Big man o’ war, jumping kaku and $20 JDM lure lost

Went back to the Windward side hoping to get a bigger fish on the 13 Fishing Concept Z reel.  Last week I got stung badly by a Portuguese Man o’ War so I wore wading socks that extended a few inches above my tabis but still left a 9 inch uncovered area between the socks and the bottom of my trunks.  At the first spot, I saw this huge Man of War getting blown towards me.  Freaked me out but this time I remembered to walk in front of the float, not behind it, since the stinging tentacles can extend pretty far.  I whipped the area cautiously for no bites but probably didn’t do it justice since I was constantly scanning the water for more Man o’ War.

Left the area and went to the spot I missed the kaku the last time.  Sure enough I got a hit on the JDM sub-surface lure right away. I felt the fish on and in a split second it went airborne with the lure in its mouth but shook it mid-flight. Here’s the short video of the little kaku acrobat.

I worked the area and moved down a ways, and when I returned I hooked that same fish or his brother.  I bumbled turning on the GoPro so I didn’t capture that action. And when I released the kaku that got tangled up in the leader, I ended up dunking the Concept Z reel for a couple of seconds. Ugh…

After draining the water, I made a cautious cast and backlashed because the wet casting brakes were slipping.  Adjusted from 3 brakes “on” to 5 brakes “on” (6 brakes are the max) and the reel casted great again.  Missed what felt like a papio bite and then my casts shortened as the brakes dried.  Readjusted the brakes back to their original setting but I must’ve had loose line on my spool ‘cuz I snapped off my lure at the FG knot on a cast. I had tied this sloppy FG knot on the water the last time and must not have cinched it down well.

My $20 limited edition JDM sub-surface lure couldn’t have gone far but I didn’t see it land and couldn’t find it even though it floats.  Took that as a sign to quit while I was unstung.  This is the second JDM lure I’ve left floating in jellyfish infested waters, although Portuguese Man Of War technically aren’t jellyfish.  If you find it, I hope it brings you luck.

I hadn’t opened up the Concept Z reel before so I was a little leery about losing flying parts.  The reel was actually a little simpler than bait casters I have serviced although there was a little spring loaded clicker pin under the star drag that fell off on disassembly.  The innards looked wet but free of grit, salt and corrosion.  The materials used looked impressively corrosion resistant and I verified that the stack of drag washers was made out of carbon fiber to produce an astounding 22 lb of drag.  Applied some Corrosion Block oil and Daiwa Blue Grease and reassembled it.  Reassuring to know that the Concept Z reel can be easily self-serviced.