OK… if I had just slayed them, I probably would be a little more elusive about where exactly I went. However, having spent 3 & 1/2 days in pursuit of bones in Kauai, I feel comfortable revealing which island I was on.
Mainly, I feel comfortable doing so because if you head to Kauai with the sole intention of catching bonefish, you are mad… MAD, MAD, MAD!
I certainly won’t go back to Kauai JUST for the fishing. I may very well go back there. I love that place. If I go back, I’ll bring a rod, for sure. However, the fishing leaves a lot to be desired… like a lot more fish that are considerably less spooky and much more easy to find… to name a few attributes that could improve things a tad.
I wrote down a list of thoughts I had from the trip… here are a few:
- Sleeping bags in damp, warm places are not really very comfortable.
- Of the 4 shots I had, 3 were to single fish in deeper water, 3 feet or so. If that’s where the fish are hanging out, it makes more sense why they were hard to find.
- I didn’t see a single bonefish predator.
- Rain gear was essential.
- There were some bait guys out there… the kind where you stick the rod in a holder and wait for the bell to ring. I never saw them catch anything.
- The Redington Predator cast well for a big rod. No complaints.
- I didn’t see a bonefish really tail (I did see tails, but those fish, unlike the deep water fish, were in really skinny water and I think they were just so big their fins were out of the water).
- I didn’t see a bonefish push water.
- There were guys hitting golf balls out into the ocean. There were hundreds of golf balls in the sand and on the flats. Those guys are tools.
- Getting out on those big flats was easy, but walking back, when the lights went off, was challenging.
- I have a new appreciation for fish that feed readily and are plentiful.
- At the campground there were a LOT of hippies. More than a few people seemed to be living there.
- Roosters sever as the wake-up call, starting at about 5:30.
Yeah... not what you think of when you picture Hawaii.
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Tags: bonefishing, fy fishing, Hawaii, Kauai, O'io
Too bad your trip was a fishing bust. You were so psyched to go…
BTW, why is your blog littered with comments from Indonesia? IS there a webmaster who can reset things?
Otherwise, I enjoy your posts.
Now that you’ve got that out of your system, quit pussy footing around and get down to Los Roques.
Good call Gary.
The spam thing is some social plug in… seems like my blog is picking up a different stream from some other site. Probably just disable it.
Hopeing to fish with coach Duff in may next year should I lower my expectations
Low expectations is key for Hawaiian bonefishing, I think.
Did you get any shots at any other critters there?
Had one school of Blue Fin Trevally come by. Caught a couple smaller ones off the edges. Caught some trumpet fish, some lizard fish and one thing I still need to ID. That was about it.
That odd fish I caught was an “Oriental Flying Gurnard”
Too bad about that. Hawaii is a beautiful but odd place. Do you know if the fishing is better at any of the other islands? Maybe Kauii is too wet. Some day, I will fish for bonefish…..
Yo, sorry about the trip bro… but I actually think tough, bang-your-head-against-a-wall trips are essential for our fishing well being. Keeps us humble, you know. (Of course, sometimes you’re just like, “ok, I think I’m humble enough… can I have some fish now?”
Anyways, you’ve paid your dues. Next trip you’ll get em for sure.
The fishing is better on Oahu and Molokai is supposed to have good numbers, but I don’t hear much about it.
Yeah, I know what you mean… I do feel like it was good trip and challenging fishing does put it all in perspective. I did feel humble enough to get some fish… next time for sure.
I know this one place.
It has empty houses all along the beach that could serve as a campground, or if you want to go fancy and be well feed, there is this one lodge you could stay at.
Yes, I’m still trying to figure out how I can go be a Bahama Bum.
Despite the difficult fishing, I hope you still had a great time and no.
And nope, that is NOT the picture I was expecting from Hawaii =)
You look…cold!
Ah Rebecca… I know that place. I want to get back to that place very, very badly.
It was a good trip, despite the bad fishing. I knew it would be.
the golf balls are from the princeville golf course above the beach, they come off the hill in the runoff. my luck was about yours although I did see someone hook up with a nice one.
yeah… I watched a guy go out there three days and just hit balls out into the water. Wish it was Princeville, that way I could get mad at them, but this was just a guy who loved shanking balls into the Pacific. Bummer.
Molokai??? There is NO such place! And even if it DID exist, it would NEVER have Bonefish. Remember, there is NO place called Molokai. Don’t EVER mention that name again!!!!!
Oahu is the spot to be and even some of the other islands have awesome bones too. Just Kauai is super tough. When I fished Oahu we had a slow day and saw over a hundred fish and had plenty of shots to tailers etc. Many fish were in the 7 to 10 lb range. Mike Hennesey is the man down here.