coach

What To Expect

Your day is tailored to your wants and goals. Some people want to fish hard, and don't care about sit down meals or breezy Hawaiian lunches. Others want a more relaxed day with a nap or break. We are flexible and understand that. I will promise you this: WE WILL BE ON TIME, PROFESSIONAL AND COURTEOUS. WE WILL NOT FISH OR CAST IN FRONT OF YOU AND CHARGE YOU FOR A GUIDING DAY.

We will guide you to what I feel is above the highest standards in the fly-fishing industry. Due to changing tides, we reserve the right to gently coach, encourage and motivate you to fish a bit harder than you may have in the past. At times, this can be a "window" fishery and we want to get you into a big, wild, Hawaiian Bonefish above all else. We have three world class guides operating on Oahu and one on Kauai daily. This keeps fresh information coming in constantly.

We fish and wear the finest equipment in the fly angling world. We want your pursuit of the Hawaiian Bonefish to be a World Class Day of Fly-Fishing Hawaiian Style.

Fishing Expectations

Trust is something guides earn. With that in mind we stay grounded and honest in and around our fishery. Hawaiian bone fishing can be incredible, but it has inherent challenges not found elsewhere. We share those challenges freely. The trust starts here.

The conditions are windy and the water can be deeper than "traditional" bonefishing. The sun can go in and out all day. Sight casting can change into blind casting and back again. Chasing Hawaiian Bonefish is challenging. I will not sugarcoat that in any way. In fact it can be damn tough. This is not a 15 fish a day fishery, or even a 10 fish a day fishery. We call a good day 10-20 "shots" sight fishing at bones averaging 8 pounds and up. We do catch smaller fish on occasion. They are not the norm, but beautiful and fight with a big fish mentality. We consider an average day to be one to five hookups. A great day is five or more hookups. One to five fish landed is what we strive for. These are monster Hawaiian Bonefish, the biggest in the world. There are magical days, but we refuse to portray them as the norm. Contrary to incorrect reports that surface on message boards, we DO sight fish more often than not. The sun can go in and out behind cloud cover. I have handpicked my guiding team for a reason. They have all mastered the sight fishing game here. We want you to land your first Hawaiian Bonefish sight casting if possible! We will do everything in our power to get you that chance. When we lose that beautiful Hawaiian sunshine, we will put you into productive blind casting cuts, rises and alleys. A typical day will be 70/30 sight to blind. Remember that there will be times when we are sight casting Hawaiian Bonefish style and you feel like you can't see anything. That's what we are here for. My Team includes the finest sight fishing fly-fishing guides in Hawaii. They will run the sight game in knee to waist deep water if the sun and water conditions permit. We have adapted our techniques to the Hawaiian Bonefish flats, travelling lanes and rises unique to Hawaii and its monster Hawaiian Bonefish. We can and will spot and shoot at fish in much deeper water than many veteran bonefish anglers are used to. Some days offer much more, some a bit less. The fishery really is a mix of many conditions, water depths and temps and often changing weather every day. The fishery is very tide dependant and our Hawaiian Bonefish Guiding Team reserves full discretion of when and where to fish.

We do have the courage and professionalism to cancel a trip when conditions tip the scales of success against you. That day can be re-scheduled or you will be refunded. This happens rarely, but the Hawaiian Bonefish experience is about fly-fishing, friendship and fun. Bring your "A" game, your love of all things "fly" and be flexible. We'll take care of the rest!

Coach Duff's Hawaiian Bonefishing