Hawaiian Bonefish - Oio.

I had some work meetings in Hawaii this past week, so I took the opportunity and fished with Doug Lum from Nervous Waters in Oahu. I love fishing in Hawaii because it offers such close access to great fishing, great food, great sunsets, and of course great people. We met at the usual spot and started late in the morning as the tide were still high. Doug is a retired millionaire (although he won’t admit it), who fishes between Hawaii and Alaska. He is born and raised in Hawaii and has been fishing here all his life. He’s the one of the very few Hawaiian I know who doesn’t surf, because even as a kid, he preferred fishing over surfing. He’s a super relaxed Sinatra fan… an awesome person to fish with.

Combination of high winds & spotty/ thick clouds made sight fishing fairly challenging. Still we spotted a few good fish to cast to. We focused on sight fishing during the morning, and went for the deeper waters to blind cast in the afternoon. I had a tough time getting used to casting in such high winds, and the fly whacked my head a few times - fortunately it didn’t stick there. Doug tagged the fish that were caught, working with the Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources. HDLNR are finally starting more detailed research on bonefish, or Oio as they are called in Hawaii. The tag will help measure growth & distances travelled, among other things. Catching big bonefish is something to do in Oahu but nothing beats looking up from fishing to see a beautiful Hawaiian rainbow or sunset. It’s at those moments when I thank the Man upstairs.

I stayed in a pretty fancy house up near the North Shore and our friend Mike made his famous pizza omelets each morning. As I was getting ready to leave at the airport, I looked at my stinging fingers. It’s good knowing that I fished hard till my fingers bled… which is the way it should always be. Then, as I fell asleep on the place, I thought - perhaps I should wear a proper strip guard next time. Aloha.