South Shore Inshore Sweep on the orange weight!

May 7, 2014 By Scott 4 Comments

calm, overcast conditions

The flats were calm with light Kona winds and overcast skies. Tide was too low for the surfboard so I walked it.

Great day to try the weights painted orange to resemble the eggs of sand turtles.

After 45 mins of inactivity I gave the orange weight 5 more casts before changing back to the regular red color, and boom, an almost legal omilu hit.

Then two legal moanas bit near the reef dropoff.

The bite slowed so I tried the gold kastmaster and all I got was a very confident lizardfish.

Back to the orange weight and cut bait and an oio was on! Papio, oio and goatfish, is that close to an Oahu inshore sweep?

Not sure if the orange color helped but it didn’t seem to hurt.

Decided to catch, photograph and release (CPR) so the fish were alive and moving when I took their pics.

South Shore oio on the flats

May 3, 2014 By Scott 4 Comments

I’m new at fishing the flats for oio. I’ve caught them, though rarely, off sandy beaches and in deep reef channels but am new to stalking them on the south shore flats. The first time I did this, my friend hooked one in a sandy channel as we waded a minus tide but I got blanked. The second time the tide was filling in nicely but I think the sun was too high and the oio had come and gone. Third time’s the charm.

Yesterday, it was overcast and just finished raining in the early afternoon, and the tide had already risen to half a foot. That translated to about 2 feet on the flats. I waded out, casting, while dragging my board. Caught a small omilu on my 3rd cast but figured the slapping sound the board was making would scare the oio so I straddled and cast. 2 casts later I hooked a screamer. I felt kind of foolish sitting on my board in 2 feet of water holding the rod as high as I could so I eventually got off and tried to keep the line off the reef. I was expecting to feel the line rub against the reef followed by me yelling as I got cut off, but I guess the flats don’t have protruding coral heads. The fish made runs of 50 yds or more against the smooth drag of the Calcutta 200 TE bait caster and eventually tired.

Since I had lost the previous 3 oio to coral heads and my friend wanted to make fish cake, I bagged it. I did feel a little bad about killing the fly fisher’s catch and release quarry.

I rested my arms a bit and floated out to a sandy channel and 2 casts later I was on another oio. Before I could decide whether to keep this one it unhooked. Another small omilu and the bite was over even though my fish finder was metering fish on the flats and in the channels. Maybe the tide got too high and the oio made it inside to the shoreline?

I have some theories regarding why the fish bit when and where they did, and even have a secret rig to try out, so I guess I have to go back and gather more data! Click here to see how the experimental rig worked out.

Diamond Head to Waikiki Fisheries Management Area fish report #4

March 31, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

surfboard fishing rig

I completed the last leg of the survey of the Diamond Head to Waikiki Fisheries Management Area (FMA) by fishing the area ending with San Souci Beach, also known as Kaimana Beach. Instead of wading into chest deep water to walk around rock piles and jetties, I floated the area within casting distance of the beach, from my MacGyvered-up surfboard rig. Yup, that’s a portable fish finder. The rubber clasps attached to the board and the tackle bag are from Boardfisher.com.

Fishing the mid-morning rising tide, I was hoping to hook one of the monster Waikiki oios I’ve been hearing about, but instead got the usual suspects.

Christmas wrasse, cigarfish wrasse, common hinalea (saddle wrasse), po’opa’a (stocky hawkfish) and one legal moana (manybar goatfish). Perhaps the oio were further out in the deeper, sandy areas.

Can’t say I’m impressed with the fish stock of the FMA just a little less than 4 months into the open season. We seem to catch more fish at other South Shore spots.

fresh moana

steamed moana

The moana made a nice presentation, steamed up Asian-style by my friend’s mom.

Diamond Head to Waikiki Fisheries Management Area fish report #3

March 20, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

not some remote atoll

Went back to the Diamond Head – Waikiki FMA area for round 3. The tide was dropping below zero feet and the wind initially was manageable when this picture was taken. The contrast of the reef and sand bottom was breathtaking. But the fish didn’t want to bite and the wind made it hard to cast long leaders attached to floats without snagging something on the way out.

It was a “bolo-head” (white wash, nada, zilch, goose eggs) day but I got a chance to chat with Kawika whom I met last week at this spot, and later with Brandon (I think) back at the car. Both generously shared fishing tips even though I warned them that I blog about my fishing experiences! So while I didn’t return home with dinner, I gained something much more valuable.

I’ll give their information a try and report back with the results. Here’s a preview: Kawika tied his own flies to whip explosively behind a large cast-a-bubble. Brandon liked using live bait (‘opae, “sand turtles” (mole crabs) and oama) and turned me on to some “guarantee oio spots” I could board fish in Waikiki.

The Aloha Spirit is still alive with the Oahu fishermen. Just gotta respect their spots and practice Aloha in return.

Diamond Head to Waikiki Fisheries Management Area fish report #2

March 17, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

fishing edge of reef on zero tide

Continuing my survey of the Fisheries Management Area (FMA), I fished from the east most beach park on Diamond Head Road to Tongg’s, which is near the east end of Kapiolani Park. That general area has a very flat reef without too many deep holes, so it’s best to try to walk the reef on a zero foot tide and fish the dropoff or channels that cut through the reef. If you expand the picture you’ll see Kawika doing just that. He said he’s caught some nice fish at the dropoff at times and had caught a legal moana earlier this day. I just got the usual suspects: humus, hinalea and po’opa’a. I finally caught a 6 inch omilu by Tongg’s which was undersized and let go.

Please keep in mind, there are some spots on the shoreline only passable on a very low tide, and please be careful if you venture out to the edge of the reef. Besides sharp rocks, wana (sea urchin) and eels to nip your feet, the waves can surprise you.

If you’re a visitor to Oahu staying in Waikiki, the reef fish can be very accommodating. Use light tackle and a 2 inch grub or piece of bait and you’ll be able to sample the reef fish buffet.

It’s probably best to catch and release if you’re not sure of the legality and edibility of the fish. Here are the minimum size limits, measuring from the nose to the fork of the tail.

Crazy stuff you see fishing the reef dropoff

March 10, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

flat, shallow reef

Took a friend whipping on the south shore who hadn’t fished in more than 10 years. The afternoon trades were blowing and the sky was overcast, which made our initial dip in the water feel a little shocking. Then it started to rain. As we walked further out, the tide was waist high at times and rising, which made it harder to avoid stepping on the sea cucumbers and wana (sea urchin). Not the most comfortable conditions for my friend to reintroduce himself to the ocean.

The fish weren’t biting on the shallow reef so we hop scotched our way to the outer edge where it dropped off into a 12 – 15 foot sandy channel. We were trying to make out the shapes flitting around in the blue water beneath us, when a 4 foot oval brown hump porpoised out of the water 10 feet from us. This only added to the spookiness of the evening. Turns out it was a massive green sea turtle and it turned towards us and almost backed us into a deep hole in the reef; all we had to fend him off with was our poles.

The turtle eventually got tired of scaring us and bobbed back and forth in the open channel about 20 yds away. We went back to peering into the blue abyss and I dropped a bait down. It immediately got hammered by what looked like black humuhumus, saddle wrasse, and dark and light colored kupipi. Then a 2 foot black fish appeared out of nowhere and just as quickly disappeared. The swirling fish were about 10 feet down in the rolling water so we weren’t sure if we imagined that mystery fish. But when I hooked a hinalea, the black fish lunged for it and missed, wisely staying far away from the surface. The hinalea was released and we caught and released a number of fish before the black fish attacked a kupipi larger than my outstretched hand and ripped it off the hook.

My friend, still shaken by the turtle that was bobbing up and down making noises like an old man snoring, was captivated yet a bit uneasy watching the cycle of life struggle below. More determined to see what this dark marauder was, I dropped the bait down again, felt the rat-ta-tat-tat of a hinalea and then a half second later the line was peeling off my reel. The powerful fish ran for about 3 seconds and then the pull of the line stopped. A scuffed up hinalea was pulled up and when I lowered the hinalea back down it quickly got stuck in the rocks.

I strongly suspect the mystery fish was a roi (peacock grouper) and that it nailed the hinalea and holed up tight in the reef. I couldn’t free the line and had to break it off. Too bad because the roi are invasive predators that are so effective at catching reef fish that they are wiping out a lot of the native fish.

There’s literally a bounty on the roi. There are skin diver tournaments to see how many roi can be killed, and fishermen are being encouraged to catch and kill as many as possible. It’s believed that since the roi were not indigenous to Hawaiian waters, the Hawaii fish here still haven’t figured out that the roi are just waiting to pounce on them. From what we saw peering down into the edge of the reef, this appears to be true.

This photo was copied from the University of Hawaii’s Malamlama website. Beautiful fish, really efficient predator.

Diamond Head to Waikiki Fisheries Management Area fish report #1

March 6, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

shoreline dunking

The State of HI closes the area from the Diamond Head lighthouse to the ewa (west) end of the Natatorium every odd-numbered year. The area opened the first of this year to the usual craziness so I was curious if the mayhem had subsided. When I checked the area just west of the lighthouse, there was 1 diver in the water and a few fishermen on shore but nothing like the beginning of the year madness.

All the naive fish have been removed from the gene pool after 2 full months of fishing, and the tidepools were missing the large schools of bait fish present during the “off” year, but there were still a few fish left on the reef.

bright red moana

The fish I caught were mainly under the legal size limit or not that desirable although they still were a lot of fun to catch and release. The motley crew included small omilu, large lizardfish, jumbo humuhumuapua’as, Christmas wrasse and this beautiful moana (manybar goatfish).

I don’t believe the 1 year closed period is enough to increase fish population in this area since all it seems to do is give the fish a false sense of security only to be easy prey the following year. An increase in the permanently closed area of Waikiki or a longer closed period would seem to be more effective.

The purity of fishing

February 24, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

Good times

Took some new friends, Kelly and Colleen, to the dependable South Shore spot expecting to have a repeat of the hot omilu papio action we experienced a few days ago. The tide didn’t rise as quickly as I had hoped and the omilus were no where to be found. As their host I was disappointed but it turns out they really enjoyed the calm water and abundance of life in the tide pools.

They were able to see all kinds of reef fish I had previously ignored, and were able to pull in aholehole, hinalea and monster kupipi. In the end they taught me that the purity of fishing with others is the fellowship and tug of something alive at the end of the line.

South Shore Omilus

February 19, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

Fished the secret South Shore spot with my friend Frank and as expected, the spot produced and Frank hammered the omilus. They were a better grade today with a few stretching past the 10″ minimum size. Although they were the perfect pan fry size, all were released.

The fish bit on the first 1/3 of the tidal rise from 0.0 feet and shut off as the tide was halfway to its peak.

What’s stronger, baby Omilu or Kansas pond Crappie?

February 12, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

baby omilus feeding
(Neighbor Island location, photo by JC)

Took a friend from Kansas to a spot on the south shore that gets pounded by divers and fishermen every single day, yet continues to produce. Sure enough there was a guy feverishly whipping the shallows. As we fished about 50 yds from him, a diver made his way through our area. The rising afternoon tide combined with the diver’s activity seemed to stir the juvenile omilu (bluefin trevally) bite. We ended up with 2 or 3 each and I had one rip drag and unbutton before we could see it. My Kansas friend was impressed with how those 4 – 6 inch omilus pulled compared to pond crappie of similar size.

The omilus were far from the minimum 10″ head to fork-of-tail length and were released unharmed. Bait was a homemade secret.