Salty Saturday - First Time Aitutaki
The Cook Islands is a wonderful place to try saltwater fly. A multitude of colorful species are available in the lagoon and the GTs and Bonefish will pull harder than any trout you have caught.
Aitutaki (one of the outer islands) has a deserved reputation for worldclass bonefishing. No matter how many times I have gone I always book with Itu and apart from the wonderful opportunity to have a day out on the water with true local watermen, I get the best chances possible to land the fish I have travelled 1000s of kilometers for.
Recently I was asked what are the three key things I do before heading over…
- Casting practice.
Practice casting …practice practice practice.
Not standing in a park hucking a flyline thinking you’ve got it sorted because you can see the backing loop out of your top guide…..
- Practice casting with weight (chop the hook off a clouser – tie it to the end of your tippet)
- Practice casting with a cross wind
- Practice out to 80 feet if you can and practice on your knees… (imagine that’s how deep you are wading)
- Can you cast over your back shoulder?
- How quickly can you change direction? Pick up roll cast and then change with the minimum of false casts?
- Can you cast short, quickly, with a minimum of false casting and land a heavy fly without too much “plop”
- I practice tying my knots and changing flies quickly. However, I don’t take too many patterns anymore –I do take a variety of weights.
- Did I mention casting….??
- Accuracy
- Presentation to a MOVING target
- Weighted flies
- Wind
- If wading, you may be deep…
- Direction changes
- Wind
- 60-80 feet is better than 30
Have fun. It’s a magical place and you will have all the opportunities to make something special happen.