Hawaii Nearshore Fishing

A community of fishers sharing knowledge and Aloha

You are here: Home / Archives for 2020

Archives for 2020

Motorized kayak damashi and jigging action!

By 2 Comments

The wind forecast finally dropped to fishable conditions. It promised a 10mph East wind directly onshore on the Eastside, and a 15mph North East wind coming down the mountains on the south side. So I headed East and had the launch and water to myself due to the social gathering restrictions.

The wind felt like 12 mph heading straight into it but I could push through with the help of my Bixpy motor mounted on my rudder. It was 2.5 miles out to the 130ft spot I hoped held opelu but no schools showed up on my oldie but goodie Garmin Echomap 44CV. I paddled around with the motor assisting me, at about 3mph, as I scanned around for bottom marks.

The first scattered mark, slightly off the bottom, produced a lai which I kept for a buddy who makes flies out of the skin. Next up was a surprise nabeta which must have been in a sand patch I didn’t know was there.

Then I went deeper, all the way out to 180ft but didn’t see anything good and my frozen opelu went untouched. The wind brought me back in, and I started exploring the shallower water. A very active mark showed up on the bottom so I used the motor to hold me in place against the current and dropped the 2-hook damashi rigged with CHL Minnows. As soon as I lifted it off the bottom the pole arched and line pulled off the reel! I was trying to remember how heavy the branch line on the damashi was, and was hoping it was at least 10lb test. The fish battled me all the way up, on the light drag, and I was surprised to see an uku that later was weighed 2lb 10oz. The other branch line was broken off so maybe two uku hit the rig. I had been searching for uku in this area in the past and never expected to catch them on a damashi!

When I checked my opelu it was gone and the 2oz tungsten bullet weight I was testing had teeth marks on it! Man, that was a crazy frenzy.

With the bite this hot and my damashi rig only having one hook now, I switched to my jigging setup rigged with a 2 oz, 2.75 inch prototype tungsten jig I’ve been hoping to test. I couldn’t find that mark despite having set a “Man Over Board” on the GPS so I searched around the area.

Found another good mark in 90ft, dropped the jig on it and “kapow!”. A good fighting fish jerked the tip, pulled a bit of line and gave a good account of itself. The compact jig had fallen like shot and must’ve hit the omilu on the head, haha.

I had another jig shape to test so I switched and went hunting for a good mark again.

Dropped the second tungsten jig on the mark and “whammo”, hooked up! This fish wasn’t taking line but still felt fun. A nice moana came up. Both the omilu and moana were released. I was stoked to see how well the tungsten jigs worked.

I moved off the spot and only saw scattered marks on the fish finder so I went back to the damashi, with 3 hooks this time. By now it was midday at the top of the big King Tide and the current went slack. Fish didn’t bite for a while but then it picked up with a smaller uku and omilu. I released those and the misc reef fish that were keeping me busy.

When small, brown hagi started coming up it was time to head for home. I ran the motor at a 3/4 speed and the battery died about a half mile from my landing. Running between 1/4 and 3/4 speed for 6 hrs drained the battery. Now I know and will keep more juice in the tank just in case.

Without the assistance of the Bixpy I couldn’t safely do the 7 mile round trip, and wouldn’t have been able to stay over marks while I dropped on them. Thank you Bixpy!

Stay tuned for more testing of the compact tungsten jigs. Even though they are only 2 oz (60 gm) they fall like a 3 oz (90 gm) jig because of their compact shape.

Coach Haru: Japanese Jigging Tips – Part #4

By 4 Comments

More Japanese jigging pearls of wisdom from Coach Haru!

Coach Haru: There are 3 type of signs of bait fish in fish finder. The elongated shape on the left shows bait isn’t being threatened. Maybe no predators around. Drop a jig on it but you might not get a bite at all.

Center one is looks very balled up. They got security alert, must stay closer together. Often predators you’ll see predators on the fish finder. Best time to drop a jig. Jig moves different from other real bait. Jig is falling through bait, fall out of the group, predator’s instinct kicks in.

And last one on the right, they got attacked. Bait are spreading all over mix with bigger fish in. It’s harder to get attention from predators because they are very busy chasing real bait. Artificial bait can not win against real ones. So see this round ball, drop jig now.

Assist hook rigging depends on type of jig. For example, center weighted jig’s purpose is to fall longer, sideways. Chance of fish biting the head or tail is 50 – 50. Ideal to put on both sides. But line attached to the head so eventually line gets tension head lift up so no need equal size hook on the end. Bigger on head, smaller on tail. Long center weight jig, I put 2 hooks on each. Make sure both hooks don’t hook each other. Tail weighted jig like early Shimano butterfly jig should not put on tail. They are not good swimming jig, so no need.

Tail weighted jig made for swimming, fast retrieve jig can have treble hook on tail because head and rear balance don’t matter. Slow pitch jig like flat jig needs to have both on both ends. And must have light cord on assist hooks. They must not obstruct action of the flat jig. Also light hooks like titanium.

I used to catch Ono with assist hook made with thin wire leader with treble hook tied with metal crimp.  It worked good. Toothy fish like Ono, ahi, mahi, kaku, they bite bait not suck to swallow like Ulua or kahala. Need shorter assist hooks. Best is 1/3 the length of the jig. Ulua, kahala, others like Moana, weke, those are suck the bait in to mouth, need longer assist hook to make sure hooks go into their mouth deeper. Most of fish attack head of bait because chasing from behind bait is much difficult for them. Their target is the eyes. That’s why all those lures have eyes and very realistic eyes.

Rear weighted jig: 
For shore jigging, casting distance is the most important. Long cast has more chance of a bite. Especially, when there is a bait boil, you want to reach to the boil.

Rear weight jig stays in water longer, showing jig to fish longer. Can search wider area. When cast it, heavy tail goes first, stays good form to fly. For off shore jigging, it can reach deeper water fast. When you see bait ball in the fish finder, rear weight jig can reach the bait ball fast and it falls almost straight that aiming at the target accurately.  Also rear weight jig shakes tail like swimming but depend on shape (cut to make edges). Rear weight jig is not good for long jerk or slow jerk. It doesn’t stay in the water flat or side stance, it falls straight. Fast jerk or retrieve is better. I use a rear weight jig with spinning reel, stiffer rod(tip) to control the jig. On medium current, off shore, I use 60g for 100ft.  150g for 200ft, 200G for 300ft.

Holoholo: Shorefishing Summary – July to August 2020

By 8 Comments

Holoholo writer Matthew summarizes the inshore Summer season so far. Has the season already peaked? How do your fishing trips compare?

Matthew:

Traditionally, August is the absolute best month of the year for shorefishing. However, this August has been much different for many people. July was a great month, at least for me, some of my friends, and some other people that I follow on social media. The Papio bite was hot, as well as the Oama and Halalu bite at certain spots. 

The “Act with care order” imposed early August made fishing a slightly more difficult, due to the fact that you had to be below the high water mark, but still left a lot of spots viable. For me, that meant one of my spots was gone. Throughout August, it was consistently slow for me and some of my friends (strictly lure users though) at many different spots. A few Papio showed up, but nothing like we were anticipating for what was supposed to be peak fishing season. Some people I know had success using live bait near piles, as well as at certain deeper water spots. 

Towards the end of August, the oama started thinning out and getting smarter, and it seemed like the Papio bite had stopped dead, at least for the south shore. A friend of mine had success on the North Shore, but the south shore appeared to be pretty barren. It seemed like the season had peaked early in July, and ended early as well. 

A lot of the catches made in the past few weeks were on smaller lures (small flies, kastmasters, grubs)  perhaps signalling that fish are keying in on smaller baits. 

The “stay at home” order made fishing a lot more difficult, due to the fact that you had to actually be in the water now. It left me fishing a spot I have a love/hate relationship with, and many others frustrated.

At this writing on September 6, a good number of moi hunters have been having a hard time to find bigger moi in the first six days of the season. A couple bigger ones have been landed but most of the ones I’ve seen caught were either undersize or 11-12”.

A couple of the flats fishermen targeting Oio have been getting great results though, and a couple of 7-9# range Oio have come up in the past week or two. 

Perhaps the large number of people heading into the water have made the fish skittish in certain spots, or the increasing pressure from the growing numbers of fishermen have contributed to the bite as well, and it is certainly tough for me and a couple of others I talk to. I’ll keep whipping until either my arms fall off or I catch a Papio, whichever comes first?.

It appears to be a tough month, but please drop a comment if you feel otherwise. Good luck to all, and keep on fishing????????.

Poll Results So Far: How’s the 2020 shoreline season going for you so far?

By 3 Comments

2 weeks into running the poll, with 37 people participating, about 1/3 said the season is about the same as previous seasons for them. Almost 2/3 said it’s been slower than previous years and just 5% said it’s actually been better than previous years.

Do you agree with these prelim poll results? If you haven’t voted, please do. We’ll run the poll through the month of September, ending at the traditional ending of the summer season.

Wade whipping during the Stay At Home Shutdown

By 2 Comments

Oahu’s Mayor Caldwell’s 2-week lock down had gone into effect this morning (8/27/20). Thankfully fishing in the water (wade fishing, diving, kayak fishing, boat fishing…) was still considered essential.

I took a drive down the Windward coast and there were a lot less shore fishers, but some were still standing on dry land or sitting in their trucks.

The tide was really high for most of the day, contradicting the steep rise and fall predicted in the Hawaii Fishing News Almanac. Guessing all that water was due to the King Tide phenomenon. On the way back from my scouting trip, it looked like the tide had dropped enough so I waded out to one of my reliable lure testing spots.

Started with a 3.5″ jointed rubber Vudu Mullet that got followed by not attacked. Maybe the kaku wanted a more aggressive swimmer? I put on the IMA Sasuke 120F with the clear body and lime/yellow top and was stoked on how that lure cut through the wind. On the second cast I hooked a kaku, turned the GoPro on, and got footage of the fish imitating a tarpon.

Then it purposefully leaned its head to the left to wind up and throw the lure to the right. Nonchalantly, it slowly swam away. So glad it waited ’til I had the leader firmly in my grip before it shot the lure sporting 3 treble hooks.

I reloaded, cast the Sasuke out again and caught a smaller kaku. Back to back! I let that kaku shake off before it got too close, and after that the bite went dead. There was a guy dunking near me, sleeping in his truck so he effectively cut me off from wading past him.

This was the first time I fished the Sasuke seriously and man was I impressed. The ball bearings roll to the back on the cast, and then roll forward on the retrieve, making it wobble and dart crisply. The 3 stock treble hooks are very sharp, going 2 for 2 on the hard-to-hook kaku, but be careful when you release your fish! The Sasuke dove more than 2 feet on a fast retrieve, but floated back to the surface when the line slacked. All you have to do is wind straight and hang on!

We still have the Sasuke in 3 color patterns in the Store. Sorry it took so long to test it.

Product Review: Bixpy kayak electric motor

By Leave a Comment

I’ve used the Bixpy rudder-mounted electric motor on my Trident Ultra 4.3 seven times since the initial trip in April. It’s worked flawlessly except for the time I didn’t attach the power cable to the motor properly and the cable got loose in choppy seas. I had to paddle unaided 2.5 miles back to shore and it really made me appreciate the boost I get from the Bixpy.

The motor and lithium battery pack add about 9lbs and an extra 5 to 10 mins to my setup, depending how sleepy I am, and a little bit of drag if I’m paddling without running the motor, but man, does it extend my paddling range.

In the normal, slightly bumpy seas, I average about 3.5 – 4 mph with the motor on, paddling along to ease over the bumps. 4 mph is my top burst speed if I paddled without the motor, but with it, I can arrive at my deep spot 2 miles out without feeling tired at all.

I’ve been able to fish further, longer, and that has resulted in more fish caught. The motor, controlled by the remote on my wrist, also lets me stay in position, against the current, so I can fish right over a mark. And when I have to rerig I keep the motor running at low speed so I’m slowly getting to my destination.

The Bixpy turned my very seaworthy paddle kayak into a hands free fishing kayak. I love it and can’t imagine fishing the deep without it now.

If you have any questions about the Bixpy, send me a message through the Contact page, and I’ll be happy to share more about my experiences.

Poll: How’s the 2020 shoreline season going for you so far?

By 6 Comments

We have been getting reports that oama came in, but came in late, and there had been a lot of people fishing from shore since it was one of the few allowed activities. With standing on the beach currently prohibited, accessible fishing spots have been reduced.

It’s peak fishing season now and we’d like to know how’re you’re doing. Thanks for participating.

Holoholo: Bouncing a tiny jighead for big oio

By 7 Comments

Accomplished whipper and new fly fisher, Jeremy, returns to his fishing roots.

Jeremy: Since I’m still working from home and traffic has been good, I’ve been trying to get in a short session before my workday starts.  I get to the beach around 5:30am and need to leave by around 7:15am, so not much time to fish, but it’s a nice way to start my day.  I’ve been fly fishing a lot more recently and been in a dry spell, so I decided to switch it up and bust out the spinning gear again to help increase my chances of catching something.  On this day, I decide to try out a spot where I’ve been lucky in the past and where I know the grounds really well.  Tide is a little high, so I decide to just work the inside reef.  I wade out a bit, to around thigh deep, and begin casting.  I’ve seen fish in this particular area in the past, so I fan out my casts to really comb the area and hopefully find a hungry fish.  And right around 6am, I get lucky.  I’m slowly bouncing my jighead on the bottom and feel some slight resistance. 

I lift my rod tip and feel something on, but it feels like only a nibble.  I rapidly crank my reel to try to set the hook, but the fish is swimming towards me and I’m just hoping he doesn’t spit.  After what feels like a few seconds, he finally realizes he’s hooked and takes off on a blistering run.  Yes!!!  Finally hooked a fish and I can tell it’s a good sized one.  He takes out about a 100 yards on the first run, I gain line back, and he makes another screaming 100 yard second run.  

It’s a back and forth battle and after 7 minutes, I get him close and finally net him.  Chee!!!  Big boy! 

I take a measurement, get some quick pics, and release this beautiful 25″ o’io.  This matches my personal best for biggest o’io, which I guess to be around the 8-9lb range since this bugga was FAT!  I’m super stoked and luckily I got this one on the GoPro so I can relive this moment over and over, LOL.  Awesome scrap and it’s always a nice feeling to see the fish strongly swim away.  Hopefully I can catch him again when he’s double digits.  

Holoholo: The oama and papio season has started!

By 7 Comments

The oama have arrived just in time for traditional August to September period. Matthew describes how the papio bite has spiked accordingly.

Matthew: Summer seems to finally be picking up. What started out as a very bad season may be turning around pretty soon. Oama are coming into several spots and the Papio bite is very hot right now. Oama are in, “young and dumb” which means that they are easier to catch. Perfect papio snack size oama, around 3-4 inches, and also good for oama fries if you prefer to eat Oama. If you find the right pile, many piles right now don’t need palu or super “finessy” gear, they’ll just bite the bait without thinking.

Understandably, with the arrival of the Oama, the Papio have been coming inshore. My friends and I have been getting hot action whipping at different spots, but the one thing they have in common is a lot of moving water with some depth and structure. It’s a good time to go whipping or dunking right now. 

Many people are dunking Oama right at some piles I’ve seen, and some decent fish have been pulled up on live Oama. I’ve even caught these roi, taape and menpachi whipping fresh dead oama, and missed some big omilu so far.

Whipping lures around the piles has also been effective. More halalu piles and sardine piles are showing up around the island, but some have been netted.

Oama are starting to trickle in, Papio are biting good, we’re having beautiful days, time to get out there! Just be sure to wear a mask and practice social distancing, for the concern of you and others around you. Stay safe, good luck, and most importantly, have fun. ~ Matt

Holoholo: Hookum Flies restocked! Read how to fish ’em.

By 1 Comment

Holoholo writer and fly tier Matthew has restocked the store with his well-designed and effective flies.

  • Cotton Candy
  • Mullet
  • Halalu
  • Oama
  • Golden Blaze 2.0

Matthew: A second run of Hookum Flies will be available in the shop now. Very sorry for the delay to all of those who have been waiting, but there was a load of orders I had to deal with, which have now been taken care of. In this second run we will be running the Oama and Halalu again, this time in larger numbers, but we are introducing three new colors, those being the Golden Blaze 2.0, Mullet, and Cotton Candy. These five are some of my favorites as well as top sellers and producers. Understandably, since it’s now summer, Oama has been working well, as well as halalu as the usual summer baitfish trickle in. They may be coming in late this year, but they are starting to come in and Papio catches statewide have picked up recently.

For this run, a lot has been fine tuned. The Oama, Halalu, and Golden Blaze designs have changed drastically with a lot more layers and different types of flash and feathers being added. Hooks remain the same: Gamakatsu 2/0 saltwater series hooks. Again like last time, we are offering only the four inch flies on the site, but if you would like to order a custom order or view more of my products not on sale on this site, please contact Scott and he will put you in contact with me. 

Some other products I regularly make are the 5” big flies and 2.75” mini flies. The 5” flies are meant for bigger game and are tied on 4/0 Gamakatsu hooks. They can be tied in any color. The 2.75” flies are meant for lighter game fishing, sort of as a more durable replacement for grubs and soft plastics, and also can be tied in any color. I have a lot more colors that I tie that are not on this site, so please feel free to contact me through Scott or leave a comment below. 

Currently, it is evident that fly season is starting to pick up, as me and my friends have started to catch a little more in the past few weeks. Here are a few pictures from my catches on my flies recently, including two Awa awa and a bunch of Papio:

The rig that many people whip flies with is the bubble and fly rig, which has gained a lot of popularity in the past few years. Many people are used to fishing grubs and strips behind bubbles, but flies seem to do even better behind a bubble. I use a specialized big bubble, which has a wire running through it to avoid fraying of the line, made by a friend. I then tie on a fluorocarbon leader, which is usually around 6-7 feet long, sometimes more or less. I usually use 20-30 lb. My fly choice depends on the spot, but I have been trying a prototype Hinalea fly recently that has been doing good in reefy zones. If it’s more of an area filled with sand pockets I’ll tie on the Oama or Halalu, but all flies work in most applications. 

Again, the Oama fly has been doing good in sand pocket areas, the Halalu fly appears to be doing good in deep water with a significant amount of reef, the Golden Blaze 2.0 fly has been doing well in similar conditions to the Hinalea, which is deeper water with coral heads, the mullet fly has been doing well in murky water or anywhere there is mullet, which can also be applicable to surge zones, where the Uoa’oa inhabit. The Cotton Candy fly seemed to generate bites in all of those places, generating the most bites at dawn or dusk.

Thanks for supporting my business, and if you catch something on it, please let me know via my Instagram page, @hookumflies or in the comments on this post. Stay safe, and tight lines!

 ~Matthew (Hookum Flies)

Back to the South Side to kayak hunt for preds

By 5 Comments

Since the summer brought bigger surf to the South Side, we had been taking advantage of the small surf on the East Side when the wind allowed. In general, there were more fish than what we encounter in the South, but the fish were not the predators like uku and pelagics we were hoping to run into. We found protected, sandy bottomed areas that held tasty fish like nabeta and juvenile opakapaka but not the rocky drop offs that attract the bigger fish.

Surf and wind dropped on the South Side this past week, and Frank and I went back to one of our favorite spots. We started off looking for bait but couldn’t find any sizable bait balls, so it was time for Plan B. In 100ft of water, I dropped down a frozen, well preserved, year-old local opelu, about 7 inches long. Within a minute, I felt the taps, then the tugs, and then line peeled off my reel. Hanapa’a, but the fish felt really weird. No sustained runs, instead, quick downward pulls.

After a jerky 2 minute fight, this popped up. I thought it was a big omilu but noticed the 4 yellow spots on the side and the down turned mouth. Stoked, I let Frank know of the catch and he set up to drop bait.

Yellow spot / yellow dot / island jack papio are often caught in very shallow water as they feed on crabs and shrimp. Fly fishers seem to get them more often than whippers, since their flies do a better shrimp imitation. Yellow spot are one of the best tasting papio because their diet gives them a fatty, less fishy taste.

My next drop got tap, tap, tapped, then picked up. Initially I thought it was a big jack but when it slowed and felt heavy I knew it was a shark. Even with the 2-speed Avet SX reel in low gear, I had to endure a 20 minute bicep burn. Man I hate these things. It had taken me from 100ft to 200ft, with Frank keeping watch, before I could raise it high enough to cut it free. On the way back to shallower water, we dropped our damashi on deep bait marks, and when that failed, dropped opelu down but nothing bit.

I rested my arms and let the Bixpy motor take me back to where the yellow spot bit, but all our bottom fished and trolled baits eventually got ripped off without hooking anything. I even tried dropping a small 60gm tungsten jig to hook the bait stealers but they were wise to it. The yellow spot and shark had hit on the slack low tide, and the bite oddly slowed as the tide rushed in. Maybe it was midday slowdown?

Frank caught a nice sized nabeta on the damashi, and I caught some taape and moana just to feel some tugs, but that was it.

The shorter paddle on the South Side was appreciated, and it was nice to hear the ratchet sing but I could do without the shark-isometrics.

Hanapa’a writer Kelly caught a 7lb yellow spot in 4 feet of water a few years back, so I weighed mine to see if it was close. A few ounces less at 6lb 9oz! Here’s Kelly’s write up. I thought these fish don’t eat other fish much, but I guess a tasty frozen opelu was too much to resist. Glad the yellow spot bit before the shark shut things down for us.

Badly sliced yellow spot about to be eaten as sashimi

Kelly and Hanapa’a writer Coach Haru said to clean the fish right away, remove the head, gills, and blood, and wrap the fish in paper towels to extract the blood. Let the muscle tissue loosen over 2 to 3 days, then eat as sashimi. On Day 2 I ate the fish as sashimi and poke and found the meat to be soft but not too soft, and very mild tasting. It was better as poke, with the sesame oil adding some richness as well as flavor.

Photo by Joanna

A friend who enjoys uku received the fish on Day 3 and his wife Joanna made a Thai vinaigrette sauce so they could eat the fish over mixed greens. Joanna doesn’t like fishy raw fish and loved the yellow spot.

Coach Haru: Japanese jigging tips – Part III

By Leave a Comment

Coach Haru has so much jigging wisdom, these tips have been broken into multiple posts. Lot of wisdom here for beginning and advanced jiggers!

Shimano Flat Fall, second from the top, is a slow pitch jigs. The rest can be jigged fast, or retrieved to “swim” back to the boat

Coach Haru: Most of Major Craft Jigpara are made for retrieve in high speed. That’s why they have treble hooks in the end. High speed retrieve, fish chase and attack from behind, treble hook wiggle like tail. Assist hooks on tail is for slow jigs. Long or flat slow center balanced jig falls slowly with side way. Some jig has eyes on the tail too. When I go out with boat, I have 3 rods. One is casting rod with spinning reel (Shimano Twin Power 12000) PE 80lb main line, leader 100lb, I have bait reel (Shimano Ocea Jigger) PE 60lb main line, leader 40lb. For slow jig and long center balanced jig. Fast jigging (Daiwa Saltiga 8000), PE60lb main line, leader 80lb. Jig 250lb-300g, jig for 100 fathom or more depth.

I like to use lighter gear because fun to fight, make me thrilled, also when I defeat the fight, fish won’t spool out whole line,  just snap leader or take lures. I found so many long mono line in water in Hawaii. Can you imagine that marlin spool out 500 yard line. Line killed so many marine animals. For me, fishing is game like boxing. Boxing is not street fight. Boxing is game. Needs lots techniques, strategy and have to practice. I’m an MMA coach but my favorite style is boxing. When my plan works, that is satisfaction. 

Lumica 120gm (4 oz) jig used as the sabiki weight, no hooks

There are many jig sabiki in the market. There are from super light to heavy. When fish are not biting lures , use smaller jig like a compact tungsten jig. If still fish are not biting, I use jig as the weight on a sabiki. Size of flies on sabiki is are an inch or less, leader on fly is 15lb to 30lb. There is Nomase( live bait fishing) sabiki which can keep the bait fish on sabiki continue to fish not detach the bait from fly. The leader of fly is longer than normal sabiki so bait can swim better.  Use a jig instead of lead weight. Prefer swimming jig but not long center weighted jig since that can tangle line and flies easy.   Daiwa TG bait or Jigpara are good. I don’t put hooks on jig because I don’t wanna lose the jig, especially the expensive TG Bait. Also, I put 2 flies out more than that. I had tried home made jig sabiki had 4 flies; Kawakawa hit it more than one, I lost entire set up so I use just 2 flies. Also it’s shorter that easier to use from Kayak. Jig is swimming jig, when reel it, jig wiggles makes flies dance good. Here is a Japanese video of a jig used as the sabiki weight. He has assists hooks on his jig and catches bait on the jig too!

Editor’s note: There are underwater videos taken in Japan, of fish reacting to various objects jigged on the bottom. Haru refers to those videos below.

Now you know when fish bite. When the jig is suspended the moment or starts to fall, that’s the moment the fish bite. But fisherman feels fish bite on the way up. But fish already bit the jig. Fish doesn’t feel the hooks because the moment, jig has no tension. That’s why need to set the hook hard. When fish bite the jig, fish face down so hit hard, pull hard, fight hard. Reeling tairaba, fish is face up to chase it so when fish bite, no need to set hook because line has tension, face is face up, easier fight and no need to set the hook. Plugs as well. Reeling plugs on surface, fish comes from under, face is up to take the plug is easier than jig is taken by fish face is down. 

For jig fishing, gotta find the fish first. You must show the lure.  Important is to make sure the lure is in fish’s sight. Most of the time you drop a jig to the bottom. You can see your line and bottom on fish finder, you gotta feel the bottom with the jig. Is it sand or rocks or artificial reef or wrecked ship? What ever it is, you gotta feel it to identify exactly where your jig at. Gotta put a jig in fish’s sight. Sometimes jigging catch fish out feeding time. Bait fishermen not catching , but jigging fishermen catch. Because jig can make reaction bite. Agitate fish. Make them piss off so they wanna attack. Most of toothy fish react aggressively. It’s reaction bite. Jig must drop on fish. Very important for fish to see jig. It has no smell or sign of life, fish will not come to jig from far. If there is no fish on fish finder, I don’t jig.

Holoholo: Ultralight fishing – test your skills. Or luck (mostly luck for me)

By 10 Comments

Dino first posted about targeting awa ‘aua in the early spring when the papio bite was slow. For his second post he’s sharing his ultralight obsession.

Dino: I’ve always been a fan of ultralight (UL) fishing. I bought a Penn 420ss when I was a teenager, loaded it with 4 pound test, paired it with the smallest rod I could find, and challenged myself. That’s what hooked me. The challenge.

You’ll lose a lot of screamahs over time, but sometimes you’ll land a nice one and that feeling is truly something. You’ll find yourself doing all kinds of weird things while fighting a fish. You’ll talk to yourself, bend your knees when a fish takes line (idk why I do that lol) you’ll find yourself cranking so fast to try and keep tension on the line since the reel is so small. You’ll catch yourself trying to cast so hard even though the lure is only gonna go so far lol.

If you haven’t tried it yet, give UL fishing a try. It’s super fun and you’ll test your skill (mostly luck…for me that is).

~ Dino

Inshore fishing is still sloooooowww…

By 23 Comments

Photo by Jon

Inshore fishing is still slow. I haven’t seen much bait fish (mullet, iao, oama, aholehole) this season and haven’t seen preds busting on schools near shore. It’s still a little early for oama but the other bait fish should have been in by spring time. I looked back at the July posts last year and fishing was slow this time too and picked up in August but not like the warm El Nino years where a lot of oama came in and stayed into the beginning of winter.

There’s also been a lot of people shore fishing since the shutdown started, so that must translate to fish caught and spooked. The guys that are catching are going at dawn and dusk, in spots that haven’t been pounded yet. And if they’re fishing the daylight hours, they’re using small, realistic baits.

How has the fishing been for you? Drop a comment to let us know. Mahalo!

Coach Haru: Japanese jigging tips – Part II

By 6 Comments

Coach Haru is a well known and well respected MMA striking coach. He’s been effectively jigging off his kayak in Hawaii using techniques learned in Japan and would like share his insight with us.  We’re super blessed to have a jigging sensei share such hard earned knowledge. Coach Haru feels that jigging can be very effective when done correctly, and the assist hooks allow for the safe release of fish you don’t want to take home. He loves the challenge of using lures only to capture his prey. Currently he’s in Japan and hopes to return to HI when the quarantine lifts.

Coach Haru: Tairaba (see previous post) is 100 years old. Started in Nagasaki Kyushu and Tokushima Shikoku. It was just round lead with a hook and put shrimp on to catch Tai (red snapper). But shrimp became expensive so commercial fisherman started to use plastic instead.  

There is a Japanese proverb “catch Tai with a shrimp”, back then red snapper was not high end fish. Shrimp was more valuable and expensive.

It was in March, 5 min from my house in Kobe, I got a Buri (wild hamachi) with the 40g halalu color.

New style jig has a flasher plate in the tail. Bass shop sells those plate. Putting it on the tail of jig is popular right now. This is by Hayabusa Jack eye Maki Maki.( reel it reel it). It can cast very far then just retrieve it fast and stop and go. In the morning, most of predators on the surface casing bait, then sun comes up, they go down. Cast it when jig hit the water, fast retrieve and stop for the moment then go again for a couple times. If there is not bite then drop a jig to mid range. Still not bite then drop to the bottom. Just reel it fast.

Now retrieve jig instead jig up and down is popular because easier and anybody can do, not get tired for fishing all day long. Especially from kayak, sit down to fish has less angle than stand up to jig. When stand up most of time tip of pole is down. Jig up to straight but sit on kayak, pole points straight and jig up. When fish bite and have to set the hook, there is not much angle to set the hook hard because tip of rod is already up. Miss fish more than fish from stand up. That’s why retrieve lure is better for kayak fish. I had a Hobie Pro Angler that allowed me to stand up to fish on the kayak just like boat. But changed to Hobie Revo 13, it was harder and lost fish a lot because fish wasn’t hooked well by short angle of rod position. 

There are many jig sabiki in market. There are from super light to heavy. When fish are not biting lures, use smaller like tungsten then still fish are not biting, I use jig sabiki. Size of flies on sabiki is are an inch or less, leader on fly is 15lb to 30lb. There is Nomase (live bait fishing) sabiki which can keep the bait fish on sabiki continue to fish not detach the bait from fly. The leader of fly is longer than normal sabiki that bait can swim better.  Use a jig instead leads. Prefer swimming jig but not long center waited jig can tangle line and flies easy.   TG bait or Jigpara are good. I don’t put hooks on jig because I dont wanna lose especially TG bait. Also I put 2 flies out more than that. I had tried home made jig sabiki had 4 flies, Kawakawa hit it more than one, I lost entire set up so I use just 2 flies. Also it’s shorter that easier to use from Kayak. Jig is swimming jig, when reel it, jig wiggles makes flies dance good. I will post a picture when I make my own jig sabiki. 

Coach Haru: Japanese style jigging tips – Part I

By 8 Comments

Coach Haru is a well known and well respected MMA striking coach. He’s been effectively jigging off his kayak in Hawaii using techniques learned in Japan and would like share his insight with us.  We’re super blessed to have a jigging sensei share such hard earned knowledge. Coach Haru feels that jigging can be very effective when done correctly, and the assist hooks allow for the safe release of fish you don’t want to take home. He loves the challenge of using lures only to capture his prey. Currently he’s in Japan and hopes to return to HI when the quarantine lifts.

Coach Haru:

Tairaba by Daiwa Baylover

These are the most popular lures in Japan now.

Tairaba style jig is good from kayak. Drop it and reel it, no need action, just reel it even fish bite still just reel it. No need to set hook, just reel. The easiest jigging style from yak. Long time ago, Shimano released Lucanus modified Tairaba but didn’t sell well. In Japan, Tairaba is very popular because no need technique just reel it. It is good for bottomfish like uku, opakapaka, onaga, roi, even pelagic fish. But use smaller hooks that big fish can break easy and it’s not cheap.

Tairaba Japanese video 1: https://youtu.be/MDkTPu0Sq2w

Tairaba Japanese video 2: https://youtu.be/j_rvnPYU0rk

You can use a baitcaster with Tairaba, no need to impart action, just reel.

Metal vibration by Big Backer

Set Upper diving minnow by Daiwa

These jigs, metal vibration, and diving minnow can fly so far. Can cast almost 100 yard. I wanna take them to Big Island for shore fishing someday.

Also popular is squid skirt. 3, 4 inch skirt under Tairaba or simply put a weight (1/2 or 1oz) in the head, drop it down to the bottom and just reel it up.

Color of lure is very important. Blue or natural fish color for sunny, daylight with clear water. Silver, glow color, zebra glow for dawn time. Pink for cloudy sky, gold with red or gold with green for murky water.

Usually Hawaii has sunny and clear water, I like to use blue, blue pink, sometimes pink. Deep water I use glow or zebra glow. West side I had good time with gold green. Daiwa sells TG Bait. People call it as bait not lure. It is made with tungsten that’s heavier than lead. Small silhouette than the same weight lure so when fish hesitate to bite bigger lure it works and goes deeper because of small size.

Slow pitch is hard with strong current or windy day. Center balance, long jig is fine when line goes diagonal or even side way by strong current but flat slow jig is hard make action right because it spins.

Jigs like Major Craft Jigpara that are made to swim is good for that. Because just reel it makes jig swim. I used Jigpara cast off kayak. As soon as hit water reel fast as I can. Caught kawakawa, ono, kaku, when I went to buoy caught so many aku and shibi.

In Japan use jig like metal blade. Cast and reel not jig. Many companies making jig to swim.

More gems from Haru to come soon!

Deepwater tasty critters on the damashi

By Leave a Comment

Hadn’t been able to kayak fish for 5 weeks so when the wind forecast dropped I got my gear ready. Surf was too big on the south shore so I headed back to God’s Country, the Windward side of Oahu, land of plenny fish and nice people.

I wanted to catch some fish for some friends who had helped me out, and the most productive kind of fishing I was capable of was using the damashi for tasty critters. The wind was stronger than expected, at 12 to 15 mph, and the water was lumpy from the big south swell. It took a while to get out to the spot I found the last time, but the rudder mounted Bixpy jet motor pushed through the slop with ease.

I made a bunch of drops with two sizes of CHL Minnows, drifting around until I brought up a small nabeta. 1 in the bag! The second one came up soon after and then I drifted off the spot and couldn’t find them again. I went further out, made drops until I felt more resistance on the line than a nabeta could make. Juvenile opakapaka, or “paka pups” as we call ’em! Their swim bladder pops out on the ride up from the depths so even if I deflated the swim bladder I’m not sure they’re gonna survive. There’s no size limit for opakapaka but without a Commercial License I’m only allowed 5 “Deep 7” fish, so I bagged it and went deeper for hopefully larger paka.

Paka pup fell off the top hook and floated helplessly

A double of larger paka pups came up and one fell off the hook and floated away. I motored back to get it and it definitely couldn’t decompress and head back down on its own. I poked its swim bladder with a hook and left it in my footwell. It stayed alive but wasn’t too lively and its swim bladder was still distended.

Another double of paka pups came up so I went shallower to find the nabeta and to avoid catching more pups.

I felt a little wiggling on the line and up came a silver, slender fish? Opelu? Noooo… baby kaku! These guys were cute but still stink like the larger variety. Another came up on the next drop so I moved away from Kaku Kindergarten.

I’m partial to green shades of Minnows when fishing deep but the pink ones worked too

The wind has pushed me shallower and I started catching little boxy porcupine fish so I cranked the Bixpy up and headed past the Kaku Kindergarten. The first drop yielded a nabeta so I was on the spot! Then I got a double nabeta – woohoo! I’m now counting in my head whether I have enough of these deep water golden nuggets to share.

Then I felt a heavier fish fighting back and up came a blunt nosed deepwater lizard fish and a paka pup. Uh oh, I was past my limit and didn’t want to kill anymore of them so I headed in with 5 nabeta and limit of pups.

A really nice guy, camping and boating with his kids, helped me pull my kayak out of the water and gave me a brand new Hayabusa damashi (the expensive kind) when I told him I suck at catching opelu. The folks I meet on this side of the island still live life the old Hawaiian way. It feels like I’m being transported back in time when I’m out here.

The fish were small but my friends were able to get a taste of how good steamed opakapaka and fried nabeta can be. I’m hoping to get more pups when they’re bigger.

Still a little early in the “season”. Here’s an early bait prediction.

By 21 Comments

Photo by Matt

July is right around the corner but there aren’t a lot of bait fish in. The early oama that came in last month have grown to mid-size but the second wave of oama hasn’t arrived.

There were some halalu piles, like the one Matt found to have his personal best catch, but a lot disappeared and there’s speculation that they were illegally netted.

The iao (Hawaiian sardine) weren’t in at my whipping spots and the predators that follow them into the shallows were missing. I checked two spots with some new lures and bolo’d both times!

Thad’s omilu on Lawaiaflies

The guys (and gals) have been starting at dawn with flies on long leaders behind floaters and have been experiencing improved omilu action.

We’re hoping a waves of oama and halalu come in soon but it is looking like an off year compared the recent banner years. How do you guys think this season will pan out?

Holoholo: Lady Luck Has Me Hooked!

By 13 Comments

After enjoying occasional fishing adventures as a child, Logan started whipping this past Fall to spend more time with Holoholo writer Dino and to find a way to unwind. The repetition of casting and retrieving while occasionally catching a fish is now her way to relax between teaching and doing work to support teachers. Now she’s hooked and has recently been outfishing Dino and Matt (Holoholo writer and Hookum Flies owner).

Logan:

It all started on a Saturday at the end of September 2019.  Dino wanted to stop to pick up more fishing gear and I jokingly picked up a pole and reel combo and said I was going to buy it. Well, the joke was on me and we left the shop with a simple setup and a pair of tabis. That afternoon we went to Magic Island and I caught a moana. The next morning we waded out on the flats and I caught a small papio. I was hooked!

After a couple of months of what seemed like endless sessions of coming up empty, Lady Luck is on my side again.  It started a couple weeks ago during an unplanned afternoon trip to our favorite spot.  The tide was higher than normal and the surf was up. I was tempted to say the conditions were too rough, but I had a good feeling. I’m glad I stayed because I caught eight omilu (6”-9”), a lai, and a wave (knocked me off my feet and dunked my reel!).  That Sunday we went to the same spot for a dawn patrol session and I walked away with two omilu added to my count. Dino couldn’t believe it and suggested we go out one more time that afternoon.  I almost didn’t go, but Lady Luck was calling and I caught two bigger papio and a tilapia. This past weekend, my streak continued.  I added five omilu, a papio, and two kaku to my count. I can’t wait to get away from my computer and my virtual work this weekend. Hopefully the streak continues!

My strategy? Keep it simple. I use a simple whipping setup with a medium bubble. I usually use grubs – greens and anything that sparkles are my favorites!

People say Dino is lucky that his girlfriend likes to fish, but I am lucky that he’s a patient teacher and gives me tips so that I can improve. Poor Dino has had to listen to me brag to my dad about catching more than him and listen to me cheer when I feel the tug.