There’s a new wave of small oama in some holdout spots but few oama anglers are after them, and those that have been chasing papio with lures and oama are having to put in much more time to get a decent one.
Halalu have left most spots, and comparing to the last 2 yrs, a lot of traditional spots came up empty.
Even the kaku spots are slow.
These trends seem to support the following theories:
- The papio have an internal time table that tells them to check the shallow inshore areas around July and stop checking them near the beginning of September. It could be that there are schools of oama on the reef so the papio don’t have to risk leaving the safety of deeper water.
- Halalu numbers are directly tied to the previous year’s amount of rain fall. Last year didn’t have as much rain as the previous 2 years?
- Juvenile kaku grow up and feed in the brackish estuaries and are big enough by the fall to leave the shallow water and start feeding on bait fish schools like opelu. The next crop of juvenile kaku show up in late Winter. There are always hold over kaku but there are less of them than in the period from late Winter to Fall.
If you haven’t voted in the “How’s your papio season going so far?” poll, please do. We’ll summarize the results in a week or so.
Hey uncle Scott nice writeup on the bait report? And just want to know where the Oama spots are located. Also congratulations on your ono!!
Hey Elijah,
There’s oama in a few of the regular spots, it’s our practice not to “burn” other people’s spots, so send me an email with your guest post and I’ll narrow down where the oama spots are! 😛
-Uncle Scott
Hey uncle Scott awesome writeup ? Congrats on the ono!! My dad met you at servco Subaru the other day and told me and I checked the post and I was like woah!
Aloha, Elijah
Hi Elijah,
Small world, I met your dad this week and his buddy found a loose bolt in my strut/suspension and the problem was fixed. Whew, I need that car to carry my kayak so I can get more ono! Got some great guys at Kaimuki Subaru.
Do you fish on your dad’s boat? Did you want to post a catch report?
-Uncle Scott
Hey uncle Scott yes I would love to write up a report!
Hi Scott,central side and North shore Maui oaamas spotty. This year was good for me caught 5 Omilus and a Lai North shore. I’ve been more consistent dunking this year. Going to check southshore for oaamas,heard was slow, we’ll find out. See you ?
Hi Craig,
Congrats on the catches this year, were the omilu big, and have you whipped the Shoreline Shiner Vertice you purchased?
-scott
Hey uncle Scott how would you fix a Daiwa sweepfire reel that reels both ways is it suppose to or is it not. thanks, Elijah
Hi Elijah,
I think there’s an anti-reverse switch near the back of the reel, kind of under the arm that mounts to the rod, that you can switch on to not be able to crank backwards, and switch off to be able to crank backwards. I’m sure your dad, being a mechanic, can check to see if that switch is in the wrong position. If the reel is not working correctly, your dad can open it up and check to see if the switch is engaging properly. Good luck!
-Uncle Scott
Thanks uncle Scott!!
Hey uncle Scott baby papio are coming into the reefs and feeding on small baits ( small strips of squid and shrimp) and are hitting floats too! Also some juvenile omilu and some bigger ones are out there. Go getum guys, Elijah
Thanks for the report Elijah! Friends caught 12″ to 15″ omilu from shore today too on flies and grubs. Maybe the season isn’t over yet!
Yea they are still hunting in the reefs if you know where to look but you have to experiment with baits. I’ve seen big omilu trailing grubs and squid so I’d say a couple more weeks of the season. Also can you tag small papio and where do you get tags? Shoots, Elijah
Hi Elijah,
Best to tag the bigger omilu that can carry the tags without being affected. I think you can still order tags from here:
http://www.fishtoday.org/tagit/get-involved/purchase-tag-kits-tags/
thanks,
Uncle Scott