Hardest Fighting Shallow Water Fish Around For It's Size! That Initial Speed Burst is Vicious!

It's hard to ignore those vicious lightning runs of Bonefish, known as O'io in Hawaii! That initial run will get your heart pumping! Even a small Bone will seem like you hooked a large fish. As the name implies there's a lot of bones in a Bonefish. In Hawaii we "scrape" the meat off the bones after letting the fish sit 1 or 2 nights in the fridge to soften it up.

Afterwards you'll end-up with a bowl of white paste. You can add any vegetables, meats or condiments to this. Bake, boil, or fry-it's up to you. I tend to release all my O'io back after properly reviving the fish. Today my long time good buddy Chief Charley asked me for a Bone. Well, the larger first one got away but i landed the second strike. On this day i drove out to the Windward side to hit the inner estuary flats for Bones. I used live Mangrove Crabs for bait.

It was a fast 2hr melee and i was back by noon. In Hawaii the minimum legal size for Bonefish is 14in. I'd say my giant more than filled that requirement. After angling 100's of Bones over the years i can still guess their correct weight within a pound. The first one that cut the line in the mangroves would've been a prize! To give you an idea of how strong it was It hit a short 9ft stiff original new SST Rod and a Limited Edition 4000 GT Spinning Reel w/15lb monofilament.

I was trying to over-power it by cranking down on the drag when i realized it was the only way to guarantee landing it. The longer the battle continues w/mangrove roots all around it'll turn into the fish's favor. Look how easily i brought in that large 7-1/4lb Bone on a much lighter 10-1/2ft New Generation of SST Rods using a much smaller ITX 3000 Spinner w/only 10lb braid. I knew with all the Mangroves around me that bringing the fish in fast was my only shot at landing it.

On my bucket list to catch one. Cool vid