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Holoholo: Whipping weighted flies for oio

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There was so much interest in the art of bouncing small lures for oio that Matthew decided to share how he transitioned from papio whipping to retrieving lures excruciatingly slow.

Matthew:

It was probably somewhere around December when I was a little annoyed about how dead and slow the Papio action was. I was doing everything right but getting no results at all. It isn’t like me to give up Papio fishing, but desperate times require desperate measures. I weighed my options at trying different styles of fishing, those that an average fisherman like me could do, some of which included shore jigging, plugging, ultralight fishing, and oio fishing. I tried shore jigging with a friend of mine who had the idea of shore jigging down pretty well, and that didn’t go so well. After a few trips I decided I didn’t like that kind of fishing, and I quickly decided that plugging was going to be even slower than regular papio fishing. My ultralight rod was broken, so I decided not to try fishing with a half-broken ultralight rod. I decided to try my luck at Oio fishing. I’m kind of a fisherman who doesn’t use bait, not because I don’t like the smell or the hassle of getting it, but because I just like the challenge of catching a fish on a lure, where it’s more of a challenge. I’d seen pictures of many Oio that a few guys were catching on lures, and I thought, “well, it can’t really be that hard, can it?”. I headed out to a spot that I knew pretty well with a bunch of misplaced confidence. Turns out, it was really that hard and the guys were just making it look easy. Catching Oio on lures was not easy.  I must have gone almost ten times before I decided that it wasn’t for me and I shelved the idea for later. I returned to fishing for Papio. 

It also turns out that going back to fishing for Papio was just like banging my head against the wall over and over again, and in the three months that passed trying for papio, I only landed a measly 12 incher. I decided to stop banging my head against the wall and considered trying for Oio with lures again. With a few tips from Jeremy (see his recommendations) whom I’d been messaging on Instagram for a while, I headed back out to the spot again, with newborn confidence, which once again… was misplaced. I went on a few more trips being completely whitewashed. I decided not to give up this time and instead take a more strategic approach this time. I looked on google maps and tried to find the areas that looked best within the spot, areas that just looked “fishy”. I marked them on the map and looked for landmarks that could help me find the spot once I was out there. The next trip, I tried the spots, running through a few, until I tried a sandy channel that I had marked on the map. I casted and thought I was hung up on more seaweed for a second, as it was coming in with little resistance. Then, I felt the kick of a tail and my reel started screaming. I’d finally hooked the fish that I had been chasing for months. It put up a spirited fight and I landed a… small three pounder. Damn! These things fight harder than they actually weigh. I tried marking more spots on the map and went more times, failing for a few trips before finally hooking a nice seven pound Oio on the lure. It put up a really good fight and eventually surrendered. I was stoked, and it was my new personal best at the time. 

I was wondering if I could get any more distance on my casts, as I felt that I wasn’t getting enough distance with my papio whipping rod (you have to use light lures for Oio to not spook them). I bought a lighter whipping rod from a friend and went out to another spot I hadn’t tried in two years. I waded out to a sandy channel that looked good on google maps and bam! First cast I had a nice Oio on. It put up a real good fight on the lighter whipping rod and my lure was casting further, so I was like, “yeah, this was the right decision”. I kept marking places on the map that looked fishy and put a mark wherever I caught a fish.

Eventually, after a few more trips, I landed two more nice Oio before hooking into a really nice Oio on the light rod, which put up an awesome fight. It was probably one of the longest fights I’ve ever had, lasting around fifteen minutes. After taking a monster first run and bringing me down to my mono filler line, I was able to gain some line back before it just took all of it out again. I had to chase the fish halfway across the flat before I finally got it in my sights. It didn’t seem to like seeing me and took off on another run. I got it close again and we proceeded to draw circles around each other for what seemed like forever. I finally got impatient and made an attempt at it when it was on the surface, but I ended up flopping and embarrassing myself. I had to wait even longer before it finally surrendered on the surface and I netted it, with the tail sticking out of the net. I was stoked to land the nice Oio, which was 24 inches and around eight pounds. At this point I had started to make my own lures to catch the Oios, so it was even more gratifying. I kept marking more spots and trying new things, which leads up to now. Between that I landed a smaller Oio on my lure and missed a couple more. 

It was a rough journey to learn how to catch Oio on lures, and I really have to thank Jeremy who provided crucial information in the beginning. Without his help, I might still be struggling right now. I’m glad I have something to do when the Papio bite is dead now, but I am still learning every trip and I am nowhere near the level as some of the real hammahs that nail a few Oio per trip without problem. I’m considering trying fly fishing next, but that’s a whole new challenge and I think I’ll hold off on that for now. Anyways, good luck to you all, and tight lines??..

Lucky damashi -> one opelu -> first kayak Kawakawa

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Frank, Guy and I were blessed with near epic weather on the Windward side. The trip didn’t start off too smoothly though. Frank and Guy ran into heavy traffic on the H2-H1 merge, and then Guy’s fish finder went on the blink. Guy also had to do an on-the-water reattachment of his Hobie inflatable ama, but got things situated.

I had heard reports of ono being caught close to shore on Oahu and really wanted another one. The only ono I ever caught was on a live opelu Robert had gifted me because I was so bad at catching my own. Here’s how that trip played out. Since Robert wasn’t with us on this trip, I figured the next best thing would be to use the damashi he made for me that I was saving for a special occasion. I “baited” the damashi with CHL Minnows in the May Day color.

My GoPro was angled too high and cut off the bottom of what I tried to capture

First drop of the damashi over scattered marks brought up an opelu! I couldn’t believe my luck, called the guys over but we couldn’t catch any more. Meanwhile Guy hooked a 3lb oio on his damashi and carefully brought it to the surface, but he had forgotten his net. The oio broke off as he tried sliding into his Compass.

Wanting to take the opelu out to the ono grounds, I zipped out with the help of the Bixpy motor. Guy joined me, landing more lizard fish and little puffers than he cared to count. Nothing bothered the opelu and it was still kicking after 2 hours.

I told Guy I wanted to head over to the deep reef where maybe an ulua might give me a yank, and was heading that way when he radio’d to say fish were busting on the surface and birds were dive bombing. I circled back to the area, didn’t get any hits and turned back to the reef when I got the strike. It started with a few yanks as the fish tried to swallow the 9 inch opelu, and then the fish took off. The runs were very strong and the weight of the fish didn’t feel heavy like sharks do, so I began to think it was a big uku. I dropped the Avet SX Raptor into low gear and pumped and cranked the fish in, hoping to see a 20lb uku. Instead I saw what looked like a small yellowfin tuna! The fish snagged the keel guard under my kayak twice and I thought I lost the fish. When it got closer to the surface I could see that it was my first kayak kawakawa. Man are those fish strong. It was making clockwise pinwheels and my first attempt at kage-ing it missed because the fish dove as it neared the yak. Two more pinwheels and I was lucky enough to get it right past the gill plate.

Sharky had splashed my GoPro lens

Guy and I tried bottom fishing with frozen opelu and he got two hard strikes that literally rocked his kayak, but both shook the single hook he had in the opelu head. He rigged a trailer after that but the mystery fish didn’t return. My opelu got taken by a sandbar shark which I winched up in low gear. I thought of unhooking the shark with pliers but decided to keep my digits and cut the leader instead.

Here’s a short video of the landing of the kawakawa.

Frank had been on a papio hunt and caught two omilu within the first hour, trolling last year’s oama. Switching to damashi, he brought up a nabeta and a yellow spot papio. With his fish bag full of great eating fish, he radio’d us to say he was safely heading in.

The kawakawa ended up weighing 9lbs. It was good training for the 25lb shibi (small yellowfin tuna) that’s hopefully in the near future.

Capt Erik and Kelly gave me tips on how to clean the kawakawa. Because I didn’t have to scale and gut it, it was actually easier than cleaning a smaller reef fish. I was shocked to find the kawakawa’s stomach stuffed with 2 fresh ika and two small opelu. And yet it tried to eat the 9 inch opelu.

I was a little leery about eating the kawakawa since I don’t like fishy tasting fish. Turns out the Hawaiian bonito could be bloody but not fishy like limu-eating reef fish, and since I bled it on the yak it wasn’t really that bloody at all. It had a firm, meaty texture and a good taste. I did get one piece that left a slight bloody after taste though, maybe I didn’t cut out the blood meat on that one.

Guy took this photo before he and his wife ate the entire plate. It definitely tasted different from ono and uku but good in its own right. Bleeding, icing, cleaning right away and wrapping in paper towel definitely keeps the flesh fresh.

Guy paid some dues on just his 3rd offshore trip and will be a better kayak fisher because of it.

Thanks to Robert for the lucky damashi, Guy for putting me on the kawakawa, Frank for spreading Aloha, and the crew for teaching me how to clean and eat fish. God has really blessed me with great fishing friends.

Coach Haru: Rigging jigs Japanese-style

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A greatly under looked component to jigging is the way the assist hooks are assembled and attached.

Coach Haru:

This is my hook system for the compact tungsten jig.  Blade on jig is super popular in Japan now. It works to imitate tail of fish to swim more realistically. Flashes and spins to appeal. In murky water, fish might not see jig but see blade, blade itself is smaller than jig so if fish attracted to smaller bait it works good. It is popular now because these days there are less jerking jigs. In the beginning of jigging, we used heavy rod and reel, heavy line and jig (like diamond jig) and needed big muscle. Development of jigging focused on light gear. Rod, reel, line, jig, even hooks are going to super light because industries are more marketing jigging fishing for women and children. As well style of fishing. Regular jigging needs a lot of techniques. One pitch jerk, short jerk,  half jerk, long jerk, slow jerk, fast jerk and in Japan each spot has own jerk, Jakajaka maki, Tsushima jerk, Tanabe jerk, Haru’s jerk, etc. But for beginners like women and children, required high skill need to catch fish will keep them away, so industries have developed swimming jigs. Swimming jigs just needs reeling. Jig wiggles and flashes to attract fish. So jig makers took idea from bass fishing to use a blade. It works very well. When nobody have bite the only bladed jig gets bite very often.    

Hirauchi hook is flattened hooks to shine to imitate shirasu ( baby sardine). It creates scene of small jig is biting shirasu, predators see the small fish is vulnerable.  Hirauchi hook Idea is come from making Udon, soba  noodle also famous Japanese swords.  This Hirauchi hook has been developed to use in sabiki and fishing for isagi (chicken grunt). Flattened hook catches water to dance, shines to attract fish. I use for Halalu and other similar size of fish. My friend who owns charter business in Oahu uses Hirauchi hooks for catching opelu. He does not use any flies or plastic worms just those hooks. And he catches a lot. I think he uses gold color. Most people in Japan use regular assist hook. Because Hirauchi is not strong as regular hooks. So its not good for aiming a large fish like pelagic fish. Also edges on hooks make bigger holes that hooks come off easer. Hirauchi is good for not so big fish. The first priority of assist hook is light and strong then appearance is the second. Like ulua, kahala, Ojisan (goat fish) and bottom fish like opaka, onaga suck bait create turbulence that hooks must be light to go into inside mouth. Light hooks the key of it. In Japan,  Hamachi is the most common jigging target. Most assist hook are designed for Hamachi jigging. Here in Hawaii, targeting for ulua better to use light hooks, for pelagic like Ono or Ahi, strength is the priority. 


Fly assist hook. The green tungsten jig in first picture has a fly hook. I use a squid skirt for assist hook, sometimes use it for trail hook like inchiku. The idea is to make fish think artificial jig is eating or chasing plankton or small squid. Often target fish eat very small bait like small baby squid, shrimp, and others. When fish bite, I can feel, fish aimed fly assist hooks or jigs. Most of time, fish nibble during jig falls, fish is aiming fly. Or sometimes doesn’t feel any bites but fish on, that’s another fly hook bite.  When catch Ulua or Kahala, check where the hook on mouth. Assist hook was hooked on lips not inside mouth shows fish didn’t attacked jig. If those fish attacked jig, they suck the jig into mouth it must be deep as length of assist hook or whole jig into mouth. While jigging, and fish attacked violently, the fish attacked jig.

Damashi action for kau kau fish!

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Winds were projected to be about 8 mph on the Windward side, and a few mph higher on the South side, so Guy and I hit a Windward spot that held a lot of smaller fish in the past. Winds remained light through the morning so we went all the way out to 200ft looking for nabeta and opakapaka. Guy found a lone, big nabeta, and I ran into some very small opakapaka, and then a 9 incher; still too small to target. With that deep water check out of the way we headed into the shallow reef drop off .

On the high side of the drop off our damashi got hit by 9 to 10 inch moana, and as we drifted shallower, smaller moana and taape bit. Guy was using a damashi rig he tied himself. Lai skin, thread and beads on a #6 Maruto hook the guys at Waipahu Bicycle (Buster’s) recommended. It worked so well he didn’t need to add anything to it, and just jigged it enthusiastically off the bottom. Guy drifted further in and added two species of hagi and a nunu (trumpetfish) to his catch.

I was using an Ahi USA damashi with CHL Minnows pinned on, and caught a beautiful moana kali but it was too small to keep.

When my rig got stuck on the reef I changed to a damashi Guy had given me and added the CHL Minnows. I caught my last two moana on that and we headed in because the wind swell was getting a little dicey.

Guy’s mixed bag of fish

Guy solved the problem of the pesky moana bones by frying the fish crispy. His wife ate the deep fried nabeta before a photo could be taken.

The hagi and 1 moana were given to a friend who loves hagi. We’re gonna have to feature some hagi recipes soon!

I gave my moana to a church friend who hadn’t eaten that fish before. She cooked it “Japanese style” in a pan of water with shoyu and sugar, and found the fish tasty but tricky to eat because of the small bones. Her husband is waiting for a boneless filet of some non-fishy fish. 🙂

We were in the saddle for 6 hrs but it was a safe, fun day and Guy’s Bixpy motor on his Hobie Compass’ DIY aluminum rudder took the strain off his legs and ensured he could push in as the winds turned off shore. The bite was slow because the water was still a chilly 74 degrees but at least some fish did bite. We’re hoping the early Summer bite turns on soon.

Coach Haru: Right handed people should use a right handed bait caster

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Coach Haru explains why right handed people should use right handled bait casting reels, and why he takes both a spinning reel and bait casting reel on his kayak. Very good tips, pay attention! 🙂

Coach Haru: I don’t like too many stuff on yak.  I usually carry 2 rods. I don’t fish with dead or live bait.  So I don’t need a rod for catching bait. Reason I don’t fish with bait, when fish bite bait, many time they swallow deep so that fish’s survival chance is less than lure fishing. I only take fish for my friends and myself. Others gotta go back to sea. I don’t even like treble hook much. I clip barb to make barbless or use single hooks on plugs too.  

On the photo below, bait cast reel is left handle model but every other bait cast reels that I have are right handle model. Basically bait cast is made to crank with right handle for right hand stance. Editor’s Note” Coach Haru is a striking coach. 🙂

Many people who cast with right hand stance use left handle model because no need to change grip when reeling. Bait cast reel is made to cast with handle side is top because weight of reel is designed to cast easy and far. If handle side is down and cast with right hand stance, it’s not good as the other way. Manufacturers designed it that way. Left handed people should have left handle, right handed for right handle. People say not convenient for switch hands every time cast, but cast grip and reel grip are different.  

Casting grip.  The hook on the rod is between first and middle fingers. Thumb is on the spool to control backlash. 

Reeling grip. The hook on the rod is between ring and pinky, thumb on the reel not on the spool. Some right handed people use left handle model because don’t like to switch hands but cast less and grip gotta change anyway. When fight big fish,  fight fish with spinning rod is pull up and reel. Bait cast is reel vs fish straight reel without pull with rod. Especially bait cast rod is soft to make precise jig action.

Slow jigging is good with bait cast. But off shore jigging are vertical fishing so no need to cast no need to switch. I use right handle because I have used right handle bait cast so many years that easier for me. Also I switch to spinner with left handle when one arm gets tired. 

Usually I take 2 rods. Right handle bait cast with metal jig.  Left handle spinning reel with right bait casting rod with plug. I set spinning in right pole holder, bait cast on left holder. Go to the destination, I troll with the plug, when I get the point or found fish in fish finder, stop and drop jig with bait cast. While jigging if I see boil on surface, switch to spinning cast the plug to the boil. When I go to next spot, troll plug again.   I put left handle spinning rod in right side of holder. And right handle bait cast in left side, because location of handle. Pick the rod with right hand, reel with left hand. Cast with spinning rod, the other rod is in left side that can cast without the other rod in the way. Left handed people should do opposite. 

Holoholo: Papio not biting? Go chase oio!

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Jeremy and Matthew have been whipping with small lures for oio this Winter and Spring while waiting for the papio action to heat back up, and all-season fly fisher Jason shares some helpful tips that cross over to spin fishing for oio.

Jeremy:

When the papio bite is slow, I switch it up and target o’io.  Fishing for o’io with lures is challenging, but it’s all worth it when you finally hook up.  Nothing beats that first screaming run.  I primarily like to use light spinning gear, but if the winds cooperate, I do also attempt to use the fly rod, which is a completely different challenge, LOL.  For the spinning setup, I like to use 9’-10’ rods rated up to 1oz.  For the reel, I’m currently using a Shimano Stradic 5K filled with around 300 yards of 15# braid and attached to that is 15# fluoro leader. 

Big o’ios can rip out a ton of line, so using a reel that has a high capacity will greatly reduce your chances of getting spooled.  There’s nothing worse than getting spooled and having all that line stuck all over the reef (Do NOT let yourself get spooled if you can help it).  And as always, I highly suggest catch and release.  O’io are great sportfish that put up excellent fights that all fishermen dream about.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could experience that every single time instead of only once in a while?  Just something to think about…

Matthew:

Lately the Papio action has been pretty dead, except for a few exceptions. Even the Lai and Kaku haven’t been playing recently, and it is probably the worst Papio fishing I’ve seen in a while. The only time I was able to catch was on the north shore at the break of dawn, which was a nice trip, with a 16” papio and a 12” papio.

But since the south shore has been completely dead for Papio, I’ve taken the opportunity to learn how to catch Oio whipping with lures, or more specifically, grubs. I’ve learned a significant amount in the past two months or so, but I’m still nowhere near the level of some real hammahs out there, who catch a few Oio per trip without problem. Whipping for Oio is a lot harder than fishing for them with bait, you have to trick the Oio into biting a fake imitation of a shrimp or crab.

Oio, in my opinion, are the spookiest fish in Hawaii. Do something wrong and you can see them take off towards the deep as fast as a bullet. Cast too close to one, it spooks off. Stumble on the reef and cause a small commotion, any Oio within 40 feet is gone. I think that the spookiness of the Oio in shallow water was the most frustrating thing that I had to deal with at first. I’m used to using noisy and big lures to catch Papio. The Papio is a very angry and aggressive fish, and the more noise and commotion you make, the better chance you have of hooking one. The Papio will rush towards any splashes on the surface. The Oio is the complete opposite. Make any sudden movements or cast wrong and you miss your shot. Papio will also take multiple shots at a lure sometimes. With Oio, you only have one shot. The most frustrating thing is when you see a tailing Oio and start making your way toward it, but then it spooks away even though you did absolutely nothing wrong. I still don’t have the patience to actively target tailing Oio, so I’ve resorted to blind casting in slightly deeper water (2.5 – 4 feet deep). I understand though, that it gets even harder, in fly fishing for Oio. Fly fishing for Oio is a serious art and I have great respect for fly fishermen who target Oio. It’s something that I might consider trying to learn, but much later. 

I was able to land four Oio in the past month, by sheer dumb luck. The biggest one being 23.5” and pushing seven pounds, and three smaller ones all being around four pounds. Whipping for Oio is especially addictive because you can actually feel their first run, whereas when you’re dunking, the heavy rod and sand/rock spike takes most of the first run away from the fish. 

Anyways, it’s slow right now, so don’t worry if you’re not catching. You’re not the only one. Try something different, go for light game, smaller papio. Try topwater lures for Kaku. Try using bait in deeper water. If what you’re doing right now is not working, consider trying something different until summer. Good luck out there??.

Jason:

O’io (bonefish) are one of the fly fishing world’s most revered sportfish, renowned both for their fighting prowess and skittish disposition.  But one of their more overlooked qualities, in my humble opinion, is that they are available year-round.  Unlike those targeting papio, I usually continue to see action, even through the cold, wet winter months.  That doesn’t mean things don’t get more difficult.  When the water gets colder, the fish often aren’t as plentiful in the shallows, and cloudy conditions can make sight fishing tough to near-impossible.  For those new to chasing bones on the fly here are few simple tips to increase your odds during the winter months.

1) Be willing to blind cast.  
I know for many, “bombing” (as it’s referred to by Hawaii fly fishermen) can be a tough sell.  I know of a few sight casting purists who will refuse to blind cast, out of principle.  There are others who simply think it isn’t worth the effort.  “Why waste time and energy casting if you don’t see any fish around?”    If you’re like me and enjoy the casting almost as much as the catching, this is a no-brainer!  When the clouds show up, and high tide blows out the flat, you can just stand there staring at glare on the surface, or pack it in… or you can throw out a few blind casts, and you just might get lucky!  If nothing else, you’ll get in some good casting practice, and for me, it’s simply relaxing!  

2)  When in doubt, wade out.  
When you aren’t seeing many fish in shallow, there is a decent chance they’re all hanging out near the outer edges of the reef, where the water is deeper, there is more wave action, and they feel safer.  I find this to especially be the case in spots where there is a lot of nearshore activity from swimmers, divers or other fishermen.  Bonefish hate people!   You do need pretty good eyes to spot them out here, but in my experience at least, you’re far more likely to get an eat way out here.   And if you can’t see them, see tip  #1! 

3) Successful blind casting isn’t entirely blind.
While I never pass up the opportunity to take a shot at a fish that I see, as mentioned above, I tend to prefer bombing with a switch rod because I find it more relaxing.   Some folks I know don’t understand how it’s possible to consistently catch fish this way, but I believe the key (in addition to possessing stupid levels of persistance) is “targeted” blind casting.   I’ve found over the years that I catch more fish when I am targeting areas I have previously seen fish in, either on a lower tide, or when the light conditions were better.   As you spend more time sight fishing, and seeing fish, you will start to recognize the type of terrain that just looks fishy.  I will often target areas with a bit of wave action, where the bottom is a mix of rock and seaweed (not just in the sand pockets), or areas along the edges of channels or near on-ramps to the flat.  I will also never bomb in waters shallow enough to sight fish in, as this is a recipe to spook everything within casting radius!  As you wade out, you should also hit some of deeper sand pockets along the way as these can hold fish even on a lower tide.

4) Move!
Whether sight-casting or blind casting, there are countless times where I’ve hooked a fish just minutes after moving to a new spot.  Whether this is simply dumb luck or not, is tough to tell, but I tend to believe that if you aren’t seeing fish, or aren’t getting bites, it can often pay to move.  The more water you cover, the greater your odds of finding fish.
Well, that’s all folks!  Bonefishing during the winter is really not much more complicated than that, at least for how I like to catch them!  Good luck, and remember, he who has the most fun wins!

Coach Haru: Testing the little tungsten jig

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Coach Haru was able to give the compact 60gm tungsten jigs a solid test off his kayak just outside of Hilo Bay.

Coach Haru: This jig can swim, fall fast, cast far, and has less water resistance. When windy day from shore, or even against wind, small heavy bullet-like-jig flies very far. I use 10”6 jigging rod with PE 30LB, 5000 high gear spinning reel and can cast almost 100 yard.

“Match the bait” is key word for searching the best bait for the fishing. Often see a boil on the surface, cast a lure but fish don’t take. It might be the issue of size of bait they are feeding.  Need to find out what fish are eating by knowing each season what kind bait come to near shore. I gut the first fish I catch to see what is in fish’s stomach. Often the lure used is the same size of bait found in the fish. So if fish is not interested in the lure you’re using, change size to small like this tungsten jig.

I like 60g and 80g because they are not heavy and designed to cut the air to fly fast and far. Off kayak and boat, if used vertically, the jig drops very fast. Less water resistance that’s good for strong current or double current. When you see fish in the fish finder, jig can reach the fish zone fast. 60g can reach 300ft, 80g can go deeper depending on current.   For shore casting, on the first cast reel straight in as soon as hit the surface with rod tip up like 11o’clock position. It makes the jig to skip on surface like surface plug. I caught many Kawakawa (sumagatsuo) that way. A couple times try on surface , then next is straight reel in midrange, and next is start from bottom. If there no bite then change to jerking or mix with fast, slow, stop and go, short jerk, long jerk, slow jerk.    For shore cast with this tungsten 60g, I use 10”6 spinning rod and  reel 5000SW, colored PE 30LB( 8X), 40lb fluorocarbon leader 4ft-8ft depend on place. For kayak,  6”6 medium type bait cast rod and high gear bait cast reel, colored PE 40lb, 30LB fluorocarbon 15ft.  

I tuned up the demo jig Scott gave me. Changed eyes to red. Red eyes imitate wounded bait, 2 front hooks are Hirauchi (flattened metal) to shine those hooks. Blue assist line matches to the color of fish make it invisible in water. The rear blade is very popular in Japan now. Many makers make it now. What it does is imitate tail section. If the jig doesn’t wiggle well when straight reel in, this blade makes it to act like it’s swimming. Also blade is shinning more than jig so in murky water the blade shows up better. I thinks that fish takes the blade because it is small bait separate from jig. Rear hook is hirauchi hook too. I use Daiwa snap. It’s easy to change jigs, this small and thin snap has 75lb strength. But I don’t use deeper range and bigger jig over 100g I use solid ring and split ring.

This dobe papio must have thought the jig and blade was a tasty bait fish!

The other style tungsten jig I added a treble hook and blade to the rear and a single assist hook to the front. This white papio liked that look!

Added some of my favorite lures to the Store

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The lure inventory has been depleted and I’m looking for new manufacturers to partner with. In the meantime, here are a few of the lures that have worked well for us. You’ll find a sample of each in the Store.

Jigs

Capt Erik introduced me to these inexpensive but effective semi-slow pitch jigs back in 2016. In that report, I referred to the jig as the “pinkish, silvery 30 g (1.05 oz) Japanese micro jig”. You can read how effective there were for Capt Erik that day.

These JDM Xesta Afterburners are casting jigs, meant to be retrieved diagonally. They’ve caught numerous inshore fish, kawakawa and even the ono Frank caught trolling one. Here’s that incredible story.

These shore jigging lures were purchased at the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach back in 2019 before Major Craft Jigparas became so accessible in Hawaii. Very effective, beautifully crafted, reasonably priced jigs.

Shimano’s Flat Fall jig introduced the US to slow pitch jigging. We’ve caught everything from jacks to pelagics on these. Great zig zag fluttering action and superb hardware.

Shimano’s Coltsniper was introduced a bit later as a casting and vertical jig, shaped to imitate small slender bait fish. Affordable and very versatile.

Sinking Lipped Plugs

The Zetz F-Lead was my secret weapon for whipping off the kayak for submerged white papio in the Bay. 90mm and almost an ounce in weight, it was easy to cast from a seated position and would sink down to the depths of the schooling fish. Check out how good it worked in this report. I refer to this killer as the “heavy lipped swimmer”.

The Ima Gyodo Heavy Surfer is a similarly compact, heavy plug with a shorter lip that swims more like a fish shaped, lipped jig. Very popular in Japan for shore whipping over non-snaggy terrain.

Both of these would be great casting from shore into deeper water.

Cold water has really slowed the inshore and nearshore fishing

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Seems like the cold water slow down is a little late this year. In 2019 and 2020, February was really cold and slow and by late March the kayak and boat fishing had picked up a bit. This year, the recent weeks of heavy rain and strong winds have been giving the fish lock jaw. Even the Penguin Banks shallow bottom fish bite has been slow. Hopefully we’re near the end of the heavy rain and wind storms and the water begins to warm. The inshore fishing has been slow since the Fall and with no bait schools around, continues to be a tough nut to crack.

To gather more data, I went out to our regular big fish / big shark spot on the South Shore and nothing big was around except a lonely gray whale that kept giving me the tail. Live moana just had their guts eaten, probably by hage, and all the frozen opelu were pulled off by predators not big enough to take the hooks. I switched to fishing the shallower fish marks with cut bait and caught brown hage and some smallish weke nono, but even that bite was very slow.

The bait the hage were throwing up did keep some 14 inch lai around me, but even they were too smart to get hooked. Water temp was 74 degrees at the start and 76 mid day. Summer temps are 10 degrees hotter than that.

At least all this rain will be good for the plants and estuaries.

Kayak fishing after heavy rain and brown water – underwater surveillance

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Finally, a small break in the rain and wind. Normally, fishing after a cold front is not too productive, but it’s been a month and a half since the last kayak outing and I was going nuts. The guys weren’t able to join me so this would be a solo expedition to learn more about the area we’ve fished the last 2 times. I brought Guy’s secret damashi bait he uses and brought my underwater GoPro rig to really see what the Garmin Echomap 44CV Plus was marking.

At about 18ft deep there were a lot of marks that looked like a scattered school of bait fish.

I lowered the GoPro and expected it to record fish spread out all over the place but instead there were these air bubbles! Is that what the fish finder has been marking? Look how murky it was.

At 100ft, I marked reef fish on the bottom and dropped the GoPro down. Very few fish showed on the video and it was still very murky that far from shore.

I’m beginning to think a lot of the marks I’m seeing on the fish finder are fish being marked more than once as they remain under the fish finder’s “cone”.

Time to fish! The baited damashi was lowered and a keeper moana came up on the first drop. It was a little too big to use for bait so I brained it with my “iki spike” and put it in the fish bag. Turns out that was the only fish I brought home. 🙁

I eventually caught a smaller moana that I put down live and nothing took it. I set that moana free with two superficial wounds and put down a frozen opelu. After a long time the bait stealers picked it apart.

On this slow day, the biggest fish landed was a table boss (a’awa) that was foul hooked in the cheek on the damashi and felt like something much better. It was shaken off and set free.

I slow trolled a frozen opelu on the way in that got picked up. Something ran for a few seconds, then dropped the opelu. A second later it got heavy and I started cranking in what felt like a 5lb weight. Then the weight released and a small tako came up! I’m thinking a fish pulled off the body of the opelu (notice that the head is left on the top hook) and the tako lunged for the head but got hooked by the rear hook. It tried to latch onto a rock and eventually dropped that rock. I was trying to figure out how I’d unhook it without it climbing all over me, but the little guy did a Spider Man swing to the side of the kayak, shook off the hook and disappeared.

Very slow day of fishing. Nothing touched the compact tungsten jig either. I think the predator fish didn’t want to deal with the murky conditions and were hunting in cleaner water.

Side Note: The little compact ExpertPower Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery I mentioned a few posts ago hardly lost any juice after the 6+ hours of fishing. It started at 13.5 V and ended with 13.0 V. Light, lasts long and was really inexpensive. Almost too good to be true. If you missed that post you can read it here.

Compact Tungsten jigs have slayed nearshore and offshore!

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Top to Bottom: 60gm, 60gm, 80gm, 100gm

Last summer I requested some Tungsten jigs from two jig manufacturers , and was sent a batch of 60gm test models from the first company. A few months later the second company sent a couple 80gm and 100gm models. Both sets were painted but lacking the tough clear coat to make them puncture proof, and some were eye-less. I had a feeling they’d work, purely due to their small size, and resemblance to tiny bait fish.

The 60gm jigs came through just about every time I tried them off the kayak, catching fish as small as moana, and as large as ulua and kahala. They were so easy to fish because they got down to the bottom quickly, even in current, and didn’t have much resistance as I jigged them back up. As a control, I switched back to a lead jig of the same weight in the middle of a hot bite, and didn’t get a single hit.

These are some jacks that went wild for the compact jigs.

Wanted to see what these jigs could do in the hands of a jigging pro, so I passed a couple of the little 60gm jigs to Capt Erik. One day at the buoys the pelagics were showing on the sonar but not taking trolled lures. Capt Erik and his dad started with larger lead jigs that had caught fish in the past, but those jigs were ignored. So they dropped the little 60gm jig down and KABLAM! Shibi and aku fought over them and the guys had to stop fishing and drive away because they caught enough for their ohana. The tuna had tiny bait fish in their stomachs and the jigs had perfectly matched the hatch.

Thanks for making this video Capt Erik!

Tried the 80gm and 100gm jigs a couple times off the kayak and like them because they are heavier and get down faster when I’m fishing deep but I haven’t landed anything on them yet. I broke off two ulua and unbuttoned what felt like a small uku. These bigger jigs don’t look as eye catching as the 60gm jigs from the first company, but they still hooked fish. All this has convinced me that compact jigs dropped on hungry fish will get bit!

I ordered a small batch of 80gm and 100gm jigs from the first company with a few 60gm jigs thrown into the order. The production finish, with glow in the dark stripes exceeded my expectations. Almost too beautiful to fish, and coated with a tough sealant. I’m selling these at “friends and family” pricing to guys that catch fish and take great pictures. 🙂

Stay tuned to hear how effective those jigs are, from cliff, kayak and boat. Mahalo.

Update: Check out how well the tungsten jigs worked for Coach Haru here!

Holoholo: Winter 2021 Shore Fishing Report

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Here’s Matthew’s much awaited shore fishing Winter round up. He’s surveyed other fishers to provide a wider coverage.

Matthew: January and the beginning of February were very consistent. It was consistently terrible. The bite was pretty much dead and the many cold days plus the cold front didn’t help the bite at all. All around the island the bite, even for bait users was slow. Like usual, the people fishing deep water got a pass this time, and were actually getting some decent fish. However, for shallow water lure users, it seemed like our attempts were being made in vain. So far in 2021 I landed only a 12” papio and a small lai for all of this year. Not exactly the start I envisioned, but hey, it’s something and I’m glad to be able to catch something. Some of the people I fish with have been getting lucky, with some occasional Papio and some smaller fish caught jigging, but nothing big. There does appear to be some good sized Papio inshore right now, and it seems like there may be very few smaller Papio inshore. The big boys may be in, and a few have come up and some more have been sighted. 

The inshore bait report is equally as bleak, with the only two Halalu/akule spots on the island being “almost year-round” spots and being very crowded. There’s no sign of Oama or that they’ll come inshore anytime soon. There is a small sardine pile at a spot that I fish but nothing too significant. Nehu don’t appear to be lining the shorelines along the flats and I haven’t spotted any bait on the flats, period. Many times the people I fish with and I have gone trips without getting bites these past few months. 

There is hope though, and this past weekend shone some light on the darkness. There was a very good-sized Omilu that came up and there was decent action at a dropoff that me and some friends fished. Strangely there were a lot of bigger Kaku present as well. Around the island there were some nice catches this weekend, but as much as I would like to see it as some new hope, I’m not going to assume anything. 

The bite appears to be very dead right now, and it’s a great time to try to change things up and throw the fish a curveball. Go fish a dropoff, or try for Oio. Try freshwater fishing, ultralight fishing, scale down your lure size, or do whatever you feel will attract more bites. Do anything but give up. Remember, even when the bite is bad, you have a greater chance of catching a fish when you’re fishing than sulking about the crappy bite at home. 

If you’re one of those people who use bait, it may be a good idea to try to catch small reef fish and tow them slowly behind a bubble float. Perhaps a small Hinalea dragged around at a dropoff would produce some good fish. If you know a halalu spot, maybe go try catch some and fry them up. If you can throw them out alive (don’t tangle others up of course), then do it. Another good idea may be to use light tackle and drag shrimp or grubs at a sandy area, targeting weke, oio, smaller papio, and anything that bites.

I and many others agree that this is the worst winter that they have seen in a long time, if not ever, and there may be some contributing factors to it. 

Some Theories:

  1. Increased number of “catch-to-eat” anglers during COVID
  2. Unfavorable weather patterns last year
  3. Cold water temperatures
  4. “Spot Burning”, often caused when someone with a large following posts a video or picture obviously depicting a known spot
  5. Lack of education about rules and regulations amongst new anglers, leading to many undersized fish being kept, bag limits being exceeded, and aquatic life being taken out of season

Whatever the reason may be for such a bad winter, it is bad and that is a known fact. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though, and we should be seeing a rise in action pretty soon. And like stated earlier, you have a better chance of catching fish at the ocean than at home. Good luck to all, and see you on the next report??.

Found an affordable compact Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) kayak battery!

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First of all, while Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) sounds like Lithium Ion, the two battery types are very different. Without going into all the chemistry I don’t understand, here are the important differences. Lithium Ion batteries are slightly lighter and have a higher “energy density” but less stable under pressure and heat and can catch fire. These are the type of batteries you can’t take in your suitcase on a plane. Lithium Ion batteries are good for high consumption electronics that need as light a battery as possible.

Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are a newer technology and are good for slow drawing applications like fish finders. They are safer to store and last longer than Lithium Ion batteries, which last a pretty long time already.

I happened to stumble upon this ExpertPower 12V 5 Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate battery on Amazon while looking for an affordable Lithium Ion battery. It had good reviews and is comparable in run time to the 12V 7Ah Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) battery I’ve been using.

It weighs 1.625 lb compared to the 4.25lb SLA battery and takes up much less room. It also starts off with a much higher charge of 13.8V compared to the 12.5V the 2 yr old SLA starts off with.

Amazon currently sells the ExpertPower battery for $39.99 but doesn’t ship it to HI. I bought a cosmetic blem from Amazon for $28, which wasn’t much more than the original SLA was, and that cosmetic blem was shipped directly from ExpertPower to me.

Kind of sounds too good to be true so let me run the battery on a few outings and let you know how it performs.

Rain offshore made for dangerous kayak conditions

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On the day before a cold front/rain event was due, the forecast for the South shore was 9 mph south wind with gusts up to 15 mph, and rain falling in the mid afternoon. Thinking we would be back on shore by 2pm, Frank, Guy and I headed out for a return trip to the spot that yielded uku on live moana.

We could feel the onshore south wind as we left the protection of the land mass. It was a little bumpy with a lot of current 2 miles out, but still fishable. The drift was much faster than the last time we were here, so it was hard to stay over the reef fish spots, and I could only manage a small nabeta early on. Frank was feeling the rock and roll of his kayak so he went on water safety patrol for us.

Guy, fishing his first time in choppy conditions, was on fire, landing two good sized nabeta and some brown hagi that a friend from Japan wanted to eat.

Even though the rain clouds were a couple miles further offshore from us, the conditions deteriorated sooner than expected and we decided to head into the shallows to wait for the rain to pass. Frank’s Hobie Revolution 13 with a 28.5″ width and raised seat was really rolling in the “following sea” (disorganized waves pushing us from behind as we headed in). My Ocean Kayak Trident Ultra 4.3, with a 29″ width and lower seat felt more secure but there were times I had to put my feet in the water to stabilize. Guy’s Hobie Compass with 34″ width and raised seat was the most stable but still felt dicey if a wave caught him from the side.

Guy, in the safety of calmer water

When we got to the safety of shallower water, the rough conditions had passed but we decided to call it a day anyway. It was a valuable experience to be aware when the weather conditions were turning dangerous, and to learn how to brace and correct in following seas. I’ve since read that some Hobie paddlers recommend putting the fins up against the side of the hull, and paddling in very rough following seas because the fins could be hit from the side if deployed, and turn the boat broadside into a wave. Sitting as low as possible and paddling lowers the center of gravity.

It was good to see some hagi removed from the reef. Although it requires more tedious prep, some people like the taste of the triggerfish. Guy was using a secret bait which he offered to us on the water but we declined. We’ll definitely be taking it next time since he said he also had a big strike break off his line, and brought up the head of a moana. In comparison, it was super slow fishing with just soft plastics on the damashi. I’m thinking the incoming storm was giving the fish sinus headaches like it does to me.

These nabeta were deep fried and greatly appreciated by Guy’s family.

Holoholo: Our First Big Yellowfin Tunas

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Capt Erik and his dad Edwin continue to up their game. Just a few years ago they were new boat owners, now they’re on their new-to-them Boston Montauk chasing pelagics and dropping down on Deep 7.

Capt Erik: As usual, me and dad talked about what kind of fishing we wanted to do, the week leading up to the day I was free to fish on Sunday January 10th. Since we recently purchased two electric reels for bottom-fishing, I wanted to try and increase the odds of catching a nice bottom-fish by heading out to Penguin Banks and trying our luck there.  Continuing to watch the winds online while the week progressed, and realizing that my free time on my fishing day was getting shorter as we were packing the boat up the night before, I switched the plan and decided to stay at our local pier and just try trolling on our side.  Dad was pretty relieved to hear this because he just went bottom fishing on Thursday and Friday. 

We left the house at 5 AM, stopped at 7-Eleven to grab gas, food & ice and was in the water before six. There were a lot of boats at the pier staging to get ready and launch, but luckily with our small boat and simple set up we were able to avoid the mad rush and get out quick.

I had a plan in mind of the route I wanted to take and started my line from the head buoy. The sun started breaking the surface while we were about 4 miles offshore, the wind was low, the water surface had light texture and there were some long swells that were easy to handle.  The birds were just starting to wake up and move around and so we continued on our way dropping our Lures out right after the green flash. We had a Tsutomu 9″ bullet on the long center line (that I received while attending an Ahi course by Tsutomu), a 6″ Mark White smoker lure on the side and a 6″ chrome head lure rigged with flashabou by Derin Goya at First String Fishing (@firststringfishing) on the other.   

We didn’t see any birds that were working on our way to one of the fish aggregation devices, but did see someone jigging at the FAD. We decided to pull the lines up and try jigging since we saw that boat pull in a small shibi (5-10lbs?).  Dad dropped his jig on his electric reel down deep and I stayed up high since we couldn’t see any fish on the fish finder and wanted to work all columns.  After three drops and coming up with nothing and watching the other boat make three drops and coming up with zero as well, I looked around and saw there were birds now working the surface of the water approximately 500 yards from us.

We brought the lines up quickly and sped to the bird pile.  As soon as we got to the birds, I dropped my jig down and held my rod as I drove.  Dad put out a 5″ pink squid lure on his electric reel.  I slow down to about 5 to 7 knots and was able to hook an aku, about 7lbs.  We brought the aku in and bled it while trying to stay with the birds.  We continued to work the birds but about six more boats joined in and it became hectic to maneuver.  We couldn’t get another bite for ~10 minutes and watched as the other boats were successful in picking up smaller tunas about 10 pounds. We decided to leave that area and continue on the path I had routed and planned in my head.  


The path I made up was based on our previous trips in December where we saw lots of birds. Shortly after leaving the birds where the other boats were, I saw bigger sized skipjack tunas jumping in front of us and birds that were sitting down on the water and would fly over when they seen the fish jumping. I was able to observe some flying fish scatter at the top of the water very close and made a small turn towards it.  Right after I turned the Mark White lure line started peeling out.  The fish gave a little fight and then started surfboarding on the surface. The fish hooked itself in a way where it pulled the gills, bled out, then came up dead.  It was a good sized Aku about 15 pounds.  While bleeding the fish we made a big rookie mistake 🙁 We left the lines in the water and our leader line with the chrome head got caught around the prop and stopped it. It took us about 15 minutes to cut the leader line free from the propeller and then I circled back to where we caught the fish. I didn’t see any other fish jumping and while circling around again to make another pass in the area I could see a huge pile of birds very far off in the distance. When I troll with dad I’m usually always driving while dad sets lines watches the Lures and controls the lines according to which Direction we need to move in.  We work well together this way because my eyes are better at seeing the birds and dad doesn’t get seasick while not looking into the horizon (looking down at lures, tying down poles etc).

The bird pile I’m seeing way off in the distance is free of any boats and the birds are very actively working the surface, diving as well as flying high to move and dive. I instruct dad to pull up the centerline and watch the lines as I speed to get to the pile. Before we get to the pile, dad puts out the third line. I look at the GPS and realize that the spot we are in is the exact spot that I wanted to go to. It was a destination we had marked the month before when we took a double strike but couldn’t land either fish. About 3 to 4 minutes into working the pile I see the first fish jump out of the water!! It was a yellow fin tuna that I guessed about 60 pounds. I told dad “we are not leaving this pile. I don’t care if we don’t catch anything today I want to work this pile because I can see what kind of fish there are. “

We continue following the birds and I continue to see the fish jumping out of the water and now my heart is racing. We circle once within 1/4 mile of where we started and then get back down to the bottom where we started our circle when we finally hear it. . . Our 14/O Penn senator real starts peeling line end drag is screaming.  It took the Tsutomu 9″. Trying to remain calm we pull up the other lines and prepare ourselves. I had a good idea of what was on the line because I’ve seen the fish jumping around but decide to keep the boat moving instead of stopping and fighting it up and down like you normally would a tuna.  Once the deck was clear, dad takes the wheel and I take the rod and reel at the back.  I work line slowly back into the reel but we have a lot of line out at this point (100 yards?). I realize that if at some point we do get the fish boat side that someone will have to leader the fish up.  I asked dad to hand me my gloves get the gaff’s ready and the bat for dispatching.  Dad takes the rod and reel for a second while I put the gloves on in anticipation of leadering and tells me “we forgot the bat.”  I jump back on the reel and now the fish is close. I get the first glance and my adrenaline goes even higher. Neither of us have ever seen a fish like this before while on a boat.  I told my dad when i saw it “Big Fu$*!n Yellow!”


I grab the leader line and start working the fish toward us as it circles its way boatside trying to make sure I guiding it to Dad standing to my left. Once it’s in reach of dad ‘s gaff he sinks it in. The fish still had a little life left and frenetically kicked at the surface, dousing us with water and splashing dad’s hat to the side, blocking his sight. Dad holds the gaff with one hand, quickly tossed his hat off with the other and I reach over and grab a meat hook. As quick as I can I put it in the fish’s mouth and yank. We hoist the fish up over the rail and hear a thud of the fish hit the floor of the boat.  A huge relief overcomes the both of us as we realize one of our long-time fishing goals was just achieved. 

As we sit there physically tired and emotionally relieved, I tell my dad what my wife, Jessica told me the night before. I always ask my wife what kind of fish she wants to eat to try and see if I we can fill her request (in hopes that if we do then happy wife happy life:).  She has called two out of the last two fish that we caught when she has asked (she asked for shibi the first time and mahi the second time and got both).  The night before she asked for an Ahi for spicy poke.  I responded and said I think I can get you poke, probably got small shibi.  She said back to me “no I want ahi.”  I explain to her that that may be a tall order based on the season but we’d try.  I guess I’m not the only one who gives her what she wants. haha.  Mahalo ke Akua!  Thanks be to God!

I spike the fish’s brain, gilled and gutted the fish to honor it, and keep the meat as best as we can and we realize there was no way it was fitting in our cooler.  We grab the fish bag and transfer the ice from the cooler into the fish bag and maneuver the fish into it. After cleaning up the deck a little bit we decided to try for another one since the fish were still around jumping and we were still the only ones at the pile. At this point the weather had turned from a calm light wind day to now the front of the rain, so the air was chilly and the rain was toward land and blocking all view of land and blocking view of the pile from other boaters? The first long line went out with the Tsutomu again and shortly after the Mark White lure went out, we heard that beautiful sound once again but this time on the 12/O.  We knew to fight it up and down now.

It was dad ‘s turn to fight the fish and I was glad that I could film him. I took charge of the GoPro cameras while dad took charge of the rod and reel. I was amazed to watch him fight this fish because typically he’s so anxious when there’s a good fish that dad ends up horsing the fishing and sometimes pops the fish off. He took his time and methodically got the fish up crank by crank. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we already had one in the cooler? I saw it was getting close to leader as my GoPro was underwater filming the fish come up.  I put the GoPro down and grab the leader line. This fish was swimming in a clockwise direction while circling up, opposite of the first.  Upon its fourth circle I could see it was going toward the propeller and feel it was stronger than the first fish. Our motor was still on and propeller was still in the water and the fish must’ve gotten spooked by the movement or sound because it took off on its second run. I let go of the leader line and let it do its thing.  Dad kind of laughed at the situation and took his spot at the reel again after putting the gaff down. Once again, he got it up to the surface and by this time once I grab the leader I could kind of tell that it was tired.  In fact, it looked as if it was defeated because on its last circle because it went straight for dad’s gaff and he was able to sink it in perfectly. It gave no fight and I reached for the second gaff and we lifted it slowly in. This time the feeling was more of a validation . . . A feeling of “ok, maybe we might know a little about what we’re doing.”  Opportunity met preparation this day.  

We knew it was our time and very lucky and blessed to have the two fish already in the boat so after quickly joking about going for more we took our time to properly gill and gut the second fish, ice it down, clean the deck and head in. 



When we got to the pier, we realize there’s no way we’re taking the fish bag out without pulling the fish out individually to properly wash boat and also knew that we really needed more ice for the fish. Instead of washing down at the pier (which was already full of boats anyway) we got ice and headed straight home. 

We don’t have a big fish scale so we weighed the two fish by standing on a normal scale, then with the fish and subtracting.  The weight of both gilled and gutted fishes came out to 72 and 74lbs. We took some pictures with the family and my friend Kelly came to help cut one of the fish in the early evening. 

We shared the fish with friends and family and kept replaying the events in our head.  You never forget your first and now we truly know what the feeling of “Ahi Fever” is like.  

Completely Hooked Lures “Minnow” catches everything

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This product endorsement is long overdue. We’ve been using the 1.5 inch CHL Minnow on our damashi rig and whipping for halalu for more than 3 years now and it has never let us down.

We got hooked on the little Minnow when the Purple Obake color slayed the halalu. Here’s one of the halalu reports.

The various shades of green work really well in the deep, catching not only the target fish but often hooking big fish that bust our rigs, although I’m sure all 80 colors perform at their optimal times. I personally think it’s the fish shape and the kick of the little split tail that makes the predators bite.

The nabeta actually prefer the Minnow to cut bait!

A lot of the kayakers use the CHL 1.5″ Minnow on gold hooks to catch their prized opelu baits.

The best part about the CHL Minnow is that they’re made to catch multiple fish and are less expensive than the other soft plastic brands. Look for them at your favorite fishing supply store but if you don’t find the color you want, you can purchase them online at chlures.com.

Uku ate live moana so the fresh opelu was taken home to fry!

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Wind was light and the South Shore was the safest bet as a mega North swell was pushing through. To give our main spot a rest, Frank and I checked out an area we hadn’t fished in more than two years.

For 4 hours we dropped damashi rigs, jigged lures and trolled fresh, store -bought opelu. The only action was a small fish that hit the 100gm tungsten jig but unbuttoned on the way up. Out of desperation we baited the damashi hooks with a bit of opelu skin and then it was instant hagi with some moana mixed in.

Frank dropped down a “moose” moana that got pulled off his hooks and so I reluctantly baited up with a smaller moana. I’ve been told that moana is “uku candy” but I’ve never caught any uku on the red and black, chubby goatfish and was just using the moana as a “bonus line”. We were drifting out to deeper water and I was trying to catch better fish on the baited damashi. 5 minutes later, my moana bait got tugged, pulled in short spurts and dropped. A few seconds later it got picked up again and something surged for the bottom, then fought in a jerky, spastic way. The fish pulled hard but was stopped with a pretty tight drag so I began to get hopeful despite the fact that we had never caught any uku in this area before.

A good sized uku surfaced, a bit smaller than the PB uku last time. I netted and spiked it in the brain, so I’d avoid batting my new Garmin 44CV Plus fish finder.

While its heart was still beating, I pulled the gills and hung it over the side to bleed. Frank quickly caught another moana, put it down and began to pedal to where I got my strike but his moana was hit instantly. After a spirited, jerky fight, he landed his first uku ever! When he pulled the gills of his fish, the guts came out so he didn’t have to gut it on land.

The bite was on, and I put a small deep water lizardfish down that got pulled off while I had to take a phone call. Doh… Then we tried frantically to catch more fish to bait up but the offshore winds suddenly picked up and we had to scramble in.

Since Frank kept his opelu on ice instead of using it as bait, he enjoyed a fried opelu lunch following his delicious steamed uku dinner.

My uku ended up measuring 24″ (FL) and weighing 7lb. Interesting that my biggest two uku were caught this winter when uku is supposed most prevalent in the summer.

It had the milky white, creamy stuff that the previous big uku had. Coach Haru said that its semen, and is a delicacy in Japan. Maybe next time an adventurous eater might want to try frying that. I cut up the fish and shared with friends.

I’m stoked to know that uku do eat live reef fish, and will ration the expensive opelu. Frozen opelu gets quickly chipped away by hagi whereas a live fish normally can avoid the piranhas of the reef.

Holoholo: Winter shore fishing report

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If you weren’t sure how the shore fishing has been this winter, Matthew breaks it down for you.

Matthew:

Winter is usually the worst time of the year for shorefishing; this year was no exception. Throughout the months of November, December, and now early January, the only thing that was consistent was the scarcity of Papio. I must have gone something like 0 for 20 in terms of Papio in fishing trips. I did manage to catch two nice sized Awa’awa as a nice bycatch, but the Papio were no where to be found. While the Papio have not been in, the Awa’awa have been making an appearance and my friends as well as I have been hooking a few recently. 

Many different spots at different times were tried, but all proved to be equally as bad. Some of my friends and I would sometimes even go many trips without a single bite. In December I went seven trips in a row (3-4hr whipping sessions) without a single tug or boil. Many of the Papio I have seen caught on social media have been caught with some sort of bait, most caught dunking. However, for most of the time I use strictly lures so that is not an option for me. If you have the chance to, I would probably say go for dunking with Tako, Ika, or leftover baitfish.

I tried a few different types of fishing to try to catch any fish at all, and it worked to a certain degree. I tried shore jigging in deep water, bass fishing in streams, Oio fishing, and ultralight whipping. The bass fishing worked the best and I ended up with a nice 14” smallmouth that turned out to be my new PB. For mainland fishermen, a 14 inch bass is considered big here since our streams are shallow and narrow. While fishing with topwater lures for bass may not be the most effective way to catch them, it surely is the most exciting. Seeing a bass inhale your topwater lure while jumping in the air is pretty exciting to most sport fishermen. 

Shore jigging has been popular in the winter because of the low numbers of fish in the shallows. Even though the shallows have been dead, Uku, Goatfish (Moana, Moana Kali, Weke nono, etc…), Kawakawa, and Shibi have been showing up at some shore jigging spots recently. Jigging is a very effective way to fish during the winter but it is also very taxing. A shore jigger should expect to lose many jigs in a month, sometimes even losing up to eight per trip. When you consider the average price of a jig, which is around nine or ten dollars, the losses start adding up very quickly. A lot of the times, when you break your line after getting stuck, you lose some of your braid mainline as well. This means you have to respool your reel more frequently, and braid is not cheap. While it is taxing financially, the reward can be very high, especially when you catch prized fish such as Uku or Moana Kali (although I haven’t yet).

The temperature has also been noticeably colder in the past month, both in the air and in the water. Sometimes when I’m out there early for dawn patrol, I start to question if it’s really a good idea, especially if it’s raining and a little gusty. The water temperature has also been more cold, which may possibly be the reason the Papio are nowhere to be found. 

In summary, the low numbers of success in catching Papio may suggest that it is a good time to fish for other species and other types of water. Perhaps you should take up Jigging, Bass fishing, Ultralight fishing, or Oio fishing, unless you’re as stubborn as I am, and want to continue pressing to catch a Papio. Good luck to you all, and stay safe???

The big fish are back and I caught a very expensive PB uku!

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The opelu, uku and sharks were missing on the South Shore during the Fall, and an early Winter check was due. The wind was down and swell was just slightly lumpy going out. A lot of reef fish showed on my 3 yr old Garmin Echomap 44CV fish finder but nothing bit the damashi. The magic tungsten jig wasn’t touched either.

I headed to my go-to bottom fishing spot and was shocked to see a small boat sitting there! How’d they know about my secret spot? 😉

As the boat drifted inshore I took my place behind it, dropped down and had 4 inches of my 9 inch frozen opelu’s tail bitten off. That was an improvement on the previous trips. I reset my drift, with the help of the Bixpy motor, and dropped another opelu down. Tap, tap, line pulled off the reel, then nothing. I reeled up a bit and felt the resistance of the opelu still on, so I put the Avet SX Raptor back in light drag with clicker on and hoped the fish would come back. 5 seconds later, tap, tap, zzzzzzzzzzz… Fish on! It ran so strongly I thought it was a small shark and was stoked when it stopped and didn’t feel heavy like sharks do. Then I felt the tell tale strum of an uku’s teeth on the leader, but this one felt bigger than any other I had fought. I’ve lost previous good sized uku to sharks so I was trying to land it as quick as possible but also being careful not to pull the hook.

When it surfaced, it was my personal best and I could see that the rear hook was 4 inches deep in its mouth. It did a clockwise spiral and the homemade kage, my partner Frank had made, found its mark.

With the fish still on the kage, I tried clubbing it with a small Promar bat to ensure it wouldn’t squirm when I stuffed it in a fish bag behind my seat. Problem was I had to swing backhand with my right hand and I clipped my fish finder! The screen shattered revealing a hole. In hindsight I should have secured the landed fish with my small gaff, and then move it to an area I could safely subdue it. Arrgggh!

The sad thing is that my extended warranty with West Marine ended last month. Had this happened before my warranty lapsed, I could get credit for a newer version. The fish finder worked for a while and I could see bait balls and a school of big preds under me. Then salt water seeped in the hole in the screen and shorted out the circuitry. With a rolling south swell building it was time to head in.

I put another opelu on, started trolling at about 2.5mph. A shark hit that and pulled me back out a ways before the main line parted.

The uku taped out at 26″, nose to fork, and weighed 9lb 4oz. My previous best was 6lb so this fish was quite a step up for me. It was filled with that waxy, fatty gonad stuff and the flesh was really oily, almost like how hamachi tastes. Perfect timing for some family New Year’s meals.

The distinctive opelu bait marks, uku and shark strikes tell me that the circle of life has returned to the South Shore. I have to buy a new Garmin Echomap before going out again, and will need to re-mark all the spots I lost. Very expensive uku indeed.