Scott, Author at Hawaii Nearshore Fishing

The purity of fishing

February 24, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

Good times

Took some new friends, Kelly and Colleen, to the dependable South Shore spot expecting to have a repeat of the hot omilu papio action we experienced a few days ago. The tide didn’t rise as quickly as I had hoped and the omilus were no where to be found. As their host I was disappointed but it turns out they really enjoyed the calm water and abundance of life in the tide pools.

They were able to see all kinds of reef fish I had previously ignored, and were able to pull in aholehole, hinalea and monster kupipi. In the end they taught me that the purity of fishing with others is the fellowship and tug of something alive at the end of the line.

What can you do when the fish don’t want to bite?

February 23, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

Some days the fish bite on every cast. Other days you seem to be casting into a vast wasteland. What can you do when the fish aren’t cooperating?

Change your bait/lure
Drop down to lighter line
Move around to more fishy locations; conditions may have moved the fish out of the spot you normally catch them
If possible, put on a mask and snorkel and see what’s going on underwater
Salvage the day by catching the less glamorous fish like triggerfish, palani, po’opaa (rockfish), hinalea, mamo, kupipi, etc

Catching ‘opae for bait

February 23, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

Small and large ‘opae

The small, translucent Hawaiian shrimp called ‘opae is one of the best baits for near shore fish. Years ago the larger shrimp referred to as ‘opae lolo could be readily caught but now it’s hard just to find an inch long regular ‘opae. ‘Opae are found where fresh water meets salt water, often in some slow moving brackish water. Two well known, kinda yucky spots are the Ala Moana Beach Park lagoon and the Ala Wai canal. Click here to read about catching the coveted `opae lolo.

There are other more closely guarded spots on Oahu that have some ‘opae. Look for them against rock walls with brackish water algae growing. They seem to spread out during the day and cluster on rock walls and piers at night. Shine a light and look for a pair of eerie red eyes shining back.

Scoop up a bunch of them and keep them alive in a bucket with some aeration. When you’re ready to use them, carefully thread one on a hook and fish with a floater. Be ready to set the hook when your floater goes under, just about every carnivorous creature on the reef will want a taste of that offering.

There are even some salt water pet stores that sell `opae as live food for marine fish. Those `opae are fairly small but may be great for the smaller reef fish you want to hook. I recently saw a store selling them at 6 for $1.

South Shore Omilus

February 19, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

Fished the secret South Shore spot with my friend Frank and as expected, the spot produced and Frank hammered the omilus. They were a better grade today with a few stretching past the 10″ minimum size. Although they were the perfect pan fry size, all were released.

The fish bit on the first 1/3 of the tidal rise from 0.0 feet and shut off as the tide was halfway to its peak.

Fishing Weather Resources

February 16, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

(This was written in 2014. I need to update this!)

Isn’t it a bummer to clear the day to finally get out and fish only to get skunked, blown out by wind and surf, or stormed on?

These are the online resources I use to look ahead to determine weather and tide conditions.

Tides4Fishing.com – I recently discovered this very comprehensive website with indicators covering tidal movement, barometric pressure, wind speed, temperature, humidity and more. You can look ahead and see what days have the best tidal movements to fish, and see a very detailed breakdown of exactly when the best tidal movement occurs each day. I haven’t come across another site or app that captures all this info in one place. It’s like the Hawaiian Lunar Calendar on steroids.

iWindsurf.com – The normal 15 – 20 mph trade winds make it a little hard to fish the south and east shores of Oahu so I check the forecast days ahead of time to plan my next outing. iWindsurf constantly updates their forecast to be extremely accurate, down to one hour changes. Amaze your friends by predicting a significant drop in wind speed. Phone app also exists.

Surfline.com – Large surf can ruin your day whether you’re on the water or on the beach. A premium subscription allows you to see forecasts 5 days in advance. Phone app also exists.

Wunderground.com – The simple interface allows me to see hourly and daily forecasts. I love the radar map showing me the rain that’s gonna hit in the next hour or so.

What’s stronger, baby Omilu or Kansas pond Crappie?

February 12, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

baby omilus feeding
(Neighbor Island location, photo by JC)

Took a friend from Kansas to a spot on the south shore that gets pounded by divers and fishermen every single day, yet continues to produce. Sure enough there was a guy feverishly whipping the shallows. As we fished about 50 yds from him, a diver made his way through our area. The rising afternoon tide combined with the diver’s activity seemed to stir the juvenile omilu (bluefin trevally) bite. We ended up with 2 or 3 each and I had one rip drag and unbutton before we could see it. My Kansas friend was impressed with how those 4 – 6 inch omilus pulled compared to pond crappie of similar size.

The omilus were far from the minimum 10″ head to fork-of-tail length and were released unharmed. Bait was a homemade secret.