Holoholo: My 2025 Yearly Fishing Challenge

January 1, 2026 By Scott 2 Comments

Jeremy (Oahu shore whipper and frequent Holoholo writer) –

I always loved fishing. I grew up with only using bait, but over time I’ve found my greatest enjoyment came from whipping. I just liked the challenge of trying to get a fish to eat an artificial lure. I also liked the fact that there are a bunch of different lures to choose from, so I started to learn all the whipping techniques like egg lead, bubble float, poppers/stickbaits, jigs, and jig heads. Over many years of trial and error, I became more proficient, but never kept track of all my catches.

One day, I just had a thought that it would be interesting to see how many different species I could catch in a single year by only whipping. I started this challenge in 2019 because I thought it was possible to catch ‘19 different fish with only using artificial lures. I was able to hit that goal, so in 2020 I continued the challenge by trying to catch ‘20 different fish. I’ve continued this until now, but catching 25 different fish in 2025 has been the toughest so far. Thankfully, I was able to complete this goal with only 10 days left in the year.

With the new year quickly approaching, I’m hoping everyone has a successful 2026. I’ll be trying to hit this years goal of catching ‘26 different fish. Who else wants to join me in this challenge? It’ll force you to use all different techniques and make you target specific species. But really, it’s just a fun way to keep things interesting all year long because now you’ll want to catch everything, even the “rubbish” fish 😂. Good luck!

1st day of testing the new lead jigs. Wow they work!!!

December 6, 2025 By Scott 4 Comments

The wind was projected to be light for a period of 6 days but I waited for a day with a small N swell and better solar – lunar bite periods. I picked the day before the Full Moon to fish the Windward side and it paid off big time. My plan was to get some fish on the new jigs, and also get a pelagic on live opelu. Kind of a big ask since I rarely get either.

Tungsten on left, lead on right, both 60g

The bite period was supposed to be from 10 to 12:30pm and I was at the first spot at 9:15. It was a shallow 60ft spot that has produced reef fish on the damashi before, so I dropped the 60g Chubby jig painted like a fully lit up oama, hoping the length was small enough for the reef fish, since it was the same length as the 60g tungsten jig that had worked incredibly well in the past.

The Chubby reached the bottom and I jigged it up a few cranks and was shocked when it got slammed.

I was more stunned when I saw two moana kali come up, 1 on each hook! The moana kali ended up weighing 1lb 3oz and 2lb 5oz. You can see the actual strike in this video. I was so excited when they hit, I turned off the camera forgetting it was already on, but luckily I took photos and a short video with my phone after they were landed.

I caught some opelu for bait and dragged em around, and out to 200ft when I saw some some life on the sounder. Dropped the 120g flat sided asymmetric jig painted up like a silver/blue bait fish and got hit immediately. The fish rubbed the jig off on the reef and came unbuttoned, so I dropped again. It got hit after quite a few cranks off the bottom and a smallish kahala (greater amberjack) came up. Man those fish pull hard initially. The video below captures the hookup and landing. I ended up hooking 4 fish and landing 2. Since they weren’t almaco jacks (kampachi) I let them go, not wanting to see their worms.

So far the live opelu, cruising on the surface, didn’t get any attention. I paddled back in to test a 3rd jig.

This one was the 100g Nehu with the curvy spine. It only caught taape, probably because it was a little long for the fish in the 100ft zone.

With the jigging goal accomplished, I focused on using the damashi to catch good eating fish. The bite remained good despite it being so calm, which I attribute to the good solunar effect.

I got busted off on the 20lb damashi set by a heavy fish, and moved up to the 25lb damashi set. Landed two yellow spot papios, which make excellent sashimi, and some big opelu that weren’t line shy. The bite slowed at 2pm and I kept dropping the damashi on the way in but didn’t catch any more keepers.

It was the best action I’ve ever had on the kayak although nothing hit the live opelu besides a small aha that perforated it a bit.

The new lead jigs definitely work when dropped on good marks. They did sustain some bite marks/paint peeling, from all the teeth encountered, but held up pretty well overall.

The jigs are going out to the lure testers. I only had 5 of each of the 10 sizes/colors flown in via air mail, with the rest coming by boat. Almost half of the 50 jigs have been claimed. Please contact me if you’re interested in trying them at the Lure Testing pricing. Mahalo.

All the jigs are described here.

New JDM quality jigs are in. Highly effective, custom painted for Hawaiian waters, and very reasonably priced. 60g to 240g. Testers wanted.

December 2, 2025 By Scott 2 Comments

Been trying to procure lures that will catch fish from shore and from boats/kayaks, and be cheap enough where it won’t hurt too much when a fish swims away with it. Lead jigs fit that bill and I had a batch painted in our favorite inshore and offshore colors. Some are designed to cast well and have an erratic retrieve from shore. Others are very compact in shape so they sink as quickly as possible, yet can be made to dance on the retrieve. The jigs look almost too beautiful to fish, but the paint job is very durable so you should be able to admire their looks trip after trip.

We plan to sell these JDM quality jigs at a much lower price than you could find elsewhere. We are in the process of testing/catching fish on the new jigs. Please Contact us if you want to purchase a few at Lure Tester pricing. Check out the 360 degree videos below.

60g Jigs

60g Nehu Wiggle

100g to 120g Jigs

100g Beveled Asymmetric painted like an oama

100g Chubby painted like an oama

120g Beveled Asymmetric in Blue & Silver

190g to 240g Jigs

190g rear weighted Cherry Bomb

Here’s how the first day of jig testing went.

My Pelagic dog luck continues! Short POV video included.

November 11, 2025 By Scott 2 Comments

Previous to my recent shibi and kawakawa catch, I hadn’t caught pelagics (migratory offshore fish) in 2 years. Because of that recent success, I planned to drag live opelu out to the deep at my favorite Windward spot to see if the late Fall pelagics were still around.

It was another too calm day between windy days, and the fish weren’t interested in the damashi. I finally found some happy opelu that jumped on the damashi hooks and took one out past 250ft, weighted down with a 2oz tungsten bullet weight. Nothing bothered it, and the damashi fishing in the deep was nonexistent, so I paddled back in to try to salvage the trip by catching good eating reef fish.

I’m not good at keeping the trolling line out of my rudder mounted motor while damashi fishing, so I reeled the live opelu up and kept it just at the surface a couple feet from the kayak. The damashi fishing in the 100ft range was slow but I did release a 2lb omilu, and stumbled upon a 1.5lb yellow spot papio, which is the 2nd best eating jack after the kagami.

I couldn’t find any more yellow spots, and I was shocked to hear my live bait reel’s clicker go off in a jerky manner. Then I saw a small mahi mahi jumping about 30ft away from me. Because the line’s “belly” took a while to catch up to where the jumping fish was, I wasn’t sure if that was my fish.

The fish jumped 4 times in rapid succession and didn’t look that big, but took line off the reel in spurts. I kept the drag moderately tight so it wouldn’t rip off. He fought over his weight class but came up worn out and docile.

I was stoked to catch a mahi, and carefully bled it, and chilled it on the kayak. Put out another live opelu on the weighted rig, and it was hit by a very strong fish that ran off a lot of line. I was convinced I hooked a nice shibi ahi but ended up with a 30lb ulua that was released. Bought ice on the way home to keep the mahi as cold as possible overnight.

Here’s a short video of the mahi fight as I experienced it in the kayak seat.

Yellow spot papio sashimi. Photo by Brian

My neighbor Brian and his family love yellow spot papio sashimi because it’s so clean but also a little oily tasting. They mopped the plate.

The mahi weighed in at just under 7lb and I able to get a little over half of that in fillet yield. These are the nicer, more presentable cuts. The less than perfect ones went to my family. The mild, firm meat was enjoyed raw and pan fried by all.

Pan fried in butter, topped with furikake and ponzu, by Brian

Don’t know how much longer my pelagic lucky streak will last but I am checking the wind forecast a few times a day in hopes there will be another break in the weather.

Sent my Avet SX Raptor in for service. This is what they did and how much it costs from Hawaii to California and back.

October 20, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

I’ve been using the little powerhouse Avet SX Raptor for 5 years and self serviced it twice. It was fairly easy to do and I didn’t see much corrosion until the reel started to bind recently. When I took it apart I found rust in all the bearings and despite cleaning and oiling the bearings from the outside, the bearings kept spewing rust.

Decided to mail it to Avet in California for cleaning and parts replacement. It cost $14 to ship it via USPS Ground to Chatsworth, CA. The Basic Service for the SX Raptor cost $44 and I included a check for that amount. Avet called me when they received the reel, to ask for my credit card to cover additional costs and shipping. 13 days later, Avet called to ask how I wanted the reel shipped back but since they called at 5:30am (8:30am their time), I missed that call and by the time I called back, they had shipped the reel via USPS Priority for $24.25. I received my reel 3 business days later.

The reel felt brand new, and looked almost brand new also except for a slightly gummy handle ball.

Avet included the corroded bearings and washers to show what they replaced. Man, were they in bad shape.

So with shipping both ways, and the $44 Service with no additional charge for parts, it cost $82.25 to get the reel back fully repaired. I think it was worth it considering this was the first service I paid for in 5 years, but I definitely will clean the reel more frequently to prolong the need for such a major repair.

If you’re interested in ordering an Avet Reel please contact me and I can try to put a bulk order together to minimize the shipping cost. Mahalo!

Caught my first shibi ahi ever, and a kawakawa to boot! Totally unexpected.

September 29, 2025 By Scott 10 Comments

It’s been 2 years since I caught a pelagic (migratory fish like tunas, mahi, ono, etc) and I had kinda given up on trying after so many recent attempts where my live opelu were just dog boned (grabbed in the center and eventually let go) by fish not big enough to swallow the 10 inch bait.

I’ve been perfectly happy using my 3-hook damashi (sabiki) rig and dropping jigs when the sabiki rig was broken off by big fish.

But in last week’s short window of light to moderate south wind on the Windward side, I went back to the area I had recently fished, hoping to get more kagami papio and uku. (Here’s the kagami post, and here’s the uku post from the last 2 trips). The tide was flat and the unusual south wind may have put the fish off their feed. Sonar marks weren’t very good and the big damashi strikes were absent. The only good species I caught was a small yellowspot papio that I considered keeping but was really too small to get much meat out of.

I checked some other spots on the slow return to shore and caught an opelu, by accident. I kept it alive in my footwell but it was beginning to weaken so I put it out with a sliding 2 oz tungsten weight to get it down near the bottom. Eventually an aha (needlefish) left pin pricks all over its body and it was near death as I pulled up to a usually productive opelu spot. I was gonna change out that dying opelu with one I had just caught, but figured the opelu would just get finished by another aha.

The opelu weren’t there and neither were the normally present bottom fish but suddenly my reel started screaming like I’ve only heard once before, when an ono hit on the South Shore. Ono had been caught in the last few days within a few miles, but this strong running fish dove deep and out, and took line in surges. Even though I had never caught a shibi (yellowfin tuna under 100lb), I strongly suspected it was one since friends have caught them there in the early hours in the past.

I had my drag set slightly looser than normal because I didn’t want to lose this fish. It pulled me in a semi circle near some structure and stayed down 50ft until I finally broke it’s spirit. After about a 7 min stressful fight, I could see yellow sickles and fins! Spearing it with my kage gaff was a blooper reel as I kept missing the kill shot and ended up inadvertently bleeding it by the throat.

It looked huge to me as I strained to get it on board. I (over) estimated 25lb, and it was a struggle to safely put it in the fish bag behind me, with so much slippery blood all over the place. I have to learn how to do that without sitting side saddle and putting my feet in the water!

The remaining opelu had died because the water in the footwell was thick with the shibi’s blood. Not expecting any more action, I put that out on the weighted rig and 2 minutes later it went off! This fish felt smaller than the first and I fought it with a higher drag setting. It turned out to be a kawakawa that was foul hooked on its belly!

Since it came up upside down, I just grabbed it by the tail and lifted it into my yak. More blood in the deck! The south wind had gone up over 15mph at this point and I didn’t want to risk flipping over as I tried to make room for this fish in the full fish bag, so I paddled in ’til the wind was calmer before bagging it.

I could not believe my good fortune. After trying for years to catch a shibi, which are known to only be fooled in low light and stealthy rigs, I caught one with a perforated opelu on a weight, then followed that up with a kawakawa hooked in the belly. One theory shared by a passing jet skier with live opelu, is that the water clarity was bad in areas these fish were normally caught, and they moved down to where I was, to be able to see the bait. These were the first fish to test the Phenix Black Diamond Rod and Avet MX Raptor combo, and the combo said “is that all ya got?”.

The 18lb 12oz shibi was easier to clean and fillet than the 13lb kawakawa, because the shibi was a little firmer and had more defined sections to quarter. It also had a lot less blood meat to remove. God is good!

Hot action before Hurricane Kiko: Big fish on new jig, and 5lb Windward uku (green jobfish) finally caught, unexpectedly

September 9, 2025 By Scott 2 Comments

I’ve been wanting to confirm that the new, bite-sized Duo Metal Force 120g 3.5inch jig would attract reef monsters but always ended up mining the depths with my damashi rig. And for 5 yrs I’ve been searching for a legitimate keeper uku (green jobfish) on the Windward side, but the slopey, sandy terrain didn’t hold big ones, it seemed. The calm winds before the arrival of Hurricane Kiko let me check an area that held a lot of promise, and it delivered!

The light wind window fell on the weekend, the day before the Full Moon, and I normally don’t fish weekends but made an exception. The beach was crowded but surprisingly the water wasn’t. The boats must’ve sped off to the buoys to take advantage of the great conditions. It took more than an hr to paddle to first spot, after 9:30am, and the big fish were waiting. The first damashi drop (15lb rig) resulted in a busted rig, and the 2nd rig (20lb rig) got pulled into the rocks. 3rd damashi rig (20lb rig) came up with a lone 2lb omilu, and the other 2 hooks and lead were gone. The Land of the Giants was living up to its billing.

That spot cooled so I moved down the line to the next spot on my GPS. A 1lb uku and an 8 inch weke nono came up on the 20lb rig.

When that cooled, I paddled to the next spot and dropped down the green and gold Duo Metal Force jig, hoping the monsters below would want something a little more substantial. On the second drop, the jig was grabbed by a fish that ran in smooth, powerful spurts and was really hard to lift off the bottom. It felt like a small ulua and I was wondering why I couldn’t gain much line with the high speed, old school Trinidad 14 reel. You can watch this video and see why I struggled getting it to the surface. The intro, showing the jig, was filmed at the start of the trip when the water was still choppy.

Right after landing the big omilu, I snagged the Duo jig on the bottom. That almost never happens but I guess I really was over a productive, rocky area. I put on the green and gold 120g tungsten knife jig and it got pulled on the way down but dropped. Nothing hit it after that.

I had released all the fish so far, so I put on a 25lb damashi rig with CHL Sprat lures and Owner Live Bait hooks to put something in the fish bag. It was 11am and the solunar major bite period was supposed to start and run to 1:30pm.

Something hit right away that pulled line in jerky spasms but was manageable on the medium light Shimano Game Type J rod and Shimano Calcutta 300TE bait casting reel. I was stoked to see a good sized uku behind a small moana reach the surface. It’s been a 5yr mission to land an uku that size on the Windward side, and only caught juveniles and strafed baits in the past.

The uku was hooked from the outside, in its gill plate, and that must’ve allowed me to steer it to the surface, unlike the big omilu that was planing against the water. The very cooperative uku even sprinted into the landing net, as you can see in this video. It was 21 inches from head to fork, and weighed 4lb 12 oz after bleeding. I’m calling it 5 pounds! 🙂

After the ground breaking uku, the bite slowed with small nunu (trumpetfish) and moana, and really cooled down after 12 even though there was a lot of the brown plankton debris on the surface. Nothing else was kept.

These are the CHL Sprats and Minnows I used this day. I use the 1.5 inch Minnow for opelu and go up to the 2.25 inch Sprat to target larger fish.

I’ve tried the Duo Metal Force 120g jig 3 times now. The second time something cut it off the line. This time it caught a fish and then I lost it. So there are currently just 2 left in the Store at Intro Pricing. If they sell out, I’ll order more. The Green and Gold 120g tungsten knife jig was so easy to pull through the water. That will be the go-to jig on the next trip.

Thank you Jesus for such a beautiful, safe, productive day on the water!

Summer Report: Shore to Boat

August 26, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

Here’s a quick summary of how the summer fishing has been.

Shoreline:

Oama and halalu came in early and are still around but in fair to average, not great numbers. Papio are being caught off the bait piles, but again, not in great numbers. Whippers have had to work hard to connect with the seasonal predators.

Kayak:

Spring was good for shibi (yellowfin tuna under 100lb) but that bite has slowed. Not much kawakawa or mahi have been caught. Opelu have been hard to catch in the Spring and Summer but are beginning to bite better lately. Shallow bottomfish bite has been slow but should pick up in the later Fall.

Boat:

May through June, the Ahi bite was on fire, starting on Westside and ending on North East side. Lot of big aku (otaru) and school sized aku were caught during this time frame also. The bite on those big fish has slowed in the summer.

Mid August: Oama still biting good – maybe I was wrong?

August 19, 2025 By Scott 8 Comments

Oama came in very early this year, at the beginning of June. That’s at least a month earlier than normal. I thought the oama season would wane by now but it looks like more waves of oama have come in to some, but not all the regular spots.

There aren’t a lot of oama in these spots, but the ones there are catchable with the right tide, bait and technique. Papio are having a hard time passing up a live or fresh dead oama. The tackle shops are kinda low on the oama poles, hooks, bait buckets etc so you may have to shop around to replenish your gear.

Normally most spots begin to dry up by the end of September so you still have a month to get some oama for bait or to eat.

Windward side kayak: Lots of juvie fish released, jig taken, weke ula and kagami mauled by big fish!

August 13, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

Hadn’t fished the Windward side since April, and Tropical Storm Henriette was blocking the trade winds for a couple of days this week. I had to wait out the high swell it generated, so I launched late – 10:30am. It took an hour to reach the opelu spot, paddling through the moderate chop. Couldn’t find any opelu and the began fishing the bottom with damashi/sabiki for anything big enough and good enough to eat.

8 inch opakapaka and 10 inch weke nono (weke ula) were released. Then I fought something that steadily pulled drag and stopped. Turned out a weke nono was picked up sideways, mauled and dropped after about a 10 second run. The tooth pattern isn’t of aha (needlefish), barracuda or shark, which would have torn the soft fish. I thought of putting a live bait down but I wanted to keep looking for better fish with the damashi.

At 2:30pm, after 3 hrs of sifting through miscellaneous small fish, I made the decision to paddle a mile south since the wind was still calm. Bigger fish showed up on the fish finder and kawalea (Heller’s barracuda) were coming up on the damashi. I dropped down the Duo Metal Force 120g jig on 40lb fluoro with a teaser and caught a little hawkfish on the jig. 🙂 A kawalea then bit the teaser, and on the next drop the jig and teaser were bitten off instantly! Guess that’s the downside of using a bite-sized heavy jig. It can fit in big fish’s mouth.

Went back to the 20lb damashi rig with Completely Hooked Lures “Sprats” and hooked two 10 inch uku on successive drops. Every drop of the damashi was getting bit but still nothing large enough to keep.

Then I hooked something on the damashi rig that pulled line. Finally a bigger fish hopefully worth keeping. After a 3 minute battle from 100ft down, a shiny papio glimmered below the surface of the water. Could that be the rare kagami papio (African Pompano)? It was!! No wonder it fought so hard, using its flat side as resistance.

They are very thin bodied fish so I don’t consider keeping them until they’re over 7lb and losing their long streamers, but something attacked the fish on the way up and left deep gashes near the anal fin. I decided to keep this delicious fish and kage’d (spear gaff) it to secure it.

What a wild spot, with predators attacking such a large fish! I tried catching more fish but couldn’t find the hot spot again and it was 4:30pm, well past the time I normally paddle in. Sadly, I had to leave the best action I had all day. Even with the wind at my back, it took an 75 minutes to get in.

On land, I examined the kagami papio more closely and it appears that a fish grabbed it near its anal fin and ripped thru the thin skin. The wound was pretty deep and I felt justified in keeping the 4lb kagami.

I got more than a pound and a half of clean, firm fillets off it that will be incredible raw after dry aging for more than 4 days.

It was great to finally find larger, hungry fish and I’ll need another calm day to reach that wild spot again.

I was kayak fishing while the Tsunami was a few hours from reaching Hawaii! Here’s a quick recap of what happened.

August 8, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

I fished between the New Moon and Full Moon, and the bite was incredibly slow. I went out as deep as 300ft, and covered 5 miles in 6 hrs and barely marked fish on the fish finder. For the 3rd trip in a row, I got a Hail Mary fish as I was heading in, to put in my empty fish bag. A strong pulling yellow spot papio hit the damashi on the same 100ft reef and came up dusky colored like a kahala. When I reached land, a siren sounded and I was informed that a tsunami watch had started. That transitioned to an actual tsunami warning and I left Waianae for town at 4pm and crawled through traffic, with 4 stalled cars, multiple emergency vehicles and 1 accident along with way, reaching home at 6pm. Turns out town started evacuating at 3pm so the town traffic wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

The underwater camera showed that the hagi (trigger fish) and small moana were still around on the bottom, but the desirable predators were absent. Notice how blues and green tints show up well at 170ft but the red of the moano in the center-left looks dark with a white spot. Maybe they felt the initial earthquake reverberations and decided not to come in to feed, instead finding a safe place to ride out the tsunami?

The 2lb yellow spot was still dark colored in death. Maybe it was under duress because of the unusual activity in the ocean? I gave the yellow spot to a friend and he said it was “excellent” as sashimi.

Westside damashi: Bite is improving? Broke off some good fish and got another Hail Mary weke nono to save the day.

August 6, 2025 By Scott 4 Comments

Fished the New Moon day, a week before the Russian Tsunami threatened Hawaii, and reached the 100ft spot at about 9am at the bottom of the tide. The Solunar bite was supposed to pick up at noon so I didn’t expect much but it was wide open for small yellow spot papio. Released one, kept the next one when bigger fish busted off the rest of the damashi rig.

Dropped down the compact 120g Duo Metal Force jig with a Completely Hooked Lures (CHL) Sprat teaser on 40lb test. The marauders didn’t hit the jig but other fish like lai (leatherskin queenfish) and nunu (trumpetfish) hit the teaser.

By the time I went back to the 20lb damashi rig, the yellow spot school was gone. This was the best morning bite I’ve experienced in the last 3 trips so my expectations rose but the bite slowed down. The wind flipped to a 10 – 17mph NW direction as it often does by 11am and I pushed out a little deeper to a normally productive spot. Besides hooking and breaking off something good on the 20lb rig, nothing else but moana and taape came up. I moved up to the 25lb damashi rig with only the lone yellow spot papio in my fish bag. The solunar bite time came and went.

At 2pm, things were looking bleak so I stopped off at the 100ft spot on the way in and kind of drifted with the damashi rig on the bottom. I was shocked when something strong pulled line and I kept whispering “please stay on, please stay on“. The hard fighting fish turned out to be a much appreciated weke nono / weke ula that saved the day. The same exact thing had happened the last time I fished this spot. Thank you Jesus! I tried for more but at this point the King Tide was over 2ft and the fish weren’t liking the surge.

The stomach contents of the weke nono revealed why it hit the 2.25 inch CHL Sprat lure. It had just eaten two baby lizardfish.

I put down a freshly painted damashi lead to see if that would attract more fish but instead the lead ended up with slices in it. (I forgot to take a photo of the slices before I painted over them.) Maybe a fish broke its teeth trying to bite it?

That makes me think that the fish are hitting the jigs but are too small to swallow the assist hooks.

Looks like I have to go deeper to find larger fish.

The yellow spot papio weighed 1lb and the weke nono was 2lb 10oz and 16 inches, which may be my PB. It made very clean sashimi for the family.

With visible plankton in the water and 80 degree temps, I’m hopeful that the fishing will continue to get better through December.

Avet MX Raptor and LX Raptor long term reviews. Needs minimal maintenance but it does rust if you neglect it.

August 4, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

Avet reel frames are precision machined from marine-grade aluminum in 1 continuous piece, and have stainless steel parts, but do need *common sense* reel maintenance. The reels are compact and light weight, yet capable of landing large fish.

I asked 2 customers to share their long-term experience, and end with my story of what happens if you don’t clean them for 2 years straight. While the 3 of us are kayak fishermen, the reels would also do well from shore or on boats.

Lawrence – Oahu kayak fisherman

The Avet LX Raptor is my favorite kayaking conventional reel. In my opinion, the size is just right and not too bulky. My setup line capacity holds 2000′ (667 yd) of 65 pound power pro Depth-Hunter braid and 25′ yards of 50 pound fluorocarbon leader line. The drag is very precise and the lever drag makes it a highlight to swing into fight drag. The 2 speed option is great, I normally fish with the high speed retrieve, however battling a 118 pound Marlin, and stubborn ulua, the low gear made the fight much easier. I’ve self service the LX Raptor with no problems. In summary, I definitely recommend the Avet LX Raptor to any kayak fisherman.

Oahu kayak fisherman who has been using 2 LX Raptors for 3 years:

This is just my personal opinion, but the LX, HX and HXW Raptor 2-speeds, partnered with custom Rainshadow acid wrap rods are hands down, the best reels for offshore kayak fishing because of their size, weight, and line capacity. The Raptors are easy to self-service, and I have replaced bearings after hard use.

Scott – How I abused my MX Raptor and regretted it:

Sadly, I am the example of how not to take care of your Avet reel. I have been using the smallest Raptor, the SX Raptor, and when I clean it after a year’s use, there’s usually very little salt crystals and corrosion. I started using the next size up, the MX Raptor about 2 years ago. I’d take it out on my kayak with my other reels and almost never use it because I didn’t put out a live bait. It got splashed on and I just rinsed it off, but I kept the drag pretty tight, and it turns out, the drag assembly didn’t have a chance to air out.

I recently felt the drag “binding” and when I opened the reel up, there was salt and some corrosion under the drag lever and stack.

The drag washer was actually rusting because the drag plate had been stuck on it for so long. The binding I was feeling when cranking the reel was actually the rust particles on the drag washer!

I cleaned the plate and washer off with Corrosion Block and the binding sensation went away, but am ordering replacements for them. The corrosion came off the other parts after cleaning with Corrosion Block, so my negligence didn’t have lasting effect.

Lesson learned: Back off your drag after washing the reel down, and open it up and clean it if you dunk it badly. At the minimum, service it once a year and it will last forever.

If you’re interested in ordering an Avet reel, please contact me through the Contact Page. Shipping the reels from California are increasingly more expensive so we try to order in bulk. Mahalo.

Holoholo: Kahala (amberjack) jigging from shore! Catch and Cook.

July 23, 2025 By Scott 4 Comments

Matthew Ikeda is back from college to share his unexpected catch of shore caught kahala (amberjack).

Matthew:

A couple weeks ago, I was lucky enough to catch two small Kahala from shore, something that I never thought I would catch. I was teaching one of my friends how to fish for the first time but I brought my jigging setup to try on the side, planning to kind of mindlessly fish the budget Daiso jig while coaching him on how to catch reef fish. The jig came with a light treble hook, which I replaced with a front assist hook so it would snag less.

About 20 minutes in, I got my first hit that felt like a nice Papio, but upon bringing it up it looked like a small Kahala, which I thought was weird, but I was still happy because I had never caught one before. Twenty minutes later, I caught a second one. I knew that Kahala were supposed to have good quality meat minus the many parasitic worms that they usually have, but since these two were young I hoped that they would be healthy and threw them into the cooler.

After I got home, I asked Scott for a confirmation on the ID of the fish, and we both got confused about whether they were in fact baby regular Kahala (greater amberjack) or Kampachi (almaco jack), another more prized fish that looks almost identical. However, after some discussion we concluded that they were just regular Kahala. For an interesting story on how to identify a Kampachi versus a Kahala, as well as the life cycle of the Amberjack tape worm, see one of Scott’s old posts: here

I initially wanted to filet them to check for worms, knowing that fish in the Amberjack family commonly are infested with these parasites. Amberjack actually has very good quality meat, but most people stay away because of the worms. Anyways, my fileting skills suck and I messed up a big portion of one of the Kahala, so I decided to risk it and eat it whole. We ended up steaming the two Kahala in a pressure cooker before preparing a sauce on the side. The ingredients were simple, things you usually see in Chinese style fish (garlic, cilantro, peanut oil, shoyu), heated until smoking hot then poured onto the fish to finish the meal. I was really pleased with the way that the fish turned out, and it tasted even better. It tasted very similar to a Papio, but it was meatier and had less of a fishy taste. It was comparable to Yellow Spot Papio, in the way that it was oilier than other fish in the Jack family. I likely won’t ever catch one of these from shore again, so I’m grateful to have had the chance to try it.

On a side note: The fishing this summer has been pretty disappointing after a really great streak in June. The Oama came in early in June, and both the Oio and Papio action was hot. I initially thought that it was going to be a great summer of fishing, but July has been a pretty terrible month of fishing for me, and I haven’t seen fishing this difficult in a long time. I’m not too sure what is going on but I’ve had more dry streaks than I think I ever have in my whole life, even from when I started fishing. However, there are still plenty of others out there that are catching good fish, so there is still a reason to go out (and regardless it’s good just to be outside). The Oama and Halalu season is now in full swing, so do take advantage of that while you can. Good luck and stay safe.

Early Summer Report and Prediction: Shore, Kayak and Boat

July 7, 2025 By Scott 6 Comments

I’m writing this in early July, with the peak fishing season a month away. Here’s how it’s been going so far, and how I think it will end up, based on weather indications.

The La Nina pattern of cooler water has ended and water temps are returning to “normal”. We didn’t get much rain in the Winter, and the mango crop wasn’t good. That usually means that the bait fishing season won’t be very good either, and without bait, the predator fishing will be a challenge.

Halalu have been in, and the oama began to show in early June, which is a month and a half early. The oama schools have been small, so that seems to be an indication that this oama season will be brief. Hope I’m wrong.

The early, larger papio have been whacking the piles so get out before they’re gone.

The ulua season, normally peaking in the late Spring hasn’t been so good either. Neither has the offshore boating season been. But kayakers who can get live bait early in the morning, continue to defy the odds and get shibi ahi (tuna under 100lbs).

Being out of a La Nina period is good news, so the coming Fall should be an improvement overall. Keep fishing; can’t catch fish from the couch!

Hail Mary catches on a slow day of kayak fishing – Underwater Video

June 30, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

It’s been too windy to fish anywhere else, so a friend and I went back to the Westside on the New Moon, hoping to pull some fish up from the depths. He was paddling without aid of a motor and the unexpected strong winds generated from rain squalls kept him within a safe distance of our launch.

I checked out some recommended grounds 2 miles away but only taape and small moano were interested in the damashi (sabiki) rig. The 120g tungsten knife jig did work as an attractant on my jigging setup, when the teaser lure hooked a small weke ula / weke nono, but nothing hit the jig itself.

The wind and rain increased and my friend decided it was not worth the battering, and went in. I moved closer to the launch but was stubbornly trying to catch something good to take home. In the peak of the downpour, at 150ft, a menpachi came up. They normally only feed at night, but this is the 2nd time I’ve caught one in heavy rain in this area. It was big enough to keep and gave me hope for more.

There was a small area that was marking fish but I couldn’t stay over it in the wind so I eventually gave up and moved within half a mile of shore. I baited one of my hooks and a pink tail triggerfish (hagi) immediately jumped on. After catching and releasing 5 more stinky hagi I decided to drop down the underwater CanFish CamX camera with 2 soft plastic lures, and added some fish skin on the bottom hook.

I was shocked when something actually pulled drag, after not hooking anything that large all day. I was hoping it was an uku (green jobfish) since I was fishing over a reef, but instead of good sized weke ula / weke nono came up. Finally something my family could enjoy!

I dropped the camera rig down again, hoping lightning would strike twice. Nothing else bit and I decided I should be happy with God have given me, so I went in. When I looked at the underwater footage at home, I was stunned to see 2 weke nono and an omilu check out the rig, with one of the weke nono gulping down the lure. On the next camera drop, a blue/gray nabeta swam by. I would so surprised to see such desirable fish a half mile from shore.

Here’s the underwater video, with my in-the-kayak view also.

The weke nono weighed almost 2.5lb and the fillets were so clean. We ate it raw as sashimi and poke, and it was still non-fishy and firm 5 days later. The menpachi, first I’ve ever cleaned, was good shoyu/sugar Japanese style.

Shore, kayak and boat jiggers been doing well on the jigs. Get yours before we run out.

June 16, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

It’s no secret anymore that the micro-sized flat, beveled 40g and 60g tungsten jigs have been extremely productive. These were recently caught on them.

Long Beach, CA sand bass from private boat

We still have a few left of that style but won’t be getting more for a while.

Instead, we are in the process of ordering these stubby-style tungsten jigs that we had brought in a few years ago. The 80g and 100g sizes sold out so quickly and this time we’re bringing in the 120g size.

120g would be perfect for the boat guys fishing the buoys for aku and shibi, and the kayak guys who want to fish 100ft to 300ft with a small profile jig. Even the cliff fishing guys could use these to get out far and deep.

The Duo Metal Force Semi Long jig (non-tungsten) worked again for Lawrence who got his first kagami ever on a 155g Semi Long last year. This time he used a 125g Semi Long, for his 2nd kagami, which came in just shy of 10lb. He jigs a lot and catches shibi, ulua, kahala and uku, but the only kagamis he ever caught were on the Duo jigs. Coincidence or is there something special about the jig that kagami like?

He followed the kagami up with a 48lb ulua bruiser.

And finished off his jigging with a nice omilu.

So far, he’s the only one who has fished the Duo Semi Long but some 250g jigs are on their way to California to be tempting Bluefin soon.

The Jig Testers will also be dropping down the 120g and 180g tungsten knife jigs.

I haven’t been able to help test the new jigs because I’ve been doing emergency body work on my rusted out 26 yr old Subaru Outback to extend its life for a few more years, so I’m super grateful that the much more talented Jig Testers have been able to provide proof of the jigs’ effectiveness.

You can check out all these jigs in the Jigging section of the Store here.

Holoholo: Bucket list fish – marlin on 40lb leader, on the kayak!

June 2, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

Lawrence, who previously wrote about his first kagami ulua he caught on a Duo jig, shares the long battle he had with a 100 plus marlin he hooked on a spinning setup. @DSfishingHI is his YouTube channel.

Lawrence:

I met Elliott at the harbor at around 3:30am and out of the blue he said “let’s go buoy?” Looked at my poles and said to him “I only have 40# and 50# test but I can take a chance”.

Akule was slow but managed to pickup about 10 pieces. Rigged up 3 top (surface) lines with akule (1 long, 1 medium, and 1 downrigger.)

Off we go into the deep, sun at this point has risen but still behind the mountains. At 5:35am, only quarter way to the buoy, my medium-distant pole gets active as my bait gets nervous.

Looking back, I see a splash, then a silhouette of a Marlin. I radio to Elliott “We got action, It’s a Marlin!”

This Marlin starts doing some aerial acrobatic maneuvers at this point, while skipping on the water straight towards me, and I felt like I was in danger with its long sharp bill heading my direction. Although thankfully, it veered off looking like a giant rock that I would skip on the oceans surface as a kid. It also made a sudden direction change which gave me some exciting adrenaline. First visual contact, I estimated this fish to be approximately 100 pounds on my 40 pound fluorocarbon shock leader with 43 pound test wire leader paired with a Penn Spinfisher 8500 LL. It then dives into the depths where we battle it out. 40 pound test against a 100+ pound fish, I only could baby it, let it tire out, and set my mind for the long haul ahead of me.

The first hour was filled with consistently playing a game of tug or war. I then managed to get it within 20 feet of the kayak 4 times. Thinking it was tiring out and this game could come to an end. However it suddenly starts taking line and doing more somersaults. This is the type of action I crave for as a fisherman.

Furthermore, this fight continues now at hours 2 to 3 as this marlin would pull line down to 150′, plateau then I could turn its head and gain roughly 100 feet back. We would do this about 35 times. Marlin is putting up a good fight and I’m showing persistence.

Just after the 3 hour mark I noticed a trend where the Marlin would dive deep. It’s here I was able to get it closer to the kayak. A few more dives and reel ups I got it up next to the kayak, grabbed my kage and speared it, thinking I had the Marlin secured. Oh no not yet, it decides to do some last kicks and slips off my kage. A minute or 2 of it barely swinging and bleeding out profusely I managed to get a holding kage stab.

In my 1.5 years of kayak fishing I carried a short baseball bad and finally for the first time I used it to hit against the Marlin’s head and put it out of it’s misery.

Also for the first time I used my custom gaff matching with my kage, made from Reef Candy Lures. I gaffed the bottom jaw and secured it to the front rail of my kayak with 550 paracord and also tied the tail to back rail.

At this moment I realized I landed a 112 pound striped Marlin on 40 pound test, enduring a 3.5hr fight. I can glady say I caught a Marlin, a fish of a lifetime from a kayak. Check that off the bucket list.

3 uniquely awesome JDM 120g jigs I need to test asap

May 15, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

I’ve been sitting on 3 jigs (not literally) in the 120 class that I’m sure are gonna slay but I’ve been having so much fun fishing the damashi/sabiki in 130ft or less for smaller fish. I plan to sell the jigs in the Store but wanted solid proof of their fish catching abilities first. The 3 are actually advertised as shore jigs, and at 120g (4oz) they could be cast from shore or dropped down from a boat or kayak.

With the windy season here, I’ll be going back to Waianae, and plan to drop these down in the deep waters close to shore.

Here’s what makes these jigs really appealing to our nearshore fishery. (from top to bottom)

Duo International Drag Metal Force 120g

This jig is so thick at only 3.5 inches long that it will get down very quickly, yet flutter erratically on a jerky retrieve due to its asymmetric design. Fish love eating bite sized jigs so I’m dying to try this. I’m hoping the local Duo distributor who gave me this to demo will be able to order more.

Duo International Metal Drag Force Semi Long 125g

The Semi Long is the stretched out version of the Metal Drag. The left side has a flat, Squid Glow pattern and the right side bulges out. That heavier side faces down as it slides, and the glow pattern appears to flash on and off as the jig leans left and right. We have these Semi Longs in jigs from 125g to 250g and they will make their way into the Store soon. For now, there is a 125g Squid Glow pattern fully dressed in the Store with premium BKK assists and rings for an incredible introductory price. Click here to see it.

A friend has fished the Duo Semi Long 155g size and got a kagami ulua and kawakawa with it, then used the 200g size and a fish swam away with it! Here’s his brief write up on the kagami catch.

Tungsten Knife Blade jig 120g (made for Hawaii Nearshore Fishing)

We got these in a few months ago but I’ve just been able to drop it down once. It fell really fast in 80ft of water, had little resistance on the retrieve, and got hit but didn’t stick. I need to fish it deeper over a good mark to give it a fair shot.

It’s actually marketed as a long casting shore jig that kicks and flutters on the rapid retrieve, but I am pretty sure it’s gonna perform well off a boat/kayak also. It’ll fall quickly like a heavier vertical jig, but will slide and flutter on the “pitch” due to its long, thin and flat shape. Would also be killer when retrieved near the surface for mahi and other pelagics.

This green&gold 120g jig along with the blue&pink&silver 180g jig will be in the Store soon once we have proven how effective they are. If you are an early adopter, there’s a green&gold 120g jig in the Store now dressed in the premium BKK assist hook and rings.

Hopefully I’ll be able to post photos with these jigs having off fish soon.

Note: The dressed jigs are selling out (I only had 1 of each available). I’ll keep replenishing them in the Store for a while.

Shore and Nearshore fishing is slow in the Spring. This may be why.

May 8, 2025 By Scott 7 Comments

Juvenile moano and moana kali caught in the Spring

Traditionally, shore fishing is best in the Summer and Fall when the bait fish are close to shore and attracting predators. Those predators feed away from the shallows during the other times of the year, so they aren’t seen as often.

But fishing in the deep reef is also slow from Spring to early Summer. Here’s what I have been noticing in past years.

There are less concentrations of fish on the fish finder and underwater camera, and the fish seen and caught are smaller.

Fish spawn in the Winter and Spring and there’s lot of smaller sized fish on the reef. They are quicker than the larger individuals of their species and may be getting to the food first. There’s less plankton available due to the shorter periods of sunlight so the larger fish move deeper so they have a better chance at larger food.

Lower water temp and amount of sunlight may be the triggers that tell the fish to spawn. So it seems like Spring is the period that Nature uses to allow juvenile fish to mature safely, with less chance of being eaten.

What does this mean for our fishing prospects? Either wait ’til Summer or fish where the larger fish are still found.