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To Dream, The "Impossibles" Dream.....

1K views 14 replies 13 participants last post by  Miso Harney 
#1 ·
With the vog today hovering in the "unhealthy" range here in Kona, I thought I'd take a minute and post up a cool species I caught recently. Mems, a fellow board member, Big Island flyfishing guide and mentor, posted up a thread a while ago on species here he calls the "impossibles." These are species that are basically impossible to catch on fly - the "big three" local surgeonfish: Yellowfin and Ringtail surgeonfish, both known collectively as Pualu, and the Eyestripe surgeonfish, known locally as Palani. I recently had a Ringtail attack a pink/tan mantis shrimp pattern I was using for bonefish repeatedly until it finally got hooked. I'd never seen this kind of aggressiveness to a fly before from any of those three so this was a real treat. Once it was hooked it was game on. These things are downright dirty, nasty, insanely-strong-for-their-size fighters. It ran deep, bulldogged, took plenty of line then zigzagged back shallow behind me and kept trying to rub the fly off on the lava rocks. The first couple feet of my leader were completely shredded. When I showed the photos to a flyfishing buddy, he said "I bow to you; one of those is worth 50 bonefish!" I feel lucky to have had this rare encounter...
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It was a hell of a battle with a cool new species for me, since I had not taken one on any other kind of fishing gear yet either...

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Mems is the only other person I know of who has coaxed one of these to eat a fly so I feel I'm in good company. I've been fishing the tropics and Hawaii for the better part of 30 years now and any "first" is always a treat. My recent move to Kona has given me time to continue my evil experiments with fly patterns for surgeonfish, parrotfish and other species. I've been doing well on Stareye Parrotfish using limu (seaweed) patterns of various types. The blue males are cool looking and give a very strong first run. I prefer 6-8 wt sticks for these since they will dive for any rock ledge or bommie in the area and I often need to bulldog them out of the rocks and pray my leader doesn't shred and break before I land them...

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Stareye are probably the "easiest" parrot to target as they are more omnivorous than other types, but other types will hit a well presented seaweed fly if luck is with the angler. They scrape considerable seaweed off rocks in addition to eating coral polyps. Another surgeonfish type I've had fun with lately using 3 wt rods is the Convict Tang, or Manini. Small size 14 seaweed patterns have worked best for these guys....

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I've taken a few other species of surgeons on my buddy Bryce's Salad Shooter fly too. Lots of fun.

Not an "impossible" by any means, but all who fish here know that taking a trevally of any size on fly in Hawaii is challenging. I've long been a trevally / jack fanatic and this little guy gave a great account of himself...

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I also caught a real tank of a Saddle Wrasse / Hinalea lately. Many of you have caught these on trips to Hawaii and most of the ones you see are in the 4-8" range. I caught one that taped out at 13+" inches from his nose to end of tail fronds. Nobody here had ever seen one that big. Very cool and just one of many reasons why I love Hawaii, Pele's recent outburst notwithstanding.

I'd add some recent bonefish shots, but that is another topic entirely.... ;)

Aloha.
Blue Bird Parrotfish Feather Macaw
 
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#4 ·
Nice Mingo. I lived there (in Puna) for 10 years. Never saw anyone fly fish, myself included. :) I'd love to see a fishing report from Waipi'o, Hawi, & Southpoint if you ever find yourself bored and up for an out of the way challenge :)

Aloha!
 
#15 · (Edited)
Crazy pretty! How the hell did you ever learn those names and identify those beauties? Great fun!
You have to learn local and common usage names here or nobody will know what you're talking about...plus it's fun using the Hawaiian language names. "Pualu" sounds way cooler to me than "ringtail surgeonfish."

Thanks for the kind words everyone. If I've done anything wrong, it seems to be that my posts have given some the impression that flyfishing here is easy. nothing could be further from the truth. every strike, hookup and landed fish is a hard won prize. It has taken me years to figure out how to catch certain species on fly and even now I have to work my ass off to hook them. Some species will act completely different than how snorkelers might expect them to behave when water conditions are favorable for flyfishing. the best bit of advice I can give anyone is to expect the unexpected here. I've seen parrotfish chase down a small bonefish fly for several yards and crush it. I've watched scrawled filefish chase down and nip at a streamer. I've had butterflyfish take small soft hackles and had carnivores eat a seaweed fly...along with so many other "odd" behaviors I could fill a book.

Now as far as bonefish go on this crazy, wild, angry, rugged island....I'm working on that. I'm having some success. But damn, it's tough on this rock. Every hookup is a battle of will and endurance. Muskies ain't got nothing on the bones here. Someone just back from a 22-bone day in Belize would probably hate fishing here. I've shredded lines, snapped rods, tore a knee open on lava rock, torn cartilage, dealt with tendinitis, had a huge tiger shark come up a few yards from a fishing buddy, etc....and I've loved every minute of it. Fishing here ain't for wimps...but those hookups are sooooo sweet when they happen!

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