My dream vacations have always been to tropical islands withisolated beaches and lush mountains. Being a 14 yr everglades national park and florida keys guide, it was never too terribly bad returning from such journeys to the carribean. When my wife was offered a job on Oahu, i thought ofhow great it would be to have one of our dream destinations become our home!
After contacting the top guide on the island andlistening tostories of potential world record bonefish from top keys guides, i was earger to hear more. Capt. Terry Duffield [aka Coach Duff] was gracious enough to take me under his wing and show me the ins and outs. He literally gave me the keysto the castleand put me in positionfor successin what would have take even a seasoned guide many years to figure out. For this i am forever in debt!
The first thing you notice when leaving the launch is how incredible Oahu looks from the water. I have always been an experience type of sportsman with catching important but considered it a bonus to the act of just being out there. From my 14 yrs of guiding, i have noticed anglers with this attitude have the highest success because they are not putting added pressure on themselves to be the 'hero'. This mentally is key when pursuing trophy bonefish. I have found on days when we are seeing tons of bones out of the gate with little success, anglers tend to get down on themselves not taking into account thatthe bonefishmay be more skiddish than normal or possibly less interested. I was in a one day bonefish tournament with a very good angler in which we went all morning with a goose egg after numerous shots. After a few choice words, we regrouped, kept the faith and things started to click. He ended up in a three way tie for first that we won on time beleive it or not. It seems that it was more of the bonefish lack of interest than his inability because the tournament was a who's who of lengendary keys anglers.It was an important lesson that day for everyone including myself. My motto is the next bonefish that comes along has no idea how many we have spooked already!
To ensure your get the most bang for your buck i.e. success,I highly recommend that you do work in the yard with your favorite rod. I was once on a trip with Coach andwhen we pulled out to change location, Coach suggested a quick casting lesson during our lunch break. I have never seen a keys guide do this. It was enlighting for all including myself. For the anglers it made the difference between success and failure as they hadno experience bonefishor dealing with trade winds islands typically get.Later that day,my spinning angler hooked a bone over 10lbs that was tailing but broke him off after a 200 yd run. Coach's flyrodder hooked and landed a 4 lb fish. Quite a feat being he had just learned how to double haul and had never seen a bonefish before that day!
Innovative lures and flies have improved success epecially for monster bonefish. I am constantly experimenting and changing exsisting proven fly patterns and jigs. Coach is one of the best fly tiers i have ever met. His cabinet would make even the best flyshop look inept. But it still fails back on presentation and the ability to FEED the bonefish. I have had the pleasure to fsh some of the best casters in the world. Being able to consistantly throw 80-100 ft doesn't make you the best angler. The ability to read the situation and move the lure in the most life-like manner at the perfect momentis of utmost importance. Most fish are hooked less than 40 ft away. With this in mind, one of the most important aspects is knowing where your fly is relationship to the fish. It is very easy for a bonefish to overrun your fly because tailers appear to be crawling when in reality they lunge slightly forward after rooting up the bottom. Also angles are very critical. I avoid crossing shots at all cost. When wading i will slowly move to try to turn an angled shot into a head on one. The reason for this is that a crossing shot will inevitalby either come at it and spook the bone or cross it's path too soon without it noticing the lure. A head on shot, on the other hand, forces the bonefish to run into the lure. This is where timing and patience is critical. Snapping the lure at the correct moment and allowing it to plunge back to the bottom like a crustacean would do in nature trying to hide for it's life is the key. This executed propery almost always is rewarded with heart stopping strike and a drag testing run similiar to hooking the bumper of a ferrari on the H1! More to come in Bonefishing Oahu 101