I am not 30 yet!

With an impending 30th birthday this week, I don't feel as scared as everyone thinks that I should. I have been playing a lot of soccer, but would like to find a race to sign up for soon. Running, cycling, triathlon, something! I applied to work at the Orvis retail store that is opening across the street from my house and have a second interview coming up. Of course they are opening the store on the week that I will be in Bali. I hope that doesn't put them off. The weather is pretty crazy here with 60 mph winds blowing snow from the mountains. There is a fire not too far away. The tsunami wiped out Japan and cause some damage to Kona the day after we left. The volcanoes were erupting more than ever while we were there, but hey I scored a goal in indoor soccer tonight so that is cool. And our dogs are awesome, so that helps.

Speaking of tsunamis and impending doom, I am quite glad that I live my life as much as I can. Imagine all those people waiting for retirement to start living their life. BAM, an earthquake hits and you die. Money is only something you need if you don't die today. Why measure "success" whatever that is?  Why not measure "satisfaction"?

Pogue ma thoin. Erin go bragh.

Day 4 in Kona.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

We touched the southernmost part of the entire Unites States. Not being the most creative with place names, it is called South Point. The wind is constant and the deterioration of windturbines seems to be the same. Three rows of dead windmills, with one row of new ones cranking out constant power.

Renewables.

Kurt is an awesome photographer/freediver from O'ahu that took some pictures of me fly fishing. When he finishes editing I hope to show them off.

Day 3 in Kona.

We hit up Waipi'o Valley which presented me with a couple of interesting fishing options. One was casting from shore with overhead surf. A small river dumps out into the ocean, but the fish didn't seem to want to battle the waves to eat my flies.

Waipi'o shorebreak.

The other option in Waipi'o was to fish in the river. There were a few baitfish scattering from my footsteps, but a boat would have been very helpful here. Again, no fish wanted to eat what I offered.

Waipi'o River.

The drive into the valley can be a bit sketchy.

On the way home we stopped by Kawaihae Harbor. We watched whales as we drove. I found this pencil urchin tangled in fishing line.

There was a lot of driving this day, but it was awesome. The weather was cold(ish), windy and rainy in Kona so this was a great mini vacation from our vacation!

Day 2 of Kona.

Between fishing spots.

Another great day in paradise. I think that I am getting better at my distance casts. I had better be with my 1,000 of casts today. My hands are blistered and I am sunburned. It was a great day of fishing. The only thing that I caught was a Clearfin Lizardfish. It wasn't an epic battle, but it was cool to see an aggressive saltwater fish hit a fly about half its size.

Honokohau without hanapa'a.

This was the last spot of the day. We started at Mahai'ula where the wind was howling, but as we arrived to the beach, there was a guy fly fishing! He was hucking deceivers with a 10wt. I was amazed. I had to go back to the car to get my rod as I wasn't thinking of fishing in this wind! We walked up and down the beach looking at what looked like good spots, but didn't hook up with anything. 

After a quick lunch we headed to Honokohau harbor. Fishing the south side was pretty, but useless. so we switched to the north side of the harbor where we met... another fly fisherman! Two other fly anglers in one day! All this in a spot that isn't supposed to have any fly fishing. Either fly fishing is becoming way too popular or people think that its easy to catch fish here.

The north side of the harbor looked better, but again produced nothing. Looks like the wind will die down tomorrow. If this sunburn goes away soon, I will be back out there tomorrow. either way, we will be in paradise!

First day in Kona.

After a crazy long day of traveling (which could be and will be worse on the way back) we arrived last night. Tossing and turning, missing my dogs, I finally got up this morning excited to be home. A lazy morning ensued with a new smoothie recipe courtesy of pops. Then we hit up a super secret area to get proper footwear for the week. The first fishing spot is the old airport. As usual, it was filled with hooligans and people that I try not to associate with. The two kinds of people that were ok there was the van full of people that had been dragged to their mandatory 12 step program and the tourists that had no idea that their valuable were being watched like an eagle watching a rodent thinking about leaving it's hole.

I tied on a clouser, watched my step for the constant threat of wana, and carefully picked my way out into the surf. I tried to cast downwind as much as possible. I only clipped myself with a fly once and luckily the hook didn't find it's way into the wrong animal.

At least the weather is nice!

I saw lots of fish getting out of my way, but that was the closest I came to catching anything. After a much missed plate lunch, we grabbed some stand up paddleboards and wore ourselves out in Kailua Bay. I had considered bringing a rod, but with a little surf and some wind, I was happy just to stay dry. A rod would have been a waste.

SUP!

Tomorrow is another chance for some fishing!

Heading to Kona.

This is a work in progress for Blood Knot Magazine.

I hit up my local creek this week and caught a few dumb trout on #20 BWO. Believe me, it was satisfying as I have been seeking out larget trout all winter only to leave cold, hungry, dissapointed, angry, and defintely fishless. The latest excursion had me driving 5 hours only to scowl in the wind for 3 hours of “fishing”. It was about that time that I made up my mind to get into some saltwater. Now, I have no idea what to do when I have something larger than a 5 weight in my hand (ask my girlfriend) but the idea of wearing shorts worrying about applying enough sunscreen was appealing to me. The girlfriend has no problem going on these trips either.

So we booked tickets. Cheap tickets that make you travel for 24 hours for a 5 hour flight. That is when I started panicking. I spent an evening on the Google trying to find fly fishing in Kona Hawai’i. Nope. There isn’t any. There is a budding bonefish guiding industry on O’ahu. That is on a different island. The island of Hawai’i, also called the Big Island, not to be confused with the state, Hawai’i is much younger than O’ahu (where Waikiki and Honolulu are) and hasn’t developed flat areas off shore. In fact the southern most point of the U.S. and the Big Island (appropriatley named South Point) have water so deep that it is possible to catch large game fish like Wahoo (Ono) Tuna (Ahi) and even Marlin (A’u) from shore.

Time for me to scrunch my face at the Google again. What gear do I bring for an unknown fishery? I settled on a 9 weight rod for a few reasons. I don’t want to buy a 12 or 15 weight and go after marlin from shore. What would I do if I caught one?! Land it? I also don’t own a rod that size and really don’t think that I need to buy one living in Colorado.

I also don’t own any saltwater flies. I remembered that Jay Zimmerman had some advice on the life cycle of tubers and he might have some tips on how to catch fish somewhere unexplored. He, nor anyone else in the shop, had heard of fly fishing in Kona. I think they asked if I was bringing my passport.

Saltwater in CO.

Where do I start when I have no idea where to start? The beginning I guess.

There was a huge selection of flies, but I couldn’t tell the guys at the shop about the terrain, the fish, or the weather (other than it’s always perfect) so I bought a few clousers and deceivers. I had the genius idea that I could make some of these myself and I would enjoy it.

He has no idea...

These size 4 hooks are easy to work with compared to the #22 parachute adams I am used to making.

It looks like I will be walking the shore hucking these monster flies at random rock outcroppings and looking for the shallowest water that I can find. I have a stand up paddle board that I can use, but they are hard to balance on in a lake with no wind. I am hoping to borrow a kayak or one of those bicycles with the huge plastic wheels so I can explore more territory without paying for a boat.

Marlins eat chickens?

After the first round of clousers and deceivers, I headed to a craft store to pick up some colorful feathers, craft fur, and storgae containers. I hope these Kona fish will eat any sort of neon early 90’s looking club dancer that isn’t too far away from shore!