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.

Waxwing and attractant test during a solunar activity period

May 26, 2015 By Scott 1 Comment

I fished the early solunar activity period today to see if that would improve my catch rate. The high activity period was between 6:18 am and 8:18 am. I started fishing at about 7:20 am which is really early for me.

bottom Waxwing w/stronger, shorter hook (changed the Green Shad’s hook after the photo was taken)

I had on a Green Shad patterned 1/2 oz Waxwing. I was hoping the Green Shad looked close enough to an off-white oama with a greenish topside. I had replaced the stock hook with a shorter, stronger one since I was having too many fish fall off the stock hook. I slathered some Uni Butter attractant, which is made from uni (sea urchin) and cast it out into the murky water lapping on the beach.

white papio – first cast

Hookup on the first cast! A 5 inch white papio nailed it. Maybe there’s some truth to the solunar activity period thing after all! Or maybe it’s just better to fish the early morning rather than mid day.

hungry white

I worked my way down the beach and found another murky cove. The small whites followed the Waxwing in, bumping the side of the lure. On my next cast I sped up my retrieve and caught another one. Since the only hook is at the tail, it’s recommended to retrieve quickly so the fish miss the front of the lure and grab the tail.

The early morning, with no wind and overcast skies was looking very fishy. As I left the murky, muddy water and fished the shallow reef, I spotted a 4 lb oio tailing a few feet off the beach. I worked the Waxwing past it but the oio moved off. It didn’t spook like it would if any other lure or bait ripped past him, but probably realized I was tied to the lure and swam a little deeper to feed.

1st kaku on waxwing

Nothing wanted to bite in the clearer water so I made my way back to the murky cove. The whites chased the Waxwing onto the sand, and I eventually caught another one. The Green Shad pattern slathered with Uni Butter scent seemed to be working. On the next cast I hooked something a little bigger and it turned out to be a small kaku. Cool, I was hoping the Waxwing would fool the kaku also. So far, the tackle test was working.

On the next retrieve all of a sudden there was no weight on the line. Arrghh! Another kaku must’ve hit the line about the knot. There went $15. I put on a gold kastmaster and worked the same area that I was getting follows and bites… nada. I put on a Rainbow Trout patterned Waxwing and got a few more follows. The solunar activity period had passed and the sun was higher. I decided to quit while only down one Waxwing.

Takeaway: The early morning high solunar activity period was pretty fishy. The Waxwings in a sort of oama pattern, slathered in Uni Butter did attract small white papio and kaku, and the replacement hook held much better than the stock hooks.

weke on cut bait

The last time I fished the Waxwings out near the surf break I didn’t get a single hit, and when I started dragging cut bait I immediately caught small omilus and this weke that imitated a small oio. Maybe the omilus are less easily fooled by lures? In hindsight I wasn’t retrieving as fast as I did today.

Is it Papio Season Yet?

May 21, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

modified board mount sitting on a bucket

Boaters have serviced their boats in anticipation of Ahi Season. My prep for Papio Season was much easier. I cleaned the old wax off my longboard and modified a board mount I got from boardfisher.com to be more wind resistant. The original milk crate setup was very ergonomic but caught a lot of wind when stuffed with gear. I simply cut off the back 1/3 of the crate, letting the wind blow through, and reinforced it.

I took the mount out yesterday, with my last batch of `opae lolo, to see if the papio started prowling the reef. The lolos got hit by small fish but nothing stayed on the hook. I switched to the blue sardine Waxwing Baby with high hopes after the successful field test and addition of a much stronger, sharper double hook. After flailing the water for more than an hour, all I caught was a small cornetfish.

I guess it’s not papio season yet. No influx of bait fish to draw them. Shucks.

A little late to the Waxwing party

May 15, 2015 By Scott 5 Comments

(top to bottom) Salt Pro Minno, Crystal Minnow and Megabait

(top to bottom) Salt Pro Minnow, Crystal Minnow and Megabait

I left the bait at home and went back to the spot with the baby white papios to test my lures again. Since the target fish were small and I’d be casting from the beach, the lures would have to be on the small side and shallow running. I tried a Diawa Salt Pro Minnow, Yozuri Crystal Minnow and a Megabait swimming plug (see photo).

The Salt Pro Minnow cast pretty well but dove a little too deep for the shallow water I was fishing. The Crystal Minnow tumbled in the wind and dove a little too deep also but had a good tight wobble. Both were too large for the target test fish. The Megabait had this spastic wobble that scared everything within 2 miles.

Waxwing and Kastmaster. Note the power handle on the Calcutta TE

Saving the best two for last I tried a 3/8 oz gold Kastmaster with a trailer. The small whites chased it into the murky shore break like they did the last time. I got a few bumps and hooked a couple and switched the Kastmaster out for the Waxwing. The Waxwing comes with a lot of hype and a $15 price tag for the smallest size (1/2 oz). Fishers claim they’ve caught sea birds on it, and supposedly everything with scales and fins chase it.

big hook for small white

I was using a 2.68 inch, 1/2 oz Waxwing Baby in the blue sardine pattern. Its wings did cause it to veer when I cast into a side wind but it still went further than other plugs its size. The zig zag swimming pattern followed by a more pronounced zag every so often brought the small whites in to investigate. They started bumping it and got hooked once in a while. The small schooling mullet played follow the leader with it, and a 7 inch white weke sniffed it with its whiskers as I left on the surface a few feet from me!

the hook missed the eye, fish was released healthy

I didn’t catch any birds on the Waxwing but did hook quite a bit more whites than I did on the Kastmaster. The double hook has been reviewed by others as suspect, and besides not hooking well, quite a few of the larger whites came off the hook when I was bringing them in.

With a better double hook or single siwash hook, the Waxwing will be an awesome plug to throw from my longboard. It swims a foot or two below the surface and really does have a swimming action that causes fish to take notice. The Salt Pro Minnow and Crystal Minnow are worth another try when I’m in deeper water. The Megabait will go back in storage.

Tackle test in less than ideal conditions

May 7, 2015 By Scott 4 Comments

The wind and surf were up and the solunar activity was down. Not the best time to wade out and fish the reef.

baby omilu under the float

To avoid having to re-tie rigs I tried drifting cut bait on an adjustable float. I didn’t snag anything but found it hard to cast such a light float in the windy conditions. I caught a few small omilu but didn’t like the slack line required to drift the float in the current.

When the waves started hitting me at the neckline I gave up and headed for shore. I switched to a rainbow trout pattern 3/8 oz Kastmaster just to throw something that would go further than a few yards.

The power handle I added to my bait caster did its job and I could retrieve fast enough to burn the lure in. Small papio were chasing the Kastmaster a few feet from the beach so I varied my retrieve and hooked up. Finally, after two outings with no bites on lures, I caught something. The papios turned out to be 6 inch white papio, and they were following the lure in from the deeper, cleaner water and ambushing it in the muddy water near shore. It was great to get back into the rhythm of casting, retrieving in a crank-crank-crank-pause tempo and feeling the occasional hits. The single, siwash hook I had on the kastmaster is sized for larger fish so I missed a lot of the bites. But the baby white papio I caught helped bring some lure casting mojo back.

Here’s how I customize my Kastmaster hooks to reduce snags.

Low solunar activity = no fish?

April 29, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

Kris and Eddie experienced some decent catch and release fishing when they waded out near the break the other day, so I went with Kris yesterday despite the poor solunar activity level and wind/rain forecast. The weather forecast was accurate. We got rained on and the gusts exceeded 25 mph.

The fishing was much slower than normal. Kris was dunking and missed 3 large strikes that pulled drag. They either cut the leader line or came unbuttoned. I caught a couple small papio and a moana dragging bait and once again, nothing touched my kastmaster or swimming plug.

Maybe those solunar charts are accurate. Do you guys believe in them? I’ll run a poll to see how you guys feel.

challenging conditions

What was the silver lining in the cold, blustery day of few fish? Data to log supporting poor fishing on low solunar activity days. And my waterproof bag stayed dry except for when I had it open and a wave swamped me.

This is the tide/solunar chart site I use.

Lure-only day from the longboard

April 23, 2015 By Scott 3 Comments

Today’s fishing conditions were similar to yesterday’s: south winds, overcast skies, moderate surf, rising tide. I fished the same spot as yesterday to see how well lures would work. Kris waded out and dunked cut bait, and acted like a control for this little comparison.

I used a Shimano Waxwing, Sebile Magic Swimmer Soft and a gold Kastmaster. How do you think I did?

I didn’t get a single bite on the Waxwing and lost it. Ouch, it was a $15 lure. I was using a casting reel that I hadn’t adjusted properly for throwing light lures with a stiff rod. When I was picking out a backlash, the line wrapped around the reef and I couldn’t find my Waxwing in the 5 foot deep swirling water.

After adjusting the reel’s mechanical brakes to slow down the cast, I didn’t get any more backlashes but also didn’t get a single hit on the Magic Swimmer Soft or the gold Kastmaster. I could understand that the swimming plugs didn’t get hit but the gold Kasmaster usually causes reef fish to jump on it. Nope, not today.

The fishing was slow for Kris also but he did get a few strong hits and landed a feisty 3 lb oio.

On this low solunar activity day, cut bait beat lures. Yesterday had less solunar activity than today and almost all the live bait got bitten. The cut bait wasn’t touched yesterday but I only fished it for 10 mins or less.

Live bait > cut bait > lures

Click here to see how I did yesterday.

Trolling big oama and `opae lolo on my longboard

April 22, 2015 By Scott 3 Comments

My out of season oamas had a sudden die off and I was left with just two. They were 7 inches long and skinny so I figured I’d better use them before they expired. I also took a bunch of `opae lolo.

I was halfway out to the break when a SUPer asked if I caught anything. Just as I sat up the drag zipped and that was it. The jumbo oama was gone and the line was cleanly cut. Must’ve been a kaku. I put the last oama on but nothing touched it. I replaced it with an `opae lolo .

The lolos got hit but the fish weren’t large enough to hook themselves on the size 1 Owner baitholder hook. The floater would be pulled down and a mangled lolo would be left. Trolling such a delicate bait didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.

sorry, it was getting dark

I started heading in, trying to figure out a better way to use them when the drag screamed. It was nice to fight a decent sized papio after so many weeks of small papio and drag burning oio. The omilu taped out at 15.5 inches, head to tail, and will make my parents very happy.

For comparison I plan to fish the same conditions with swimming plugs and kastmasters. I’m hoping the papio and kaku put on their predator hats and attack them.

(Click here to see how I did just using lures)

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 for oio on the flats

March 23, 2015 By Scott 9 Comments

Fishing the afternoon rise alone, I didn’t have a dunking friend to compare results against. I wanted to see if I could get an oio to bite my cut bait in the general area that the dunkers had out fished me last week. My Calcutta 200 TE was spooled with a 15 lb fluorocarbon top shot, up from the 12lb I used last week, so I could use more drag to turn the silver speedsters.

making circles around me

As I walked out on the just rising tide, I was startled to see about 4 tailing oio at the deeper end of the flat. They didn’t spook when I cast to them but they didn’t take my bait either. Eventually losing track of the tailers, I cast into the edge of the channel where I had hooked and lost last week’s fish. Just like last time, I felt a light nibble and then a take. This time the fish sped up and took about 75 yds of line, then slowed down under the tight drag and let itself be pulled back. It made a series of spirited runs but was under control unlike the fish I lost last week.

pooped

In a few minutes the fish was spent and had given up. The oio looked to be about 4 lbs and more than 22 inches. While I was deciding whether to keep him so Chester could make taegu ala Bruddah Bill’s recipe, see below, managed to shake off the hook and slowly make his escape. Oh well, a bigger fish would be a better use of Chester’s time.

A few small omilus and an obake weke bit before the water got deeper and a lot murkier. I called it a day knowing the drag bait technique does work on the flats oio and my inshore bait caster setup can easily over power a 4 lb oio. Whatever took out 160 yds without stopping last week was much larger and stronger than today’s fish. I’m beginning to think it was a shark since it didn’t spurt like most oios do.

I need to do another head to head with a dunker to see which technique is more effective on flats oio. Stay tuned.

The recipe below was featured in Lawai’a magazine.

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.

Hunting oio with new fishing friends

March 11, 2015 By Scott 5 Comments

Kris’ oio

I received a hot tip from Kris, whom I met through this blog. We’ve been sharing fishing reports and have been planning to meet and fish. He caught 3 oio on the flats yesterday and provided this photo as proof. He released all 3.

That report couldn’t have come at a better time since I was planning to fish the flats with Joel and Dean. Joel writes “Spyda’s Blog“, which artistically chronicles his recent shore casting outings and classic past trips. I had met Joel and Dean through this blog also. We waded out at the bottom of the zero foot tide with hopes of some screamers.

moana

Midway to the break we got our first baby omilu strike. As we got near the leading edge of the white wash, the bite really turned on. Unfortunately Joel had to depart for a previously planned meeting and left us to the frenzy. The reef residents were ambushing our baits before the baby omilus could get to them. Dean missed a big strike that pulled drag, and I brought in a legal moana followed by a 9 inch moana kali.

baby moana kali

I hadn’t caught a moana kali on the reef flat before and was very surprised. Hopefully there’s a healthy population of these, with some reaching steamable size. A smaller moana rounded out my goatfish run.

Dean fished a deep sand channel with a plug and I fished a deep drop off with `opae lolo. I got a strong hit on one of the lolos but the fish managed to rip the body off the hook. I went back to my cut bait to save the precious `opae lolo bait.

The air temp was in the low 70s and we were freezing under cloudy skies. As we headed in to thaw out, Dean hooked a strong obake weke that took a while to be worked in. We left the fish biting and didn’t get the screamer we were hoping for. Later, Joel informed us that he spooked a large oio in 18 inches of water as he headed in.

All the more reason to plan another trip.

(Today’s fish were released unharmed. Sorry for the lack of better pictures, it was hard to turn on my camera phone with numb fingers and I wasn’t close enough to Joel and Dean.)

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.

Windward sand turtles

February 23, 2015 By Scott 3 Comments

sand turtle bait

The last time I tried to catch sand turtles I came up empty. Today, I was fishing the Windward side and had plopped my cut bait at the water’s edge while zipping up my tackle sling bag. When I reeled up my bait there were two sand turtles attached to it. I quickly bagged the sand turtles (mole crabs) and dropped the weight and bait back on the wet sand.

2 sand turtles battling

As the water ebbed and flowed up the sloping beach, I noticed moving lumps under the sand. Sure enough more sand turtles were attached to the bait. Catching sand turtles couldn’t be easier than this.

obake weke

Too bad catching fish with the sand turtles wasn’t as easy. I got a few weak nibbles on them, but caught a mess of small omilus and this obake weke on the cut bait.

I brought a few of the sand turtles home and put them in a tub with live opae. Even though the opae are smaller than the turtles, they grabbed at the turtles’ legs and tried to pull them backwards so the turtles couldn’t burrow in the sand. I guess it’s a shrimp eat crab world.

I rescued the sand turtles and put them in their own bucket free of sand turtle hungry critters.

Click here to read an old post on catching and using sand turtles for bait.

New fishing spots, near and far

February 6, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

I had been meaning to try two new wade fishing spots that looked pretty fishy. One was all the way up in Lai’e and the other was just a couples miles east of a Maunalua Bay spot I fish.

The conditions were good last week to fish the Lai’e spot and I made the 1 hr trek out there. I could only reach the reef patches near shore because the shoreline sloped downward and I was quickly in waist deep water. I ended up with at least twenty 5-inch omilus and a couple small white papio. I was really hoping for something that would pull drag but I just couldn’t reach them with gear I had.

obake weke

Today, the West wind was blowing at 15 mph plus. Not great conditions but the Maunalua Bay spot isn’t too far away so I decided to field test a longer, beefier casting rod. I wasn’t expecting too much out of this popular location but I ended up with a mixed bag of small omilus, a small moana, a thick humuhumu, a kaku that shook the hook and a mid-sized obake weke that had me hoping it was an oio.

All the fish caught at Lai’e and Maunalua Bay were released.

Wading a shallow reef shelf is much easier than reaching a scattered, patchy reef from shore.

I needed to increase the weight I was throwing to load the beefier 8 ft rod, and was getting about the same distance I was getting with my lighter weight/7.5 ft rod setup. More field testing needed.

It’s always fun to fish new spots with new gear. And sometimes you don’t have to travel far to catch fish.

Good day to whip the Windward side

January 23, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

not bad for a Kona wind, big WNW swell day

safe from the big WNW swell and Kona winds/rain

Today’s South Shore forecast called for a head high WNW swell wrapping around, combined with Kona (South) winds and a constant drizzle. Sounded like the perfect day to try the Windward side. Sure enough, once I got past Kaneohe most of the rain cleared and the sun poked out a bit. The waves were small and the Kona winds were light. I was hoping for a spot with a patchy reef near shore, with parking safely off the busy Kamehameha Hwy.

It took half an hour of driving back and forth before I settled on a spot after Kahana Bay and before Hau’ula. The tide was about 0.25 feet and rising which made it too deep to wade out. The sandy shoreline with a few small reef spots looked good but only yielded the occasional 5 inch omilu, something I could get back on the South Shore. It takes a lot of luck to stumble upon a spot and actually catch decent fish the first time out. After 1.5 hrs and a bag of cut bait, I realized that I lucked out with the weather but not with the fish.

I got the last bag of cut bait out of the car. I was too lazy to wash off and drive to another spot so I walked the shore line in the opposite direction I had previously fished. This stretch had more wave action and the sand was more muddy and gravelly. Turns out a stream dumped into the ocean there, so it was like fishing a river mouth. In the muddiest section I got a strike that felt like a bigger omilu, and was surprised to land a 4 inch white papio. I almost never catch white papio whipping so I thought this was a fluke but for the next 10 casts or so, I hooked or missed a white papio. On the 11th cast I caught a small toau in the muddy, churny water.

scrappy white papio

The whites are thicker than omilus for their length and put up a more stubborn battle. I kept hoping that a larger white was in with the small ones, but the biggest I landed was about 6 inches. I was soon out of bait but had learned something new. If you find a stretch of beach where the waves reach higher up the shore, exposing coarser sand and receding into muddy water, fish may be hunting prey in the churn.

All in all, a pretty fun catch and release day considering how unfishable the South Shore was.

Hunting oio on the evening zero foot tide

January 14, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

voggy skies, skinny water

The oio weren’t tailing in the shallow reef mounds the last two times out so I tried another spot this evening. This beach has a flatter terrain with a few sandy channels inside of the break. Light Kona winds made for a voggy, glassy surface. The 5 inch omilus were pestering my cut bait on the invasive ogo patches so I cast into a small sand break between the mounds and dragged the weighted bait back.

I felt some light pecking unlike the rapid jerks the omilus make, and something squirted off with a few yards of line. Then the fish realized it was hooked and took off on a smooth 75 yd run. Ahh, finally an oio after so many trips. I had been worried my medium casting rod and level wind reel setup might not be able to handle a big fish since the little omilus put a bend in the tip, but the G Loomis Greenwater rod’s backbone kicked in, and the Shimano Calcutta 200 TE (eBay!) smoothly released the 12 lb fluorocarbon. Resting the rod butt on my holiday-built belly, I took in line when the oio stopped running, and let it take line when it wanted to. The fish let itself be pulled to within 5 yds of me, and then it took off on a 50 yd run. There weren’t any sharp rock piles to get cut off on so I enjoyed the short battle.

4lb oio, I think

In a few minutes I had it close and it was bigger than expected despite coming in rather quickly. I didn’t know of anyone who’d be ready to scrape an oio and make fishcake / lomi oio so I took some clumsy photos and released it. It’s hard to tell how large it was from this picture, but the fish was almost 20 inches (head to fork). I’d guess it was close to 4 lbs because it was fairly thick.

oio imposter

Knowing the oio were around, I put on the top half of a mantis shrimp. I had cut the shrimp in half, lengthwise, because I didn’t want to risk getting stabbed by a lively shrimp. I cast further out into the same channel and despite the previous commotion, I felt something trying to kill the mantis shrimp piece. Expecting the line to peel out again, instead the line pulled in spurts and a medium sized obake weke came up.

I went back to cut bait and finished the day with more of the pesky 5 inch omilus.

All the fish were released unharmed.