Kauai on the fly

General Detail

Date:   September 12th- 21st 2009

Location:   Kauai Hawaii, Anini Beach and Tunnels Beach both on the Northern end of the island.

Trip Objective :  Family vacation time…so I decided to dig up some salt water fly fishing locations.  Not real easy in Kauai as there are no flats to speak of.

Lodging and Buddies:  We found a nice private apartment on the NW end of Kauai at the end of the road. Makua Hale House owned by Caroline Mills, 206-890-2401 or 360-389-6969. This apartment was perfect for my wife and myself.  It would also sleep another person with no real issues.

 

Weather

Air Temperature: We got great weather low 80’s with some scattered clouds

Moon Phase:

Wind Speed:  Always windy in the islands but I lucked out and got breezes that were less than 10 miles per hour.  I usually travel with a flexible 10 weight just incase is gets windy. Extra punch on the cast just in case the wind is blowing hard.  This has saved me a few times.

 

Water Information

Water Temperature:

Flow & Clarity:  The water around both Anni Beach and Tunnels is crystal clear

Hatches:  The Blue Trevally seemed to like my chartreuse clouser the best.  I went after the bones with a tan and brown light lead eye shrimp pattern…crazy charlie type fly.  Rob Arita tied the fly and uses it exclusively.

Crowds:   The best fly fishing is at Anini Beach.  It is possible to see Rob with clients but thats it .

 

Results

Fish Caught:  Blue Trevally, Goat Fish, Trumpet fish….and had shots but no hook-ups on some very large bones.  There are Giant Trevally in the water but I did not see any on this trip.

Best Flies:  Chartreuse and Olive  Clousers, lead eyes  # 6 hook (Used for all the fish other than the bones).

 

Kauai Trip Detail:

scene...for this trip I thought it would be great to ply the ocean for some fish.  Not having a clue on where to start,  as the island has no real flats to speak of.  I got on the internet and found a local fishy looking guide named Rob Arita ( http://bonefishkauai.com/ ) .  After a short but productive discussion I ended up scheduling 2, 4 hour sessions.  Rob suggested the half day approach because the light and wind conditions are much better in the morning and early afternoon in the Anini area, which is his preferred  location for fly fishing clients. My wife and I have been to Kauai numerous times so I have already done the shopping, lay on the beach All of that said: We left Boise quite early in the morning on November 12th (6a.m.) on a United flight bound for San Francisco. After landing in San Francisco  we managed a short layover that included breakfast at the Crab Pot (always a good way to start an adventure). We were winging our way towards Kauai by 9:30 in the morning.  Hawaii is 3 hours behind the West coast from a time zone standpoint so we were on the ground at ~ 11:30 local time.  Pretty interesting really, you can start in Boise at 6 a.m. and be walking the beach in Kauai before noon....hard to beat that. Rob and I had agreed to meet the following day at Anini Beach. Anini is a very beautiful and interesting place. It is a pretty upscale spot for Kauai with lots of nice homes along the road to the beach/park area (Sylvester Stalone once owned a place somewhere along this road).  It also has great public access which is a major plus if you are not Sylvester Stalone, if you know what I mean. Anini,  is a very long beach that is buffered by the longest reef in the islands.  This makes it a great place for fishing as well as general swimming and other water sports because you never really feel the full force of the open Ocean. To get there Take Highway 56 past Kiauea. Cross over the Kalihiwai Bridge and then take a right on Kalihiwai Road (the SECOND road with this name). Then take a left on 'Anini Road and follow it to the beach. The cool part about Anini is the general appeal for the entire family….great swimming for the kids, great scenery and sand for the wife and great fishing (from a Kauai perspective) for me. Fishing Anini with Rob proved to be both educational and frustrating.  We did see and get a number of shots at the elusive O’io (Hawaiian for bonefish).  These fish are in a class by themselves, very large and a beautiful aquamarine color.  I am sure that I saw multiple fish that were double digit fish…bonefish with linebacker shoulders is  what I saw. Really something special.  Unfortunately, they are also very skiddish as the locals hunt them with nets for food.  Rob has a great set of eyes and picked the fish up early and often. He was much better at seeing them than I was.   I got shots, some fish turned and followed my fly but I got no hook-ups.  While this didn’t really surprise me, as I really had not put my time in on the water, I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to feel one of these monsters on my reel.  During the coarse of the 4 hours Rob also explained to me how to fish for Blue Trevally (Omilu in Hawaiian) which proved to be equally special in later outings.   After my two outings with Rob my fishing adventures continued but now I was traveling solo. Of course I had to go back to Anini, let the wife soak up some rays and work the O’io.  Rob taught me to watch the tides, it is important to have an incoming tide in the morning.  The fish come into the shallow area behind the reef with the rising water and the light works in your favor. If you get lucky the wind also cooperates.  I had a few mornings where all of this came together and had lots of fun, a few good shots but…unfortunately no bone hook-ups.  I did get several hits from some other species and landed a couple of nice (long) Trumpet fish. My fishing adventures continued as I decided to flog the waters further up the road in the Tunnel beach area.  Tunnels is similar to Anini in that a nice reef protects the inner water. Fishing at Tunnels  has the added plus of being at the door step of Bali Hai which is a beautiful mountain made famous in the movie South Pacific.  Bali Hai (Hawaiian is Makana or Mount Makana) is one of the most famous mountain profiles which you are sure to recognize once you see it.  No joke…this may be the most beautiful spot that I have seen and I have seen a lot of pretty spots, certainly a nice place to chase fish around. The best approach for fishing Tunnels seemed to be waiting for low tide and walking the outer reef around the bay. It is fairly easy to get to and makes a long horseshoe like turn around the bay.  Walking the reef  gives you some nice access to large blue water holes on the bay side where plenty of fish hold and stay protected from all the nasty critters found in the open ocean.   I had pretty good luck out on the reef, hooking Blue Trevally (Omilu), Goat Fish and Trumpet fish.  There are larger Ulua (Giant Trevally) in the water but I did not see any. I did see a 4’ long black tip shark cruising the inner lagoon.  It was pretty easy to spot which was a good thing. Kauai Fishing Summary: The good news is that is possible to find some interesting fly fishing (on your own) in Kauai.  You need to pay attention to where the reefs are and understand the tides. The fish come into the shallow water with a rising tide…a low, incoming tide in the mornings seemed to be my best bet.  The added benefit of the morning low tide was that the  winds were usually calmer which helped both casting and visibility.  The chartreuse and/or olive clouser worked the best for everything except the bones. You need to strip the clouser very quickly ( I am not sure that you can strip too fast) make it look like prey that is escaping.  I normally travel with both a 8wt  and a 10 wt flexible rods.  In Kauai I found myself using the 10 wt to help overcome the wind issue and also extend the cast a bit.  It would certainly be nice if you ever tied into one of the large bones or a Ulua. Good Luck and Good Hunting!