Friday, April 14, 2017

Keehi Lagoon, HI (Bone Fishing)

Took my buddy Kelly out to show him around the flats and shortly before noon we moved out to the outside flats to look for bones. Saw plenty of fish inside but as the tide drops its good to move outside to get some the right depth. Found this guy towards the end of our walk out. Don't know how I didnt loose him. Wrapped a coral edge but was able to get him free and then he wrapped a rock but was able to get him off that too.

Summary:
Location: Keehi Lagoon
Time: 7am - 2pm
Rod: 7wt with floating line
Fly: Brown shrimp patterns in the lagoon and tan or orange outside of the lagoon
Fish: 1/1
Biggest Fish: 6#
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 8/10
Tide: 12:36am Low - 0.2ft, 5:38am High - 0.8ft, 11:20am Low - 0.0ft, 6:31pm High - 1.7ft


Saturday, March 18, 2017

Wahiawa State Recreation Waterway, HI

Passed on Peacock bass when I was in Nicaragua so I was grateful that I was able to try and catch them in Hawaii. Picked up a guide for the friend Terry and I. The guide preferred to fish with a bobber and live bait but I like to fly fish. I can't tell you how many fish I caught. This was incredible because we were still working on coming out of a cold streak for weather on the island. I never changed my fly for the whole day and it looked like a mess by the end of it. The big boy was found sitting next to a nest which is what they are doing this time of the year. The guide at the end of the day said that I had caught more bass on a fly then he had ever seen and close to if not the most amount of fish he had seen caught in a day on the water. Mind you we only fished for half the day. Choosing the afternoon again because of weather. The biggest trick was getting the strip down. Its not a super fast strip but it is a fast one. Gotta cast right up into the sticks/bank too.

Summary:
Location: Wilson Lake
Time: 12:00PM - 6:00PM
Rod: 5 wt w/ sinking tip (guide also had a gear rod out light weight)
Tackle: depending on hook brand because I've tied a few now a size 6 or 8 would work. Fished the red eye clauser with dark green and white.
Fish: 20+
Species: Catfish, Peacock Bass, Red Devil, Perch, and Largemouth Bass
Biggest Fish: 4# Peacock
Smallest Fish: 6" Perch
Rating: 10/10






Friday, March 17, 2017

Keehi Lagoon, HI (Bone Fishing)

Had a friend fly over from the mainland to try for some bone fish (Oio) over here in Hawaii. After having minimal luck catching fish on the flats myself I decided to give a guide a try. I mean we were splitting the cost! Anyways, Ed from Nervous Waters took us out to Keehi flat. He told us that we would likely see less fish as the day was a falling tide all day. This was similar to most the week and since Monday they had been seeing less fish. None the less we remain optimistic and went out for a go. After seeing several fish and getting many refusals the tide dropped to where the inside flat was getting to shallow. So we ventured out to one of the flats out off the runway. Here Ed took me on a walk where I hooked into a bone but having my drap too loose it back spooled me, bird nested, and broke off. I was heart broken. Shortly after we returned back to the inside lagoon because Terry wanted to catch a puffer fish. While her an Ed scouted for puffer fish they spottted and hokked another bone. This one took off over the shelf and got into the rocks. A friendly guide let Terry into his boat but having scrapped the rocks the line broke and the fish was gone. It was a great day and Ed from Nervous waters did a fantastic job guiding us.
Tips: For bones in this area there is a lot of pressure and not a lot of cover for you. Mostly site casting you need to move slow and always have your head up looking for a fish. If you see one don't move your feet, determine the direction of travel and try to cast 20' in front of the fish. Your first strip needs to be a long medium strip (mostly to pic up the slack) and then follow this strip with medium shorter strips about 5" each. If your lucky the fish will bite.
Access: You can take a boat or Kayak from the Keehi Boat harbor and paddle over. You can also Park at Keehi Lagoon Beach Park and to launch a Kayak and paddle over.

Summary:
Location: Keehi Lagoon
Time: All Day
Rod: 7wt with floating line
Fly: Brown shrimp patterns in the lagoon and tan or orange outside of the lagoon
Fish: 0/2
Biggest Fish:N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 6/10
Tide: 1:37am Low - 0.4ft, 6:44am High - 0.9ft, 12:49pm Low - 0.1ft, 8:03pm High - 1.4ft