Any Fly Fishing Opportunities in Oahu?

[BH Spey]

Looking for a one/two day diversion while on Oahu in late March. One day of wade/shore fishing and one day from a rented sea kayak. Any recommendations you have would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you had any recommendations on flys and rod weights to take with me. I've got a 9' 8wt 7-piece Wayfarer to throw in the luggage and was going to pick up a 5-piece Cabela's Stowaway for my son and am trying to decide between a 6wt or another 8wt.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Read this on Anglingreport.com

Recommendable Bonefishing In The Hawaiian Islands
Hawaii,United States


We?ve finally hit pay dirt in our on-again/off-again search for recommendable bonefishing in the Hawaiian Islands. Turns out there is some fairly good fishing on the island of Oahu, some of it not far from downtown Honolulu. Moreover, we have already made passing mention of this fishing to you, and told you about the young fly fisher who is pioneering it, Clayton Yee, owner of Nervous Water Flyfishers in Honolulu. At the time of our last report, Yee was not actively guiding or promoting bonefishing in Hawaii, but he and his partner, Kevin Faucheux, were simply pointing anglers in the right direction. Now, the two are actively guiding for bonefish on Hawaii, and they are having enough success at it to put Oahu on the map as a bonefishing spot.
We have all this from a Fly Shop Partner in a completely different part of the world ? namely, Rick Williams of Idaho Angler. He tells us that he has booked a number of bonefishing trips with Nervous Water Flyfishers and is comfortable enough with the success rate to recommend it to clients going there for a general vacation, or stopping in Honolulu on the way to Christmas Island.

Williams says he first discovered bonefishing in Hawaii quite by luck several years ago during a stopover there on the way to Christmas Island. He had all of his bonefishing gear with him and decided to poke around. He says he found a flat that simply ?looked right,? so he waded out and ended up hooking a fish that peeled some 200 yards of line off his reel. At the end of the fight, Williams says he had an eight-pound fish. When the rest of his fishing party arrived in Honolulu, he took them out, and they all caught fish before heading off to Christmas Island.

Several years later, Williams says his brother-in-law stumbled upon the Honolulu fly shop Nervous Water Flyfishers, which he describes as a ?broom closet supplied with a limited amount of high quality fly gear.? Williams visited them on his next trip and convinced Yee to take him on a guided half-day trip for bonefish. He says they went to a flat near the Honolulu airport. The weather was awful, with howling winds buffeting them. Despite that, Williams says he hooked two fish. He broke one off and landed a seven-pounder, which Yee said was small for that flat.

Williams describes the bonefishing here as being a bit like steelhead fishing in that you fish thigh-deep rather than shin-deep. Oahu is swept by the Trade Winds, too, so there is a constant breeze averaging 15 to 25 knots. That can cause a casting problem for novice fly anglers, plus the resultant choppy water makes spotting fish difficult. Additionally, while some flats here have white sand bottoms, most have dark coral bottoms ranging from bright red to purple, or tannish-brown. The bottom line is, spotting fish here is t-o-u-g-h!

As for the numbers of bonefish available, Williams says there are simply no large schools here at all. Anglers must hunt for small pods of two or three, occasionally six fish. Most often, however, you find singles. The fish you do find though are big, averaging six to seven pounds, with one in every 15 to 20 being a 10-pounder. These are also very strong fish. They are thick-shouldered, beautiful fish with bright blue on their tails and fins. And they are incredibly spooky.

Most of the fishing on Oahu is done by wading, but there is also some surf fishing. Just be aware that the fish are more difficult to see in the surf and more challenging to hook up. Faucheux and Yee also use a kayak to reach some areas. The best flats, according to Williams, are off Hawaii Kai, a suburb of Honolulu, and right around the international airport. Unfortunately, some of the latter flats are now off limits due to increased security measures after the September 11 attacks.

So, is Hawaii the next hot bone?fishing spot? Not likely. Faucheux and Yee both say you should not come to Hawaii with bonefishing as your main focus. Williams agrees, saying that he recommends it to clients spending a day or two there before heading off to their final fishing destination, or to anglers who are vacationing with family and want to spend some time wetting a fly line.

[Jim Hatch]

Hey BH Spey,

I've caught Peacock bass in Lake Wilson
just outside Wahiawa. Also, as I was Navy
stationed at NavCams Eastpac up in the
rainforest beyond Whitmore Villiage, I had
an opportunity to access the stream that
runs from the mountain down to Lake Wilson.
It was small stream fishing for bass and
there were plenty of them.*G* Probably 5
years ago I responded to a helicopter pilot
over at Wheeler. I told him about the
stream and sent some maps I pulled on line.
As he was military, he was able to access
the base and get access to the stream. His
reports indicated the bass were still
there and feisty as ever. Warm regards,
Jim

[BH Spey]

Hey Guys, thanks for the info! I truly appreciate it!