The Oama is a juvenille goatfish (weke) and a priceless baitfish in hawaii. The Hawaiin Goatfish (weke) are also a cherished food item by the Hawaiin people.  In fact, the oama is one of the few fish that are regulated with restrictions on the allowable methods used to target them by the DNLR (State of Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources).  The Weke spawn is hugely long with schools of Oama roaming the shorelines (and getting assaulted by predators) from June through October.  But, this fly will fish well all year.

I designed this fly to compliment the Huck Huna which imitates a number of reef shrimp and crabs.  The Huck Huna is designed specifically to match the Banded Coral Shrimp (Opea Huna), which is the most common of the reef shrimp in Hawaii.

The architecture of this fly is similar to the clouser minnow with barbell eyes tied on top so that it rides “hook up”.  I use congo hair (instead of the natural materials that bob clouser originally designed the fly with) because congo hair moves so nicely in the water, saturates with bubbles and dries so quickly in the air when casting.  I also use a technique by epoxying a few strands of crystal flash through the middle of the fly for the length of the fly.  This helps in preventing the congo hair from fouling the hook (which is a common problem in saltwater patterns).  Lastly, I tie in a red collar because the oama is a very fragile fish that frequently bleeds from the gills when bumped or captured.

Strip this fly quickly.  I recommend smaller sizes 4 & 6 so that you can catch a myriad of smaller reef fish in the mix.  if solely targeting the larger predators like the bluefin trevally go with a larger size 2.

I patterned this fly after the fairly infamous Avalon Permit Fly that is fished almost exclusively for permit, tarpon, bonefish and other predators in Cuba.  It was created originally by Mauro Ginevri and William in 2012.  In fact, it’s the Avalon Permit Fly I tied for Cuba that I have had so much success with hunting the Bluefin Trevaly on both Kauai and the Big Island.

The architecture of this fly is similar to the avalon permit fly, but made with different colors and more modern synthetic materials to match the natural Banded Coral Shrimp.  I tie the exact same “keel” system in the fly so that the hook rides up, avoiding snagging.  But, even more important is the clicking sound the beads of the keel make when stripped; practically the identical sound that the naturals make.

in addition to the more realistic colors of the Banded Coral Shimp’s arms/pinchers, I tie in glow in the dark rubber legs along with rabbit strips that add action fish can’t resist.  In addition, I fashion in a realistic egg pattern (which is typically used in steelhead flies) because the banded Coral Shrimp carries a very obvious egg sack.  Lastly i use black dumbbell eyes to more match the eyes of the natural and to help the fly get into the right part of the water column quickly.

One other improvement i have made is in the fly’s durability.  I would frequently break the keel system after the punishment of fighting a fish or the fly hitting the lava or reef.  Now, i use epoxy on the head which makes the fly much more durable, and also closer to imitating the natural.

Strip this fly quickly.  I recommend smaller sizes 4 & 6 so that you can catch a myriad of smaller reef fish in the mix.  if solely targeting the larger predators like the bluefin trevally go with a larger size 2.

BTW, i caught a big dorado in Baja on this fly in Oct of 2022.  So, i’m confident it works on many saltwater predators.