fiftyfly

[fiftyfly]

Fortunate enough to get a second summer again this year! Thanks to N, J and K for the hospitality and fun! They helped me get out fishing in the most beautiful spots and even catch a few fish along the way including my first kahawai. Hope to see them out there again soon!

#NZ #fishing #kahawai

[fiftyfly]

Feb 2024

Although a land-lubbing shoreline lure fisherman I am open to boat fishing when the opportunity arises with a Captain who is tolerant of my seasickness and lack of basic boating knowledge. So it was with my sister's friend D who offered up a seat on his boat for a couple hours of sunset fishing basically in his backyard. Just so happens his backyard is a pretty fishy pocket of northland NZ. We headed out late in the afternoon, anchored up fairly close to land along an otherwise inaccessible rugged coast, laid out the berley bags and baited our line. It didn't take long for the snappers to start coming around and we had a few good runs but nothing stuck. Our eyes got big and hearts raced when a good size kingy swam through the chum cloud but once again no luck. We pulled up anchor and raced to hit a spot in the bay before sunset. To me the spot looked like nothing special but D assured me that fish had been congregating in the area recently. Sure enough, it was no time before our fist keeper was in the boat and then the next and then the next, all solid fish. We even switched to soft plastics part way through the feeding and had some fun with light tackle. We ended up with well more than a dozen fish, and kept six for dinner. In the midst of this I also got lucky with this nice "trev" that made for some good sashimi! After all this success has D converted this land-lubbing lure fisherman??? Stay tuned... :)

Thanks D for all the hospitality and a terrific fishing trip!

#trevally #fishing #new zealand

[fiftyfly]

MOLOKAI CONFESSIONS

Had the good fortune to spend a few days fishing on Molokai with A. We would start before the sun came up and close up shop after it went down. I had my fair share of heavy hits but could not keep them hooked. Head shakes and jumps would throw the barbless hooks each time turning the tight lines slack. After three days of lost fish I finally landed a decent yellow dot (with a barbed hook, shhh).

#papio #molokai

[fiftyfly]

“...a special day...”

April 1, 2023 - We had not fished together for some time but S, D and I managed to get out on the water.  S and I had been working too much and D has been busy with a new addition to his family.  The water, weather and tides looked promising.  Walking out we could see a huge school of nehu up in the shallow water with herons hunting and no other fishermen around.  Stepping into the water we saw small fish, mantis shrimp and crabs scatter before us with each step.  S mentioned that it felt as if we had just wandered onto an undiscovered deserted island with so much wildlife and so few people.  The mantis shrimp seemed particularly abundant with green, white, black and orange ones zipping around our feet. We crouched down and grabbed one for a little live bait.  S went to the edge of the reef to test his luck while D and I walked around looking for fish, but it was not two minutes before S had his pole bent pulling in the nice papio shown here.  Inspired, S caught a couple more mantis shrimps and crabs and proceeded catch another papio and a nice lai just as easily.  He suggested I give it a try.  I felt it was just a matter of time before a screamer hit and did not want to swoop in and take “his” fish but I gave in, and sure enough after my second cast I felt something heavy hit and the line on my reel started disappearing at an alarming rate.  Unfortunately after a few thrilling moments the line went slack. I pulled up the line to find my knot still there so I have to think that the hook eye somehow pulled through the line?  A weakness in the line at that specific point? Or an abrasion on the hook eye wore away at the line?  We never did get another strike to match that day but we didn’t do bad at all and as S said leaving, “it’s been a special day and i’m glad you guys were here to share it.” Hope we can do it again soon.

[fiftyfly]

March 17-19, 2023

A beautiful walk, see photo evidence, Friday evening inspired me to hit the water over the weekend.  Ended up fishing the flats in the middle of the picture Saturday morning with a neighbor (J) and a couple of his friends (JT & R) I had not met before.  There was a time, many years ago, when I felt I knew everyone I saw flyfishing.  Times change.  Fishing friends have moved away or had children or taken up golf, etc. and now I don’t often see many familiar faces so it was good to get out there and make a couple new connections.

As we rigged up in the parking lot we talked about how we each came to flyfishing after growing up whipping and dunking.  TS mentioned how he wished he had started earlier and that it seemed like the golden age for flyfishing in Hawaii was around 2005-2010.  Having started in 2006 I found that what he said really put things in perspective for me as I have often had similar thought -- that the golden age seemed 10 years before I started.  In that vein, a common conversation I have with other fishermen is, “Imagine fishing Hawaii before discovery or before the Hawaiians even...”. It’s just human nature to think it was better in some previous time, and I am certainly guilty of it but TS’s comment helped me break out of this at least for the weekend.  For the next couple days I found I was actually very happy just to have found flyfishing, access to some fishy water nearby and some new friends to share it with. 

#flyfishing #oahu #golden age of flyfishing #should have been here yesterday

[fiftyfly]

Dec 2022 - Second Summer!

Had the good fortune to fish both salt and fresh in New Zealand.  A hook-up in the salt came unbuttoned but I managed to land a few trout -- fatty of the day shown here -- with the help of Ken Mitchell at Fishjet NZ.  I cannot say enough about the excellent service provided by Ken and everyone at Fishjet NZ (https://www.fishjetnz.com/) - casual and comfortable yet professional and competent throughout from booking to tea break and on through the cleaning of the fish to take back for dinner!  Tip: be on the look out for Fresh Water Eels of Unusual Size when cleaning the day’s catch!

#fishjetnz #te anau #flyfishing

[fiftyfly]

Fall 2022

Saw on the news that Fall started on Sept 22 and realized the Summer had evaporated with too much of it spent in the office.  I had been feeling it too and realized I could use a mental health day. Squeezed by a project at work and chores at home a day on the water without any deadlines or appointments was just what the doctor ordered.  A big thanks to E for volunteering to join me and for taking me out on her new kayak!  We got skunked but it was beautiful out there!

#kaneohe bay #fishing #oahu #oio #omilu

[fiftyfly]

MAY 30, 2022

The sun was out and the tides were right so with a free hour before lunch I headed out to the nearest beach to see if any fish were around.  The parking lot was only half full but I saw two guys with their trunks open prepping gear and a third already in the water.  I headed in the opposite direction of the guy fishing and soon spotted a couple fish so I was encouraged, but I did not get a decent shot till I was just about ready to leave.  About 45 minutes in I saw an oio cruise across a raised section of the flats and into a sandy pocket about 50 ft in front of me, but my cast landed a little too close and the fish immediately made a u-turn.  Interestingly though it did not leave the pocket.  Instead it soon circled back and began cruising through the area in and out of the glare.  I recast to an open area off to the side of the pocket and slowly, with the help of the winds and current, slid the fly across the center of the pocket.  From the feel of the line it seemed the fly was bouncing across the rocky bottom but then I felt the tug and it was off to the races.  The oio gave a solid run but it only had that one good run in it and was soon at hand. When I pulled it close there was no fly visible and discovered the hook deep in its mouth.  After some wrestling with the pliers I still was unable to unhook the fly so considered taking the oio for fish cake but the fish must’ve been reading my mind because it revived quickly and swam off.

This was the second fish in a row at that same spot, each happening within an hour of getting in the water.  So strange how fishing can seem for a fleeting minute or two effortless.  Cast the fly, catch a fish.  And yet some stretches lasting hours or days or months can go on and on without any results but fouled lines and fouler attitudes.  Not so unlike many other aspects of life perhaps.  Toil away fruitlessly to make something work, say a career, an art project, a relationship, and then you make a change, redirect your efforts, or maybe it has nothing to do with you at all but for some reason everything you’ve been focused on just clicks into place and for a brief moment at least everything feels so easy.  These events are rare good fortune but my initial reaction at such a change can be pure frustration - “why can’t it always be this way!  why must it be so hard!”.  Then occasionally on my better days I can find in that moment time to pause and recognize the synchronicity of it all and feel an amazing sense of appreciation welling up in me for the weather, the beauty of the ocean, the love of family and friends, and the gift of having a spare hour of time to spend fishing.

#oio #fishing #flyfishing #saltwater flyfishing #bonefish #oahu fishing #hawaii fishing

[fiftyfly]

Summer Recap 2021

With Fall officially here, figured it’d be a good time to reflect on a busy summer.  Luckily it included lots of fishing with friends.

C washed the skunk off his new speargun.

E said she was going to catch gobbies at the pier in Chicago and pulled this up on a spoon.

ET needed a bigger net for this one!  E’s monstah oio got away when the net couldn’t contain it.

And I plan to test out pizza slices next time out. Casting will be the tricky part I think and yes those are two mantis shrimps driving.

Hoping you all managed some good times this summer even with the pandemic!

[fiftyfly]

Aug 22, 2021

I have not been fishing for oio as much this summer.  At different points been going after toau, papio, awaawa and kaku to varying degrees of success.  But this weekend the weather and conditions seemed too nice to pass up.  After arriving at the beach I noticed apparently everyone else had the same idea.  I managed to find a relatively quiet spot and immediately the fish started appearing.  Had a couple of snubs before I cast to what was actually a weedy depression.  I started to strip my line in to recast when I noticed a fish cruise into my field of vision with his eyes locked onto my fly. I stopped stripping and he slurped up the fly.

As I reeled him in I remembered the week before a friend’s parents asked about giving them an oio for fishcake and I figured if this one was legal I’d keep it.  It was the first oio I have kept and I was torn driving it home.  I felt as if I had broken some kind of unwritten truce with them in which they agreed to bite if I agreed to let them go. At least this one can’t squeal on me.

[fiftyfly]

RG was a consultant for me on a couple of different projects before I bumped into him at a favorite fishing spot. Neither one of us caught much of anything that day but he later followed up with this photo of his first oio. Nice one! Hope to see you out there again!

[fiftyfly]

Covid fishing has been good to some.  Kiwi friend A shows off a nice catch from last year.  Virus in check and fish biting --NZ moving in the right direction!

He was nice enough to provide some fishing tips while I was in NZ and to share some delicious Kingfish sashimi as well.  His wife says he will ask her not only what type of fish she would like him to catch for dinner but also what size!  I guess when you are good...

Hope to get a chance to fish with you A when all this is behind us.

[fiftyfly]

11 October 2020

Took the new L2Fish (http://www.livewatersports.com/boards/l2fish) for a quick run around Coconut Island just before the rains.  A step up from the inflatable tube for sure but watch out for old pier piles and broken sign posts around the bay -- managed to gouge the bottom of one hull on a rusting pole.

[fiftyfly]

Maunalua Bay holoholo, July 2020 - took an inflatable tube and some dive fins out a couple times this summer.  Hooked up to a screamer but to my disbelief it managed to come unbuttoned.  Surprisingly kinda a core workout.

[fiftyfly]

June - September 2020

Going out in the dark to catch sunrise and staying out after dark to catch papios.  The Summerʻs been tough with the lockdown but it had its moments if you managed to avoid catching COVID.  Thanks for the check in KW and AC and continue to stay safe!

[fiftyfly]

July 8, 2017

Found this flashback sitting in the draft folder today...

I don’t remember catching many papios in my younger years.  Is it possible there are more of them around now?  Seems unlikely; which leads me to wonder how much of fishing is just plain luck and how much of it is the years of experience and knowledge piling up.

#papio #omilu #flyfishing #fishing #hawaii #oahu

[fiftyfly]

Fishing in the time of COVID.  March - May 2020

Oahuʻs south shore felt like a quiet neighbor-island.  Papios seemed to be around in good numbers but the big ones were elusive.  Though a one-man cruised into Kaimana beach with 20+# black ulua strapped to his hull.

Aʻs been on a hunt for his summer trophy and has already got a few strikes.  Its just a matter of time.  Thanks for organizing the sunset fishing holoholo to help keep up spirits!

Eʻs been pretty stoked on fishing lately too, planning morning and sunset whipping sessions...the same day.  Thanks for the Black Point trip even though we struck out -- next time guarantee!