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Bronze Whaler on the Fly
Some of you were interested in the photo of the Bronze Whaler. The Photo is taken the day before with a Bronze Whaler that was released off a Popping rod and Reel. The next day the charter had a Bronze up on Fly and here is the story for those of yout that are interested.
Teeth on the Fly
• Fishermen are a funny lot. Perhaps vacationing at an exotic destination like Taveuni, Fiji, pushes their envelope even further by presenting them with stranger opportunities. Most fishing stories tell of a fish rocketing, barrel- rolling and greyhounding and then being boated or released. That is all fine and good and according to the specified expectations of fishing. But, every once in a while a story gets interesting when a fisherman has a sudden epiphany that seems like a grand and logical idea at the time.
Such was the case with Jed Mixter from Wyoming. Jed had quite a bit of experience fly fishing on saltwater flats, but in Taveuni he had his first blue-water flyfishing adventure.
Day one was the perfect opportunity for Jed to introduce his new bride, Krista, to the fabulous world of fishing. Jed had hopes of gaining a lifetime fishing partner, so Capt. John Llanes broke out the 50s and 80’s and did a bit of trolling for the standard introduction. Jed and Krista caught some nice-sized yellowfin tuna, and Jed released a 150-lb bronze whaler. Then he switched to a fly and caught a 15-lb drum fish. Everything went according to the book.
Day two was strictly for the boys. Jed had the lay of the open sea and decided to break out his 12-weight fly rod with 50-lb mono and tippet. He had an arsenal of flies tied by Mike Dawes of World Cast Anglers. Capt. John particularly liked a little yellow-beige one that he nicknamed the Blue Eyed Hawaiian.
Capt. John found a good reef for Jed to play on, and he warmed up on a 5-lb rainbow runner. Shortly afterward, a Mahimahi was intrigued by the Blue Eyed Hawaiian, but it veered off. John decided to do a little bait and switch using a small tuna they had caught earlier to try to lure the Mahimahi back.
That seemed to be a great plan until they realized something very large was rising up from the depths—and it didn’t look anything like a Mahimahi. In fact, it looked like a large bronze whaler.
Baba quickly began reeling in the bait. It was the ideal size for bait and switch, and they didn’t want to sacrifice it to the oceanic “tax
At this point one has to wonder where the minds of fishermen diverge from the minds of rational and logical men. This 250-lb bronze whaler was bearing down on the frightened tuna and Baba was desperately trying to reel it in to save it, with very little resistance from the tuna who was delighted to follow Baba’s lead. With what only could be considered the bravado of a fisherman, Jed decided to keep casting his fly in the shark’s face. A 250-lb shark and a fly Why not? The captain and crew were too busy to do anything but humor Jed while they did whatever they could to save the bait and take another run at the Mahimahi.
In the midst of the madness, the bronzy made a last lunge for the tuna. Baba snapped it away. The shark did a slight turn in search of the tuna and saw the Blue Eyed Hawaiian fly. With frustrated vengeance, it gulped the fly down with about 50 gallons of whooshing water. The fly ended up perfectly hooked on the side of the shark’s lip.
With a fairly shocked expression, Jed managed to demurely state, “I got it. I actually hooked it.” Jed had left the realm of his wildest imagination and was looking at the reality of a 9-foot shark on a 12-lb fly rod. This was going to be really funl
The first 15 minutes of the fight went fairly well, despite the odds. The shark sounded and then resurfaced. The leader was just inches away from Baba’s grasp when the bronzy struck out for the depths again and anchored. For the next hour it was give an inch and take an inch
Now, according to maritime law, the captain’s word is law. But, there must be—or at least there should be—a clause that says one doesn’t necessarily have to take the captain’s advice. I suppose it comes down to the definition of a state of emergency and whether or not a 250-lb bronze whaler on a 12-lb fly rod would qualify as one.
After more than an hour, Jed asked Capt. John if he should tighten the drag. Capt. John responded with, “It’s up to you, unless you want to be here for days.” The drag was duly tightened.
For the next 10 minutes the rod was morphing between being U-shaped and bowed. Then on one radical U, the rod snapped in half with a resounding crack! Jed had the wherewithal to grab the top half before it slid down the line.
John and Baba sprang into “MacGyver” mode. John grabbed a small broken piece of fiberglass rod to use as a splint, Baba donated his roll of Chinese plaster (bandage) to the cause, and they created a cast for the break in the rod.
If this wasn’t unorthodox enough, they took the engine cover off and put it on the gunwales as an additional brace. The fight continued for another hour with Jed gently working the shark up and Baba applying more Chinese plaster when necessary.
This technique may not be considered the classic flyfishing method, but that thought never entered anyone’s mind. After all, there was a 9- foot long, 250-lb bronze whaler on a fly! They were going for it!
Jed remained locked down in battle for two hours and 42 minutes and had just about had it. Apparently, the shark was almost done in, as well, because it started to slowly spiral up. Baba was leaning precariously over the side of the gunwales, trying to stretch every bone in his body to bridge that fraction of an inch to get to the leader, while the wind was gently pushing the boat away. But Baba almost had it!
Even though they were going to release it. the story of a lifetime for Jed was just a fraction away when the well and truly chaffed leaderline I snapped. Baba was left frantically grabbing at air instead of leader, and the bronzy slowlv retreated to the depths with his little Blue Eyed Hawaian fly trophy trailing along.
In this process called fishing, the angler walked away after three hours of fun and games with less than the anticipated conclusion. But there have to be brownie points for a guy who fought an estimated 250-lb bronze whaler for almost three hours on a fly with a splinted rod and was within seconds of the deckhand releasing it when it was lost to a technical difficulty. It was a cruel twist of fate.
Technically, it got away, and in fishermen’s language that meant it was time to put out a pink-and-white jethead and take another spin around the reef, You simply cannot end a day on a sour note of loss.
As a consolation prize, they hooked up to a 32-lb ono that rocketed, put up a good fight and did all the things a fish is supposed to do Also, it was another first for Jed. With their dignity somewhat restored and a great story that Jed’s flyfishing friends will be hard-pressed to top. they called it a day and headed home.
Teeth on the Fly
• Fishermen are a funny lot. Perhaps vacationing at an exotic destination like Taveuni, Fiji, pushes their envelope even further by presenting them with stranger opportunities. Most fishing stories tell of a fish rocketing, barrel- rolling and greyhounding and then being boated or released. That is all fine and good and according to the specified expectations of fishing. But, every once in a while a story gets interesting when a fisherman has a sudden epiphany that seems like a grand and logical idea at the time.
Such was the case with Jed Mixter from Wyoming. Jed had quite a bit of experience fly fishing on saltwater flats, but in Taveuni he had his first blue-water flyfishing adventure.
Day one was the perfect opportunity for Jed to introduce his new bride, Krista, to the fabulous world of fishing. Jed had hopes of gaining a lifetime fishing partner, so Capt. John Llanes broke out the 50s and 80’s and did a bit of trolling for the standard introduction. Jed and Krista caught some nice-sized yellowfin tuna, and Jed released a 150-lb bronze whaler. Then he switched to a fly and caught a 15-lb drum fish. Everything went according to the book.
Day two was strictly for the boys. Jed had the lay of the open sea and decided to break out his 12-weight fly rod with 50-lb mono and tippet. He had an arsenal of flies tied by Mike Dawes of World Cast Anglers. Capt. John particularly liked a little yellow-beige one that he nicknamed the Blue Eyed Hawaiian.
Capt. John found a good reef for Jed to play on, and he warmed up on a 5-lb rainbow runner. Shortly afterward, a Mahimahi was intrigued by the Blue Eyed Hawaiian, but it veered off. John decided to do a little bait and switch using a small tuna they had caught earlier to try to lure the Mahimahi back.
That seemed to be a great plan until they realized something very large was rising up from the depths—and it didn’t look anything like a Mahimahi. In fact, it looked like a large bronze whaler.
Baba quickly began reeling in the bait. It was the ideal size for bait and switch, and they didn’t want to sacrifice it to the oceanic “tax
At this point one has to wonder where the minds of fishermen diverge from the minds of rational and logical men. This 250-lb bronze whaler was bearing down on the frightened tuna and Baba was desperately trying to reel it in to save it, with very little resistance from the tuna who was delighted to follow Baba’s lead. With what only could be considered the bravado of a fisherman, Jed decided to keep casting his fly in the shark’s face. A 250-lb shark and a fly Why not? The captain and crew were too busy to do anything but humor Jed while they did whatever they could to save the bait and take another run at the Mahimahi.
In the midst of the madness, the bronzy made a last lunge for the tuna. Baba snapped it away. The shark did a slight turn in search of the tuna and saw the Blue Eyed Hawaiian fly. With frustrated vengeance, it gulped the fly down with about 50 gallons of whooshing water. The fly ended up perfectly hooked on the side of the shark’s lip.
With a fairly shocked expression, Jed managed to demurely state, “I got it. I actually hooked it.” Jed had left the realm of his wildest imagination and was looking at the reality of a 9-foot shark on a 12-lb fly rod. This was going to be really funl
The first 15 minutes of the fight went fairly well, despite the odds. The shark sounded and then resurfaced. The leader was just inches away from Baba’s grasp when the bronzy struck out for the depths again and anchored. For the next hour it was give an inch and take an inch
Now, according to maritime law, the captain’s word is law. But, there must be—or at least there should be—a clause that says one doesn’t necessarily have to take the captain’s advice. I suppose it comes down to the definition of a state of emergency and whether or not a 250-lb bronze whaler on a 12-lb fly rod would qualify as one.
After more than an hour, Jed asked Capt. John if he should tighten the drag. Capt. John responded with, “It’s up to you, unless you want to be here for days.” The drag was duly tightened.
For the next 10 minutes the rod was morphing between being U-shaped and bowed. Then on one radical U, the rod snapped in half with a resounding crack! Jed had the wherewithal to grab the top half before it slid down the line.
John and Baba sprang into “MacGyver” mode. John grabbed a small broken piece of fiberglass rod to use as a splint, Baba donated his roll of Chinese plaster (bandage) to the cause, and they created a cast for the break in the rod.
If this wasn’t unorthodox enough, they took the engine cover off and put it on the gunwales as an additional brace. The fight continued for another hour with Jed gently working the shark up and Baba applying more Chinese plaster when necessary.
This technique may not be considered the classic flyfishing method, but that thought never entered anyone’s mind. After all, there was a 9- foot long, 250-lb bronze whaler on a fly! They were going for it!
Jed remained locked down in battle for two hours and 42 minutes and had just about had it. Apparently, the shark was almost done in, as well, because it started to slowly spiral up. Baba was leaning precariously over the side of the gunwales, trying to stretch every bone in his body to bridge that fraction of an inch to get to the leader, while the wind was gently pushing the boat away. But Baba almost had it!
Even though they were going to release it. the story of a lifetime for Jed was just a fraction away when the well and truly chaffed leaderline I snapped. Baba was left frantically grabbing at air instead of leader, and the bronzy slowlv retreated to the depths with his little Blue Eyed Hawaian fly trophy trailing along.
In this process called fishing, the angler walked away after three hours of fun and games with less than the anticipated conclusion. But there have to be brownie points for a guy who fought an estimated 250-lb bronze whaler for almost three hours on a fly with a splinted rod and was within seconds of the deckhand releasing it when it was lost to a technical difficulty. It was a cruel twist of fate.
Technically, it got away, and in fishermen’s language that meant it was time to put out a pink-and-white jethead and take another spin around the reef, You simply cannot end a day on a sour note of loss.
As a consolation prize, they hooked up to a 32-lb ono that rocketed, put up a good fight and did all the things a fish is supposed to do Also, it was another first for Jed. With their dignity somewhat restored and a great story that Jed’s flyfishing friends will be hard-pressed to top. they called it a day and headed home.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Leuck on -
This is a great fishing story. Thank you for sharing!
Roberta: Fishermen are a funny lot.
I agree. My dad is no exception :-) I hope to get him to Makaira at some point.
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Permalink Reply by Roberta Davis on -
Ohhh your Dad would have a blast!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Scott Putnam on -
What a hoot! You're a great story teller Roberta!
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Permalink Reply by Roberta Davis on
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Thanks for your kind words. Scott did you get my other e-mail about the Bronzies and how we release sharks?
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