This River is Wild: Surf Bones

Paradise

Outside of permit, the salt species that I get most excited about are bonefish due to the sight fishing opportunities they provide and how they truly test ones gear on the flats. On this particular trip, I had multiple shots at some mega-sized bones. When I say "shots," I actually mean glimmers. The moments were fleeting due to where I encountered them, which was typically in the surf. The geographic features of these volcanic islands do not produce the traditional flats that one would find in the Bahamas or The Keys. They are smaller, rocky, and full of dead coral that make landing a fish incredibly difficult. A lot of these micro flats have waves rolling across them. When combined with wind and glare it is very difficult to spot a bonefish and get an accurate cast off before they vanish. Here, it is rare to see a grouping of bones with more than 2-3 fish. More often than not, they are solitary prowlers. Another area where a lot of these larger fish are encountered are directly on the beaches where the unpredictability of the waves, and the backwash they produce, give you such a short window to make a presentation to sighted fish. On top of that, the presentation of the fly becomes difficult due to the sheer power of the current moving in and out along with the changing turbidity. The task is an exercise in patience as you have to wait for a viewing window that is only open for a precious few seconds before it closes again. More often than not, you don't see anything. Sometimes, you see the image of solitary giant bonefish that will haunt your dreams at night...

Wind, waves, current, and a lot of sharp objects...

A good one found in the surf...

The typical coastline is marred with sharp edges and lapping surf.

Possibly my favorite beach and home to some absolute units...

I thought I tied a nice selection of flies for this trip that built on what worked for me in the past. However, I ended up fishing entirely different sections of the these islands due to transportation issues. Most of these flies weren't up to the task of fishing in the surf and were better suited for shallow water. They had their time and place later on though...

I picked this fly up a few years back at Picabo Angler in Idaho. I don't know the name of it but it is heavily weighted at the eye of the hook and also with bead chain eyes at the bend. It ended up being the fly of the trip because of how quickly it sank to the appropriate depth in the short windows provided by the aforementioned opportunities. I hate using heavy bonefish flies, but this guy was the ticket until I lost it to a greedy barracuda.

I tend to buck industry trends with some of my set ups. In this case, I prefer a slightly longer rod because of the added ability to do drag/drop techniques and manipulate the fly like a marionette. The ability to do that is simply less with shorter rods. I don't find that the added length disrupts my ability too much to take short quick shots at bonefish. With all the coral and obstructions the added length also helps keep my fly line higher in the air to avoid entanglements and break offs on those long runs. The K2 796 has a medium fast action that bends well, allowing feel in the casting stroke, and generally resulting in less plunky presentations.

Rod: Loop K2 796-4
Reel: Loop Opti Runner or Loop Evotec G3
Line: SA Magnitude Smooth Infinity Clear Tip

This fly line worked well at not spooking fish but I thought it got really sticky in the hot weather and didn't glide through my guides as much as I would have liked for $150. The stickiness also led to some issues with running line entanglements. In addition, the line I purchased had some production quality issues. In the middle of the blue running line was a random 10ft. section of clear fly line. I flew out the day after I made the purchase or SA would have received a phone call.