DS Fishing Blog

People use the term friend pretty loosely these days.  Where I live we take it for granted that when someone refers to a "friend" they can be referring to their closest friend or someone they just met while waiting in line at Starbucks.  Social networking sites like Facebook just add to the confusion.  I've heard it said that a good friend will bail you out of jail, but a great friend will be sitting there next to you saying, "That was fun!"  Well, that's clever if you're young, but as you get older you appreciate the "Great" friend that bails you out of jail and says, "What the hell were you thinking, Smacktard!"

So, I'm pretty fortunate to have a short list of friends that let me know when I deserve the title of "Smacktard."  Hopefully I'll never need to get bailed out of jail, but if I do, I'm pretty confident my short list would come through.  Which makes my good buddy in Oahu stand out, because if I had to make that call to him, I know he'd be in his car on the way to the airport before we even hung up.

So, about two weeks ago he gives me a call and says, "Round trip tickets to Hawaii are $200.  What are you doing for the Super Bowl?"  Well, it took me about 10 seconds to think of all the reasons why it was a bad idea before I said, "I'm coming."  (That was a real fare my friends).  My business has been hit by current economic events like everyone else.  Taking any sort of vacation seems excessive and extravagant.  Like most of you, I figured I couldn't justify it unless I went fishing.  My buddy doesn't fish.  At least, not often, and certainly not when you have to wade out.  He's a little shark- phobic.  Normally, I'd give him some grief, but last time I was there, a body washed ashore... a human body... actually, a half of a body.  Anyway, he now gets a lifetime pass of freedom from my grief giving.  Me, on the other hand, I'm not too worried - I work out.

So, now I have about a week to take care of everything and I start trying to figure out how I'm gonna go fishing.  Hawaii isn't really a big fly fishing destination, but, as it turns out, they have some pretty big Bonefish, or O'io as the Hawaiians call them.  The guide rates were between $200 and $500 depending on who you talked to and how long you wanted to fish.  I had no gear and a budget of $0 so I didn't really think I'd get very close to any O'io.  Well, I asked around a bit and I got a message from a guy on Oahu who said to call him when I got into town and he'd try to make it happen.  Sure enough, he was able to clock out a little early and he made it happen.  He had an extra 9 wt. rod and a stripping basket for me and we got a solid couple hours in.

I don't want to give away the flats he took me too, but I will say it was near Pearl Harbor and unless you have military access you best fish elsewhere.  We got in the water about 4 PM and not long after we started, the PA system on the base signaled the observance of evening colors.  Now, for reasons I wont go into,  I've never been a big flag waving, go team kind of guy.  I like our national anthem best when its performed traditionally (Although, I really dig the Jimi Hendrix version, and the Marvin Gaye version below blows me away).  At the Super Bowl, as wonderfully talented as Jennifer Hudson is, her interpretation of The Star Spangled Banner left me feeling indifferent at best.  Now, here I am standing waist deep in water off of Pearl Harbor, listening to an old recording of what I assume is a military band that is blasting out of some loudspeaker hidden beyond the palm trees.  I literally had chills.

    Marvin Gaye knocks it out here too!

I dealt with the Bonefish just like I deal with trout - I spooked them.  After the first small splash/boil indicating a spooked O'io, I learned how not to approach them, but just to make sure... I kept doing it.  We caught one between us (my way of saying I got skunked).  Honestly, it didn't matter.  I made a new friend and was treated to a spectacular Oahu Sunset.  I look forward to going back for more.

The Super Bowl was pretty amazing too.  The fact that it was a great game was just the gravy on top.  My buddy had gotten together with a couple of his friends and they had made some home brewed beer.  Now, I've had many a home brew in the past and they are usually OK at best.  Sometimes you even have to pinch your nose while drinking.  Well, the beer they concocted was AMAZING.  I ate, I drank, I cheered.  Probably just like you... except I did it in Hawaii.

Aloha 

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