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How to ruin perfectly good fish cleaning shears

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I was in a blade sharpening mood after running my knives through the electric sharpener.  Figured I’d touch up the Rapala Fish and Game shears.  Mistake was I sharpened the “flat” side of each blade that doesn’t have a beveled edge.  By doing that I loosened the tolerance between the two blades and now they separate slightly when I cut. The shears have been rendered useless.

Googled “how to sharpen shears” and you’re supposed to sharpen the cutting edge with a sharpening stone. No mention of the dull, flat side. Ugh.  Didn’t want you guys to make the same mistake I made.

Holoholo: Big pao’pao from shore!

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Hunter is a 6th grader and fishes as often as he can.  I fished with him and his middle school crew last year, which turned out to be my last halalu outing for the year.  Here’s how we did.

Hunter wanted to share his truly exceptional catch from shore – big pao’pao, or golden trevally he caught a week before Christmas.  Thanks Hunter!

Hunter:
I was fishing in Kaneohe Bay with my Grandpa and my Uncle Dean, when my uncle’s pole went off. It was peeling line off the real really fast, and caught us off guard. We were fishing for Pualu, and it was evident that this was not a Pualu. Uncle Dean told me to start reeling in the pole, so I started to reel it in. I kept thinking throughout the fight that it was a stingray or a shark, but after five minutes, it came to the surface and felt a lot lighter and started moving around more. A little while later, it came close to us and we saw the signature golden flash of a big Pao’pao.

At this time, I was pretty exhausted and handed the pole over to my uncle to finish the job. It took a little bit of skill to get it up to us, but Uncle Al came and netted it for us.

When we got home, we weighed it and it weighed five pounds and 10 ounces. My parents were delighted to have a Pao’pao. We ate some as sashimi, and then cooked the rest. Too bad I couldn’t have caught it later for Christmas!

 

Choke strikes, back breaking fight and a jelly fish sting!

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We picked a perfect light wind, small surf day on the South Shore for our last outing of 2018.  Frank on his Hobie Revolution 13, Kelly on his Costco SUP softy and me on my Scupper Pro were safely able to fish 2 miles out.  Frank was on a mission to catch live opelu, and Kelly paddled frozen oama around.  The opelu were spotted but didn’t bite for Frank and me.

I gave up trying to catch bait and put on some small, frozen opelu.  The baits were hit hard, with drag pulled but most didn’t stay on too long. The ones that showed themselves were aha so I paddled out deeper and dropped down on a spot we’ve caught uku and lost screamers before.

Instantly I got picked up by a strong, fast running fish that took half my line, more than 150 yds.  I was hoping it wasn’t a shark but the leader eventually cut at the rear hook and had some nicks in it.  I paddled back to the same spot, assuming “if got sharks got fish” and dropped another bait down. This one got picked up by what felt like a shark from the beginning.  I tried to break it off but it stayed on for more than 30 minutes as my back strained and my left bicep cramped.  And a not so funny thing happened.  As I was trying to pull the shark from the deep, what looked like a clear jellyfish tentacle was clinging to my main line (braid). I swished the tentacle free in the water but it must have drifted over to my ankle I had over the side of the kayak, and stung me. I felt the sting hours later on land.

 

I got the shark to color but it didn’t want to come up higher than 7 ft under the water.  It looked bigger than 5 ft to me, but at that point I may have been prone to making this gladiator sound bigger than it was. Didn’t feel safe unhooking it on my tippy Scupper Pro so I cut the line and it swam free.

The shark had dragged me about a quarter mile from where we started, and I didn’t want to hook another in the shark hole so I paddled in shallower. Felt good to shake out my tired arms that way.

Dropping another 6 inch frozen opelu down resulted in a foul hooked aha so I put on a 10 inch opelu.  Shark number 3 grabbed it, but I was able to pop it off.

Meanwhile, Kelly was slow trolling his oama on the way in and landed 4 of 6 aha strikes, mostly on the rear hook. He consistently has a very high landing ratio, and does it all standing or sitting on a foam SUP with no rod holder or net.  He kept two of the aha, fried them up as fish nuggets and will write up a catch and cook soon.  Frank stuck to his plan to damashi for opelu but just got incidentals for his efforts.

There was so much bait around  (opelu, flying fish, etc) I was really hopeful that we’d connect with a pelagic. At least 15 of my opelu baits were slammed.  Just didn’t convert those strikes to the target species.  Next calm weather day we’re gonna go even further out to avoid the aha, and maybe troll faster to attract pelagics instead of sharks.

I have purchased a wider, more stable offshore kayak I’m hoping will feel much safer battling big creatures in the deep.  I’m tired of using my legs as pontoons to stabilize the Scupper Pro and getting stung by jellyfish in the process!

 

Holoholo: Big oio and yellow spot papio caught in cold shallow water on a fly

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Jason has been a shore fisherman since he could walk in the water with his dad.  He started fly fishing for oio in 2016.  He has a unique vantage point to provide fish reports since he’s standing in the water for hours looking for fish.  Here’s a short recap of a recent successful outing.

Jason:
It was a chilly and windy December morning, but I had been jonesin’ to fish all weekend, so I decided to go. The tide was also up which meant spotting the few fish that were around would be difficult, and I would be mostly blind casting.

As expected, the day started out pretty slowly. At some point i missed something that felt like a small papio, but other than that, no bites and no fish sighted. After a few hours of blind casting like a mad man, suddenly, out of the blue, I felt a subtle take, followed by a sharp tug – I set the hook and it was on! It felt like a pretty nice fish, and I must’ve wrestled with it for a good 5-7 minutes before finally bringing it to hand. A friend was about 100 yards east of me, so I waded over and got him to snap a few photos before I released the oio.

I went back to the same spot, still basking in the glow of the oio catch and thinking the day was just about over when I suddenly felt another good take. This time it felt a bit different. It ran hard, but in shorter spurts, and when brought in close, I noticed it tended to sit passively in the current, hardly moving. “papio!”, I said aloud to myself. A short while later, I brought it in close enough to see color and sure enough, I saw the electric blue outline of a nice yellow-spot papio. I had caught two around the same size in this channel about a year ago, so it seems to be a hot spot for them. Not bad action for a chilly and windy December morning…

Holoholo: Middle of December Bait and Predator Report

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Middle schooler Matthew provided this status report since I haven’t checked the shoreline scene in a while. Much Mahalos, Matt!

Matthew:
Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that fishing has gotten a lot slower. A few baitfish here and there are still around, but the nehu schools have vanished, as well as almost all of the late oama and the halalu. An interesting sight now are schools of moilii, or baby moi. These are around the island in tidepools and shallow areas.

Most of the papio are gone, but if you somehow have live oama for bait, dunking in a channel may produce one.  Kaku are still around, but just not in the levels they were in the summer. Whipping along the shoreline with small lures such as spoons, grubs, and small jigs may work now, as there really isn’t much big bait. Oio bites are getting more common though, and a few big ones have been brought up this week so far by baitcasters.

 

 

Another bad factor is that the days are getting really short, which means less time to fish. What I have been doing recently though, is going stream fishing for smallies (smallmouth bass). I ended catching my first one, and the fight is pretty similar to a papio. The smallies appear to not be affected by the changing seasons. If you do have a boat, now would be a good time to use it, as fish are moving to deeper waters along with the baitfish. If you can catch a few live opelu, you are pretty much set to catch a big papio or ulua with it, as well as other predators. Opelu, however, are getting plentiful, so that is a plus.

2018 Product Endorsements: Gear that passed the test

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I was able to extensively test a bunch of new products this year. Not all performed well for the long haul. Here’s the ones I fully endorse that passed the test after their initial review.

Rapala Fish and Game Shears – Strong, sharp, effective in opening a fish’s cavity for gutting, snipping off gills, fins, etc.  Comes apart for easy cleaning. Stainless steel blades haven’t corroded after months of use. Currently less than $9 as an add-on on Amazon Prime.

 

Gerber Crucial Multi-Tool – Small enough to fit in my kayak PFD pocket, easy to open serrated blade with one hand.  Stainless steel construction. Needle nose pliers, knife, flat and phillips screw driver. Everything you need, nothing you don’t. Here’s the original review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Action Hat DIY GoPro mount – This kit with internal foam floation allowed me to mount a GoPro on my favorite hat.  I don’t feel the foam insert when I wear the cap, and the GoPro isn’t as glaringly noticeable as my previous GoPro hat. The hat hasn’t fallen off my head yet, but I’m pretty sure it will float long enough for retrieval since the hat itself floats. $29.99 on livelivegear.com.

Yeti Rambler Camp Mug – While not directly related to fishing, the camp mug can be used to drink something hot while you wait for that ulua to bite.  I’m testing some of the Yeti products that can be taken fishing (soft cooler, etc) and this mug was a sleeper. I really liked how it felt in my hand, and how the double insulated walls and lid kept my coffee hot for a long time.  Here’s the original review.

 

 

Buff® Elite Gloves – Though not specifically made as fishing gloves to paddle with, these gloves have been awesome for kayak fishing.  I’ve machine washed them many times and there’s no signs of wear.  I don’t kayak fish without them. Here’s the original review.

 

Bad solar/lunar day vs good solar/lunar day

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Lately I’ve been comparing my fishing results to the predictions on Tides4fishing.com and I seem to do better on the days with more solar (sun) and lunar (moon) activity.  In simple terms, the position of the sun and moon affect tides and, it’s believed, fish activity.

Opelu victim #1

Opelu victim #2

This past week I fished 4 days after the full moon and Tides4fishing had a dismal prediction. To compound matters I fished the mid-morning last half of the falling tide and the wind was blowing 10 – 14 mph.  The bite was really slow and I just had three 8 inch frozen opelu stripped at the gills.  This happened at 70ft and twice at 30 ft, and I suspected a big kaku.  Note that both fish just missed the second hook. I suspect the didn’t hit the baits hard, and just pulled the back half away.

The wind was much lighter 3 days later, 7 days after the full moon, and the solar/lunar activity was predicted to be much higher.  I was able to fish the first half of the falling tide, and the current was almost too slack. To get a better shot at landing the bait stealer, I lengthened the line between the two hooks and buried the second hook in the tail.

 

 

 

 

 

My left hand was getting ready to pull its teeth out of my shin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sure enough, there was much more bait activity spotted on the fish finder, and 3 fish were solidly hooked. Unfortunately, the culprits were big aha or needlefish. All were hooked on the back hook and the first one eventually bit through the 40lb fluoro leader, which was fine with me.  The second unhooked itself, even better.  I couldn’t shake the 3rd and smallest of the 3 so I had to unhook it.  I kept my feet out of the water and still, the aha rammed into the side of the kayak and then hit my shin with the underneath of its jaw.  Glad it didn’t jump into the yak with its mouth open.

I also missed a couple more drag pullers while trolling, and had my baits pulled off with hard jerks when I bottom fished but couldn’t hook what I hope were small uku. The two days varied in wind speed and tidal movement phase so it wasn’t an apples to apples comparison, but I believe that the fish bit much better on the second outing because the moon was smaller and I was able to fish right at the high tide drop.

How does the size of the moon affect your catches?

 

Ciguatera: Is my fish safe to eat?

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Ciguatera poisoning is caused by ciquatoxin, produced by reef plankton.  Some fish that directly eat the plankton, kole and palani for example, build up dangerous levels of the toxin, and all reef predators that eat the fish that eat the plankton accumulate the toxin. Human consumers of tainted fish gradually accumulate enough of the toxin to the point it affects them. One fish with very high levels of ciquatera, or a slightly tainted fish that pushes the human consumer over the edge, can bring on a very bad experience.

It is believed that the ciguatoxin levels on the reef fluctuate seasonally, and thus, the species that have a reputation to be “hot” may or may not have dangerously high levels depending on whether a bloom is going on.  Since most predator fish, like papio/ulua, kaku, etc, travel anyway, it’s not wise to think fish from one particular area is “safe”.

A few scientific studies have been conducted in the past decades.  This one, by the Hawaii State Dept of Health, grouped species in fairly broad categories, indicating how many of the 736 implicated fish were of a broad species.  “Jack Fish” caused the highest number of poisonings, and is comprised of papio, ulua and kahala.  Surgeonfish (kole, palani, kala) is next, grouper (roi, hapuupuu), and snapper (wahanui, taape, uku, toau) follow.  What’s not clear is the percentage of each species group consumed that didn’t cause a reaction.

 

In another publication, the Hawaii Seafood Council refers to a study conducted between 1999 and 2003, listing the top 10 fish species involved in ciquatera poisoning.  Interestingly, uku (#7) is higher up in the list than wahanui (#9), yet you no longer hear of uku being “hot”. However, the web is full of references of how “hot” wahanui is.

In yet another survey, published by the Hawaii Dept of Aquatic Resources, divers speared roi in West Hawaii (Big Island) and Oahu, and autopsied them to determine ciguatera level. All the roi tested positive for ciguatera, with 25% of the West Hawaii ones and 8% of the Oahu ones at levels unsafe to consume.

Traditionally, big papio, ulua, kahala, kaku, wahanui and kole have been likely ciguatera suspects before roi were introduced to Hawaii. Even uku to some degree, but possibly less because uku feed at mid depths when they get bigger.   So what does this all mean in regards to how safe your fish is to eat?  To minimize risk, don’t consume large individuals of these species, and limit your reef predator consumption in general.

Product Test: Yeti Rambler 14 oz Camp Mug

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The Yeti company was founded in 2006 with the mission to build “over engineered” coolers that are bear proof, disaster resistant, and can keep ice longer than the competition. Thanks to a very aggressive marketing campaign, they are best known premium cooler brand.

Yeti drinkware has become very popular on Oahu, especially the 18 to 64 oz bottles with the cap that allows you to hold and swing it with 3 fingers.   It appears that Yeti has surpassed Hydro Flask as the brand to have.

I’ve been testing the Yeti soft cooler Hopper 12, the Rambler 20 oz tumbler, and the Rambler 14 oz camp mug for the last two months.  I use the mug everyday and will review that first.  Will review the Hopper and the Rambler tumbler after I get more use in.

The camp mug is so wide in diameter it won’t fit in most cup holders.  Look how much narrower the tumbler’s base is compared to the mug’s.  The mug wasn’t designed to be a daily commuter.  It was designed to take camping to hold hot soup, hot cereal and your favorite hot beverage.  While large, and double-wall insulated, it’s not heavy but does feel burly (in a good way) due to the large handle that could fit a gloved hand.  That double-wall insulation prevents the outside from getting warm to the touch, and never “sweats”.

 

 

 

 

 

The mug easily fits on my Keurig tray with height to spare, and the stock clear plastic lid with sipping hole keeps my coffee hot for much longer than I need it to. In fact, I have to let the coffee cool a little before putting the lid on, otherwise I’d burn my lips.

If you’re a sipper and take more than an hour to sip your hot beverage, you could purchase the MagSlider lid ($9.99) that keeps the mug sealed until you’re ready to sip.  My coffee used to become lukewarm by the time I finished it and tasted kind of weak. Now that I’m finishing it while hot, it tastes so much better.

The mug and rubber gasketed lid wash up easily and have resisted staining inside and out.  The mug lists for $24.99 and I’ve seen it at a lot of tackle stores and surf shops this holiday season.  I recommend getting one, especially if you can catch a storewide sale. Using it makes me feel like I’m in the wild outdoors, though I’ve never used the mug outside of the house.

 

Getting it done on the inshore and nearshore jobfish (snappers)

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Frank and I finally had a kayak outing with light wind and small surf conditions that lasted all day.  I started out by breaking off my transducer mount that hangs over the side, but Frank did a quick repair with zip ties and duct tape to restore my eyes beneath the kayak.  Can’t beat a fishing partner that keeps you safe on land and water, and can quickly repair stuff you break in the field!

We trolled halalu out to the deep and our baits started getting mauled at the 70ft depth, but nothing stayed on the hooks.  Then Frank landed a good sized wahanui (smalltooth jobfish), common on the Big Island but not so common on Oahu anymore.  He has a knack for catching them; he caught one trolling at the exact same coordinates back in February.

More baits were stripped so we hit a deep area I had marked on the GPS.  I kept bringing up just the head of my halalu bait after feeling slight taps, despite the trailing hook tucked in the tail section, so I dropped down to the bottom and brought the bait a third of the way up.  This time I got some hard tugs and the bait was completely gone.  I put on a whole, 8 inch frozen opelu out of desperation and lowered it to what I thought was more than half way down.  Got a hard tug that pulled a bit of drag, and I waited a few seconds and got another tug and then line pulled off quickly. Finally something was solidly hooked!  The fish made some smooth, straight runs away from me and I wasn’t sure what it was until I saw color. Uku, or blue green jobfish, as it’s known in other places!

Until I pulled this photo off the GoPro, I didn’t realize that my paddle, net and shirt sleeve match the uku’s shades of blue!  I dispatched it with my bat, and squeezed it into my small 20 inch long fish bag that was stuffed with frozen bait and a frozen water bottle.  Pressure was off, with each of us putting a good eating jobfish in our bags, and we resumed the job of catching more fish. See what I did there? 😉  Instead, we missed fish and I went through my frozen bait supply and drank my bottle of water.  The uku sat in the bag for 3 hrs with just a block of Arctic Ice and wasn’t as chilled as the one I caught a week ago.

I cleaned it when I got home, and the guts smelled a little fishier than the last time too. It measured 19.5 inches, 1 inch shorter than last week’s and this one had male gonads like the previous one.  Kelly advised me to filet it right away, wrap it in paper towels, and store in the coldest part of the fridge. My parents cooked one filet on day 2, and I changed the paper towels daily on the other filet. 3 days later it still smelled fresh despite my oversight in not cutting out the blood section under the skin and was made into seared uku poke and deemed “super ono” by Thad our JDM expert.

Pay it forward uku – Catch and Cook

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My family was stuffed with fish Capt Darren gifted us the day before, but the wind was supposed to be down on the Eastside and the surf manageable.  It might be one of the last days I could kayak fish that side before the winter swells made the surf unsafe.  Right before I jumped in the car, Kelly alerted me that the rivers were at risk of overflowing on Kamehameha Hwy.  About 10 mins into the drive I heard on the radio that the rain was stalled against the Koolaus and flooding was imminent. I pulled off the freeway and headed home.  The south side was dry and surf was supposed to be about 2-3ft plus.

Drove to the beach Frank and I had luck at this winter, and the reef passage looked safe.  Shoots! At about the 30ft depth I dropped down a fresh dead halalu Capt Darren had given me the day before.  The halalu was rigged with a sliding weight, an Owner Gorilla hook through its lower jaw and out its forehead, and a rear VMC inline hook tucked in the skin by its butt.  Before I reached the 50ft depth my reel screamed!  By the time I stopped paddling, turned on the GoPro, and it started recording, a few seconds elapsed so I think the fish ran for at least 5 seconds.  The run was so strong and sustained I thought I had hooked a shallow water ono!

The fight was odd, though.  There were some head shakes but there were also spastic twitches and the fish wasn’t resisting as much after the initial run.  When the fish was below me, It felt like the line was rubbing against the reef.  It didn’t feel like a papio and because the water was so shallow, I didn’t expect a pelagic.  Maybe a big kaku that got tired out?

I was surprised to see a big uku (well, big is relative to me since my biggest was at most 3lb) at color.  Normally they circle when I try to net them but this one was pulled in easily.

When I tried to unhook it I saw why. The size 2/0 VMC Inline hook was at the opening of its gullet!

No wonder it took off when it felt the hook, and I was feeling its teeth on the 40lb Seaguar Blue Label leader.

 

 

The water was already a little choppy and then the trades picked up soon after I landed the fish. I paddled into the wind and drifted back with it, but only had hage and small papio mess with my bait.  Water was coming over the side of my Scupper Pro so with my biggest kayak caught uku to date, I paddled in.

Here’s a short video of the strike and landing of the fish.

Hope you’re not squeamish! The stuff that looks like Chinese wide, flat noodles are the gonads.

VMC Inline 4X hook size 2/0

 

 

 

 

 

The uku measured 20 3/8″, 1/8 shorter than the uku Darren gave me the day before! Mine had a distended stomach and weighed 4.25lb.  Turns out it was filled with male gonads (reproductive organs) and nothing in its stomach but my hook! Poor guy.

Paying it forward after the previous day’s generosity, I gave a filet to my church friend so he could compare with the yellowspot he received the day before, and gave the rest to Kelly who gave me the flood alert and hadn’t had uku for a long time.  Kelly is really efficient in his fish cleaning and can stretch fish like Jesus did in the bible!

Kelly:
Thank you for the uku Scott! We made it in a variety of ways, however most were raw because you took such good care, it was uber fresh.

 

 

 

 

 

First we made sashimi, that is the best way to get the true flavor of a fish (and the easiest prep method).

 

 

 

 

 

Then we made chirashi sushi, which is a big tray of sushi topped with various ingredients. My wife made the sushi and it was amazing. She topped the lightly vinegared rice with shiitake mushooms, egg, cucumber, salmon, tobiko and fresh uku!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also made the head and bones into arajiru, which is a miso soup that sushi restaurants in Japan are renowned for. The sushi was enjoyed by my extended family (6 people) and also some folks who attended the potluck that night (about 12 people), so it fed many appreciative folks!

Holoholo: Fish and Dive Expo 2018

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7th grader Matthew generously shares his Fish and Dive Expo experience with us. His mother was his in-the-field photographer.

Matthew:

 

 

 

 

 

The Hawaii Fish and Dive expo… Rumored to be the biggest fishing event in the Hawaiian Islands every two years. I heard some people even flew in from other islands to come to it. Starting off the bat, getting there and watching the fish in the man made pond is always frustrating, but is also fun to watch all of your dream fish swimming side by side. After you finally get in, there is usually a mad rush for the Campania Lures booth. Especially this year because they were selling a very realistic looking oama soft bait, and were only selling ten each day of the expo. The price on the oama lure was 15 dollars each, and you only got one bait per package. A little pricey, but I thought I would try and get it anyways. As soon as I went through the gate, I sprinted to the Campania booth… But instead ended up at the bathrooms. Oops, wrong isle. By the time I ran back to the right isle, there was a hefty line, and by the time I got to the front, it was sold out. I still bought some other goodies from the Campanis booth including some new colors. They had made a new color just for the expo called “El Richie”.

The J.Hara booth had some good deals too, including a closeout sale of Maria’s “Ma-Worms” which is an interesting looking grub. They were selling it for an absurd price of 10 packs for $1! They charged me $10 instead of $1, but that was still fine since even if they sold it for $1 each, the normal price per pack was $5. They were also selling Maria hard lures (Jig-like things, crankbaits, and jerkbaits similar to Yo-Zuri ones) for only $2 each! I bought two that looked a lot like an oama. They also had a good deal for a long net for $8.99.

 

 

I also checked out the Hanapa’a booth, and they had discounted rod holders, J-Line, and reels including the Daiwa Saltist I had heard about from my friend. I checked out some other booths that sold some Ulua Poppers, stickbaits, and jigs, including discounted micro-jigs in sardine color, so I bought one for $4.99.

 

 

I also checked some other booths out, but nothing really appealed too much to me, so I checked out the Tag-It booth. I met Uncle Clay, talked to him a little bit, and then left to wander a little bit more.

I then checked out Uncle Kevin at the Hobie and (I think?) Bloody Yaks booth. He had his giant kayak on display! It looked to be around 25 feet long, bigger than the average small boat. Overall, this year’s expo was better than 2016’s one. This was clearly an event that you can’t miss once it comes up especially when compared to the only other “fishing” expo, the Ocean Expo.

 

 

 

Fish Status:
Oama are definitely thinning out, with almost all of the traditional spots barren. There are a few spots which I will not name that I have seen new, “dumb” oama that just came in, so this may be the last “wave” before they all leave, so get your Oama now and stock up. Halalu are pretty much gone by now, with only the late season spots holding some, like Haleiwa, Waimea, and Kahe Power Plant. Campbell may have some, but I hear it’s mainly blind casting over there. Kewalo has been barren of Akule for a good 4 months now, and may come back soon. Sardines are all gone now, with maybe a pile scattered here and there, but not much any more. There may be some in deeper water that you can catch off damashi and kayak. Iao and Nehu are still in abundance, but are getting quite larger, which is attracting larger predators, but also means that they may leave the safety of the shallows soon. Another strange abundance I have been seeing is Mullet (not sure if they are Uoa’uoa or Ama’ama) all ranging from three inches to six or so inches. Sometimes there is even a large ball of mullet I see. It may be worth a shot to try snag one then toss it out past the school. Bait season is ending, so Papio and Omilu are starting to head back into deeper water, so try and get them soon.

Sharing fish, a Hawaiian tradition

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It’s Hawaiian culture to share your catch with family and friends, especially with those who are unable to go out and catch for themselves.  I’m not a big fish eater and rarely bring home more than one fish, so I didn’t participate in this tradition too much.  But a friend from church had asked me if I could keep hage for him, if I caught that incidentally, and I thought that would be a slam dunk.  Turns out I didn’t get to fish much since he asked, and when I did, I didn’t bring up any of those bait stealers.

I mentioned this to Capt Darren, so he kept a big, unusual looking deepwater hage during a Penguin Banks trip.  When I picked it up, he insisted I also take a yellowspot papio for my friend since he has never had one before, and an uku and yellowspot for my family.  Uku and yellowspot are my favorite fish to eat because they are not fishy and you can sashimi/poke them as well as steam and fry.  And, it’s possible that I can catch them myself nearshore.  Besides ono and nabeta, they are the only ones I cook at home.  I felt a little “shame” to take such good fish when I just went to pick up a hage, but Capt Darren said no big deal, he just likes to share with people who appreciate the fish he quickly chills in a salt water/ice cube brine on the boat to slow down the spoiling process.

The uku looked big by my standards, although he said it wasn’t big but it wasn’t small either.  I didn’t weigh it but measured it at 20.5″ FL.  I told him I’d be stoked to ever catch an uku that size on my kayak.  That night, the day after the fish were caught, I made a simple onion, inamona, sesame oil, Hawaiian salt and chili flake poke with some uku and yellowspot. The uku was so fresh it still was very firm, whereas the yellowspot was much softer. Both were very good, and good together with the contrasting texture.  I shared the uku and yellowspot with my parents and collectively we ate them raw, steamed, sato-shoyu and fried.  I don’t like cooked fish because it tastes fishier than raw, but wanted to see how the day 3 (two days out of the water) uku poke would be lightly fried. Had the tiniest fishy aftertaste but I liked the flavor and texture.  Capt Darren really does take care of his fish!

He also gave me their leftover fresh halalu bait that his first mate had caught since I was going kayak fishing the next day. I’d be targeting uku and yellowspot, but I figured “pressure is off” since my church friend got his hage and bonus yellowspot and my family got such prime fish.  I was moved by Capt Darren’s generosity and didn’t think I’d ever catch such a big uku on my kayak. Turns out I was wrong! Here’s what happened trolling that fresh dead halalu bait!

 

 

Product Test: Gerber Crucial Multi-Tool for kayak fishing

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Gerber Neat Freak

A critical piece of kayak fishing safety equipment is something that you can use to cut yourself free from tangles in an emergency. I used to carry a serrated saw type knife on my vest but wanted something that could also cut bait and trim line tags.  So I added a Gerber Neat Freak scissors I got at the Fred Hall Show that is designed to cleanly snip braided line. Since the Neat Freak is tethered to my vest, I’d be able to cut myself out of tangles also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I liked the construction of the Neat Freak so much, I checked Gerber’s other products online. They had a bunch of well made knives and fully loaded multi-tools I didn’t need, but then I came across a very basic multi-tool, the Crucial.  It had a half serrated knife that could be opened easily with one hand, flat and phillips screwdrivers for tightening mounts on the yak, and needle nose pliers.  Best of all it was made out of stainless steel so it wouldn’t rust in my vest pocket.  Everything I needed to carry and nothing I didn’t, in a very compact package. I guess that’s why they named it the Crucial.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a raised edge on the knife blade that allows you to flick open the blade with one hand.  Very handy if you’re holding onto an overturned kayak with your other hand, and your legs are wrapped in fishing line.

Amazon Prime is currently selling the Crucial for $25 to $35 depending on the color.

Oama Season Update – 4th week of October

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The two little oama on the bottom just swam in from the deep and still have a bit of their “blue water” color. In contrast, the moose oama are probably gonna leave the safety of the shallows soon.

The oama came in late this year, finally filling in around mid-August.  Few spots still have oama, 2 months after they came in.  What is in abundance are pesky baby papio, hanging out with the mixed sized oama that are left and getting to the baits first.

The past warm years have had lots of baby papio, but never this many, this late in the year.  I blame the late developing El Nino for that.

I tried to get past the papio to reach the oama on the bottom and found the effort to be extremely frustrating.  With that many papio mouths looking for food, I hope the reef’s eco balance isn’t thrown off too much.

Product Test: Flotation added to sunglasses and GoPro cap

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The general rule in kayak fishing is to tie everything down in case your kayak goes bottom up.  But what about the things on your body like  sunglasses, and GoPro hat?

Last month, I had put my unstrapped Maui Jim prescription sunglasses on my head to tie a hook and the strong winds blew it off without me even knowing. No where to be found.  Very sad day.  I’ve been a bit more careful with my  GoPro cap.  Been using a bright orange floating cube around the GoPro, but it’s so heavy and glaringly indiscreet.  I needed to improve on those two items’ flotation.

I purchased a Chums Classic Glassfloats Sunglass Retainer on Amazon Prime for $8.95 (price varies based on color). The strap is comfortable enough to wear and allows me to let the sunglasses hang down on my chest when I need to do close work (the prescription lenses are too strong to tie knots).  The straps should prevent the sunglasses from blowing off me and if I huli the kayak hopefully the bright orange floating retainer will float my sunglasses in a highly visible manner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also purchased an Action Hat DIY Kit, $29.99 on livelivegear.com. It comprised of an 8mm thick foam frame you add to the inside of your own hat for flotation and a GoPro mount you screw into the frame.  I installed it in my good luck G Loomis Coolmax cap and it looked almost stealth in comparison to my previous setup.  The frame blocked a bit of ventilation when I paddled for 4 hrs on a hot day but otherwise was very comfortable and functional.

I need to test the sunglasses strap and Action Hat DIY kit further to ensure my stuff floats. Will keep you guys posted.

 

Holoholo: Heeia Fishpond – Trial 7

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7th Grade Matthew’s mature, insightful writing style continues to impress.  This time he blesses us with a recap of his most recent Heei’a Fishpond Holoholo Day outing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew:
Note: I have fished this place six times before and this will be my seventh time trying it. In the past I have caught Moi, Kaku, Toau, and Papio over here. There seems to be an abundance of Toau and Kaku mostly though, all feeding on Ama’ama or Nehu. In the past I have had both good days and bad days, and found that the tide is a key factor.

I had signed up for a Heeia Holoholo day, because I thought that the old heeia story posted by Scott in 2015 was long outdated and needed another story to give more info on the pond. I got to the fishpond at 8:15am, where before the introduction I caught some opae with a net and put them in our bucket. We did a little introduction to everyone fishing at the event, then headed off to go fishing. I immediately got my stuff and fast walked the ½ mile to the fourth makaha. I set up, got my oama on, sight casted a kaku, and, screamer! Of course, it snapped the line after. I set up another oama rig and went to the third makaha. There I saw a school of around 10 kaku and a few good sized omilu cruised by once in a while. What were they there for? I soon saw my answer as I spotted some large nehu school in the deep section of the area. They all did not bite my oama at all, but that was about to change soon.

The current stopped and all of a sudden, the kaku started eating everything I threw at them, even lures. In that brief 20 minute period, I tagged 9 kaku and missed many more. The person next to me landed a few papio, and a few kaku in that time also. Then, like a magic switch, the fish all of a sudden stopped biting. I could still see them there, but none were even looking at my lures or oama. I eventually gave up, and this is where the opae came in handy. I used the opae and caught a nenue, kupipi, and many toau on the opae. It seemed like the less desirable fish were still willing to bite, at least. My friends that I invited, Jesse and Jayden, were having fun with the toau and kupipi also, who were also disappointed that the Kaku bite had shut down. We fished for the remainder of the time for toau, and then sadly, our day ended very quickly. We headed back and made a few casts along the way, but nothing came out of this last ditch effort for a Papio. We said our goodbyes to Jesse and Jayden, as well as the Assistant Executive Director, Kelii. This was a good day with many Kaku, and hopefully one of them will get captured.

Overall Fish Status: Oama are still here, but get them before they get big and move past the reef. It is best to find a new and “dumb” pile instead of the larger, smart ones. Sardines are still around, but are much less preferred than the oama, unless you are fishing around a sardine pile, which then live sardines would work. Halalu are around, but many spots have been netted, so keep your halalu spots as quiet as possible. Larger fish are coming to hit the piles, and even pelagics in some select spots. Akule appear to be hanging around in a few spots also. Nehu and Iao are littered around the shoreline, so if you see a small pile, it may be a good idea to cast right past the pile and see if a predator is waiting.

Holoholo: Oama still around, papio still whacking them!

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Holo holo SUP fishing (again)

Hi Scott,
Some fat oama are still around and the live oama you gave us were ACTION JACKSON!
A couple of weekends ago we went in inside the waves on the south shore of Oahu and had a blast! I took home three 3-pound omilu and a couple of 2-pounders and one 2 pound roi. My partner got a few small papio and a small barracuda. Didn’t get very good pics, but here is a shot of some of the catch before cleaning. The papio were all caught in the morning, near the top of a 1.9’ high tide and all fish had empty stomachs. We made sashimi, nanbanzuke, vina dos, and some chiri (soup). My wife is a good cook and it was all sooo onolicious!
Shoots,
Kelly

Product Test: Buff® Elite Gloves

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It was less than 10 years ago that long sleeve UV blocking “performance” fishing shirts were a rare sight here.  As they caught on,  those ninja mask looking “neck gaiters” began to gain popularity around 5 years ago. Buff® was the company that introduced the face and neck protection sleeves to the fishing world.  Now it’s fairly common to see sun exposed fishers covered up with cap, neck gaiter and long sleeve shirt.

Fly fishermen have always led the way with UV blocking clothes and they were the first ones to wear fishing gloves for sun protection as well as finger protection since they are constantly guiding and stripping line.  Kayak paddlers have been wearing paddling gloves for years also.  I’ve been taping my left thumb and forefinger at times to avoid line cuts from wet braid when I whip with my bait caster, but couldn’t justify wearing gloves to fish. Mostly I though they’d reduce feel and look a little *funny*.

 

 

 

 

Fishing gloves with the finger tips exposed sounded like a “kill two birds” kind of solution to pad my palms from paddling blisters and protect my fingers from line and fish cuts.  Buff® has an “Elite” glove made to provide UV, blister and cut protection, reduce bacterial growth (stink) and provide grip.  They aren’t paddling gloves per se, but seemed padded enough on the palm to serve that purpose.

The Elite gloves were light weight, breathable because the backs are made out of the same material as the neck gaiters, and I could still use my finger tips to tie knots, manipulate my reel, unhook fish and wipe my sunglasses.  I broke them in on that 6 hr kayak fishing trip I tested the Columbia PFG Terminal Tackle shorts. My hands felt much less fatigued from paddling and weren’t cut up from handling fish fins / spines and hooks.

 

I inadvertently dropped an omilu that I thought was bonked out cold but came to life as I was trying to put it in my fish bag.  Luckily it landed on my foot that was straddling the kayak, and I was able to slide my gloved hand down the pokey scutes and secure it by the tail.  Without the gloves I would have been poked and slimed and for sure the fish would have gotten away.  I felt like an NFL wide receiver catching a slippery football one handed!

I’ve worn the gloves a couple of times now and haven’t experienced any downsides. If I really need my fingers free I can quickly take the gloves off and put them on again. And when they get stinky I can machine wash them. Definitely gonna wear gloves whenever I kayak fish, and want to try another pair with more of the finger tip exposed.

The Buff® Elite Gloves sell for $45 on the buffusa.com website.  I’ve worn them twice and machine washed them twice and they are holding up fine.  If they work out as well as I expect I’ll add a product endorsement. 

Akule and Halalu fishing etiquette

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If you know anything about whipping for akule and halalu from shore, you know it’s an activity potentially prone to tangles and conflicts.  Unless you’re good enough to avoid tangles or you don’t mind conflict, you stay away from this type of close quarter fishing like I do.

But, we are very fortunate to have a 30 year akule and halalu fishing veteran on hand to share some etiquette tips on how to greatly reduce group aggravation and increase your enjoyment. He chases these fish all over Oahu and even travels to Kona when the Oahu bite is slow, and would like to keep anonymous for now.

Mr X:

The main thing is that everyone needs to respect the other fishers. If it’s crowded, look around and watch how people are fishing. Don’t squeeze in and create an uncomfortable or unsafe situation. I’ve waited 3 hours before, just to get a spot to open up. Practicing casting is key, if you can cast straight with an overhead motion then you’ll be able to fish closer to the next guy without creating an unsafe situation. Beginners should ask a lot of questions. Normally you can tell who’s been fishing halalu for a while…. ask questions and you’ll get better faster.

  • Amount of side to side space – If you can’t cast straight all the time, give yourself more space between the other fishers.
  • Don’t stand higher up or in back of someone and cast over them, you’ll snag their lines on your retrieve.
  • It’s safer to use a long leader and keep hook in water during entire cast. If you have a short leader, make sure you have plenty of space  from the next fisherman.
  • Reserving spot – if you aren’t there don’t expect your spot to be held long.
  • Don’t cross lines on cast, fish in your “lane”. Try to practice before you fish. Casting straight allows more fishermen to fish and reduces tangles.
  • If you need to cast over another line, be conscious of others. Watch where they are casting. Try to rotate casting so you’re casting outside of others as they retrieve their lines in. Think of it as a rotation, as one person reels in, you can cast over that spot. If two people cast simultaneously at the same spot they will increase the chance of a tangle.
  • Use enough drag to bring your fish in relatively straight.
  • Just remember that everyone has the right to fish, be patient with beginners, but also if you start tangling other lines often, stop and think about why. If you need practice, go to a spot away from the crowd and practice casting.