Jay stuck in CI

[mems]

Looks like a cyclone is in fiji and Jay's group is stuck for a while in CI. They cancelled this weeks group. I go next week if the weather gods permit. I will keep my fingers crossed. Mems.

[Baja Fly Fisher]

This Jay isn't stuck in CI. I've been home a week. Fiji Airlines did cancel our flight to CI that morning due to mechanical problems.
So they put us up in the hotel and while we were checking in a call from the airlines said a plane would be in Honolulu at 10pm that night we had to be at the airport by midnight. The flight was going to leave at 3am bound for CI. Instead of sleeping, I stayed up and went back to the airport around 10pm. They opened at midnight and started processing everyone who was heading to CI. We loaded up around 2:45am and sat in the plane until 3:30am before we took off. The pilot came on the PA system and said we would be airborne shortly. They wanted to give enough time so they would have enough daylite to land the plane, no lights on the runway. We finally touched down in CI around 7am. With blood shot eyes and lack of sleep, we all made it through customs and immigration. More on the story later this week or next week

J

[mems]

Good news, glad you guys made it. Let us know how the trip was. Don

[Darian]

Aloha Don,.... There's a group at CI, this week from Fly Fishing Specialties shop in Sacramento. Hope they're not stuck there.

While were there, there were some very short rain showers but it was mainly warm, humid and sunny for us. Of course, there was the usual wind but it didn't interfere with the fishing. Lotsa big bones, smaller Trevally, a Queenfish, Triggers and an assortment of aquarium fish. Had some shots at very large GT's but they just didn't seem interested in Flies. One morning I was on a flat looking for bones when a large Ray came by in 3' of water, within about 35' near the edge of a deep channel. As it passed, the guide got excited about a very large GT following behind the ray about 15' and handed the 12wt rod to me. I cast between the Ray and the GT and stripped the fly past 'im. Showed no interest at all. The guide estimated that fish weighed near 100 pounds; it looked like a VW.

Water on the flats is gin clear and those flats are extensive with coral, rocky and sandy bottom areas. For the most part, wading was easy (even for a guy with bad knees). I'll post some photos as soon as I figure out how to get them out of Apples Photos app. What a PIA app.... :(

[mems]

Hey Darian, glad you had fun. Too bad about missing the big GT. That would have been a battle. How were the triggers? Did you get any golden Trevallies? Milkfish? so many species there. The forecast for the weather for us looks good. Post some pictures when you get a chance. Don

[Darian]

Yep!!! Caught a small Queenfish, a small GT (maybe 6-7 pounds), a Golden Trevally and a whole bunch of Yellow Snappers. Seems like every time a Bone came unbuttoned a Snapper immediately inhaled the fly. Too small to keep but very colorful. Lots of Triggers around. One of our party got a large Trigger and Renee caught one, hand sized. They didn't show much interest in my offerings.

Only one of our party wanted to go in-offshore to troll. So, we didn't do that. Maybe next time.

I was trying to get in tune with our guides and catch big Bones. So, I didn't really try for anything other than those and GT's. When I did catch something else, to the delight of the guides, it was incidental to casting to a Bone.

One thing I noticed was the large size of Ray's over there. All that I saw were larger and in shallower water than those I've seen around La Ventana.

TIP: For Bones, I fished flies down to size 8 and had no problem attracting fish to bite but several small hooks either straightened or broken off during the fight. Also on the last day, Renee caught her larger Bones (6-8#) on flies sized in the 4-6 range with barbell eyes.

Hope you have a great trip and get another big GT....