Saltflyfish

Out on the Lagoon with Rua again , first cast hooked a beast that wrapped me around a coral Bommie, but having taken the advice from the previous day my strips were long and slow and I had another hookup within minutes. These bonefish pull hard and required a lot of rod work and fast winding to steer between the outcrops. Carmen stuck at it but was having trouble casting with the wind…. She deserved another hookup for the effort but it will have to be another time. Another solid bonefish after a scrap with hard drag , the Sage r8 7 weight and enforcer reel were pushed to max and delivered smoothly. Back to our 30 year late honeymoon and an afternoon hopefully swimming with humpback whales! Aitutaki feels really good and the Bonefish are in good hands with e2,s bonefish guides. Itu has spoken for the future of this fishery and along with the Marine powers and community the new Plan has set aside areas for DIY fishers and Rahui to protect spawning times and areas. We can do our bit by booking the guides and enjoying these magnificent big fish and the challenges to not only hook them but get them into the net for a quick “ grip and grin” before seeing them slip away to be caught another day!

Aitutaki lagoon in all is vivid magnificence and the skilled eyes of Itu’s Way bonefish guides! It took 30 years to discover my wife is a bonefish demon , she hooked two first time out, back tomorrow to land one. It was great to see a healthy number of big bonefish. My skills were rusty but Rua gave great advice and eventually I made a couple stick!

It was to windy to go where I wanted to go, thankfully where I did not to want go was just where we should have been!

Another flyfishing discovery for me has been the regularity of sight fishing in places I would have never imagined. The funny and obvious factor is that I am now looking and therefore seeing snapper and presenting a fly to a fish behaving naturally. Multiple factors all have to align and spooking many and catching a few is a reasonable ratio.

Winter is my favourite season, so is summer , spring and autumn and all the seasons between ,also the weather changes, temperature fluctuations and moon phases. I think I just love going flyfishing and seeing what is going on !

Evening magic drifting across a sea grass flat. Casting to tiny swirls and the occasional flurry of fleeing baitfish produced multiple snapper and this beautiful Kahawai.

They say the pinnacle flyfishing experience is stalking and sighting fish behaving naturally then testing fly selection and casting skills to get an “eat”. When I first started seeing snapper in the Waiheke shallows I felt protective and shared this with a few clients and trusted friends, as I do more I see more and know this is how it should be. Boat noise , rapid movements and anything other than a soft landing fly will put it out of reach for many …. But if you go slow, move quiet and put the time in it’s something that is very possible. Carmen and I had a really fun morning,still buzzing from the moments and the banter that comes from 30 years of marriage.

James is on the flyfishing journey and I am passing on my skills and experience to support him. With a generational connection to these waters and as an extension to his environmental work becoming a flyfishing guide makes a lot of sense. As the world gets busier we must look for the opportunities that are low impact and high value to ensure the places we love remain intact.

Connor and Lauren have fished with me a few times, each trip has provided a different aspect of our local Waiheke fishery. Conditions looked good for some shallow water sight fishing, I had concerns about the water clarity after the recent heavy weather. The water had been flushed with a couple of tide changes but was still milky green, unexpectedly we found snapper feeding among the bubble lines as if they were trout. Multiple snapper were sighted and cast to with some unlucky kingfish hits on the return trip.