While I've managed to ignore this blog for six months, I haven't neglected fishing. I decided to title this post, "Now I know Jack," because I've had two great saltwater adventures that resulted in hard-fighting jack fish.
Back in October I went fishing with Captain Scott Hamilton in Jupiter Florida. Scott's outfit, Fly Fishing Extremes, focuses on big, powerful Florida fish. He uses 10-weight and stronger flyrods and is known for catching sharks, false albacore, dorado and big Jack Crevalle. Here's a recent article about his exploits that was in the works when he and I went fishing. It's from Hatch Magazine.
We met early one morning at the marina for a half-day of fishing in the inner harbor, where golfer Jack Nicklaus' home is located. The winds that week were simply too strong to allow fishing in the open waters of the Atlantic where he likes to fish ship wrecks and other structures that hold big fish.
We scooted across the waterway to a bank lined with scrub trees, where he seined for bait. We used flies he had tied, but he baited the water to attracted schools of jacks and tarpon.
I cast back into the trees with the 10-weight I had borrowed from Captain Scott and a jack nearly ripped the rod out of my hand. He had warned me that unlike trout and salmon fishing in the Pacific Northwest, I was to get my rod down to the water rather than jerking it up to the sky. To set the hook I should do that with repeated jerks to the side. Otherwise the jack would snap the rod. I did just that, in part because I had no choice. He had set the drag quite tight and even so the jack ripped off line -- zzzz-zz-zzz-zzz!
The fish was beautiful but sadly we didn't take a photo. Take my word for it. My son's baseball game was about to start and so I had to hustle back to his tournament, where he hit a couple of triples so the hasty retreat was justified.
It was my first jack.
Hawaii Jack (or HI, Jack)
Fast-forward to December. I flew into Maui on a Saturday afternoon before Christmas, and was on the water early Sunday morning with none other than Discovery Channel's Pacific Warrior, Jon Jon Tabon. Like Captain Scott, his outfit also uses extreme in its title, Extreme Kayak Fishing Adventures. Jon Jon is THE expert on flyfishing for Hawaiian bonefish, or O'io. He is also a gentle Aloha spirit and a great teacher.
He's a scarce commodity. Between taking care of his family, filming Pacific Warrior and guiding almost every day, you're lucky to get him. Last year I tried but he and his wife, Amanda, were going through a tough time with parents who were fighting cancer. This year I hit the jackpot by getting him on the first day of my trip.
I used my own 8-weight Sage rod and his shrimp pattern fly. He likes to use a 10-foot leader. The first thing Jon Jon focused on, before we got into the water in Kihei was how to cast in the wind. Weather advisories had the seasonal trade winds at 25 mph gusts but it would hit 50 mph while we were out there. It wasn't pretty but with his guidance I managed to cast alright even in the midst of the worst winds. At some points I could barely stand up in the water.
We were really looking for O'io but I knew jack was a possibility, too. We were in the shallows and looking for good spots where the sandy bottom meets the coral reef. Even with polarized sunglasses I couldn't clearly make out the sea bottom but at one point, in my mind's eye, I was casting to a sandy bottom sandwiched betwee two reefs. I felt a bump and thought it was me hitting bottom but just in case I timidly set the hook and immediately felt the head shake. Fish on! I hiked the rod tip to the blue Hawaiian skies and felt a very heavy weight on the other end. Jon Jon instantly knew it was a jack and the only question was what kind. Had it been a bonefish it would have peeled off all my line but even so this jack little by little did peel of line. It bent the rod nearly in two.
The fish fought very well for a good 5-7 minutes before we brought it in. It was a beautiful and fat fish. Jon Jon advised me it was a Pa'opa'o, a sort of Hawaiin permit as he described it. When I showed my photo below to locals on the island they instantly called it a Papio. Later in the week I settled the discrepancy when visiting the Maui Ocean Center where I found the photo and description pictured below. It is in fact a Pa'opa'o. A Papio appears to refer to any juvenile form of jack, whereas Pa'opa'o is specifically a golden trevally.
It was a huge honor to fish with Jon Jon.
Sea-run cutthroat trout back home
In the back of mind, in the heat of Hawaii, I had New Year's Day circled on my calendar back home. The Gig Harbor area of Pierce and Mason Counties are favorites this time of year. When we got back from Maui, it was cold but sunny in Seattle and after getting some work done for several days I set out one morning for Purdy and Vaughn Spits as well as the Rocky Bay area. I just had to say hello to another sea-run.
I packed my 6-weight and some flies and headed south. High tide was about 11 am and so I caught the end of the incoming tide and most of the outgoing tide. In the first two locations I see a fish or feel a bump. But the sun was brilliant and the air refreshing.
Finally, I returned to a stretch where my father and I had fished several years ago. I waded out and cast for about a half-hour to no effect. Then I looked down the shore to my left and saw some floating docks and decided to stand in the midst of them. Suddenly I got hot with 6-7 strikes, five of which I landed. They were not huge -- 12-14 inches, but respectable and good little fighters. I snapped a photo of one below.
These are very special fish, and we're lucky to see them becoming more and more abundant in the Puget Sound.
Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey
Even though my fishing has been somewhat limited this past year, I did manage to read a couple of fairly obscure (these days) collections of writing about fishing by novelists Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey.
Hemingway on Fishing is a collection of his short stories, parts of novels and newspaper articles in which fishing is the central theme. Big Two-Hearted River is a must for any literary fisherman. When I have more time I will try to write about some of the fishing literature I've enjoyed.
Zane Grey was my grandma's favorite author of westerns. His collection of writing, Zane Grey on Fishing, is less a literary feat and more instructive about light tackle fishing for big game off Florida. I was excited and surprised to learn what an astute fisherman he was.
Both Grey and Hemingway clearly inspired baseball great Ted Williams.
