Sailing in the wind

A paddle-boarder I'm not. Not even close. Jase's inflatable SUP, the gold and green ship known as 'Gareth the Crab' was as we'd left it with Itu, in perfect working order. As a family we'd just arrived on Aitutaki and first order of business was to hire a car and get my fishing license. I pretended it wasn't the first order of business, claiming a 'sight-seeing tour'. After getting both license and car at the Boat Shed we set off. First stop Itu's where we caught up with the man himself, and James who runs Wahoo charters. Itu went off to find the paddle board and returned. We talked about next year's trip to Manuae and he'd put some thought in about back up boats and what not. After a chat we'd headed off to the lookout, via the huge Banyan Tree which the road dissects. It was good to be back.

That night, the wind arrived. We were woken by gusts blowing through the palms outside our bungalow. By sunrise it hadn't eased an iota. I arrived at the port at gentleman's hours, post breakfast. 130 pumps saw Gareth fully inflated. I'd scoped out a brick as an anchor. I'd assembled the paddle. I'd got it all together.... so I'd thought... wind assisted Gareth and I set off on a waddling course - only halfway across and fully committed did I remember that I'd not attached the detachable stabilising fin to Gareth, so his bum was unstable to say the least. Making the flat I threw the brick over and anchored. I'd never seen as many bones on the flat as I did that morning. And, they were shallow. This isn't what I'd come to expect at all. My flies were weighted to thwart current and hit the bottom fast. Even the smallest tungsten eyed flies were too heavy. I spooked fish to the left, the right and the centre. Finally I got a good cast in ahead of a nice fish, got the eat and landed a good specimen.

A little later I thought I'd hung up on some sea grass but pulled a flounder up, my first. Paddling back against the wind was futile, so I headed across the channel arriving at a breakwater where I jumped off and towed the craft back to where the car was parked. Lesson learned - DON'T FORGET THE FIN.

As and where I could, I spent time fishing. A session on the flat nearest the game club was fruitless. Spotting is difficult here. We had a day snorkeling the lagoon before heading to One Foot Is. The wind grew.

The day before my guided day, Kaleena called to say that the wind would increase further, so asked if we could postpone by 24 hours. Family said yes. As they'd organised massages and beauty treatments I had a day up my sleeve.  With the fin on, Gareth was much more manageable. The wind have moved further to the south. I arrived on the flat. Across the channel an angler and guide worked as a team. The wind howled. And on the whole, the fish seemed absent.  Given that It had taken a bit of effort to get there I decided to blind cast over the lip into deeper water. Its notr a tactic for a fine day, but on my last trip had paid dividends on another flat, where 7 bones and a trev had accepted the fly, 6 of the bones and a small brassy coming to hand on that day. 4 hours in and I hadn't even looked like hooking a bone. I just wasn't seeing the fish. I'd traversed the flat twice and was faced with casting into the wind. Directly into the wind. On one corner of the flat I could make an angled back hand cast into the blue and here finally I felt a good take, hit the fish with a quick strip and the fireworks started. Once quelled I managed a few shots of the fish. That signaled home time, and despite the wind having increased and changed quarter to an even more inconvenient angle the trip was more manageable with the fin holding the board's bum on track.

Tuesday rolled around. The phone call when it came was expected. The wind was constant and I thought it would be Kalewena calling the day off. But no, it was simply a change of pick up point. When I got down to the lagoon, Tia had a large mantis shrimp under control. Rua was waiting and after a big bear hug we set off. He took us to a flat sheltered by a motu and showed me fish after fish. My casting was less than great but the issue seemed to me more that the fish were picky.  The wind was increasing, but I was getting plenty of shots in. Time ad again Rua called the strike but the fish hadn't committed. If I struck once that morning, I struck 50 times. We worked on getting the presentation better and slowing the retrieve own to less than a crawl to keep the fly anchored on the bottom and minimise the effect of the waves. Improving the technique paid off - We hooked 2, dropped one and landed a nice fish..

A change of location to a much deeper flat and things got really challenging. We had limited shelter, waist deep water and fish moving unpredictably. It was tricky, challenging and ultimately rewarding as I set the hook into what after a hell of a fight turned into a bone in the region of 8lbs.

Soon after I took a small Napolean Wrasse, another first for me. We lunched on One Foot after which we did a short stint looking for more fish. The wind now howled so I suggested we cut and run, which Rua was happy to do. Great guide, great day, great reward. Up at the house I said goodbye to the boys. Goodbye for the next while until we see each other again. It'll be about a year, all going to plan.