A report from Eric for mikescatchreport.com
I went out to fish on a falling tide−at the lowest it would be a zero tide (very shallow) and I knew it was not the best tide for fly fishing for bones.
Anyway, I walked out to my left. The water was waist deep but calm. I started to fish my Spawning Mantis Shrimp pattern for about a half hour but I had no takers. So I decided to head for a large coral head I saw sticking up from the reef.
I tied on a brown shrimp pattern I tied the night before. The wind was coming from all directions so I picked a spot and made a cast. Bam! Fish on.
This fish started to peel line off the reel like no tomorrow. The fly line was gone and the backing on my Abel reel was getting smaller and smaller. This fish was not going to stop. I got it to slow down just before the breakers and got some line back but then the fish took it all out again. I stopped the fish--bearing down on the fly rod, then saw a big splash as the fish turned left. There was lots of small jumps and I got back some line and thought the fish was making a run back towards me but it turned again and made another run towards the breakers. Then the line went slack.
I reeled my line in and the 20 pound tippet was gone and the leader looked like shredded cabbage. I changed locations and tied on a What-U-Call-That-Shrimp fly. After rigging up a new leader I made a cast with the wind at my back. Bam! Another solid hook up. The line and backing peeled off the Abel reel but this time I stopped the fish after a good fight it. It was a nice 5.5 pounder. Not bad for a lousy morning tide. I guess if you can find the deep pockets on the reef during a very low tide, you have a chance to catch a nice sized bone.