds of thousands of acres of oysters, and when you see all of the water moving out of the creeks created between the beds.
We saw some fish but could not get a shot at them, they were a little too far off and he told me not to even try, but to see what red fish looked like when they moved. We saw a couple of sharks moving next to the boat, and he saw a large sting ray. The tide went out and we poled around. All of the sudden his phone rang and it was the other guide from the shop who was fishing about a mile from us. He had two people on the boat and said they were not getting a bite and they were using fresh bait. Well Richard was not too happy about that and we moved on. He would tell me that the places we were fishing were usually always good for at least seeing fish. He said the stained water was not a big deal to the reds, but the sea trout would turn off because of it. We fished and fished and the wind picked up and time was running out, but the tide never would turn for us. We ended up in one spot and after, seriously, 300 or more casts my line got tight and heavy. Richard got a little excited and thought it was a RED, but it was a Lady Fish. The poor man’s tarpon, so I played it for a minute to get a few nice jumps from it, and then as I was reaching to boat it he decided he did not want to play anymore and took off. We had some decisions to make pretty quickly, stay out and pay more money or head in. I told him if he thought the tide would turn and the fishing would get better that we could stay and he said there was no way to tell so I reeled up and decided to head back. It was at that time Richard saw a huge splash, about 150 ft away, and he said we are going to go give that a shot before we leave. There was something(s) ambushing schools of bait as they swam by, but they wanted nothing to do with my red fish toad.
I learned a lot from Richard, and purposely picked his brain, and I think he genuinely felt remorseful that the weather and fishing was so bad.
I cursed and moaned a little, a lot, on the way back to HH. I was very frustrated that I had again paid money to go out in less than favorable conditions and pay someone to watch me practice my casting. I cooled down after about 20 minutes and tried to find my way back.
Later that night the family, all 13 of us, went to the Salty Dog Café and as we walked around I saw a sign that said Kayak fishing and a phone number, so I called. The guy on the other end said call back tomorrow, so I did. Well I figured this would be more or less a self guided trip, and it was pretty cheap so I booked a trip for three hours on Friday. Thursday night was pretty bad again with rain and there was now a tropical depression sitting and spinning off the coast, but I went to the marina anyway. I walked into the little shop and asked this older looking guy how the recent weather would affect the fishing, and he said “you just ever tell.” I should have known better and cancelled right there, but like I said before I do not tell people how to do their jobs. Bruce and I grabbed the paddles and headed out. The harbor was a pretty easy row and then we hit the ocean and the wind kicked up so we quickly turned into a creek and headed deep into the grass on this rising tide. We did not move a fish banging around in there and Bruce lead us into a wider area of the creek and started back into the end of the creek to see if the fish were holding back there. By this time I have talked to him enough to find out the following information; he has only been guiding almost 3 months (I was pretty peeved for a moment until I realized I knew this was going to be a self guided trip anyway), then I learned his real job is singing on the island at various restaurants (I thought he looked familiar – he was singing at the Salty Dog landing). He was telling me how he always sees fish in the areas we were paddling (I cannot doubt that because he is out there six times a week). He decided we needed to try this flat farther northeast, so we paddled out of the creek and as I turned the corner I looked back and Bruce is 300 yards back throwing his spinning gear. I pushed on, since he had pointed out the flat before we turned into the creek. I am now in the teeth of the wind practically jumping 2 foot waves and a very serious wind in my face. I paddled about 200 yards and finally decided I am not about to work that hard to get to that flat and find nothing there. There was not going to be anything on a flat in those conditions. I turned around and made it back to Bruce and told him the same and suggested we head back to harbor. He said he agreed that was a good idea and off we went. As we made it back to the harbor the wind was blocked a little and we still have not moved a fish. He asked if I wanted to try one of the, seriously, 5 spinning rods he had on his yak. I said sure. We were getting blown around too much to use my fly rod anymore. By the time I put the paddle down and pulled off enough line and cast I was sitting where I wanted to be casting. I made several casts to great looking spots on the edge of the grass, but nothing still. I looked at my watch and it was 5 till the hour so I moved over to him and said lets call it a day. We headed back and he said I am sure they will give you back your money, and I thought to myself they will give me back some of it or I might lose it. We chatted on the way in and as we unloaded he said, “Don’t worry about the tip or anything”. I thought to myself, “I wasn’t going to”. I let off a little steam on Bruce and prefaced it with this is not your fault. He told me the guy in the shop, which I spoke with, was the harbor master and that he was a long time guide. That made me see red for a moment. I said that guy has been around here long enough to know today was going to be worthless and he let us go out anyway. I said you don’t let people go out in these conditions. I told him I have had guides call me and say we need to reschedule, or cancel, but do not let people go out there and waste their money. I said you guys should want to get people to come back and fish with you again and that is just bad business. Bruce agreed, and I think he understood what I was trying to say. We did talk about catching on the way back and he said people come out here with their expectations set too high. I said I think I have my expectations set pretty well. I do not expect to come out here and put twenty fish in the boat, but I do expect to see fish and have shots at them and think two, maybe, three fish is not too much to ask. Somewhere along the line I said this water sure is dirty, and he said what do you mean? He said this water is full of nutrients and good stuff for the fish. I said I mean it is too turbid today, to stained, and he agreed. Bruce was a nice guy and works hard to make a living, and somewhere down the line he will be a pretty good guide for what that shop wants. Maybe he can catch on somewhere and get a permanent singing gig. I have no ill will toward him, so please do not think that.
Well I made it back to the condo soaking wet, and everyone said what are you doing back so soon? I told them the story and they were all a bit peeved that the shop would have allowed me to go out in such conditions.
Oh well, back to the pond fishing. I had run to a local fishing store before the “guided” kayak adventure, so I was more prepared for the ponds. I found out that several of them had big reds, tarpon, and some black bass. I caught a few little fish in the evenings as they chased the little bait fish to the shore line. I had to remember not to get too close to the edges because of gators. There was a ten footer that had been seen in the area I was fishing, and I saw a four footer up close and personal.
I saw mullet coming out of the water all around, but could not get a bite.
The next morning after several casts I felt it, and then saw it. It was a big Lady Fish, but she did not want to jump for me. I eased it over to the edge and finally released. She was about 27 inches and probably 3 pounds. I never had another hook up and it was time to put the rod back in its sock, wrap it up, and stuff it in its tube.
My summer of fishing had come to a close. I will certainly be in a river searching for stripers with good friends, but I am home to stay for a while. I would not trade a single cast because I learned something on every single one. I fished three pacific islands, brackish rivers, Port Royal sound, sat in a kayak in grass that was above my head, caught new species of fish I never even dreamed of having on a hook, met knew people, learned new techniques, and became a better person for it. I thank you for reading all of this and it has put a smile on my face to type all and relive it. I am only sorry that you are getting the abridged version, and that the colors and sites are not as vivid to you.
I may go fishing in exotic locals again one day but I doubt I will ever have an experience like this again.
I am sure no one has paid much attention, but I have been gone from here most of the summer. I have been out of town for four weeks this summer, and three of those I was fishing a good bit.
I was in Oklahoma for a week, just after school released for the summer, doing some baseball stuff, and then the real fun began.
I will apologize now that there is no fish porn (for two reasons - one because I do not own a water proof camera yet and two because I just did not catch enough fish to show).
I have spent one heck of a summer throwing my new Orvis Helios, 8 wt, loaded with Sharkskin on my new Nautilus N0.8 reel. I have fished, literally, from one edge of the Great Country to the other, having fished in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.
I started this summer of fishing in Hawaii, Molokai to be more precise. I did a lot of research on this island of 8000 people. I joined a board from the west coast, where people routinely talked about Hawaii, and was able to get a little information from there. I read as many articles as I could find, but there was just not much written about Molokai fishing. Most sport fishing in HI is done for big game fish like Marlin or Yellow Fin Tuna.
I was staying in a small hotel that was located on a large (flat) for lack of a better term. The water was not very clear (and I did not venture too far out as a result - locals don’t get in murky water so I don’t either). There was fish activity as soon as I looked out the morning I arrived. There were bait fish jumping, because they were being chased by something, everywhere. We landed about 8 days after the full moon, and if you are not familiar with HI you may not know that the Box Jellies show up about that time. Box Jellies are nothing to play with. They are small, and usually deadly, so there was another reason for me to stay out of the water. I did see some small jellies on the beach one morning, gasping for water it seemed.
Each time I was able to get out and fish here I really did not have much luck. I am not sure if I was using the wrong flies, the wrong presentations, or what. I brought a box of crazy charlies, shrimp scampis, bone fish sliders, big clousers, and some various crab patterns.
I was seeing a lot of small fish chasing smaller bait fish, and occasionally I would see a big swirl or splash off shore, but for reasons already mentioned I could not get to them.
I drove around the island looking for some spots I could get into deeper water, by walking out onto some rocks, and I found a few. I walked out about 150 onto one out cropping and was in some fairly deep water. I was hoping for some Pop'io (small jacks), and hoping for some Ulua (large jacks), but no luck. I am not sure if you know much about HI but the wind is always blowing there, and normally pretty swiftly in your face. I made many casts giving it everything I had, only to get 40 or 50 feet out, and the waves made it difficult to keep the fly in the "zone" for long.
There are many "fish ponds" on the islands and I tried to get on the rock walls, with little luck. The fish ponds are ancient structures built by the Hawaiians out in to the ocean. They are like most rock walls, just built in a large half circle with a couple of lower areas to allow fish to swim in on the high tide and get stuck on the low tide.
Many of these ponds were located in areas behind people’s houses in areas I could not access, but there was one good one I could get to. About mile marker 19 (the island is only 38 miles long with three major roads forming a kind of T in the middle) I saw this great looking fish pond with some beach access, so I trucked it over there only to see a sign that said something like Burial area, sacred, stay off. Well, I am not sure if you ever saw the episode of the Brady Bunch where they took the Tiki statue home from HI but removing things from the islands is a big no no (serious bad luck) and so I was not willing to chance steeping on a sacred place and getting some bad island mojo, so I left after a few minutes of thinking about it.
I did go back to that spot again, after talking to some guy from the Netherlands about that exact spot, and that is when I cam across Rodney. Rodney lived next to this fish pond under several tarps held up by poles, with his several various mutts, and tons of coconuts for decorations. I parked across the road exited the car and yelled, "Hello". Rodney stepped out and in his gruff Hawaiian accent said "ello!". I asked him if I could fish in his fish pond, and he asked why. I told him because I like to fish, and he said "I like to fish too". He said, "How much money you got to fish here?" I told him I was just a poor school teacher and did not have much money. He said, "well then you betta go find a poor place to fish", and turned and walked off. (If I have not mentioned yet there is not a lot of sport fishing in the Islands, these people fish to eat and they eat everything they catch)
As I was driving back to the hotel I saw a sign the said public beach access, so I turned around and headed down this little dirt road through the dense canopy and then I came out to a small opening near the water. I saw two locals, in their 20's, hanging out by their pick up truck wearing their board shorts drinking their beer. on the other side of the small dirt parking lot there was a jeep with some local girls getting ready to leave. As I pulled up one of the locals started over to me. At this time I am wearing a pair of Columbia fishing (zip off) pants, and a Columbia fishing shirt (with the sleeves rolled up) and my Oakley polarized glasses (in other words I did not look like a local).
As he came over to me I thought I should start the dialogue, so I said what's up?, and he responded with a sort of smart arse "what's up" back to me. I explained, as he continued to walk closer. I was looking for some place to fish. He explained that he and his brudda was hangin out drinkin their beer. I told him I really wanted some bone fish and he said they were around and said he knew some spots. He asked me if I was looking to buy some land on the island or if I was a tourist (they don’t like Haoles coming onto the island buying their land). I assured him I would be leaving soon and he warmed up a little. He asked if I had my pole, which of course I did, but I told him no I was just scouting some spots. I did not see anything good coming from me bringing my new expensive rod out, as a matter of fact I envisioned me leaving with out it. After a few more minutes we parted ways, and I was off to the hotel.
I did go all way to the other end of the island and fished a secluded beach with no luck. I walked out onto the dead black and craggy coral until I could reach the deeper water, but I had no luck.
In the end the tally on Molokai was one crab and a few interesting people.
Off to Kauai for 5 days, for trout and bones
We landed on Kauai and headed to the little Inn which was up in the mountains about eight miles off the beach. There was a wonderful river, Waialua, flowing along the road to the Inn, and I was pretty pumped about that. I fished a beach on the western side of the Island and caught a few needle fish, but did not see anything else. I kept eyeing the river each time we drove past and dreamed of great fishing, so I finally went to a local store in Poipu to get a ten day permit and the guy told me to go to the marina at the river to get some better access, so off I went. I had the three weight with me and threw some small WBs with no success and then I saw it...schools of bait fish being chased by something. I knew it had to be Pop'io, so I drove to the Inn and exchanged my gear for the eight and some clousers. There was a Tommy Chong looking guy there with a weird set up, fishing. He had a heavy action spinning rod with a large oval plastic "float" about 18 inches above his lure, and he was jerking the bait. He was throwing about 90-100 ft into the middle of this area where the tour boats were docked. I walked around to the neck of the "bay" so I could get into a better position to target the jacks. Did I mention the wind blows a lot in Hawaii? I ended up walking back around to the area the guy was fishing and struck up a small conversation with him, but he did not want to talk long. He told me he was whipping (hence the rig - the float makes noise and the fish turn toward it and eat the lure) and he said he caught a small one while I was out on the edge. I fished this area hard, only getting my casts out about 70-80ft and really having to wait for my shots at the fish. I figured out after a while I did not have the noise maker to attract the attention of the fish so I did a lot of casting practice.
I remembered I had made some notes before I left home so I pulled them out and planned a serious day of fishing. I looked up the beach I had read about, Anini Beach (west side of the island and it is a large reef protected "flat"). I pulled up some tidal info and decided I needed to leave about 6 AM to make the 40 minute drive and get ready to be in the water at the appropriate time.
I pulled into the parking lot and strung up the rod and scouted it out for a few minutes. Several hundred yards off shore the waves were breaking but the reef (flat) was as slick as glass. The water was so clear it gave a false sense of the depth. I stepped from coral out cropping to coral out cropping trying to get up high enough to see something in the water, ever mindful not to step into the holes in the coral. I likely would have gone under and been stuck if I had not watched closely for the holes, and then there are the Morey eels that reside in them.
I blind casted and blind casted and did not see much moving, and then bam the line got tight (and I thought BONE FISH) but it did not put up much of a fight and after a minute I landed a 24+ inch Coronet fish. Word to the wise if you plan to go salt water fishing, DO NOT lip salt water fish. I made sure to take my forceps with me and let this guy go. I some small reef fish chase my flies but nothing really worth talking about. I did have a Green Sea Turtle pay me a visit. I left after a couple of hours as the tide was sneaking up on me.
I had to cross this small creek each time I drove some where, so I finally decided to give it a shot, since I had my permit. I pulled off on the side of this pretty busy little road and strung up the 3wt and went after some fish I had seen in a previous pass. I threw my olive WB to the other side of the pool and after a couple of casts the line got tight and heavy. After a couple of head shakes he was done and I pulled in a nice 9-11 inch long Cichlid (sorry for the spelling) of some type. He was a dark brownish color, but did not fight very well. After a few more minutes I thought the people who lived adjacent to my fishing spot might get upset if I was in their yard so I left.
That morning I was to go into the mountains and hit their little trout streams, but there was a lot of rain the night before and the mountains had heavy dark clouds around them for a couple of days, and the locals said the small streams get very high very quick. So, there was no small stream trout to be had.
The last day I was there we decided to go to another beach, Kalapaki beach, and I would fish along the sea wall. Did I mention the wind blows a lot in Hawaii? I was casting into a 15-25mph wind while standing on this wall, and I could not carry much line behind me due to the public road I was right next to.
I made a lot of casts, and I was using a small clouser, and bringing it back across this drop off near the wall. I was retrieving one cast and here he came out of no where, seemingly from against the wall, and he was headed straight to my fly. I anticipated the strike and readied the strip strike and as the line tightened I stripped and missed him. I quickly wanted to get the fly back the zone and after another cast felt something strange. I slowed the cast and looked to find no fly. That bugger had cut me off like a razor through 6x. Everyone said it must have been a small barracuda, whatever it was went about 24 inches and a few pounds. I then started fishing again when some friends showed up. Out of no where this big Green Sea Turtle showed up and started feeding on the rocks, and then another, bigger, one showed up. I fished and watched the turtles for a while, and then went to get some lunch at a little place right on the beach.
In the end, on Kauai, one Cichlid, a Coronet fish, some Needle fish, a bunch of friendly turtles and a cut line.
The next day I was off to Oahu, this is July 4th.
When we landed we decided to go straight to Pearl Harbor, and I feared the lines would be terrible. There was hardly anyone there and we were able to ease through all of the exhibits, go to Ford Island to see the Missouri, and then get back to visit the Arizona Memorial. Being there is awesome (been twice now) but being there on the 4th of July was extra special.
The next day I was scheduled to go bone fishing with a guide. I had to leave the North Shore about 530AM to make sure I was where I needed to be on time. I met the guide and off we went to a place he called the Triangle flat (near the Airport, very near the Airport). We had to Kayak about 10 minutes to reach the flat and then we walked a long way around searching for fish. If you have ever fished for Bones in the Keys this is very different (I have fished there too). These fish like rising tides, not falling tides. They will chase more Crazy Charlie type of flies, not so much crab patterns. We spooked a couple getting on to the flat and tied up the yak. These were big wakes. There had been some heavy rain the night before, and the water was stained because the Mountain Rivers flow into the ocean. Visibility was about two feet, maybe. We saw a few, and when I saw that first tail I almost drowned as my jaw hit the water. This was not a Keys Tail, this was like the sail from a nice sail boat. It was a huge tail! I did get a decent shot at one or two, and then I had a good shot about 40ft straight in front. I followed the guide's direction and stripped and the fish came in closer (I was thinking I needed to stop and let the fish pick it up but I don’t tell people how to do their job). The fish finally turned and left. The guide saw a net in the water, which are illegal, so we walked that way to see about it. There are people that have make-shift houses on the water and they set the nets for food. This net was set near a ledge to trap fish coming onto the flat. The bone fish move on and off the flats most of the day. We saw a bunch of goat fish and a little hammer head trapped, but they were all dead. About that time a big swirl went off about 50 ft in front of us and this torpedo was screaming around like it had lost its guidance system. We had spooked a big bone fish and it was trying to get off the flat. Finally after it decided it could not get around this 500 ft long net he tried to go trough it, and got stuck. We walked over and I gave the guide my knife and told him we should throw my hook in its mouth so I could reel on in. We laughed and he cut it free and he was off like a missile.
Speaking of missiles, the Armed Forces were playing RIMPAC while I was there and as I fished on that Saturday there were 20 to 30 jets taking off with in hundreds of yards of us. We were about 4 or 5 miles from Waikiki I am don’t think they could fly over the residential areas so they came off the run ways and went up the elevator shaft. It was awesome to see those guys defending our freedoms. Occasionally we would look up and see them “dog fighting”, and we could see the battle ships cruising around and turning toward and away from each other. I do not think I would do very well on a battle ship when it is turning; it looked like it was going to fall over on its side.
We were seeing fewer tails and wakes so we decided to blind cast for a little while and let the tide start to move. We were now in a very very low tide. I blind cast for a few minutes and the line got tight and I thought BONE FISH, but the line did not come off the reel. It was a puffer fish. The guide said do not ever put your finger in these little guys mouth because he has seen them bite through a hook. He had two little buck teeth, like a beaver, and a bad look on his face. A few casts later the line got tight and heavy and again I though BONE FISH but no line was coming off the reel, and when I landed it was a goat fish. The guide kept talking about how this was the strangest thing he had seen about there, the tide I mean. It just sat there and did not want to change. The fish really like the moving water. We walked a bit more and decided to call it a day. On the ride back he mentioned how sorry he was that the day was no better and said his policy was to take the client out at half price the next time. Anyway we talked about it and he said his dad Louis the Fish (pretty famous guide in Hawaii, you can look him up) would be back the soon and I should go with him. Louis called and we decided to go on Monday (it is Saturday). I called and cancelled my Peacock bass trip and Louis and I were on.
I drove to the flat on Monday and we loaded up and kayaked out to the flat. Louis is a character to say the least but that is another story all to itself. We really had no set time to be back, he said we could fish for 5 or 6 hours he did not care. We saw a few fish and did not really get a shot. The wind was up today as well. The tide did not cooperate again, and he said he had not seen a tide like this. It was just still. We fished for hours and the tide would not turn. He said come on we can go to this other flat and he would call it research. We paddled about 20-30 minutes and then started walking and hunting. He saw nothing, and said he almost always sees fish moving on that flat. It was like they were all on vacation, I mean nothing moved. He was very apologetic and we headed back in. As we hit this small strip off flat he saw movement so we jumped out and walked this strip for a few minutes. I had a decent shot at one and put the fly right on his head, literally on his head and spooked him. We paddled about 20 more minutes and then blind cast for about 20 minutes. He continued to say how strange this was. We finally made it back to the truck and talked for a minute and he said he was so upset by the fishing my two days that the next time I am in Hawaii we would go fishing at no charge.
I continued to fish each day at the resort I stayed in, on the North Shore, using the tips I had gotten from the guides. I walked out on to the coral that reached out into the bay and found a really nice drop off about 30 ft out from me, and tried to fish it. The problem was with the waves pounding in their sets. I only had a shot every minute or so and then I could not keep it in the zone long enough to really do it any justice.
So, in the end on Oahu I caught a couple of puffer fish, a goat fish, and the sympathy of the guides for two miserable days of bad tides and few fish.
There are bone in Hawaii, and big ones. I read an article while I was out there about a guy bottom fishing off of Lanai, at night, and he caught a 24 pound 38 inch bone fish. Like I said people out there eat everything so this guy had it cut in half and scraped the meat out for fish cake before it could be officially weighed. The guide I was with, Louis the fish, told me a lot of stories about trying to get the people of Hawaii to put more controls on the fishing so more generations could enjoy the beautiful species. He says he has helped make some head way but the people in the government are peoples from cultures that do not understand the concept of releasing fish for any reason. It is sad, really, to think that there is a World Class fishery waiting to be born and its guardians cannot see it. Louis has told the people in the government about the estimates the people in the keys put on the value of one bone fish, approximately 3500 dollars per fish, and they just do not understand that.
All in all I would have to say I had a blast fishing the Pacific Ocean and learning all I could from the local people. I will definitely be better prepared for my next trip out there. I will arm myself with some different flies next time, if I plan to do the same type of fishing.
Well, that was a great trip and I would be happy if that had been all of my fishing this summer, but I had one more trip to take. I told you I reached from one edge to the other. Now I have to go east. I went to Hilton Head for a week.
I was with the family on this trip, not just the wife, so I could not spend as much time fishing. I was surprised to see we were staying on a golf course, and you know what that means, ponds. I called the rental company and asked if I could fish there and they said as long as I stayed out of the golfer’s way. I was out there before the first tee time and after the last one. There were fish busting the water all over the place, and I had to figure out what they wanted.
The next day I was scheduled with a guide, scheduled him from Kauai, in Beaufort South Carolina. I drove about 30 minutes outside of HH to the Checessee (sp) River and met Richard Sykes for a half day. We had some rain the night before and it looked like more was coming. As soon as we headed out Richard said something about the rain and the stained water and more rain coming, so I knew I was probably in for a rough day. I told him that always happens when I get a guide. He said we were going to make it a good day.
We started out and I was asking what to look for and how to present, etc… I think he was a bit impressed that he did not have a total goober on his deck that morning. We talked a lot about fishing as we looked for fish. I heard a lot of racket behind us and asked what it was, and he said it was the Marines at Paris Island. They were on the firing line and it sounded awesome to hear those guys protecting us, or at least preparing to protect us.
We saw fish jumping everywhere and he told me they were mullet, and man they can get your blood pumping if you like to see fish jumping. We tried a couple of spots and the tide was moving out, and man is that an impressive site when you realize that it is going out and exposing hundreds of thousands of acres of oysters, and when you see all of the water moving out of the creeks created between the beds.
We saw some fish but could not get a shot at them, they were a little too far off and he told me not to even try, but to see what red fish looked like when they moved. We saw a couple of sharks moving next to the boat, and he saw a large sting ray. The tide went out and we poled around. All of the sudden his phone rang and it was the other guide from the shop who was fishing about a mile from us. He had two people on the boat and said they were not getting a bite and they were using fresh bait. Well Richard was not too happy about that and we moved on. He would tell me that the places we were fishing were usually always good for at least seeing fish. He said the stained water was not a big deal to the reds, but the sea trout would turn off because of it. We fished and fished and the wind picked up and time was running out, but the tide never would turn for us. We ended up in one spot and after, seriously, 300 or more casts my line got tight and heavy. Richard got a little excited and thought it was a RED, but it was a Lady Fish. The poor man’s tarpon, so I played it for a minute to get a few nice jumps from it, and then as I was reaching to boat it he decided he did not want to play anymore and took off. We had some decisions to make pretty quickly, stay out and pay more money or head in. I told him if he thought the tide would turn and the fishing would get better that we could stay and he said there was no way to tell so I reeled up and decided to head back. It was at that time Richard saw a huge splash, about 150 ft away, and he said we are going to go give that a shot before we leave. There was something(s) ambushing schools of bait as they swam by, but they wanted nothing to do with my red fish toad.
I learned a lot from Richard, and purposely picked his brain, and I think he genuinely felt remorseful that the weather and fishing was so bad.
I cursed and moaned a little, a lot, on the way back to HH. I was very frustrated that I had again paid money to go out in less than favorable conditions and pay someone to watch me practice my casting. I cooled down after about 20 minutes and tried to find my way back.
Later that night the family, all 13 of us, went to the Salty Dog Café and as we walked around I saw a sign that said Kayak fishing and a phone number, so I called. The guy on the other end said call back tomorrow, so I did. Well I figured this would be more or less a self guided trip, and it was pretty cheap so I booked a trip for three hours on Friday. Thursday night was pretty bad again with rain and there was now a tropical depression sitting and spinning off the coast, but I went to the marina anyway. I walked into the little shop and asked this older looking guy how the recent weather would affect the fishing, and he said “you just ever tell.” I should have known better and cancelled right there, but like I said before I do not tell people how to do their jobs. Bruce and I grabbed the paddles and headed out. The harbor was a pretty easy row and then we hit the ocean and the wind kicked up so we quickly turned into a creek and headed deep into the grass on this rising tide. We did not move a fish banging around in there and Bruce lead us into a wider area of the creek and started back into the end of the creek to see if the fish were holding back there. By this time I have talked to him enough to find out the following information; he has only been guiding almost 3 months (I was pretty peeved for a moment until I realized I knew this was going to be a self guided trip anyway), then I learned his real job is singing on the island at various restaurants (I thought he looked familiar – he was singing at the Salty Dog landing). He was telling me how he always sees fish in the areas we were paddling (I cannot doubt that because he is out there six times a week). He decided we needed to try this flat farther northeast, so we paddled out of the creek and as I turned the corner I looked back and Bruce is 300 yards back throwing his spinning gear. I pushed on, since he had pointed out the flat before we turned into the creek. I am now in the teeth of the wind practically jumping 2 foot waves and a very serious wind in my face. I paddled about 200 yards and finally decided I am not about to work that hard to get to that flat and find nothing there. There was not going to be anything on a flat in those conditions. I turned around and made it back to Bruce and told him the same and suggested we head back to harbor. He said he agreed that was a good idea and off we went. As we made it back to the harbor the wind was blocked a little and we still have not moved a fish. He asked if I wanted to try one of the, seriously, 5 spinning rods he had on his yak. I said sure. We were getting blown around too much to use my fly rod anymore. By the time I put the paddle down and pulled off enough line and cast I was sitting where I wanted to be casting. I made several casts to great looking spots on the edge of the grass, but nothing still. I looked at my watch and it was 5 till the hour so I moved over to him and said lets call it a day. We headed back and he said I am sure they will give you back your money, and I thought to myself they will give me back some of it or I might lose it. We chatted on the way in and as we unloaded he said, “Don’t worry about the tip or anything”. I thought to myself, “I wasn’t going to”. I let off a little steam on Bruce and prefaced it with this is not your fault. He told me the guy in the shop, which I spoke with, was the harbor master and that he was a long time guide. That made me see red for a moment. I said that guy has been around here long enough to know today was going to be worthless and he let us go out anyway. I said you don’t let people go out in these conditions. I told him I have had guides call me and say we need to reschedule, or cancel, but do not let people go out there and waste their money. I said you guys should want to get people to come back and fish with you again and that is just bad business. Bruce agreed, and I think he understood what I was trying to say. We did talk about catching on the way back and he said people come out here with their expectations set too high. I said I think I have my expectations set pretty well. I do not expect to come out here and put twenty fish in the boat, but I do expect to see fish and have shots at them and think two, maybe, three fish is not too much to ask. Somewhere along the line I said this water sure is dirty, and he said what do you mean? He said this water is full of nutrients and good stuff for the fish. I said I mean it is too turbid today, to stained, and he agreed. Bruce was a nice guy and works hard to make a living, and somewhere down the line he will be a pretty good guide for what that shop wants. Maybe he can catch on somewhere and get a permanent singing gig. I have no ill will toward him, so please do not think that.
Well I made it back to the condo soaking wet, and everyone said what are you doing back so soon? I told them the story and they were all a bit peeved that the shop would have allowed me to go out in such conditions.
Oh well, back to the pond fishing. I had run to a local fishing store before the “guided” kayak adventure, so I was more prepared for the ponds. I found out that several of them had big reds, tarpon, and some black bass. I caught a few little fish in the evenings as they chased the little bait fish to the shore line. I had to remember not to get too close to the edges because of gators. There was a ten footer that had been seen in the area I was fishing, and I saw a four footer up close and personal.
I saw mullet coming out of the water all around, but could not get a bite.
The next morning after several casts I felt it, and then saw it. It was a big Lady Fish, but she did not want to jump for me. I eased it over to the edge and finally released. She was about 27 inches and probably 3 pounds. I never had another hook up and it was time to put the rod back in its sock, wrap it up, and stuff it in its tube.
My summer of fishing had come to a close. I will certainly be in a river searching for stripers with good friends, but I am home to stay for a while. I would not trade a single cast because I learned something on every single one. I fished three pacific islands, brackish rivers, Port Royal sound, sat in a kayak in grass that was above my head, caught new species of fish I never even dreamed of having on a hook, met knew people, learned new techniques, and became a better person for it. I thank you for reading all of this and it has put a smile on my face to type all and relive it. I am only sorry that you are getting the abridged version, and that the colors and sites are not as vivid to you.
I may go fishing in exotic locals again one day but I doubt I will ever have an experience like this again.