A report from
SteveL for mikescatchreport.com
I went out fly fishing on Friday and it was so windy I was having a hard time walking back to shore. You had to lower your head and hang on to your hat. The wind must have been close to 40 mph and bending the palm trees. The wind made it really hard to heave my 10 foot 10 weight. I didn't get a single bite.
Saturday was a little better--just 25 mph gusts. But this time I fished at a different spot and waded really far out on the flats. I took my time on the way out hoping to see fish. I made it to a shallow reef and blind-casted into a channel.
Because it was so windy, I timed my casts with the gusts, waiting for the right moment to get my line zipping through the air. I caught my fish on a long cast that almost reached my backing. After watching my fly plop into the water I waited a second or two to let it sink, gave it one strip and felt a sudden grab then the fish just took off.
This one ripped out over a hundred yards of my backing before I was able to to start reeling back some line. The bonefish fought hard and my arms were aching from the strain of holding the rod and reeling by the time I brought it to net. This one weighed out to 6 pounds 6 ounces. It turned out to be a good day. I caught three fish.
I was also using my cheap Chinese fly rod, a Gallatin Onyx (yeah I never heard of it too), that I replaced the guides on after figuring out it was a decent IM6 blank with crappy guides. The Chinese manufacturer had no idea what they were doing. After replacing the stripping guides and tiptop, the rod - a 5 piece 9wt - rockets line to outer space. I was over-lining with a 10 weight Monic tropical fly line. It's a fast rod with lots of backbone and tip flex. Because of that combo you can make very accurate short casts and in an instant blast a 80+ foot cast.
