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Holoholo: Sufix 832 works in freshwater too!

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Shaydon has a huge following on IG @96degreesindashayd, posting pics of Kauai land based jig caught fish and mainland freshwater bass, with a consistent Aloha vibe. He’s been spooling his freshwater reels with Sufix 832 and we asked him if he’d mind sharing his results.

This freshwater review is in conjunction with the saltwater shore whipping reviews.

Shaydon: I’ve spent this year  in Pennsylvania for work and being an angler at home in the islands, it was necessary for me to invest in some gear dedicated to fishing the Delaware River for its wild Bronze Back (smallmouth bass) and walleye. If it’s anything I’m particular about for any of my setups, whether it’s my salt water or freshwater gear, it’s gonna be my line. It’s the link between the angler and the fish being fought. Of course the  hooks, swivels, split rings, etc. are key but if those are up to par then I believe your line should be too. The problem I run into here on the east coast, is that I prefer to use Japanese PE line which is not so much available off the shelf, whereas Sufix 832 is.

Sufix 832 has been such a great braided line. Like PE braid, it’s very supple which makes for great knot strength. I’ve got into some situations and it has also proved to me that it has great abrasive resistance against logs and decently sharp rock ledges. I’ve found that this line casts better and better as you use it. Below are some of the many catches on Sufix 832 15lb. and 30lb. On both spinning and baitcast setups.

Holoholo: Sufix 832 works well whipping from shore

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We asked some of the whipping hammahs to let us know what they thought of Sufix 832 braid. Not surprisingly, their experience was positive like ours was. You can still buy the 8lb, 15lb, 20lb and 30lb in the Store and if the Sufix 832 sells well we’ll bring more in at great pricing.

Keola (Oahu shoreline whipper and plugger): Went whipping in East Oahu Hawaii and got this Omilu (Bluefin Trevally) on my light setup. Tested out the Sufix 832 Advanced Superline braided fishing line (8 pound test). This line has excellent casting ability and lays nicely on the spool of my Shimano Stradic CI4+ 1000HG. In addition, the quality/color of the line does not appear to decrease/fade dramatically after multiple uses like is common with other line manufacturers. Overall a great product that I recommend you try. Here’s a short video showing the Sufx 832 at work.

Brandon (Owner and private seller of Vividprizmflies): I’ve been using Sufix 832 on my 3k Stradic fl. It’s an awesome alternative to YGK braid from Japan. Thin, smooth, casts through guides easily, and I haven’t gotten any wind knots yet. The 10lb Sufix I’m using says its equivalent to 6lb test monofilament in diameter but its actually more like 4lb mono diameter. Hands down if I can’t get my hands on JDM or other high end braid line, Sufix 832 will be my go to over PowerPro and J-Braid.”

Holoholo: Oama and omilu report from Kauai

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Mark had shared his simple yet effective system for keeping oama alive, and is back visiting his family’s home on the upper east side of Kauai. He was surprised to find so much oama this late in the year and the omilu were still biting for him.

Mark: I wasn’t able to get over to Kauai during the peak season but have been reading HNF (Hawaii Nearshore Fishing) to keep track of the oama season. Finally got to Kauai and was very surprised to see sizable schools of oama in very shallow water. Been whipping live and dead oama from shore using ultralight gear with maybe 8 – 10 pound test (mono-wish I had some braided) so I was pretty lucky to land the omilu.  I was using just a single hook, wish I had some red ones, but tackle seems to be scarce on this side of the island.

The area on the east side I’m whipping is 2 to 5 feet but pretty choppy.  Bite has  been at low/incoming tide in the morning.   It’s been wild.  One or more omilu each day I’ve fished, and I just kept this one to eat.

The oama have been so thick I was catching them between casts.  The best catch was on a fat live oama I snagged right off the reef.  I have to give HNF credit. I have switched up my technique this trip adjusting to some of your stories.  Really enjoy all the posts when I can’t be on the island.

Mark

Holoholo: Junk, no eat… (catch and cook)

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My oama fishing buddy, David, has a wealth of fishing experience and knowledge and I’m constantly learning new things from him. He surprised me with this comparison to my jointed lure fishing outing.

David: Scott recently fished the incoming tide at a well known stretch of beach, casting some newly acquired, jointed, shallow running lures that had tremendous side-to-side action; these lures look irresistible (to me, but who knows what a fish thinks). Having described his whipping episode, I thought that I would conduct a crude experiment to compare underwater lures to top water poppers.  I have this mild, unsupported theory that poppers have an edge over underwater lures in shallow water when it comes to Kaku and Papio because I think the splashing and chugging turmoil initiate predator instincts. Of course, logic doesn’t always apply to the habits of fish, but my reasoning is that if a fish is not overly hungry and sees bait swimming by (in this case, a swiveled-body lure), it’s sort of “ho-hum”, just another fish, but maybe not worth expending the energy to chase and grab the bait.  On the other hand, I’ve always felt that fish are opportunistic feeders, and since splashing is usually associated with distress, it would seem that a  splashing  popper might trigger a reflex attack action. So I thought that I would try a comparison test.

I knew what time he had started fishing, so I started 1/2 hour later the next day, to mimic the same tide conditions. Scott said he had about 5 or 6 Kaku follow the bait, but only one missed strike. I basically fished the same waters with approximately the same tidal conditions, but threw poppers instead of underwater lures. There are of course a zillion environmental conditions that were different and obviously any fish that lived in the area had moved around or left completely, but since Kaku are somewhat territorial, it seemed likely that unless someone else had caught all the Kaku in the area, that they were probably still in the general vicinity.  At this beach, there is a beginning and an end, so the grounds are finite.

In any case, I tried to duplicate his path and tossed poppers the entire stretch of the beach. The tide was rising quickly and it was a perfect day with little wind. Would the poppers make a difference ? I walked and threw my favorite popper, hardly pausing at all. The entire length of my trek, about 4 or 5 Kaku chased, but none hit. At the end of the beach is an area where bait fish sometimes congregate. I got to the end, and there were small schools of bait swimming around. I threw 5 or 6 times and bang ! A solid strike, my pole arched, followed by the sweet sound of the drag. I was using 6# test and a semi-noodle rod. The fish jumped twice, then it was over. Attached is a photo of the 18″ Kaku.

Scott had several chases but only one soft bite, but no hookups. I had a similar amount of chases and one hookup. Was there a pronounced difference ? No. Are poppers better than shallow runners ? Probably not. The only difference was luck. The fish just happened to be where I randomly threw. Pure luck. But hey, I had a good time and got a fish. I happen to love to eat Kaku; most don’t.

My mother was a fantastic cook, and my father was her greatest fan. Anytime I visited them and he was eating, I’d ask if the dish was good. He’s always reply with a grin, “nah, junk, no eat”. The stronger his insistence, the better the dish. So, to those who don’t favor Kaku, eh, “junk, no eat”.    🙂

I’ve tried barracuda a couple of different ways, steamed Chinese style, fried, etc. My favorite is tempura. Normally I’d cut the body into steaks then batter and deep fry them. But I filleted this one then my wife deep fried the tempura and made Tartar sauce. When it’s cut up into steaks, there are bone fragments left in the meat; but when filleted, it’s much easier eating. Goes good with Takuwan or Sanbai-zuke. I also like the center bone salted and dusted with flour, then fried like Aku or Ahi, or salmon bones in the local style. A good friend of mine makes his dip with julienned onions and mayonnaise. Both are good. I’m sure Ponzu would work well. Sometimes I use Chick Fillet sauce for the dip; of course, that makes anything taste great. Really junk, no eat……   🙂

Do jointed swimbaits work in Hawaii?

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Top to bottom: Vudu Mullet 4.5″, Little Jack Gorgon 125, Zetz Jointed F-Lead 135S

I have always been enamored with jointed lures. The idea of the tail kicking independently of the head of the lure just sounded so much more realistic than one solid piece. The first jointed lure I saw was a 2-piece wooden freshwater Rapala lure in the 80’s that was reputed to be a kaku killer but for some reason I never fished a jointed lure until 2 yrs ago.

After seeing a slo-mo video of the Zetz Jointed F-Lead 135S (bottom lure in the photo above) I just had to have one, even if it wasn’t available in the US. It came with stout hooks and swam as good as it did in the marketing video, but I have yet to hook anything on it because I’ve never fished it in deep enough water where fish were big enough to lunge after a 5.25″ sinking lure.

A few months ago, a friend from Florida who wrote this epic Maui whipping report, suggested I try a Vudu Mullet when I asked him if he knew of an inexpensive lure that was very effective. Turns out the Vudu Mullet has been slaying fish in Florida and the Gulf States for years, and has remained very popular as a tough, rubberized, jointed swimbait. Once again, the slo-mo marketing video had me wanting me to buy a set of the 3.5″ and 4.5″ Mullets. At least these jointed lures were sold in the US and retailed for less than $8. The Zetz Jointed F-Lead 135S, a hard bodied, bigger game lure, cost more than $17.

I fished the 4.5″ Vudu Mullet on the flats last week on a rising mid-morning tide. Started with the white body/chartreuse tail color scheme because the water was murky and I was testing the theory that white lures show up better in murky conditions. I walked the 800 ft stretch of beach we test lures from, and got followed by 12″ – 14″ kaku that seemed to want to smell the wagging tail of the Vudu Mullet and stayed near a few feet away from me even after I pulled the lure out of the water to recast. Eventually a kaku pulled the lure down but didn’t get hooked in the solo treble hook.

Here’s how the 4.5″ white/chartreuse mullet looked in the murky water that day. Enlarge the video viewer, and play it back in slo-mo if you really wanna see the amazing swimming action.

(top to bottom) 4.5″ Vudu Mullet, Shimano Shallow Assassin, 3.5″ Vudu Mullet, Shimano Waxwing Baby

Thinking that a more realistic color might be better as I reached clearer water, I put on a 4.5″ Vudu Mullet in a “silver mullet” pattern. That got follows too but no strikes. So, for comparison, I put on the trusty Shimano Shallow Assassin (second from top) and retraced my steps. Got follows and no hits either. Hmm, was the white/chartreuse Vudu Mullet a better lure for this day or did it just get first crack at the kaku?

The knock against jointed lures in the salt has been that they don’t cast well because their center of mass isn’t stable (my Florida friend explained it to me that way), and the pieces could get ripped off or bent. Plus, they’re more complicated, and thus, cost more than 1-piece lures. Sport Fishing magazine, the best fishing magazine in the world imho, wrote an article last year on jointed hard plastic lures, basically saying that the new batch of lures made for salt water can handle the abuse of toothy fish and out perform solid lures in the right conditions.

The 4.5″ Vudu Mullet weighed 0.9 oz on my digital kitchen scale and cast pretty well because of that weight. The 3.5″ Mullet (2nd from the bottom in photo below) matches the hatch better on the flats but only weighs about 0.4 oz. I haven’t tried that yet but if I can cast it out, I bet the picky kaku will annihilate it.

If the jointed lures do well in my field tests I’ll bring ’em in to sell in the Store. Have you guys had any success with these type of lures?

Can fish see colors? If so, what lure color should I use?

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Can fish really see colors? Can they see the ultra life-like finish some high end lures sport? Should I change my surface lure color when the light is low? When dropping jigs deep, what are the best colors to use?

These are some of the questions lure chuckers ask. Over the years we’ve been given conflicting information. Sport Fishing Magazine ran an article in their June 2019 issue that is also on their website. “How and What Fish See” written by Doug Olander. The article answers these questions and I’ll summarize the info in a manner you and I can hopefully remember. All the photos in this post were taken from the Sport Fishing Magazine website

Do fish see colors?

Yes. Shallow water fish can see all the colors. Deep water fish living in low light aren’t able to see as many colors because colors are darkened and muted down there.

Do surface fish see the ultra life-like finish on my high end lure?

It’s believed that fish with large eyes in clear water can detect those subtle design patterns but whether their fish brains can process all that info has been heavily debated.

What’s the best color to use near the surface in clear conditions?

44 fishing experts were asked this question. The experts overwhelmingly said white or a white pattern.

What’s the best color to use in murky conditions or low light?

White, or white pattern, again was the color of choice, followed by chartreuse.

What do my surface lures look like when viewed from below?

Against a bright sky, all lures will look dark! No wonder top water experts say color isn’t as important and swimming action.

What do my lures look like in murky water?

Whites, yellows and greens are retained. Blues and darker colors turn to black the soonest.

The lures on the right are in 70ft of water. Reds are the first to darken.

What colors are retained in the deep?

Red tones are the first to go, in low light, deep water. Blue tones will be retained the deepest, green tones the next deepest, the others will fade to black sooner.

What do fish see in the deep when I retrieve my jig?

Deep water fish feeding in low light aren’t able to distinguish colors much but are geared to see slight movements against the background light. While they can see and feel jigs moving quickly, they can also see jigs slowly retrieved in a repetitive, predictable fashion. That could by why “slow pitching” off the bottom, then speed jigging higher in the water column is an effective strategy.

What’s the takeaway from all of this?

Lure action is more important that lure color pattern but whites and white patterns show up the best in clear and low visibility conditions. When deep jigging, choose whites, blues and greens and present an action that makes your lure the most noticeable since the fish may be straining to see it.

Holoholo: Flying Fish TV double ono, shibi and kawakawa on kayak!

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My name is Dan, but a lot of people know me by my YouTube channel Flying Fish TV. I am pilot by profession, former military and now as a civilian I am pursuing my greatest passion, kayak fishing. Before moving to Hawaii I told myself that if I managed to figure it out that I would start a channel to teach others. I started kayak fishing back in 2010, but never really went anywhere with it until my family was stationed in Hawaii. After fishing mostly solo for 6 months in Hawaii I started to get it down and started a YouTube channel in May of 2018. 

Dan: It was a Saturday morning and despite having to work in the afternoon I hit the water. My friend and I had been eyeing the forecast and it looked like the last day before the wind was going to pick up. It was supposed to be 14-18 knots and 4ft swell. On the way out in the dark we could tell that it was going to be a little rougher than expected. As the sun came up and we could see the conditions and we decided to make it as short of a trip as possible. We easily caught bait and I filled my bait tubes with 5 opelu each. I set out my first long bait and then my short bait, both on wire. The current was ripping pretty hard and after about 40 minutes I was thinking we would be going home with a big donut.

I had drifted a couple hundred feet in that time and started moving back. I opened the bail on my long bait and the line seemed to peel off a little faster than my bait could move. I closed the bail and I was on. It was fighting a little weird and I wasn’t sure if I had a needlefish (aha) at first or later on a yellow fin tuna (shibi) or a wahoo (ono). I had the fish at my 50ft leader and I strained to see it in the water. With waves and the ripples I wasn’t able to tell it was a wahoo until it popped up right by my kayak. Knowing there wasn’t enough light to get a good picture I kage’d him and brought him in the kayak. It had a big scar near the tail and a broken dorsal fin as well.

At some point after catching bait I managed to lose one of my bait tubes despite it being in a carabiner. It must have slipped out, but the paracord may have broken as well. Either way the bait tube sailed off with 4 live baits inside. During the fight I managed to drown my other bait and after switching it I set it out at my 200ft mark. Shortly after I put the wahoo in my fish bag I heard a buzz as something hit my long bait. I picked up the rod thinking that I missed the fish. I left my bait out there hoping the wahoo would come back for the other half. After a few seconds I started reeling in the slack and the fish was still on. I moved my other live bait rod around so I could chase the fish without getting majorly tangled. I got to my leader quickly but the fish fought hard digging in circling below the kayak. I must have gotten the yellowfin in range to kage several times, but it kept taking line. I finally kage’d the fish and I was surprised how lit up it was. It might have been that I pulled the fish in about half as much time as usual.

During the fight a big swell of around 8ft knocked something loose on my battery or so I thought. The fish finder kept powering on and off every second and it turned out that the power cable was broken at the fuse. I disconnected the fish finder after the fight. I now had my first ever wahoo and yellow fin combo and I started to dream about a grand slam. I have had several yellow fin and mahi mahi combos in the past. Another swell snapped me back into reality as I put the yellow fin tuna in the fish bag. I had drifted about a half mile since the first hook up and decided it wasn’t worth moving back. I set out another short bait on wire and it wasn’t long before the bait was freaking out. The rod tip was bouncing so much I wasn’t sure if a shark was about to eat it or it was running for its life from a pelagic. I opened my bail to let it run as life like as possible. It was maybe 3 seconds later it stopped taking line and I closed the bail. I could feel that something was chomping on it so I put the reel into live liner mode. Once the fish started to run again I clicked off the live liner mode and I was on. It felt tiny like I had hooked a bonita (kawa kawa) or a small yellow fin as I brought the fish to my leader. I pulled it right to within 20 feet of the kayak and then it must have realized it was hooked. It was another yellow fin screaming off line in desperation. Once I got the fish close again I saw that it was only hooked by the stinger and I stood a good chance of losing the fish. I chilled out a little bit and waited for it to wear itself out. I pulled it into the kayak and it was a copycat of the first all lit up. I told my friend that if I caught another fish that it was going to be too heavy for the kayak as it was getting pretty tippy with the big swells. He offered to let me throw fish in his fish bag if needed. 

The night before I had texted my friend that I was going to bring the Dock Demon, my toy rod. If I was successful in catching one wahoo I was going to try to get one on the Dock Demon. I was still in the area where I caught the last yellow fin and set out my second to last bait on wire with the dock demon. Initially the bait ran around my bait tube lanyard, but after I got it loose I free lined the bait. It swam down and away from the kayak with the line jerking off the spool. The last fish I had caught on the dock demon was the 20lb yellow fin and a lot of the braid was tightly compacted. With the jerking motions I barely noticed that something had picked up my bait and was swallowing it. That was until I stopped free lining with about 70 feet of line out. The small dock demon bent over and I felt the weight of something. I instinctively moved the steering handle in an attempt to get the line around the bow to the right side of the kayak. If at all possible I fight fish from the right side of the kayak that is free from my camera, fish finder or transducer. The line got caught on the front handle and my luck held as it popped free.

By now the fish was running and the Shimano Senora was singing. It was way up on the surface and I knew it had to be a wahoo. I initially thought I was in for a pretty long fight but after a few minutes the fish had stopped running on the surface and was around 30 feet below the kayak. I could see something long and skinny, but a little smaller than I imagined. Below the kayak it started circling and having forgot about my other line and I slowly drifted over it. I grabbed the small wahoo and after putting the dock demon in the rod holder I started to realize that I actually made it happen. It was at this point I noticed my other line going under the kayak and grabbed my rod to avoid a tangle, but it was too late. My line was flapping in the wind as it had been clean cut 200ft above my bait. I’m pretty sure that the wahoo swam through my line and cut me off. Since the fish was pretty small I decided that it would just barely fit in the fish bag with all of the other fish. It wasn’t easy maneuvering the fish bag with nearly 100lbs in it, but in the process the unthinkable happened. While struggling to get the zipper closed my hand slipped and I knocked the Dock Demon out of the rod holder and it was gone sinking below the kayak.

A little heart broken I had almost met my goal of catching a wahoo, yellow fin tuna, and a mahi mahi on the dock demon. I was totally loaded down at this point and started heading in slowly. I still had one bait left and I tossed it in not knowing the depth. My friend was also near us on his boat and I asked him if he wanted one of the yellow fin tuna. He said yes and was maneuvering to take the fish when my bait got hit. It was a kawakawa and I ended up giving him both fish. I gave the smaller wahoo to my friend on the trip.

I finally purchased a scale and the wahoo were 24 and 16lbs, and the yellow fin tuna was 18lbs. With my 20lb bag of ice my fish bag had 96lbs in it, the second most weight I have ever put in it. If it was flat this much weight would have been fine but not in 5ft waves. My friend was still trying to catch some more fish but after the bite died off we made our way in at 9am. Tons of action for such a short trip and my best fishing trip in Hawaii far. Double wahoo and a yellow fin, now I just need to tack a mahi on and I’ll have a grand slam.

Holoholo: Late Season 2019 Whipping Report

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Thad, our JDM expert and shoreline whipping enthusiast, provides this report in early October.

Thad: Like many years before, I wasn’t able to fish this season’s peak summer months for oama, halalū, or papio due to other important things going on at home.  Seeing and hearing of all the action my friends were having made me envious but I knew fishing would always be there and the next summer season would be just around the corner. 

Recently, I’ve been able to venture out to do my regular early morning fishing sessions and was expecting the predator action to be slow so I went oio fishing instead.  My friends were able to catch and release some legal sized papio while we targeted the oio so I wondered if the season had truly slowed down.  It was already the middle of September and the bait schools weren’t as plentiful but it seemed like the papio were still hunting inshore. 

The following weekend, I decided to devote my time whipping some CHL grubs Scott had given me to try.  It was a decent morning with five omilu landed and several more that came off.  Nothing big, but all legal sized ranging from 10 to 12 inches.  Were these the last remaining papio of the season?  Only one way to find out.

Two weeks later I decided to try my luck whipping some papio flies my friend Brandon makes for me, which I’ve had much success with in the past.  The result of this morning session was several more hits and misses, with a 10.75 and 15 inch omilu landed. My fishing partners also landed a 13 and another 15 inch omilu on grubs.  Still some pretty good action for October.

This past weekend I went on a solo mission – which is usually when the big ones bite right?  I noticed a small school of tiny baitfish darting around the shoreline as well as a small pile of oama.  The first cast of the morning with Brandon’s “Sparrow” fly produced a 10.5 inch omilu.  Several casts later, something blew up on the fly only a few yards out and took off.  There was no slowing the fish down on the first run.  Then I felt the fish pop off much to my dismay. 

I continued casting but whatever it was, it wasn’t around anymore so I decided to change it up and try a Mark White oama lure.  One the second cast, another solid hook up and short run before the lure popped out of the fish’s mouth again.  I like to change up my lures often so I went with grubs to see if there were any takers but no luck.  It was nearing the end of my fishing time so I switched back to the trusty Sparrow fly to cast as I worked my way back.  Sure enough, I got a few more tugs here there before I landed an 11.5 inch omilu to end the day.

Since I wasn’t able to fish the peak months of the season, I have no way of comparing the recent action to how it may of have been in June – August.  The recent action has been pretty good though, so I have no complaints.

Poll Results: How’s your papio season going so far?

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We didn’t get a lot of participants, with only 28 voting, but that was enough to see some trends.

Almost half felt that this season was slower than the previous really good El Nino years. A quarter felt they did better really well and the other quarter felt the season was about average.

I think those that caught knew where and when to fish for papio. The hammahs always put in the time and adapt!

Thank you to those that participated!

Holoholo: Red VMC 4X trebles worked again!

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Kelly, our minimalist SUP inshore fisherman, provided this short report to let us know the omilu are still around and the hooks are working!



Kelly: Fished Eastside on the morning rising tide over the weekend. Lots of papio action dragging dead oama outside the reef. Caught four and lost four. Red VMC 4x, size 8 hooks from Scott worked great – thank you! They look tiny but they hold. All the fish were caught on the rear treb hook, even this 17″ omilu.

Editor’s note: Still got some 4X trebles in the store. Use to replace weak stock hook, and as stingers on bait. So cheap and so good!

Front hook is a Gamakatsu knockoff from Korea.

Editor’s note: We don’t sell knockoffs. 🙂

Is there a Fall offshore kayak season? If so, I think it started…

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I’m not sure if the nearshore pelagics like ono, mahi mahi and shibi (ahi under 100lbs) are more common in the fall, or if it’s just that the winds have finally dropped and more folks are fishing, but there have been a lot of reports on social media of kayak fish caught.

I got word that one of the kayakable spots was holding opelu in relatively shallow water, and with the winds light and surf down it was time to go! My partners couldn’t make it so it would be a solo session, under safe conditions.

My opelu catching skills continued to let me down so after more than an hr of searching for them, I put on a fresh, store bought opelu and slow trolled to 400ft. I crossed bait marks but nothing hit the opelu. Turned around and dropped to the bottom at 375 ft, brought the bait up a bit and something grabbed it and headed strongly back down.

With the frequent head shakes and unstoppable runs, I’m pretty sure it was an ulua. I fought it for more than 3 mins before the line parted. It felt lighter in weight than sharks I landed but much stronger and angrier. And while I think I could have eventually landed it, I would have let it go so it could give the shoreline guys some action. If you look at the photo of how my front hook was cut off, you can see that the 40lb fluoro was chewed and the line has a split end. Since this hook is snelled and the rear hook should be behind it, the knot didn’t come undone, which is what I originally thought when I saw the curly end!

I trolled another fresh opelu back to 100ft and finally I got a high speed strike. The fish pulled my rocket launcher rod holder down and the rod knocked my GoPro cap into the water! The Action Hat floatation did its job but by the time I wiped off the GoPro lens and put the cap back on, the fish had swum off with my bait. I’m thinking what hit was a pelagic because the rod holder would have had to be pulled down with a lot of force, and the clicker screamed for a couple of seconds.

More uneventful trolling went by so I dropped down a fresh opelu at one of the uku holes. Sure enough, tap, tap, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The fish fought spastically all the way to the top and I was thrilled to see what I thought was a PB (personal best) uku.

The rear VMC 4X inline hook had just caught the tip of the uku’s upper lip and popped free when I jiggled it. Super lucky hook set!

I put down another 12″ opelu that immediately got chopped up but maybe the bait was too big for the other uku? Refrozen opelu just got hage bites so I made my way into the shallows and never found the opelu school. I later heard that another kayak fisher put the time in, found the opelu and caught a 25lb ono!

The uku taped out at 21.5″, exactly tied for my PB. I love catching uku cuz they are challenging to hook, fight hard, and fit nicely in my fish bag, unlike long, skinny pelagics.

I’m hoping we have more light wind days and my partners can free up from their responsibilities to help me find those opelu!

Holoholo: Floater fishing for slide bait

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Elijah is a 5th grader and has been fishing for about a year with his dad and younger brother. He wanted to share his love of fishing and some slide bait catching tips with the readers.

Elijah: I don’t whip a lot because my brother can’t so I float baits right now . I can do a report on catching small pan size fish like mamo, kupipi, and slide bait size hinalea.

So this is my 3rd time at some popular Westside beaches and I kinda know where the fish are and when I cast out to that spot (usually where red is surrounding a sand bottom) I felt a small tug and out of nowhere my drag starts screaming and I set the hook but it popped so I retrieved my float and the buggah took my bait so I walk to the cutting board and use my secret method of hooking squad and making it look appetizing.

So I recast and jiggled my floater and suddenly my float zooms 3 feet under the water and I see the fish, a nice sized mamo and some omilu! And I see the floater straining a mamo to the surface and I quickly reel it in and it was a good 2 pounder! Soon after we had to pack up and leave.

Next day we went to another beach and we set up. I was rushing to get my and my brothers floats in the water and on my first cast I realized I had missed an eye! So I reeled in the float that was 4 feet away from me and felt a small tug I reeled it to me and found a baby hinelaea chewing on my hook!


My dad told me to put it in the bucket for slide-bait and I quickly dropped it in. The secret to catching small fish for live or slidebait is to look for small pools of water in the rocks and just drop your float down and wait. You can also find some kupipi and mamo in the holes and hinalea. In the end I caught about 15 live baits, a poopa’a that we took home and some squirrel fish (my dad wasn’t happy about the squirrel fish) and was a successful day! If you are setting up a slidebait and need bait FAST jiggle your bobber for a couple of seconds.

Aloha, Elijah

Bait and Predator report – First Week of October 2019

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There’s a new wave of small oama in some holdout spots but few oama anglers are after them, and those that have been chasing papio with lures and oama are having to put in much more time to get a decent one.

Halalu have left most spots, and comparing to the last 2 yrs, a lot of traditional spots came up empty.

Even the kaku spots are slow.

These trends seem to support the following theories:

  • The papio have an internal time table that tells them to check the shallow inshore areas around July and stop checking them near the beginning of September. It could be that there are schools of oama on the reef so the papio don’t have to risk leaving the safety of deeper water.
  • Halalu numbers are directly tied to the previous year’s amount of rain fall. Last year didn’t have as much rain as the previous 2 years?
  • Juvenile kaku grow up and feed in the brackish estuaries and are big enough by the fall to leave the shallow water and start feeding on bait fish schools like opelu. The next crop of juvenile kaku show up in late Winter. There are always hold over kaku but there are less of them than in the period from late Winter to Fall.

If you haven’t voted in the “How’s your papio season going so far?” poll, please do. We’ll summarize the results in a week or so.

It took a village to catch my first kayak ono

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Our experienced deep water kayak fishing buddy Robert, who shared his catch reports and tips on this website, had offered to show Frank and me how to catch catch and troll live opelu. Our schedules and good weather didn’t line up for months but we finally got the green light.

Frank and I got out earlier than Robert, and we used our fish finders to look for bait schools but all I could bring up were reef dwelling rubbish fish. We were very relieved when Robert joined us and we meekly followed him to deeper water as he searched for the tell tale opelu marks.

Frank on the far left, Robert on the right

Robert pulled up in an area that has held opelu before and started paddling around in concentric circles. It took a while for Frank and me to catch up to him, given that we’re both old enough to be Robert’s dad! We eventually drifted over the thick bait ball, but these opelu were deep and Frank and my deep water damashi skills are lacking. Robert ended up putting five 12 inch opelu in his live well, while Frank and I just got tired arms pulling up weights that were dropped 300ft down.

After all that travel time, interrupted by rain squalls so heavy we couldn’t see land, we only had about 15 mins to troll the live opelu in the deep before we had to make the long paddle back to shore. Robert gave us each a healthy, hard earned opelu. My VHF radio was on the blink from being soaked in the rain so I stayed near Robert, and Frank gave us some space. With his live opelu out, Robert tried to add more to the live well and I kept within talking distance.

My rod tip dipped a few times as something was playing with the bait, and then the ratchet screamed! The drag was fairly loose and yet it was hard to get the rod out of the rocket launcher in front of me. The speed in which the line was being pulled was unlike anything else I had hooked before, including a small mahi. The fish dove first and then swam away from us. I had a 40lb Seaguar Blue Label fluoro leader on a front and rear hook rig, and since the fish was staying on, I assumed it was a shibi (ahi under 100lb) rather than a razor toothed ono. My main line was 30lb Sufix 832 braid, which Robert felt was a little light, but after catching way too many sharks, I knew it could handle this fish that felt faster but lighter.

I eventually got it within eyesight and we saw a silverly long shape. Ono? When it broached upside down on the surface I could see how lucky I was. The VMC 4X size 4/0 inline single hook I use as the rear hook of a double hook setup was firmly locked in the left corner of the ono’s jaw. That was keeping the line away from the teeth. Robert had stayed with me for the whole fight and was now encouraging me to bring it within range of my kage. Since I had only kage’d an uku and a mahi before, I pulled the spent fish really close, and the kage Frank had made for me found its mark.

Robert passed me his telescopic, floating Promar gaff, and I used that to pull the fish carefully onto my lap.

Click on this to see the rear hook (2) in the corner of the mouth and the front hook (1) dangling free. The grippy BUFF® Elite gloves prevented the fish from sliding overboard and my buttery smooth, hi-speed gold Shimano Trinidad 14 did the job once again.

The ono was still alive but not putting up too much of a fuss. To be safe, I knocked it out with a Promar wooden bat, and yet it was still hard to keep from sliding off the kayak. Robert suggested tail wrapping it before putting it in the 36 inch Hobie fish bag behind me. That was the scariest thing of the whole deal, sitting side saddle with my legs in the bloody water, trying not to capsize the kayak. Felt much safer with Robert and Frank there if things went badly. At this point we were in 700ft of water!!!

With the fish secured, the guys trolled their live opelu in but nothing else obliged. At our landing spot we helped each other get our kayak carts positioned and made our way to the shower. I lagged behind, struggling with my lousy 20 yr old cart, one of the first ones ever sold, and the guys saw that and assisted me. I’m seriously thinking about getting the Wilderness System Heavy Duty Kayak Cart Robert reviewed.

Another kayak guy left his hose connected for us, and gave me his left over ice since he hadn’t caught much. Frank did the same with his ice, so I didn’t have to buy ice on the way home. I just bring reusable Arctic Ice blocks, not cubed ice because I don’t expect to catch anything big!

First fish I was able to measure with the Rapala Retractable Ruler!

The ono measured 48 inches in fork length and my fish bag was only 36 inches long, so that last 12 inches was never chilled. I rushed to clean it as quick as possible and put the chunks on ice in a cooler.

Click to see the VMC 4X Inline hook size 4/0 locked into the corner of the mouth, and how the cleanly cut pieces of opelu fit back together

In its stomach I found 3 quarter pieces of the opelu bait so cleanly cut I could put them back together like a puzzle. Only the head was missing. How did the ono get hooked on the back hook, yet cut and eat the 3 pieces without cutting the line between the front and back hook? As Robert said, “it was meant to be”. I’m thinking maybe the fish bit the tail piece off and got hooked, and the rest of the bait was still attached to the head hook. It then ate pieces leading up to the front hook and stopped before cutting off that hook. That could be why my rod tip dipped a few times before it bent over.

However it happened I was super blessed to have been given Rober’ts live opelu and then have an ono not sever my fluoro leader. Thank you Jesus! Getting all that help on land from the guys and then being able to reach my wife before she drove home from work, so she could buy more bags of ice, it was like the guy at the shower said, “It takes a village to catch and process a good fish like that“.

We aren’t able to sell Promar products but fully endorse the nets, gaffs and bats we use as well as the great Promar-Ahi USA folks themselves. We’d love to sell the Buff Elite paddling and fishing glove but can’t because we’re not a “brick and mortar” store. Despite that I don’t kayak without that glove and will be buying a backup pair soon.

We do sell the VMC 4X inline hooks and I’ve found them to be strong, effective as a rear hook on bait or a lure, and very reasonably priced. I’ve never had one open up, even when landing big sharks. The guys and I are testing the Rapala Retractable Ruler, and so far, I’ve found it to be easy to deploy, shows up great in photos, and cleans up easily. We have one more in stock and if there’s demand, we’ll order more. Using Sufix 832 braid really should be a no-brainer. Since I’ve switched from the popular brand to Sufix 832 I haven’t had a problem with backlashes or break offs. The 30lb Sufix has proven to be strong enough to land 6 ft sharks, and a 49 inch 25 lb ono. 🙂

Holoholo: Oama Fly still doing work

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Jason, our prolific fly fishing Holoholo writer and in-the-water conditions reporter provides this update on his latest fly creation.

Jason: It’s been about a month since my last post “Oama Fly works!” and I’ve continued to fish the fly nearly exclusively.  Just thought I’d share some additional data points I’ve gathered since then.  The fly in question is a slightly tweaked Clay Yee’s Reef Special, a fly I had decided to try out after experiencing a few skunky weeks with my usual go-to patterns.  


Two weeks after that initial trip, I returned to the same spot with David, and managed to hook a couple more nice fish.  The smaller of the two was hooked on my old standby Super Gotcha, but the larger was hooked on the “oama fly.”   David, who wasn’t fishing an “oama fly” did not catch anything.  

A week after that, I returned once again and ran into my other friend Richard.   There were at least a half dozen other fly fisherman out, and fishing was tough due to the light winds.  I don’t think I saw anyone hook one all day, and we were about to give up ourselves when I got lucky and hooked one on – you guessed it – the “oama fly!”  

Coincidence?  The rational side of me knows that with oio, the fly typically isn’t as important as finding a fish in the right mood.  The basic Reef Special (and Clouser before it) certainly isn’t anything new, indeed it is one of the oldest patterns around.   But like most fisherman, I find once I’ve got faith in something, this becomes an awful tough thing to shake.  It’s partly why we wear lucky hats, avoid bananas on the boat, but bring the ti leaves.  In the end, it comes down to what we feel comfortable with, and this fly has definitely earned its way onto my shortlist of favorites.

Poll: How’s your papio season going so far?

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It’s mid-September and there’s still oama in the shallows if you know where to look. We’re not seeing as many oama and papio fishers though. How has the season been for you so far?

Holoholo: Heeia Fishpond Fundraiser for Mauna Kea – Heeia trial nine

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This would be my ninth time fishing at the Heeia Fishpond, and I was hoping to take advantage of the rising tide for most of the time that I would be fishing there. When I got there, the conditions were pretty good for fishing, but it was also very humid due to the rain the night before, and no wind at all. Within an hour I was already soaked with sweat and it looked like I had actually fallen in the pond. I caught two Kaku on back to back casts on the Kastmaster, but then, after that I decided to go after some of the toau. Since both of my poles were occupied, I set up a handline. I had never handlined with a spool before, so unfortunately on the first toss I tossed both the bait and the $15 dollar spool of line in the water. 

Luckily, I had brought my nine foot net, and I just scooped it up. But if the water had been deeper, it wouldn’t have ended so well. I learned how to successfully throw it and landed three Toau in short order. But that was sadly the whole school of Toau. I put on an oama and started whipping with it, and I was just about to take it out of the water when a Kaku came out of nowhere and inhaled it. I was tempted to set the hook right there, but I let it swallow it and then set the hook. I landed it, and it was a decent sized 16 inch Kaku, and really fat for its size. I started to dunk some oama and then I heard the bell ring. Someone had tangled my line and I reeled it in to untangle it. The line was still halfway in while I was untangling it. After I untangled it, I put it back in the pole holder.

Immediately after, the bell started to ring again and the reel started to scream a little. This time it was a real fish. I reeled it in thinking the whole time it was a Papio, but it fought differently than I was used to. Then I saw why. A really fat moi had surfaced with my oama in its mouth. I yelled for the net and my mom came, and she started recording instead of handing me the net. I took matters into my own hands and grabbed the net, and netted the real fat moi. It was only 13 inches, but it must’ve weighed a pound and a half or a little over because it was so fat. Almost obese fat. I tagged it and released it, and watched what could’ve been a real good dinner swim away.

I started whipping shortly after with a bubble and strip rig. I was worried because the leader was only six pound, because I forgot the 20lb I usually use at Heeia because of the Kaku. I just hoped there would be no more Kaku that would bite that day. I was wrong. Far out, I saw a Kaku take the lure and jump out of the water with it in its mouth. It then took off on a short 15 yard run due to my relatively light tackle, with an eight pound mainline, but not ultralight. I worried about the six pound leader the whole time, but somehow it came in close enough for netting. It saw the net and didn’t like it at all. It took off on another run, but that was its last effort. It came in reluctantly into the net after. It was the biggest Kaku of the day, at a decent 17 inches, but good on six pound line. I bagged all of the Kaku that day, as well as the Toau, and donated them to the Heeia Fishpond staff, which were asking for donations. After that, I had a real nice strike on my dunking pole that would not stop. The hook eventually popped and I was super bummed about that. I think it was either a big Papio or Oio.

Overall, that day was sort of a success, but it could’ve been better. Interesting that almost none of the dunkers hooked up at all, but a lot of the whippers on the wall had caught fish. Once again, whipping takes the vast majority, but dunking hooks the quality fish, as it has with pretty much all my fishing trips. I think I prefer whipping. Kastmasters and strips were again KEY in catching the smart Kaku in the fishpond. Scott has some Kastmasters in his shop, the exact same kind I have, for cheaper prices than in the stores. Oama are fully in, go gettum guys.

Big omilu still catchable on outer reef

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SUP trolling veteran Kelly checked one of his east side spots last week on a moderate trade wind day, on the bottom third of a rising tide. He was trolling frozen oama he caught a couple weeks back that didn’t end up in the frying pan. Kelly uses a Korean knockoff of a Gamakatsu live bait hook in the oama’s nose and a trailing VMC 4X treble, size 8, with one hook tucked in between the anal fin and tail, closer to the tail the better.

15.5 inch omilu about to be scaled by Frank’s DIY bottle cap scaler

The fish weren’t at the closest reef he encountered so he had to go further out, against the wind, to find them on the second reef. His first bites were 14″ sized omilu and a roi. Then he found where the big fish were lying in wait, and ended up with a 15.5″ omilu and a 17″ omilu.

All but the 17″ omilu were caught on the rear treble hook.

17 inch omilu

The 17″ omilu was caught on the knock off Gamakatsu live bait hook. So much for the theory that papio usually hit the oama head first. Always good to have a back hook, whether you’re fishing your oama alive or dead.

Thanks Kelly, for letting us know that the bigger omilu are still on the reef but may be further out than they were earlier in the season.

Replacing stock treble hooks with VMC 4X hooks

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I’ve been whipping the Shimano Shallow Assassin for the last few months, and it’s never been bolo’d. Since I’ve been been fishing shallow water, most of the fish have been kaku, and Shallow Assassin’s plastic body is nicked up but still water tight. On the last outing, in rough water, the only thing that bit was a medium sized nunu (trumpetfish), and I released the slimy buggah by holding the treble hook shank with Rapala 8.5″ stainless steel pliers and shook off the fish.

That hook opened up so it was time to replace it. The lure’s stock hooks are Owner 2X Size 5 treble hooks. They are thin and very sharp but a strong fish could bend them with the right leverage. Owner makes an excellent 4X treble hook but it’s 3 times more expensive than VMC’s 4X treble.

For reference, the Shallow Assassin is 4 inches long

The VMC #4 – 4X hook was about the same gap size as the Owner #5 – 2X, but heavier because it was made thicker and stronger.

Fearing that heavier hooks would affect the nimble swimming action of the Shallow Assassin, I put on the smaller VMC #6 – 4X hooks instead and floated the lure in salt water to make sure it was still horizontally buoyant. I was able to reuse the stock split rings to ensure that no additional weight was added and that the hooks swung freely in lure’s eyelets. Since the split rings were small, I had to use a small-medium split ring pliers to change the hooks and made sure I didn’t stretch the ring out where it wouldn’t retain its original tight coil.

We’ve brought in the Perma Steel and the Red VMC 4X hooks because we couldn’t find the sizes we needed locally. Here’s a review the team did on the 4X treble hooks last year.

The old gear tether has corroded but the Rapala stainless steel pliers don’t have a speck of corrosion on them

We’re also selling the spring loaded 8.5′ stainless steel long nose pliers. I’ve gotten tired of my carbon steel pliers rusting and staining the gear it touches. Been using the stainless steel pliers for a season now with no corrosion whatsoever.

Please check out the new items in the Store. Use the coupon code “ADDON” to subtract $1 off the shipping cost of each terminal tackle item (hooks, swivels, etc).

Big omilu do eat oama!

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Don’t put away your papio gear yet! There’s still lots of catchable oama and the larger papio are still hunting them.

Elias, who had shared his unbelievable 34lb shibi land based catch of a lifetime, was fishing the West Side from the rocks, throwing into rough water estimated at about 15ft deep. He was popping a bubble with trailing Automatic Fly he won in drawing 2 years ago. when he hooked into a screamer.

The beautiful omilu went 5.2 lbs on his digital scale and had recently gorged on oama. You can see the Automatic Fly on the fish below the spinning reel. Looks like the electric blue of an omilu yeah?

I’ve never seen more than 1 oama in the stomach of a fish, and Elias’ fish had 3, so that omilu must’ve been one heck of a hunter.

So get out and fish the uncrowded beaches while the fish are still within reach!