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Fred Hall Show 2020 – Day 1

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Got to the show on the first day, about an hr after the doors opened. The crowd grew as people got off work but thinned well before the 9pm closing. I suspect the early birds wanted to grab the deals before they sold out, yet it was less crowded than last year because of the growing Coronavirus concern.

Starting at one end of the 2 large exhibition halls, I made my way systematically. First place of note was Jeff Mariani’s Cedros Kayak Fishing booth. Cedros Island, 310 miles south of San Diego and just off coast of Baja California, has been a very popular long range sport boat destination from San Diego but the Mexican government no longer allows the US boats to fish it. The prized yellowtail and calico bass fishery can only be sampled though Mexican services like what Cedros Kayak Fishing offers.

Jeff explained that he provides outfitted Hobie Outback pedal kayaks, rental rods and reels if needed, and will take you and the kayaks by truck or panga to the best option to fish that day. Lodging is at his modern 7 bedroom, 5 1/2 bath home. Tours include transport to and from Cedros Island, meals, beverages, fishing trips, fish cleaning and processing. To get there, his guy will pick you up in CA, drive you over the border to Ensenada where you’ll board a small plane to Cedros Island. When I lived in LA and kayak fished, my unfulfilled dream was to land a yellowtail on a kayak. This might be my best shot!

The tours are very affordable compared to other destination fishing trips. We Hawaii folks have to fly into San Diego of course.

4 days/3 nights - 2 days of fishing - $2000
5 days/4 nights - 3 days of fishing - $2400

Bixby motor designer Houman on the left

Next up was Bixpy jet motors. I visited them last year and was really intrigued with the idea of putting their compact electric motor on my kayak’s rudder but thought I could find a cheaper, yet effective solution.

Bixpy’s design is almost plug-and-play. I would just have to replace my rudder with theirs that the motor attaches to, and I can still use my foot controls. No extra harnesses to get in the way of my fishing line. Their lithium battery is so light it floats and the wireless remote would allow me to control the Bixpy’s speed from my wrist. There’s even a kill switch I’d wear that would shut off the motor if I fell out.

I hadn’t been able to find a more elegant solution within the Bixpy’s price range and I really needed the additional help. In the past year I’ve struggled to fight the wind and current in my Ocean Kayak Trident Ultra 4.3, and while I always safely made it in, I paid the price with tight muscles the next few days. Houman, the designer/creator of the Bixpy system explained how I’d install it on my Trident, projected I could expect to run at 4 mph for more than 5 hrs, and that I should expect the battery to last 3 to 5 yrs before it needs to be replaced. The Bixpy jet motor itself should last 3 yrs or more before it needs to be serviced by the factory.

The Bixpy system isn’t cheap by any means but if it gets me to my spot and back, and helps me fight the current, it’s worth it. I can still paddle the kayak and get my exercise in, and use the motor when I need to. I’m hoping to have it powering me around within a month or so.

The Bixpy motor, battery, remote and rudder will cost about $1250.

I stumbled on the Temple Reef rod booth and wondered why that brand sounded so familiar. Then I remembered reading great things about their jigging rods in some online forum. Pro Staffer and rod designer Benny Ortiz gave me the run down on the rods he has selling at the show, and how the 2-piece rods joined near the rod butt, far below where the flex stress point of the rod was. The slow pitch rods flexed properly in the tip yet had backbone for larger fish. Their replacement policy was to pay 50% MSRP one time, after that you’re on your own. I thought that was fair and if I didn’t have an unused slow pitch 2-piece rod already, I would have purchased one at their show prices.

Time was running short so I shot over to the Anetik booth to see Pete, whom I met last year. After wearing the Anetik Shade Mask and Shade Socks last year, we liked them so much we’ve been selling them in the Store. Pete said their new, best selling product is their wind and rain repellent jacket made from a light neoprene type material. In the short time I was with Pete, numerous guys tried the jacket on and some bought it. I picked up two size Large Shade Socks at wholesale to sell in the store and really should have bought more Shade Masks since the last two sold out today! I love the very breathable fishing shirt I got last year and wear when it’s warm (kind of cold now) but I understand it would be hard for others to buy it without seeing and touching it. Let me know if you’re interested in buying any of their UV protectant clothing. I’ll be placing another order with them soon.

There was just a bit more time so I speed walked over to the Boating section in the adjoining exhibition hall, took this photo and realized I knew nothing about boats.

In the outdoor arena, there was no one manning the live trout pond and no dogs jumping into the pool like there were last year. Victims of the Coronavirus scare I’m guessing. Just some food trucks and a few people eating in the cold air. I ordered a pulled pork-style chicken sandwich and called it a night. Stay tuned for Day 2.

Air travel during the Coronavirus uptick

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When I left last Tuesday on an early flight out of HNL to LAX for the Fred Hall Show, there were no confirmed cases in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Airlines terminal was emptier than normal and there was no mention of taking precautions to not be exposed. It seemed like the airport personnel wanted to downplay the concern since they were already seeing a drop in passengers coming through.

The passengers on my flight didn’t seem too occupied with avoiding germs so I felt a little germaphobic when I wiped down my seating area with a Purell Hand Sanitizing Wipe.

The lobby of my Torrance hotel was always filled with Chinese speaking flight attendants wearing face masks so I did the antibacterial wash coming and going.

The Fred Hall Show seemed a touch less crowded than last year and those there still shook hands for the most part. A few booths had antibacterial soap dispensers that were being used occasionally.

By the time I was heading back to HI on Friday afternoon, there were 14 confirmed cases in Los Angeles and one on Oahu. The LAX Hawaiian Airlines Check-In was much emptier than normal but my flight was full and again, no one seemed concerned about catching germs from the plane.

I have been doing a self-quarantine around at-risk people (elderly, heath compromised, very young) just in case, and am hoping the spread of the virus is diminished as we all adopt better hygiene habits as a whole. Maybe this time I won’t catch a cold after traveling like I do 50% of the time.

I’ll write up the Fred Hall experience next!

Going to the 2020 Fred Hall show!

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Stoked to be checking out the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach for the 3rd year in a row. Nowhere else in the country can you see so many fishing products, talk to the domain experts, and buy gear at “show prices”.

Looking forward to seeing old friends and discovering innovative products to share with you guys!

Check out the show video.

Quick water test of new JDM lures

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Picked a windy evening to test the Little Jack Gorgon 125 and IMA Sasuke 120F. The minimal whipping gear needed (rod/reel, gear bag, wading boots) was a nice break from the stuff we have to take to kayak fish.

I had just started using a pair of entry level Simms Tributary Felt Sole wading boots from Cabelas ($100) because my neoprene $30 tabis didn’t fit well and kept giving me weird callouses. The high end tabis from Japan were more than $150 and I couldn’t justify that cost for the little I wade fished. The Simms Tributarys go on and off easier than my zippered tabis because of the speed lacing but because the felt bottom is flat and rigid, it feels like I’m an astronaut walking on the moon. Not sure if all felt bottomed wading boots are that way. Still something I’m getting used to, but at the end of each trip I barely notice that stiffness. It is comforting to know that I can kick jagged rocks and my toes are safe from eel bites.

I just had a short stretch of reefy water to cast in because dunkers were fishing both ends. Started with the jointed Little Jack Gorgon 125. It casted ok when the wind was light but didn’t do well into a strong crosswind because of the shifting center of mass. It swam incredibly realistically at slow speeds, and when I paused it, the head of the lure turned back towards its tail. At high speeds it leaned over to the side so it’s definitely a slow to medium retrieve lure. Since it floats, and submerges a few inches when retrieved, there was no risk of snagging and it wasn’t affected by the slight chop. I bet it’s gonna slay the picky fish that follow lures before deciding to eat.

It got windier so I put on the IMA Sasuke 120F. It floated, but barely, and swam in the 27″ to 36″ depth range, so I had to be careful in shallow, rocky water, but man did it punch through the wind. I was never at risk of backlashing my bait casting reel, and because it swam 2 to 3 feet under the surface, the predators would easily see its aggressive side to side head movement. Unfortunately, with no bait fish around, there was no reason for a predator to brave the cold, shallow water, so the two lures didn’t even get a sniff.

I am pumped to fish the Gorgon in areas that require finesse lures, and throw the Sasuke even when the weather conditions get a little nasty. Both lures are currently available in the Store.

New JDM Sub-Surface lures in the Store!

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In case you haven’t been checking, a bunch of hard to find and very effective JDM sub-surface lures have been added to the Store.

  • IMA iBorn 118F with new Magnetic Rebound System that improves casting distance.
  • IMA Sasuke 120F, extremely popular in Asia and Europe with rolling magnetic tungsten ball system to improve casting distance.
  • Little Jack Gorgon 125, realistically detailed, natural moving jointed swimbait scaled down for inshore fish.

Don’t wait to long to decide if you wanna try these, they are selling out fast now that the Store is open to the whole country and the prices, with shipping are … unreal!

Live opelu is way better than fresh opelu!

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Old timers have told me that opelu is the “magic bait for pelagics”, like oama is the “magic bait for papio”. Since frozen oama still works when slow trolled for papio, I’ve been buying opelu from the fish market and trolling and bottom fishing that off the kayak. It hasn’t worked that well trolled (one 11lb mahi last spring) but has worked for uku (and a lot of bait stealers) near the bottom.

Hayabusa damashi fly on gold hook

Boaters and kayakers who catch their own opelu have been telling me to save money and just catch my own but that’s much easier said than done. I’ve been striking on when others have been bringing up multiple opelu and was kind of just going through the motions of dropping the damashi down until I finally caught an opelu on the last trip. That made me realize it was possible to catch one or two for bait, and since fishing is all about confidence and sticking with it, I was determined to catch opelu and hook something good with it. To increase my odds I was using the expensive store bought Hayabusa damashi flies with gold hooks.

You can see the damashi fly springing free

I went out this week on an overcast, slightly drizzly day. It was about 9am when I reached the bait grounds but because the sun was blocked it looked like dawn. My version of dawn patrol. The fish finder marked a lot of small fish near the top of the water column and I dropped down, felt something hit but it was pulling harder than opelu should. Baby aha – ugh. Next drop was another aha. I’ve never caught them on the damashi fly before and was gonna find another bait pile but decided to drop one more time. This time something smaller was on, and because my opelu confidence had dropped due to the aha, I brought it up slowly and when it got to the surface it was a perfect sized 8 inch opelu that popped its head out of the water and shook the hook! Arrgggh…

The school moved and I spent another 45 mins in different spots trying to catch them. Gave up, slow trolled a 9 inch fresh opelu that got taken near the bottom and the hooks pulled once again. So I started fishing the 9 inch fresh opelu cut in half, with two hooks to see what I was missing. Sadly, I landed 2 big taape and a hagi. So that’s probably what has been stealing my dead opelu, not the small uku I was hoping for. Disillusioned, and now fighting a 10mph south wind, I came across a promising bait school in the area where I’ve lost ulua and sharks but hadn’t seen a lot of bait before. The bait stealers had depleted my fresh opelu supply so I decided to try for opelu on the damashi again. To my surprise I got bit on the way down! This one was bigger than I preferred but stayed on the hook and was dropped back down with two hooks in it.

I slow trolled it around and nothing bothered it until I went back to the spot I caught it. It started getting nervous and then something ran with it for a few seconds and ripped a 4 inch wound in its stomach. That was probably the small uku since hagi and taape wouldn’t be able to catch the opelu and leave such a big hole. I dropped the now dead opelu back down and the bait stealers picked it apart.

The south wind had settled down but there was a lumpy west swell that was bobbing me around, enough to come over the side of the kayak at times. The bait ball was still around so I dropped the damashi down and caught another 10 inch opelu. 3 opelu in one day if I count the one that fell off at the surface, my personal best! I put the opelu down, maybe 30 ft off the bottom and went back to opelu fishing.

The opelu got nervous, and the rod began to bounce a little as line was pulled off an inch at a time. This went on for about 10 seconds and I gave the pred time to turn the big opelu around and swallow. Then the pred took off, pulling my rod under water and I had to clear the bow of the kayak. The fish was strong and heavy but I was able to stop it with a strong drag setting, so it wasn’t a shark. The fish was turned and I was short pumping it back so it wouldn’t find the reef like last week, and then about a minute and a half into the fight it felt like the hook slipped and got stuck somewhere else. Then the fight got really jerky like the fish was getting attacked by something and it transitions to the heavy pull of a shark. 15 seconds later, the leader above the first hook was cut fairly clean with a bit of abrasion above the cut. I was running the GoPro on my cap and shared the video of the fight with friends (sorry too many landmarks for general viewing). They think that maybe a big uku ate the big opelu and made its initial strong run, and was coming in when a shark or sharks mauled it.

I like that the bait stealers leave the live opelu alone and only something fairly big will grab it. Also like that you can tell when it’s about to get hit because the opelu starts jerking the rod. So in the end I bolo’d once again, but am getting closer to hooking and landing the prize fish on live opelu.

Wrecked by ulua, bait pulled off by preds but underwater camera may have caught the likely suspects!

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The day started off with calm winds and Frank, Robert and I met on the water. Robert was on the maiden voyage of his Solo Skiff and working out the kinks. Frank, on his Hobie Revo 13, was initially trying to catch opelu, but when we all struck out, turned to bottom fishing, then trolling. The tide was falling to a slack tide, not the best conditions for pelagics. I quickly dropped the GoPro down twice from my Trident Ultra 4.3, in deeper water (between 100 and 130 ft) than the previous two times and trolled a fresh opelu to my first bottom fishing spot.

Something bit it behind the head and missed the 2 hooks. Better to bottom fish where I can watch the rod tip and feed the fish some line.

Wind chop picked up mid-morning and bounced us around a bit but not before I missed what felt like 2 uku that couldn’t quite swallow the head or tail and get hooked. During this time, Frank had a big strike on his trolled dead, fresh opelu that broke his wire leader! The weather conditions were getting worse but I was determined to land at least one fish.

Frank started to make the long pedal back in, and Robert made loops around me with his motorized skiff, as I finally hooked a good sized fish that ran for about 10 seconds, parallel to shore, before shredding the braid main line. That’s never happened to me before. Usually sharks take their time as the head to deeper water, and uku run hard initially but then tire out.

I tied on a swivel to my braid, then a 5 ft – 40lb fluoro leader to the swivel and dropped another fresh opelu down. Got another pick up after a lot of taps and this fish ran for about 5 seconds and cut the leader between the two hooks! I radio’d the guys that I lost two fish to cut line but I don’t think they believed me.

Rigged up again, dropped another fresh opelu down and hooked something strong and fast that took at least 200yds of line because I initially had the reel in freespool to ensure the fish could get hooked without feeling much pressure. With most of the line out, I tightened down the drag and the fish pumped against the pressure and broke the braid main line. This fish was on another level compared to shark battles I’ve had so I assumed it was ulua. At this point I was getting really frustrated with all the gear lost and hooks left in fish (they’ll eventually rust out) and still hadn’t even seen what was biting.

Then I realized we were fishing the slack bottom tide when the lazy sharks and ulua come out to look for an easy meal. I dropped the GoPro down once, hoping a shark or ulua won’t take a swipe at it and resumed bottom fishing with fresh opelu. A shark hit the bait, ran the way sharks do and shredded the braid again. I began to suspect that my braid had been pulled through the reef by the first fish and was now weakened.

The wind and chop were getting hard to combat so I let the current push me into towards shore and had my remaining baits pulled off. Nothing to show for it except for pics of mauled opelu. Or so I thought.

Look what showed up on the deep drop videos. I had to look at the videos frame by frame and then extract a still and optimize it. Felt like a fish detective.

The bigger fish in the back is following two other fish. What do you think they are?

On the last camera drop where all the action was, this uku swam up to the GoPro with the blinking red light and turned away slowly. I think this is circumstantial proof that small uku and papio are taking my opelu and missing the hooks!

For extra credit, what is this fish which was down in 100ft? Hint: Look at the shape of the fish closely.

Finally… light wind, caught an opelu… but missed the fish!

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5 weeks of wind and rain, very unusual for winter, finally let up this past week. Frank and I dusted off our kayaks and out of shape bodies, and paddled out in greasy calm conditions.

Black hage on top with opelu kala under them
There were a few of these fish about 8 ft off the bottom
Based on shape and coloration, what do you think they were?

Water clarity improved at about 80ft so I dropped the GoPro down a few times before breaking out the damashi. I didn’t see the video until I got home. There weren’t as many surprise fish as the last time I did this, but there were a few mystery fish near the bottom swimming slightly out of range of the camera. Based on what we had caught there before, I have an opinion of what it was. What do you guys think it was?

There were a lot of small fish marks on the fish finder without larger marks under them, so it looked like those reef fish weren’t worried about being eaten by something bigger. The tide was dropping to a very small high tide later, so it seemed that the big fish hadn’t come in to feed.

At 90 ft the water was really clear and I palu’d some opelu pieces to see if I could bring in the opelu. The black hage swarmed the palu, and the opelu kala came into view. Then we could see silvery, elongated fish beneath the opelu kala.

A tight bait ball was passing under me just as I was bringing my damashi up, and I could see the two intersect on my fish finder. I hooked something in 40ft down that couldn’t be the usual moana or lizardfish, and the frantic tail beats gave me hope. My first opelu caught intentionally, and the 9 inch fish was bigger than I wanted for the small uku I was targeting. All the on-the-water instruction from my Opelu Sensei Robert helped me recognize the opelu bait ball halfway off the bottom and I had to go right through the bait ball to finally catch an opelu.

I put the fish in my kayak foot well because there was a little water flushing through the scupper hole. Frank and I tried to catch more opelu but failed. The opelu was splashing around but seemed fine when I hooked it in the nostrils and lightly through the back. We heard boat chatter on the VHF radio of nearby boats initially struggling and eventually getting an ono and a mahi so we were pumped to go deep.

Frank trolled a weighted store bought fresh opelu and I trolled my livey with a 2.25 oz bullet weight out past 300ft (deep) with no bites. Frank dropped his down to the bottom and instantly got hooked up with something that pulled much harder and faster than anything he had hooked before, and eventually popped his mainline. These ulua are hard to stop on our light-medium tackle!

I trolled the livey back to 110ft and dropped it down for uku. Just before the opelu reached the bottom it started jerking on the line like it was trying to get away from something. I held the rod with the clicker on and light drag set, and line pulled off the reel fast for a few seconds and stopped. The predator had run with the 9 inch opelu and yanked it off without getting hooked. Shucks! Next time I need to fish the live bait completely out of gear with just the clicker on, and let the predator run, stop, turn and eat the big bait.

Another fish pulled line when it took an 8 inch fresh opelu and missed the hooks also. Seemed like the few uku around were too small to easily swallow the bait, or tentatively nibbling on the flat tide conditions. The rest of the baits were mauled by hage so we gave up and went in.

Great day wind-wise to get back into shape but the fishing was slower than we had hoped. But I did learn that using live opelu was much more effective than using fresh dead opelu because the bait stealers didn’t chase down and maul the lively opelu. The fresh dead opelu were mauled within a minute of nearing the bottom.

Holoholo: Fly fishing report for 4th week in January

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Jason, our fly fishing enthusiast and on-the-water reporter kicked off the year with an oio that would beat most dunker’s PB.

Jason: Last week, a group of friends and I decided to wade a well known Oahu flat in search of bonefish. Many in the group were chasing their first fish of the year, and despite the wintery conditions, anticipations were running high. I decided to bring out my new rod, an Epic 411 (4 wt 11′) Trout Spey wrapped by my friend Asa, who was also part of the group. A “trout spey,” for those unfamiliar, is basically a scaled down Spey rod (two-handed fly rod used for salmon and steelhead), adapted to fish smaller rivers and streams for trout.

We arrived at the “entry” point around 7 am. One member of our group parked his vehicle further down the coastline at the “exit” point in order to transport everyone back at the end of the trip. Conditions on this morning were chilly and windy, so we knew every fish would be hard-earned. It’s well known among Hawaii fly fishers that cold weather means bonefish prefer to stay deep, with only the larger or more desperate fish venturing onto the flat to feed. The first 2 hours were uneventful, with the group mostly blind casting due to the heavy clouds overhead.

I picked one of my favorite “go-to” spots and, after what seemed like the millionth cast, I finally felt a nice take, followed by the strong steady pull of a feisty rat (smaller bonefish). The fight ended quickly, and I took a few photos of the fish and released it. I was super stoked to bless the new rod so early in the trip, and decided anything hooked after this would be a bonus.

The bonus came about an hour and a half later, when I hit another one about a quarter mile down the coast. I could tell it was a good fish by the way it took off and knew the 4 wt Trout Spey would be put to the test.

The fish made several strong runs but each time I was able to stop it, just before it reached the edge of the reef. This tug of war lasted close to 5 minutes before the fish finally ran out of gas and allowed itself to be brought in close. Despite being exhausted, it still proved difficult to land as the 4 wt lacked the backbone to control and get it to the surface. It took several attempts, but a few tense minutes later, I finally had it in the net. I don’t normally carry a scale, but my friend Glenn does, so we got a weight – 8 lbs on the dot. Not too shabby for a “trout” rod. With the tide going out, I spent the rest of the day sight fishing. Despite the wintery conditions, I managed to spot 5 fish, and even got a few follows. A third fish would’ve been nice, but under these conditions, I felt grateful to even get the two. When we regrouped at the exit point, I learned my fish were the only bones hooked. Better lucky than good!

NOH Poke Mix – buy for the ogo and add ingredients to your liking

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The NOH (pronounced “no”) brand of seasoned mixes is found in all the Hawaii supermarkets and Long Drugs. So convenient to just mix with water and it tastes like you put the ingredients together from scratch. But have you tried the NOH Poke Mix? It only has 3 ingredients: Hawaiian salt, chili flakes and dried ogo. You might have Hawaiian salt in your cupboard and can get chili flakes from your leftover Pizza Hut packets, but ogo isn’t easy to come by, and fresh ogo is expensive.

I like to start with the NOH Poke Mix and add sesame oil, white onions and inamona (chopped kukui nut) if I have it. The ogo tastes clean and crisp. So simple and so good. Here’s a video with Raymond Noh and Lanai showing how to use the poke mix.

We’ve taken the NOH Poke Mix to the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach the last 2 years and the guys loved it so much we were able to trade it for lures and t-shirts! The folks at NOH appreciated the exposure and are selling the mix to us at wholesale now, so we can share more freely.

You can buy it in the Store too, at a price lower than the stores in HI. If you buy the mix with another item, and use the code ADDON, a dollar will be subtracted from your shipping fee effectively making the mix ship for free.

Holoholo: Whipping report, 2nd week in January

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Jeremy is a long time fisherman who loves whipping, but will be adding fly fishing to his game this year. He’s been posting catches on his private IG account @jeremy.poi while the rest of us have been getting skunked, so I asked him if he’d mind sharing his most recent catch report with us. There’s a lot we can take away from this!

Jeremy:

Everyone knows that during the winter the bite really slows down, but can’t catch fish if you don’t go fishing so I try to get out there as much as I can.  This past weekend I braved the weather and was glad I did.

On Saturday morning, my friend and I decided to do a dawn patrol session.  It was super windy and rainy, but we love fishing so we just threw on our jackets, grabbed our gear, and headed to the spot just as the sun was about to come up.  The tide was really high and the water was a little dirty, so wasn’t the best conditions for wading, but we slowly worked our way out into the water.  I continuously made casts as I walked the reef and about 15 minutes into our session, I got a nice hit.  It’s a decent sized fish and I can feel the head shakes, so I know it’s a papio.  I get it to hand and see a nice 14” white papio on the end of my line.  I take a few quick pictures and release him safely.  First white of the year for me, so I’m happy and the pressures off. 

I continue to work the reef and cast into “fishy” areas.  About 30 minutes later, I feel a strong tap on my lure…miss…then another miss.  And then finally, on the third hit, I get a solid hookup.  Hanapa’a!  Line starts ripping off my reel and I know it’s a good sized one.  It takes about 60 yards on the first run before I get it to turn.  I’m only running 8# braid with 10# leader, so I need to be patient and not horse it in.  I slowly gain line, but the fish is still strong and takes multiple smaller runs.  I could feel the line rub slightly on the reef a few times, but after a back and forth battle of about 10 minutes, I was finally able to see the fish, grab my leader, and land this 5# o’io.  Chee!  Took some pics and thanked the fish for the awesome scrap before releasing it.  And that’s when I notice my hook.  The fish wasn’t hooked in the mouth, but on the side of his face on the gill plate, and my hook was opened up.  Got lucky on landing this one. 

Tip of the day:  Set your drag only as strong as your weakest link.  I run my drag on the light side since I’m running light line, but the wire of my hook is thin as well, so my weakest link in my setup was my hook.  Thankfully my drag was just loose enough and I didn’t lose this fish.  

Another fun session in the books.  Always nice to be able to get out there and do what we love.  And catching fish once in a while is nice too.  So all the guys not fishing due to the junk weather, take a chance and make some casts.  Fish still have to eat, so hopefully it’ll be your lure.  Good luck and tight lines!

Fish Report – 2nd week in January

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We’ve had a few weeks of wind and rain which lowered the nearshore water temps. As expected for this time of year, the bait fish aren’t in, and the predators don’t have much reason to make their way in to the skinny, cold water. White papio/ulua are being caught at night/early morning, since they feed on other things besides bait fish, and some omilu have been caught in the deeper water reachable from shore by the really dedicated guys. If you need to feel a tug, even if it’s from a kaku, you might want to fish in the late afternoon after the sun has warmed the water up and is just beginning to set.

The blustery wind seems to have put the offshore fish down a bit, with the kayak guys reporting catches of opelu and not many pelagics. The shallow bottom fish like uku and weke ula have been grudgingly biting. We’re hoping that when the wind settles down, the food chain adjusts to the temperature change and starts feeding with vigor on all the nutrients recently stirred up.

The Store now ships anywhere in the country!

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For its first 6 months, the Store only shipped to Hawaii addresses, giving the local angler first crack at the deals. It’s now open to the entire country.

Incredible pricing on JDM lures, VMC hooks and swivels, Sufix 832 braid, Anetik sun shade socks, Action Hat Go Pro hat mounts and more.

Aloha!