The hardest part about fishing alone is taking photographs.   Fishing for carp on the lakes of Middle Tennessee I had a pretty good system. I mounted my camera on a GorillaPod (a small, plastic tripod with flexible legs).  I affixed the tripod to the front of the inflatable boat or, if I was on foot, simply stuck the whole set-up in my waders.  When I had a fish I used the self-timer on the camera to give me time to get in frame and hold up my catch.

Here in Hawaii I am almost always on foot and far from any dry object which I could set a tripod on.  When fishing for papio I have to factor in the hazard of breaking waves and deep holes that would swallow my camera forever.  The result is fairly repetitive, low quality snapshots of part of a fish, or part of me and part of a fish.

This weekend a Summer swell arrived and made fishing in the surf for papio a hazardous proposition.  Instead, I dug out the fly rod to chase bonefish.  It was raining when I woke up but all of the weather forecasts predicted sun.  Against my better judgement I decided to trust them and headed out under a sky full of long, grey clouds.

Within 15 minutes of arriving at the flat, the clouds began to break up.  For about two hours the conditions were almost ideal – clear skies and clean water, with just enough chop from the trade winds to disguise footsteps and shadows.  It took some time to find fish but once I did, I quickly landed two solid specimens and had several more close encounters.  Unfortunately, with only my cell phone, I could barely manage a few grainy selfies, taken through the plastic case and a layer of saltwater and fish-slime.