Reader Craig Sako -- an Oahu surfer and fly angler -- just gave me another reason to visit his part of paradise very, very soon.
Yes, that's a big bonefish in that photo, and Sako hooked it on an Oahu flat. I wonder why I never thought about bonefishing during my trips to Hawaii.
Maybe it's because Hawaii isn't on the list of bonefish nirvanas, such as the Bahamas, south Florida, Belize, the Yucatan or Christmas Island.
Maybe it's because most Hawaiian coastal waters are beaches that drop off quickly to deeper reefs -- or giant waves busily pounding sharp lava rocks into lava sand.
Maybe it's because I'm not an Oahu local, and I just didn't know that there were flats with big, cruising bonefish. Craig also catches smallmouth bass on the island -- in fresh water of course.
Craig flings Crazy Charlie flies -- bonefish candy -- to temp the smallmouth. I've asked Craig to send me a photo of an Hawaiian smallmouth bass, and I'll post it upon arrival.
All this makes my brains boil over -- and want to spend about, oh, three months or so a year in Oahu. Those months would be January through March, which is when Oregon and Washington are awash in torrents of cold rain, fog and more rain.
Oahu, from the great longboard breaks at Waikiki Beach to the gorgeous spots on the world-famous North Shore, is paradise for surfers. I'm pretty much a middle-aged longboarder -- no one will ever see me paddle out at the North Shore's Banzai Pipeline -- but Oahu has lots of great breaks for middle-aged, mediocre surfers such as myself.
I've caught trevally -- a kind of ravenous, supercharged jack Crevalle -- and other cool fish while casually casting poppers from lava outcroppings on Oahu and Maui, but I didn't know about the bonefish!
I've never even seen a bonefish flat on Oahu, but maybe that's because I was looking for surf spots -- or actually surfing. And Hawaii is not known as a fly rod spot.
Maybe I can bamboozle Craig into taking me bonefishing next winter. I know I'd happily take him on a day-long drift down Oregon's Deschutes River in return!
I wonder about all the other great fly-fishing water I've missed while loping around this watery planet looking for fish and surf and fun. I've probably missed a whole bunch of great spots. Bonefish flats on Oahu is exactly the kind of precious knowledge that locals keep to themselves.
I know quite a few local secrets from my years spent living in Bend, Oregon and South Puget Sound in Washington -- and I'm not inclined to share my hard-earned spots with many people. I doubt that I'd even share the very best with family.
Then again, it maybe it's for the best if fewer anglers from the mainland knew about flats bonefishing on Oahu. Just imagine how many brand-new marriages would wash up on sharp lava rock if one fish-addled member of a honeymooning couple discovering this kind of fishing in Paradise.
I'm picturing a crazed angler deserting a spouse on a sandy, palm-tree shaded beach and sneaking off to fling flies for hours. This kind of delightful lunacy fits the profile of way too many fly anglers. Unsuspecting newlyweds could arrive in Oahu to honeymoon for a week or two -- only to sow the seeds of future divorces.
I'm lucky that my partner, Heather, likes to fish and surf -- and travel to tropical beaches from Mexico to Hawaii.
But big bonefish -- along with the best surfing on the planet -- could turn trips to Oahu into a life-wrecking addiction for just about anyone.
That said, Craig's bonefish is big and beautiful enough to take a few risks -- and catching an Oahu bonefish is now engraved on my Gotta-Do-This-In-My-Lifetime list.
