As a new member, I have to come clean and confess my love of reef critters. No shame in that, is there? I've had great times with billfish, mahi, ahi and the like but I have to confess I am hopelessly addicted to denizens of the reef.
Here is the Seattle area, I'm usually chasing these guys in local rivers:
I know most people walk into an Asian restaurant and immediately want to stuff as much Fried rice and assorted MSG-laden chow into their bass-like yappers as possible. I’ve always been the guy who stares at the crazy looking exotic fish in the aquarium at the front of every Thai/Chinese restaurant on the planet and wonders if they’ll hit a fly and how they’d fight.
Weird stuff from “Finding Nemo”, crazy critters from the Discovery Channel………I want to catch them all. I’ve always been that way……….as a kid I was addicted to fishing and fish tanks. My Oscars and Jack Dempseys used to get caught so often they all had calluses on their lips.
Recently I took my wife to Hawaii for her birthday and I had a chance to unwind and catch a bunch of crazy reef critters. Smallish fish hold no interest for some guys but I've always enjoyed catching any species if it looks cool. The battles were better than I'd have thought, a lot of fun on light flyrods.
I thought I’d post some shots of a few of these Technicolor terrors of the deep…………..most of them were small but all were feisty and some were even kind of freaky. I didn’t go out on a charter this time around but there was plenty to keep me interested IF you are an aquarium/fishing freak like me. Don't waste your time if you only like shots of giant fish! Here goes…………….
We spent time in Waikiki at our favorite hotel, the Royal Hawaiian. We have friends there so this is always like homecoming for us. This little Moano (many-barred goatfish) hit a clouser minnow right in front of the hotel between Bloody Marys and lunch……that’s how we keep track of time over there
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and this cool critter............these little guys are strong, some day I'll tangle with a big'un...
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Some time using a 5 wt on a reef brought in a few more fish that looked like Walt Disney puked on them…..
The next day was my wife’s 43rd birthday, so being the awesome husband I am, I gave her a surprise gift she’s been wanting for a long time. She got tickets to Vegas and……well, let’s just say I took her to a certain Vegas show featuring a horse-faced French Canadian singer she absolutely loves. Gotta treat the girls right!
After that it was over to the Big Island for more tiny-but-cool action……………………..aggressive sergeant majors were all over the place…..
Cool wrasses of various species……………..
And this big guy, relatively speaking, that took off and tried to rock me on the lava……..he almost did it, the leader was a mess!
Then I got stalked by a wicked, evil mongoose while I fished. These things are creepy, like a lizard with fur and beady eyes...Then off to a few more spots during our stay for other stuff
Weird flounder on pink bunny leeches
Lagoon triggerfish………..
Threadfin shad……….
And a little ‘cuda that thought he was a pit bull.
And time to chill with some sea turtles……….I love these guys.
Lots of great food and great people.
goddamn I love Hawaii!
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