Dunking Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Hawaii Nearshore Fishing

Is the first wave of the Summer papio season over?

July 15, 2017 By Scott 2 Comments

these picky oama took 2 of us hours to catch!

It’s now mid-July and from what I’ve been hearing from you guys, and what I’ve been seeing on the water, the “first wave” of the season is over. Friends and I have this theory that the oama came in early, in June, and some spots are now barren because the oama have gotten big and left for the reef. The oama remaining in other spots are akamai to the normal baits we’ve been using, and have gotten lock jaw. The big papio that came in a few weeks after the oama did have either been caught or are eating oama out in the deeper water. So is it time to hang up the fishing gear and wait ’til next year?

Well, if you want to catch oama now you have to find “new, dumb ones” or figure out when they’re the most hungry. Be creative with the baits, they “old” oama have seen everything by now.

If you have oama to use, you’ll have to take them further out since the papio aren’t coming close to shore anymore.

And if you like to throw lures like I do, be prepared to get bolo’d. The papio and other preds are hunting further out, as mentioned, and are keyed on the abundance of natural baits still around.

There’s still fish to be caught during this next stage, but it will take akamai fishers to catch them.

If you have any fish stories or reports to share, please comment on my posts or contact me through the Contact page. I’m always stoked to hear that this blog has gotten you fired up to fish more often.

Winter nearshore doldrums continue

April 4, 2016 By Scott 4 Comments

In the last couple of weeks I have paddled further in the harbors and bays only to experience slower fishing. It finally sunk in that predators aren’t looking for oama right now. To reverse field I took the longboard into a South Shore reel channel today and threw the Waxwing Boy on the new Shimano Terez rod and Tranx bait casting reel. The equipment performed well but nothing bit to test the Tranx’s drag system. Doesn’t the Spring seem slower than it usually is? Or was last Spring especially good because of the El Nino effect?

I have heard of oio coming up in the last month, and a few ulua being caught at night in the deep spots. Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be a lot going on in the shallows.

This 30lb plus ulua was caught by my good friend, Lauren, last week. Despite this being his second ulua ever, he released it after the photo was taken. What a great example for the younger generation.

Wondering why the papio action has been slow this winter?

January 30, 2016 By Scott 5 Comments

The action has definitely been a lot slower than in the summer – fall period of 2015. The most popular reason is that there isn’t much baitfish for the papio to hunt inshore. So where did all those papio go, and when are they coming back?

Quite a bit of “science” has been gathered by the Ulua and Papio Tagging Project conducted by the Dept of Aquatic Resources (DAR) a few years back.

Based on tag recapture data, the project team was able to determine catch rates across the months of the year, across tidal phases and the phases of the day. They were also able to track where some of the papio migrated to, and which direction they traveled. Recapture growth rates showed that the summer bait fish abundance is the time of year the papio bulk up.

Some of that info was consistent with what I had heard before. But there were some pearls of wisdom that surprised me. Smaller papio fed relatively unaffected by the moon phases but larger ulua definitely followed certain moon phase patterns. And more papio were caught on the last 1/3 of the rising tide than the middle 1/3. The first 1/3 of the rising tide was best, as we’ve been hearing.

The DAR Ulua – Papio Tagging Project has ended but there’s some rumblings that another group will be launching an Ulua – Papio Tagging Project in the next few months. As catch and recapture data accumulates with the new tagging project, even better science will be “discovered”. Hopefully we’ll be able to determine where all the 10″ – 16″ papio are basking in the winter.

Red hot 2 hr fishing window

September 23, 2015 By Scott 17 Comments

new best day ever!

Today was supposed to be the light wind day of the week so I took 6 live oama and 4 fresh dead ones out for a surfboard troll. I planned to fish a different stretch of the beach by paddling into the wind and letting the wind bring me back to the launch point.

I started with a recently deceased, medium-sized captive oama so I wouldn’t waste a livey on the way out to the surfline. Nothing bit it after reaching the break and trolling parallel to it for 10 mins, so I was about to put on a livey on instead. All of a sudden my ratchet screamed and the rod bent over. I hadn’t heard my ratchet scream all year so I was initially spooked! It was actually hard to pull the rod out of the holder; man I missed those screamers. The fish pulled drag in a straight line, then let itself be worked in halfway, then took off again. While I was loving the fight, I strongly suspected it was an oio that decided it needed to add oama to its diet, and I really wanted a nice sized papio instead. The fish started shaking its head, which gave me hope, then pulled line straight out again. After a hard fight against a tight drag, the largest omilu I caught in 2 yrs flashed on its side. It was hooked on the front hook and somehow had broken off the hook that was in the oama’s tail. I was stoked and I had only been fishing 20 minutes. I contemplated heading back in but I didn’t want to waste the live oama.

I put a live one on and something pulled it off without sounding the ratchet. I wonder what could have done that? I put on another livey and this one got eaten by a 10 inch C&R omilu. The next livey hooked a 15 inch (head to tail) omilu that pulled drag nicely and was added to the catch bag. 2 good sized omilu make a decent catch so again I contemplated paddling in but I still had 3 live oama and 3 dead ones.

The next 3 live oama were mangled and crushed but I couldn’t hook the culprit despite the two hook setup. I put a dead oama on and saw the floater go under. When I retrieved the line all I got back was the oama’s head. I put the second to the last dead oama on and let the wind blow me back to the launch site. The ratchet went off but the fight felt a little weird. There was a lot of resistance but the fish wasn’t pulling a lot of line. When it got close, I realized why. Somehow a 14″ omilu was hooked on the front hook and a 10″ omilu was hooked on the rear hook! And another omilu was swimming with them, trying to join the party. Crazy. I shook the 10″ omilu off and kept the 14″ (head to tail) omilu. That was more than enough fish for one day, so I dumped the last dead oama and went in.

Darin’s oio

Darin, whom I had met before, was dunking ika from the beach. He said a lot of undersized papio had been hitting his baits in the last hr, with one legal omilu in the mix. I wished him luck and ran into a guy who had been hooking legal white papio on his Crystal Minnow from shore. His C&R lure action was in the last 30 minutes. While we were taking he noticed that Darin was on a nice fish. What the heck was going on? Were all the planets in alignment or something? We went over to watch Darin’s fish make numerous strong runs before being subdued. The oio went 21″ and 4lbs and Darin packed up his gear to get the fish home in good shape for fish cake.

There wasn’t a particularly good solunar activity period today but something made the fish feed aggressively at the break and at the shoreline. I suspect the fish are trying to make up for all that lost time spent hunkering down during the stormy, humid weather. The trade winds have cooled the water nicely and it looks like the papio season isn’t over yet.

The larger omilu I caught went about 19″ (head to tail) and made 3 lbs on my not too accurate hand scale. Not that big as omilus go but bigger than any omilu I’ve caught last year and this year. With so many papio competing for not much bait this season, I suspect larger than normal papio are coming onto the reef to find food.

Better fishing 1 day after the New Moon

June 17, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

Kris fished his oio spot today and I went back to fish the Waxwing test grounds where it was slow yesterday. We both fished shortly after the tide began to rise and both saw a lot of bait fish and target fish. Kris caught two oio and some small papio. I saw oio, and had kaku and small white papio chase the Waxwing, but nothing stayed on the hook.

Take away: When fishing days with large tidal swings, start fishing shortly after the tide begins to rise. If you wait too long like we did yesterday, the fish may be done feeding and you can’t see them through all the murk.

Tough fishing on a new moon day

June 16, 2015 By Scott 6 Comments

one lonely fish for me

The tide was coming up fast today (New Moon) and we had high hopes for the dark moon conditions. The tide had already reached 1 foot by the time Kris and I started fishing and as the water got murkier, and the bait fish grew scarcer, it appeared that we missed the prime period to fish. Kris took turns throwing a Campania grub and a piece of cut bait, and I threw the trusty black/chrome Waxwing. It was very slow going until Kris caught an obake weke on the bait. I was still looking for my first follow when I cast near Kris’ bait and immediately hooked a small white papio. I suspect Kris’ bait had drawn the papio to the area

moi on the Campania

The lull continued until Kris got a hit on the Campania grub and caught a small moi on the next cast. Sadly, that was all we had to show for a few hours of fishing. We talked to a bait fisherman going for oio, and he said that he had fished for most of the day without getting a decent strike. Slow day indeed.

maybe my shirt scared the fish?!

As a consolation prize, Kris took this photo so I could check my casting form. Always good to fish with a professional photog!

All fish were released unharmed.

2015 Tokunaga Ulua Challenge

June 15, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

I had the opportunity to hang out with the Lawai’a Magazine guys at the Tokunaga Ulua Challenge in Hilo yesterday. The Tokunaga event is the largest ulua tourney in the state and this year 611 entrants participated, 20 of whom were female.

Tokunaga prizes!

Up for grabs were a very generous amount of custom rods, Shimano reels, quality coolers, Naoki fish prints, fishing line, lures, hooks, etc. And the Jackpot was huge also.

First fish

The weigh-ins started up with a 78lb GT. It held first place for a few hours and the big fish holders sand bagged by getting in line just before the 2pm cutoff.

the Winnah!

Weigh-ins continued for more than an hour after and the winning ulua ended up going 93.9 lbs and was caught on a barbless circle hook. The largest fish in the omilu category went 22.6 lbs.

final placings

Here’s the final placings in both the Ulua and Omilu categories. A nice friendly, family vibe was felt throughout the whole event.

Full moon, high solunar Waxwing whipping

June 2, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

low tide, big surf

I fished the high solunar activity period on the Waxwing test grounds I fished last week. The tide was rising fast but the bite was slow. Even though there were schools of aholehole and mullet fingerlings in the muddy shallows, the black/chrome Waxwing just got a few follows and bumps from the small white papio.

omilu like the Waxwing also

I saw 10 inch kaku, and even saw the same oio rooting in the sand 5 feet from shore that I saw last week, but nothing attacked with vigor until I hooked a small omilu. That omilu hit the lure just as it landed in the water, and was hooked on its bottom jaw.

nice oio on a slow day

A regular at the spot, Brian walked out 5 ika baits and fished through the high solunar activity also. He was rewarded with a nice 5 lb oio and called it a day as the tide hit 2 feet.

I’ve joined the solunar activity non-believers. Low visibility conditions, rising tide and small moon seem to cause the fish to bite better than these high solunar activity periods.

Oio seem to consistently bite during these slow periods. Too bad they don’t eat Waxwings on a regular basis.

More Waxwing testing on the high solunar activity

June 1, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

See the bite marks near the back of the tail?

While Kris and the boys dunked shrimp on the deeper part of the mud flat, I threw a new black and chrome Waxwing Baby around that I was hoping would look like a baby mullet. The tide was rising and the solunar activity was high, but there were overhead waves on the outer edge of the reef.

The papio bite for the boys was slow but they were able to catch 4 oio between 4lb and 6lbs. They usually catch more oio than that so it was a slow day in general for them.

I had some small papio follow my Waxwing and saw a larger omilu dart out behind a boulder and ambush the lure. It came off while I was fumbling to get my camera phone out. It looked to be around 10 inches. Not too impressive but the largest papio I’ve caught so far. I ended the day with a small white that stayed on for the photo.

Does this mean the solunar activity charts are bogus or did the large swell put the fish off the feed?

The 40 lb fluorocarbon leader I used to ward off kaku cutoffs didn’t seem to scare off the papio.

No joy, got a roi, on the reef edge

April 13, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

I fished a different part of the reef edge dropping off into a deep channel last week. I started at the bottom of the low tide but the waves were still hitting me above my waist. I was hoping for some big strikes in the channel, instead I caught a barely legal moana and a roi (peacock grouper) dragging my bait over the reef edge.

The roi was only about 10 inches long but it’s mouth was disproportionately huge. Fully open, it looked almost 3 inches in diameter with small, sharp teeth facing inward to prevent swallowed prey from escaping. Very creepy looking, like the mouth of a space alien, not the Tahitian alien species it is. I can see how roi are able to target the juvenile reef fish and swallow them whole.

I wanted to kill the roi but wasn’t equipped to stab it, standing in waist deep water holding a rod. The best I could do was squeeze it below the gills with my long nose pliers. It swam off, mortally wounded, to become food for the fish it preyed on.

The tide rose and I retreated back to shore. Pretty slow day with a few small papio landed on the way in. All the fish were released, only the roi was harmed.

Here’s another post about the evil roi that’s been decimating our native reef fish.

Hunting oio on a narrow reef shelf

April 1, 2015 By Scott 8 Comments

Decided to give the most recent spot a rest. On a friend’s recommendation, I explored a narrow strip of reef that falls into a deeper channel. The terrain was the common crushed rock and tufts of seaweed found on the inner reefs of Oahu.

The bite on the shallow reef during the rising tide was slow so I made my way to the outer edge. I picked up an obake weke halfway out, which I thought was a good sign that oio would be around. Sadly, nothing else bit as I waded deeper and deeper.

I was using a 7ft 11inch casting rod and a heavier 3/4 oz weight. With the help of the wind, I could cast much further than normal. I walked out to hip-high water, and tried to hit a reef section in the channel. I let the bait sit and eventually felt very light taps. It felt like something was pecking away at the bait and I forced myself to wait it out. After about 25 seconds the fish took the bait and pulled line off the reel. Oio! But because of the rocky terrain the fish ran under a rock outcropping and I could feel the line rub. My drag was sticky too, and the line pulled in spurts.

look how well it blends in

The fish dragged all my fluorocarbon top shot through the rock hangup and I was into my braid backing. I turned the fish but it was still hung up on the rock so I waded out to chest high water and was able to free the line. The oio came in easily at this point because it was fighting the increased drag of a stuck line.

I walked it back to shore to take some pics and release it.

my tabis are size 9

Nothing else of consequence bit after that. In the past, catching a 4.5 lb oio measuring almost 22 inches at a new spot would’ve been great accomplishment. But after this week’s 6 pounder, it was kind of anti-climactic. And fighting the 6 pounder with a locked down drag must’ve warped the drag washers. I’ll have to rebuild the drag system before the next screamah hits.

Whipping vs. Dunking on the flats, Rd 3

March 30, 2015 By Scott 5 Comments

I had the pleasure of fishing with Kris and his friends, Nick and Eddie today. They showed me a new spot on the flats, and when the oio and papio started to bite, they graciously called me over. The three of them were dunking with long rods and relatively light spinning reels. I was stubbornly using my bait casting whipping setup.

personal best so far

They could easily out cast me and were getting some strong strikes. They had already caught some oio and good sized papio (omilu, white and barred) while I was struggling to reach the productive area. I finally found a mound to stand on where I could use the wind to get my bait out further. Poaching Eddie’s grounds, I got a solid pickup and screaming run. I was deep into my braid backing before I tightened the drag and stopped the fish. The fish was pulled within 10 yds of me before taking off again. 2 powerful runs later and it was done.

oio on light bait casting gear

Looks like Chester will be getting his oio for taegu after all. The fish was just short of 26 inches (head to tail) and 6 lbs.

Like I did with my previous oio, I had cast and let the bait sit for a while before getting the strike. So I was really dunking with a short rod and a light weight. Dunking with the right equipment was far more productive for the guys today so I will concede defeat. In all 3 outings, the dunking method out fished the whipping method. Click here to see how rounds 1 and 2 went.

The boys humbly declined having their fish photos published.

Whipping vs. Dunking on the flats, which is better?

March 18, 2015 By Scott 6 Comments

I whip/drag cut bait because I love to feel the initial take and don’t like waiting around for a fish to pick up my chunk of bait. But most noteworthy flats catches are accomplished by guys wading out and dunking bait in the sand pockets with larger gear than my whipping setup. Landing a big oio with fly gear is also noteworthy, but beyond my skill set.

The last two days I fished with friends who dunked while I dragged bait. Here’s how we did.

Yesterday I ran into Kris and his wife Ai at the spot he caught his big oios last week. He kindly took me out on a guided trip and we fished the rising morning tide. They cast into prime spots and held their poles while I dragged bait with my regular setup (7.5 ft inshore casting rod, Calcutta 200 TE baitcaster with 12 lb flouro mainline, no leader).

snagged omilu

My smaller hook, lighter line and moving bait got more strikes, even snagging a small omilu in the top of his head!

rock fishing

The bite really turned on when the water rose and turned murky. The small omilus and occasional weke were hitting every bait. I tried a live crab to get something larger to take, but the crab clung so tight to the bottom I was bringing up rocks!

Kris and Ai were bringing in their share of small omilus and weke on their dunking gear when Kris hooked the fish of the day.

Kris and Ai

The 15 inch omilu was Kris’ largest papio to date, and he was stoked, especially after catching his personal best oios at this spot the week before. Ai loves to eat papio but after seeing how beautiful they are alive, she couldn’t bear to kill it. Kris was stunned but set it free.

On this day, my lighter, more active whipping method caught more fish but Kris’ dunking method caught the largest fish. Ai was a hybrid, initially dunking and then switching to whipping when the bite really turned on. All caught fish were released.

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Today I took Chester to Kris’ spot. Chester hadn’t gone oio fishing for a long time and really wanted to make taegu and lomi lomi oio. He loaded up with a 40 lb leader and 30 lb main line to increase his chances of bringing in the oio that bit his dunked bait. He planned to just take one fish, and brought out a cooler on a bodyboard to ensure the flesh would be well preserved. Chester started where the flats drop off into a sand channel and I dragged bait over the crushed rock and ogo grounds inside of his spot. I eventually got a small nibble as my cast bait settled to the bottom. It was a lighter tap than a small omilu would make, and felt like a bait stealer. The fish initially ran a few feet and took a bit of drag. Then it realized it was hooked and steadily swum off, in a calm manner like it had someplace to go, but wasn’t in a hurry. I was told by Kris to let the oio run, and my drag was set under breaking strength for 12lb test so I just enjoyed the pull. When I looked down the 100 yds of fluorocarbon top shot was gone and I was into the 100 yds of 30 lb power pro. With 160 yds out I had, at most, 40 yds left and tightened the drag. The fish continued to swim steadily, unconcerned that it was tethered to me, and 10 yds later the hook pulled and got stuck in a rock. Arrgggghhhh! I made the walk of shame over to free my hook. The hook was fine but my line was a little frayed.

Chester’s first oio

I walked back to tell Chester what he missed, and I’m not sure he really believed me. We went back to fish the spot I lost the oio, and slowly worked our way towards shore as the tide rose. The whipping bite was a lot slower than yesterday, and over an hr period I just got a couple small omilus and an obake weke. Chester had his bait stolen a few times and was lapsing into a coma when he felt a weak tug followed by a short spurt. He was thinking that a small omilu had taken his big bait and then the rod doubled over and his drag screamed out. Chester kept the drag relatively tight and tried to muscle the fish in as fast as possible. 5 mins of hard runs passed and he had the fish on the surface. With shaking hands he grabbed the oio and threw it into the cooler. He estimated it was close to 5 lbs and would provide enough flesh to make both taegu and lomi lomi oio.

Chester’s 2nd oio

He said he’d keep his word and would not take another oio, even if it was larger than this one. As he caught his breath I scrambled to try to get my second shot at an oio. Sadly, the bite slowed even more so we made our way back to shore. 2/3 of the way in, Chester was soaking his bait, watching me play with the small omilus. Chester’s rod doubled over without warning and the drag rang out. Because he was able to muscle it in within a couple mins we assumed this fish was smaller than the first. At color we couldn’t believe our eyes; it was even larger than the first fish. After a few pictures of his second largest oio ever, estimated at more than 6 lbs, he said he’d be letting it go. I held it behind its head to revive it in the water. It felt like holding on to a thick carp. I know the pictures look like they’re of the same fish, but if you look closely the second fish is much thicker.

Chester’s gloved hands holding my skinny fish

Mission accomplished so we headed in. On the way I hooked a 14 inch omilu as a consolation prize. Legal, but skinny, I let it go.

Today was so much different from yesterday. The bite was a lot slower and there were oio bites whereas yesterday we were in the middle of an omilu frenzy. Fewer omilus allow the big oio a chance to wolf down a bait. I wonder what caused this to happen?

In these conditions Chester’s dunking method trounced my whipping method. He only caught 3 fish but 2 were impressive oios. While I was lucky enough to hook one oio on my moving bait, I was under gunned with 12lb line. I’ll be moving up to 15 lb test in the hopes of proving I can subdue a monsta oio on inshore whipping gear.

Stay tuned for the next whipping vs. dunking challenge.

Catching `opae lolo for bait

March 5, 2015 By Scott 2 Comments

captive `opae lolo

I had grown up hearing the name ” `opae lolo ” and just assumed it was the name for the especially large brackish water `opae. I didn’t realize it was a completely different looking shrimp. Heard many a story of people catching papio, oio and goat fish on `opae lolo but since I wasn’t a live bait guy back then, I didn’t pay too much attention.

Chester and I were torching (hunting the shallows at night) for aquarium fish a few weeks ago when we came across a long, slender shrimp sitting on the sand in a foot of water. Not sure what it was, I ended up netting 4 and bringing them home. My google search for “hawaiian shrimp” didn’t bring up anything that looked like the shrimp I had, so I purchased John Hoover’s “Hawaii’s Sea Creatures” book. Lo and behold, we had stumbled upon the coveted ‘opae lolo.

The ‘opae lolo seem to lack pinchers, and are near the bottom of the food chain with sand turtles. They bury themselves during the day as their only defense. I came to these conclusions because I had put an `opae lolo in a tub with a mantis shrimp and instantly the mantis shrimp had the `opae lolo in its clutches. I had never seen that mantis shrimp move for any food very quickly, prior to that, and thought the crustacean cousins would be safe together since the mantis shrimp don’t seem to be able to catch the regular `opae. Even the regular `opae ganged up and pulled down an `opae lolo twice their size. Dang, two less `opae lolo for bait. But proof that everything wants to eat them.

I torched a couple more times, during low tides with different moon phases, and saw less `opae lolo. I’m still trying to dial in the best conditions to catch them, but was able to get a few more, sitting mostly motionless on the sand. Friends have said they’ve seen the lolos swimming erratically around near the surface, in calm water. Maybe that’s how they got the name “lolo” (crazy). They appear to be attracted to light.

My lolos are in predator free tubs waiting to be used as bait.

So many fish on the flats at low tide!

October 23, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

My friend Chester had the week off so I took a break from trolling oamas and dusted off the whipping rod. I hadn’t cast a rod in more than 3 months and it felt good to hear the bearings of the Calcutta TE 200 spin. I kept things simple and planned to fish cut bait.

I started by casting just the weight to wet the line and hooked a sand barracuda with no bait! When I put on some cut bait I started getting pestered by 4 inch omilus so I replaced the bait with a Makata strip lure. The presentation looked odd, with a big orange head and a long strip body, so I had low expectations. On the first cast I hooked something heavier and stronger, and was working it in when it unbuttoned. I’m guessing it was a bigger papio since I saw some cruising the shallows.

look how long the Makata lure is

A couple casts later I brought in a feisty 8 inch oama. I was super surprised that a oama that size would chase down a 3 inch lure and get hooked in its mouth. If the 6 inch plus oama caught the other week were “moose oama”, I don’t know if I should call this a mega oama or a mini weke. It’s the first oama or weke I’ve ever caught on a lure. I brought it home alive to either be a pet or live bait for a monster papio.

big hook for small mouth

Chester dragged cut bait for big oio on the outer reaches of the flat and I caught and released a few more 4 inch omilus inside. Then we saw some dark colored 5 to 8 lb oios cruising the sandy areas. We tried lobbing cut bait and lures in front of them but couldn’t make an enticing enough presentation.

All in all a great morning of large fish seen and unexpected fish hooked.

Hunting “Moose” Oama

October 13, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

It’s the middle of October and the oama are still hanging around the safety of the shoreline. Mixed in are legitimate Moose-sized oama, practically junior weke. I found some 5 inch oama grubbing around in the shallow sand patches and was able to land a few without tearing off so I went hunting for the really big ones.

The 6 inch plus oama with the bright yellow tails were in deeper water, at times out of range of my straight pole. When they smelled my bait they’d charge it like a pack of ulua chasing a popper. Once hooked, the fluorocarbon 4 lb leader would make a hissing noise as the moose oama raced back and forth trying to pop the hook. I let the soft pole fully flex and tried to slowly work them up to the surface, then slid them out of the water and into my net. I lost a few but not nearly as many as I did when I tried horsing them up while they were still green. Read how I had even tried using a rod and reel to land them.

now that’s a moose

Hunting and landing these moose was the most fun I’ve had catching oama. Oama this size don’t often take a bait but they do tend to want to eat their last meal of the day an hour before sun down. They eat heartily in captivity and are hardy when trolled. The bigger papio like them and the bait stealers think twice about trying to pull them off the hooks. Every time I catch them I’m grateful because they could decide tomorrow to leave the safety of the shallows.

Late season jumbo oama

September 23, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

late season oama school

I went to my early season South Shore oama spot and sure enough the oama had left town. Panicked, I hurried to the spot where I’ve been finding them lately, and there was still a large school in the protected shallows. I was relieved to still find them there but frustrated that they wouldn’t even follow my bait.

I went off looking for some hungrier strays and found some jumbo (5 – 6 inch) oama that would be heading out past the reef soon. They bit but they were so strong they would rip themselves off the hook before I could land them. It was a lot like sight fishing for oio. I would hunt down these larger oamas cruising the bottom for food, hook them, and try to let the pole take the impact of their panicked runs. 90% broke off before I could slide the net under them.

jumbo oama

After all that work I ended up with only 10, but hopefully the size of these bruisers will deter the smaller papio from whacking them when I troll ’em.

Why are my captive oamas dying?

September 2, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

the good ole days

The oamas I caught early in the season lived in plastic tubs with external filtration for as long as 4 weeks. Eventually all the tubs had bouts of mass die offs and now I’m leery about risking losing another batch.

oama apartment living

To avoid putting all my oamas in one basket, so to speak, I now have them spread across 5 gallon buckets. The oamas haven’t experienced mass die offs in the buckets, but aren’t happy either and haven’t been eating.

I suspect some disease like “marine ich” is eventually spreading and reproducing in the tubs, and also believe the dying oamas emit some kind of toxic chemical that causes the others to die within minutes. This is the dark side of oama raising I guess.

I’ve treated some of the tubs for “marine ich” with some success, and try to pull dying oamas out before they can affect the others. If you have any additional advice please contact me. It’s very sad and frustrating to try to keep the little guys long enough to use them, only to lose a bunch over night.

Update – 9/12/2014 : Per the nice folks at Coral Fish Hawaii, I treated a few tubs and sick fish with copper. If I caught the ich early enough, the fish made a complete recovery, and the tubs have hosted fish without killing them. Keeping the oxygen infusion up seems to be more important than stabilizing the water temperature and salinity.

Best conditions to score papio

August 12, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

best day so far

After trolling oamas aimlessly for a month and a half, I noticed a pattern as to when and where I get most of my strikes. These conditions apply to dunking and whipping also.

First third of the rising tide
Cool, moving water; not still, sun warmed water
In front of the surf break (I’m not going past the surf break)
Bouldery terrain with a mix of sand and dark rocks
Edge of channel and bouldery reef

And for those trolling oama:

4 to 6 foot fluorocarbon leader
front hook through nostrils, rear hook past the ventral (anal) fin
30 to 75 feet away from you
liveliest oama (but wounded or freshly dead still work if that’s all you have)

Please keep in mind I haven’t caught anything big this season but I am getting a lot of strikes when the above conditions come together.

It’s not worth fishing during heavy storms

August 8, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

I’m writing this as the downgraded Tropical Storm Iselle passes by Oahu. There are a lot of valid reasons to avoid fishing during bad weather. Strong winds, heavy rain, rogue waves, polluted runoff…

And in my recent experience the fish stop biting before the bad weather hits. They feel the drop in atmospheric pressure and hunker down until the system passes. Even the oamas in my tubs are doing that. During this present storm they ate a little and then settled on the bottom of the tub.

So its best to sit out the bad weather, let the brown water clear, and then resume fishing. The fish will have ended their hibernation and be eating to make up for lost time.