Holoholo: Fishing during the winter months

April 3, 2020 By Scott 10 Comments

Our Middle School Holoholo writer Matthew is social distancing like the rest of us, and took up fly tying! He also wanted to share how tough this Winter has been for him.

These past few months have been great for a lot of people, but they’ve been the worst four months in all the time I’ve been fishing. During December, January, February, and March, I went fishing a total of 39 times, sometimes going two different spots in one day (mostly because winter and spring break fall in those months) and only caught a measly total of 7 notable fish (not counting a bunch of Hinalea, Nunu, and Lizardfish), which were a 2-3 lb Omilu, a 2 lb Omilu, Three good size Moana, and a small Kaku. Not counting as a fish, but I did catch my first ever Samoan Crab on rod and reel. I tried a bunch of spots, deep and shallow, and tried just about every technique from flies, kastmasters, grubs, to dunking but still not much. I had the mentality, “If I keep pounding I’ll eventually get something”, but eventually it seemed like it would not get better, so I’m giving up until summer, or until this coronavirus passes, which I hope it will. On a positive note, pretty much everyone else has been catching a lot of stuff, with more Papio popping up on my Instagram feed. Certain hammahs have been catching like it’s still summer at certain deep spots, or wading.

In the downtime, I decided to pick up fly tying. I’m figuring if I can’t catch fish I might as well stock up for when the fish are actually biting. At first, I had no idea, and the flies looked horrible. I had no idea what to do, and I just used nail polish to get the flies together at the head. I kept trying, got a little better, my UV flashlight and UV resin came in, and I was able to finally add eyes to some flies.

After a lot of refining the design of the flies, I think I am starting to get the hang of it, but I still have a very long way to go to get to the level that other local fly makers are at. Eventually, I want to sell some to pay back the significant amount of money all the fly materials and tools cost. If anyone has any tips for me they would be greatly appreciated, from materials to different designs I could try, everything would help me.

Good luck to all of you guys that are still going fishing now, although it seems like everyone is doing quite fine. Stay safe and healthy during this outbreak and practice social distancing.

Holoholo: 1st ono off Big Island kayak

August 2, 2018 By Scott 2 Comments

Jorden and his wife Dominique have actively supported PIFG’s Tag It program with beautiful photos of their tagged papio/ulua for use in the Lawai’a magazine. They’ve been kayak fishing off the Big Island for about a year, targeting bigger and better fish. I’ve asked Jorden to describe his most recent kayak fishing accomplishment so Frank and I can prepare for the deep water pelagics.

Jorden:
My wife and I launched our 13 ft Hobie Outbacks from shore around 9:00am. After trying for small inshore game for bait with little success, we decided to head out to deeper waters for pelagic species before the winds picked up. At about the 100 ft depth I pulled out the largest frozen opelu I had, which was hooked on my pre-made leader set-up that included 6ft of 80 lb Yo-zuri topknot fluorocarbon leader with a 7/0 live bait hook put through the head, which was connected to 7 inches of 120 lb Malin wire attached to a 4/0 treble hook that I attached near the posterior end of the bait. This leader set-up was connected to the mainline on a 5 1/2 ft Seeker trolling rod/Shimano TLD 30 loaded with 200 yd of 200 lb braid and about 150 ft of 80 lb mono for some stretch.

I let out about 75-100 ft of mono and began trolling. After about an hour or so of trolling and no action I decided to do a bait check by giving the rod a couple of pulls and BANG! The reel screamed off about 25 yd of line, then slowed. I began to fight the fish which felt nice and heavy. A couple more solid runs then nothing….. I reeled in about 30 ft of slack line and then the reel started screaming again. After a few similar situations of the fish running away then towards the kayak, the fish started circling the kayak. As the fish approached the kayak it gave one more run and then I finally saw color… A long shiny spearhead shape appeared and I knew immediately that it was an ono, which I’ve wanted to catch for 20 years. I pulled out my kage and with one shot, speared the fish perfectly and the fight was over. It’s quite a feeling to have a fish like this lay across your lap.

I feel extremely fortunate to have landed this fish given that it had completely swallowed both hooks, but didn’t cut through the leader. The rudder and mirage drive system on the Hobie was clutch, which enabled me to adjust the kayak to best fight the fish. Not only did this fish provide an awesome experience, but also provided us with weeks worth of ono food. We didn’t weigh it, but guess it weighed somewhere around 35lb.

Guest Post: Throw in the blind, make any kine – results in 100lb plus ulua towing the small boat

July 5, 2018 By Scott 8 Comments

Erik knows how big ulua pull and what they look like. The one he lost was much bigger than this.

This post is from my fishing buddy Erik who has taken me out on both his 14 ft aluminum skiff and 16 ft Livingston, and taught me how to jig three years ago and is currently teaching me how to call up the papio with poppers. He is a very talented videographer with a huge following on Instagram (@fishoahu).

The one that Got Away.

If you’ve been fishing long enough then you have at least one story about the “one that got away.” It’s usually that “one” fish that makes us buy more/better equipment, wake up earlier, study more tides/times and keep us up at night pondering “what-if situations.” Here’s the story of my most memorable “one that got away.”

This fishing outing started early at 5:30am from my grandma’s beach house on my trusty tinboat with my friend Kekoa (who helped me land my shibi in another post). The plan was to scout the early summer papio (smaller Giant Trevally) bite. I had onboard my medium-light 8’ ugly stik rod paired to a 4000 shimano twinpower XD loaded with PE 1.5 braid FG-knotted to 25lb leader line and finished with a studio ocean mark, ocean snap swivel that I planned to throw a new bass lure that was shaped like a mouse. I got it at Bass Pro Shop while on vacation in Orlando so named it Mickey Mouse Lure since we went to Disney World for 5 days while up there. It’s actually the Live Target Field Mouse. Kekoa was using his Penn plugging rod and 6K Shimano Saragosa that he planned to throw on his yo-zuri hydro popper.

We started off fishing at a spot that was really good for us last year and lures hit the water around 6am. Kekoa was gurgling the hydro popper and I was figuring out my mouse lure while we drove into the lighter winds and drifted while casting and retrieving. After the first ½ hour without seeing a single thing in the area we ventured just outside of it and kept doing that at different depths until we covered a good majority of the general place to determine there was nothing but a couple tiny papio’s that would follow the lures to the boat. I called the spot off and headed to another spot that had been productive for me in the past. I was noticing the wind was picking up and now it was past 7:30 and we had nothing to show for our fishing trip. Our spirits weren’t dampened as we were talking fishing and enjoying being out there but our expectations were lowering as the sun was well above the horizon. Before we got to the next spot I noticed the wind had definitely picked up and was causing us to drift so fast that we could only get a few casts in before we had to motor back up to take another drift.

On a normal day I would never have started the drift where I did but I told Kekoa:
“the wind blowing us too fast so I going start here”
to which he responded:
“I don’t care, that’s how we caught the shibi by throwing in the blind.”
I laughed and said:
“you know us, make any-kine.”

Well . . . Call it fate, intuition or luck but once Kekoa started the retrieve on his first cast . . . BOOM! Shoom. Splish. whack! I watched as many as 5 papios were breaching the surface of the water in hot pursuit of his lure. I quickly aimed my mouse-lure toward the side and beyond where Kekoa was now hooked-up and I burned the lure over the top of the water as fast as I could watching its short body and long tail skim across the surface. In no time the school was on my lure chasing it down. The papio were in such rare form because they don’t usually breach until they hit the lure and this morning they were breaching while chasing the lure in a way that reminded me of dolphins breaching while swimming in a school, only faster and angrier.

Kekoa landed one around 4lbs and I landed one about 2-3lbs, we snapped pictures/videos, released one, kept one and headed back up for another drift. Same thing again, Kekoa got on first and I hooked up next. Kekoa got his in the boat and then felt what I thought was the dreaded first run of a shark that got my fish. Ugh! Kekoa asked if he should stop fishing to help and I told him “no, keep going.” I held on in anticipation of getting my line cut and Kekoa was able to land another papio. As I was holding on I was noticing the run wasn’t really feeling like a shark. I could also feel that the hook was secure in whatever was on. The unknown fish was taking line in quick-runs and was now towing the dinghy 50 feet away from where we were. This ended Kekoa’s bite and also piqued his interest as to what I had on. The fish slowed and was taking us around a reef so I maneuvered the boat to keep my line straight and away from getting cut on the reef. I made the decision to chase this fish down and try to tire it out and Kekoa was happy to oblige. I looked down at my Nixon supertide watch and the fight-time started an estimated 15 minutes prior. At this point the fish didn’t seem to mind being hooked too much as it moved slowly around wherever it wanted. I kept steady pressure as I maneuvered the boat to keep line taut. 30 minutes into the fight and we notice the fish is heading out to open ocean. At this point I know that there is a BIG fish at the end of my little pole.

Without giving away too much about where I’m fishing just know that I’m inside of Kaneohe Bay. To get out of Kaneohe bay with a normal sized boat you’d have to go out 1 of 2 channels (sampan or chinamans hat) because in between those two channels is almost 2 miles of shallow reef and our famous sandbar. Luckily my tinboat has a shallow draft so 95% of the time I’m able to get over reefs/sandbar without a problem.

45 minutes into the fight and now Kekoa has to take over driving because once we go over the reef area/sandbar, the waves/swell are not held back by it. Kekoa takes the tiller and I move toward the middle of the boat carefully. During this point water is slightly murky from the churned up sand of the wind and waves but visibility to 15 feet is ok and good in about 5-10 feet. We’ve been staying on top of the fish this entire time with hopes that it is easier to turn its head on its way up. The beast stays away from the boat and is now on top of the reef. Kekoa motors to it slowly and just as we approach it ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! Holy hell. The fish takes off and sends my spool in reverse peeling line at an extraordinary rate. Whatever it is I think did NOT like the look of the boat and was getting irritated at the lip pinch. I know now that the hook is very secure and max out my drag at 24lbs because the fish is taking us straight to where waves are breaking. Kekoa has gotten a good feel of how the boat moves, throttle sensitivity and shifting between drive and neutral. We chase the fish and when we’re almost to it, it takes off again at crazy speeds but now into the waves. I instruct Kekoa to let the wave pass and then thread the needle between waves to chase the fish again once it’s on the other side of the break. He completes the mission flawlessly and the fish is still playing with us. The fish goes back through the waves again! Ok, bet! Kekoa again performs well navigating us over the humps and dealing with a little white water. And now I can see Kekoa is getting close to the fish as my line nears the boat in 10-15 feet of water.

I stand up in anticipation of getting a glimpse of the monster when time stops. My eyes and mind were working in hyper-drive trying to understand what is was. No short-thick pectoral fins sticking out like shark, no dorsal fin like shark. Oh wow. Just WOW. It was a sight I’m not sure I can ever unsee. The seconds of time that replay in my mind that haunted me for a week after. The ulua was as long as my arms outstretched. It was almost half the size of the of the 14 foot dinghy I was standing in. The top of the fish was wide and looked about a foot thick. I watched in awe as it let me witness it’s trademark ulua sway (just like when we release them from the boat) right before it said bye-bye and took yet another disheartening run. Kekoa was unable to see the size of the fish but saw the silver color of it. We chased the fish and Kekoa’s quick learning kept us safe and on top of it for another hour as it took us through more waves and into 30-40 feet of water and on an approximately ¾ mile journey until I made the decision to lock the drag and break it off. After seeing the size of it and knowing it had that much energy to keep running at that rate, I felt helpless against it. Thoughts of getting to shore away from the waves, if my gear would hold up, how long would I have to wait to see if it even remotely tires were just a few thoughts going through my mind.

I felt a sense of ease when I broke my line off as I knew that it was still out there. Over 2 hours of fighting, over an hour of max drag, staying on top of the fish and still it was pulling us wherever it wanted. I was saddened but content. Kekoa and I talked about the battle and I told him:
“you must be a good luck charm because I also got my biggest shibi with you on this boat.”
Kekoa was the one to laugh now and said:
“Yeah, and we did the same thing. Just throw in the blind.”
I then smiled and quickly blurted out:
“That’s how we do! Throw in the blind. Make any-kine.”
That gave us a good laugh as we kept repeating it and saying that was now our motto. The drive back to the beach house to wash up was now one of amazement and joy and much less about heartbreak or disappointment.
I hope I get another chance to battle with that beast.

Guest Post: Young angler hooks omilu off the sardine pile!

June 27, 2018 By Scott 8 Comments

Matthew is one of the Next Generation anglers who has been learning the ways of the Lawai’a (Hawaiian fisherman) by respectfully watching and learning from the uncles. He’s a very active fish tagger and has a large following on Instagram (@Shorefishing_Oahu_Style). I had communicated with Matthew over social media for almost 2 yrs and thought it was time we should fish together!

Matthew:
It was a good day with light winds, and a favorable tide, so I invited Scott, the owner/editor of this blog, to come out and fish with me at my sardine and halalu spot. The spot that we went to is usually junk unless the bait comes in.

I got to the spot before Scott did and quickly spotted the dark blob in the sandy area that meant there was a school close to the beach. I got my flow-troll and rope and tied it to me as I waded in the clear water. The school was only around 20 yards from shore which was good, but what wasn’t good was that I was barefoot and my feet were getting bust up from the scattered sharp rocks.

There’s a sardine in Matthew’s left hand if you look closely.

I used the smallest size damashi (which is basically a dunking rig with 6 hooked flies on it). Size 4 will work, but size 3 is the best – any larger and they wont bite it. You could also snag them, but they get smart after a while. I was averaging one sardine per 3 casts which isn’t that bad. When Scott arrived, he was whipping with a sardine-colored Shimano Waxwing Boy. The few predators that were busting up on the pile were smart enough to not eat his lures, unfortunately.

After I got enough for bait, I rigged up a live sardine rig, hooked a rather large sardine in the mouth, and cast it right past the pile exactly when an Omilu blew up on the school. Not even 3 seconds after the Sardine hit the water, my rod bent and a good sized 14 inch Omilu was on! It was a rather short but hard fight. I tagged and released the Omilu for it to hopefully get recaptured someday. If any of you are interested in tagging fish, you can visit fishtoday.org/tagit. After multiple attempts to catch more big fish, but to no avail, I switched back to sardine fishing. At around 5:00 P.M., they really started biting. I was getting one or two almost every cast. Then something really big came in and went bananas on the pile. Every minute, the whole pile jumped and there was a huge splash as the either big papio or small ulua busted the pile.

In the end, I caught 54 sardines, 2 halalu, and that Omilu. I ended up catching a decent Oio the day after and then another good sized Omilu.

The sardines are in, the Oama are starting to trickle in, and the Halalu are in if you know where to find them. The predators are often too smart to eat lures. Live bait is always best. It’s summer! Go gettem guys!

Matthew Ikeda
Instagram – @Shorefishing_Oahu_Style

Editor’s note: I’m amazed at Matthew’s ability to become such a successful fisher guy after only fishing for 3 yrs and just being in middle school. His writing is top notch and he even snuck in a bait status report. He might be “angling” for my job. But… he did make one mistake. He caught 53 sardines, not 54, because he insisted I try to catch one with his damashi rig. After I tangled the rig a couple of times because I reeled it through the top guide, I finally caught a dumb sardine that swallowed the hook and Matthew had to yank out the hook.

Guest Post: Ono on only second kayak trip ever!

March 19, 2018 By Scott 4 Comments

Frank and I first fished together in 2014 just as this website’s blog began. He is a very accomplished longboard surfer of Hawaii surfing aristocracy, and was my surfing and church mentor. Frank’s family had a small boat when he was growing up that they used to target reef fish but he was much more experienced with a surfboard than a fishing rod. In the spring of 2017 we made an effort to fish together more often, starting with some top water whipping. As expected, Frank quickly caught on to the art of retrieving surface lures and landed good size kaku. Here’s one of those kaku top water trip reports.

Then Frank modified his stand up paddle board (SUP) to sit and paddle kayak style. With that, he had a very light watercraft he could safely paddle around to troll and whip. We started in the protective bays to get used to fighting fish in the relatively cramped, seated position (I was on a kayak), and began to venture near the surf break. By the fall of 2017, we were going past the surf line, dragging live and dead oama. Frank was much less prone to capsizing on his SUP than I was on the yak, and he did especially well fishing just behind the waves. Here’s one of our productive days.

The inshore bite came to a screeching halt in the winter of 2017, so we carefully went deeper on vary calm days. At least a third of the time the wind came up and we had to paddle in for safety, but when we could fish the deep we began to see schools of bait on the fish finder, and we stumbled upon small uku and papio in the 40 – 60 ft depths. I wouldn’t have attempted to kayak fish past the reef if I didn’t have Frank as a very competent water safety/fishing partner. Hard to believe how far we progressed in just one year of fishing on the SUP/kayak!

This trip took place in the first week of December, 2017. I am a little uncomfortable with his words of appreciation but didn’t want to edit it all out!

Frank:
Planning and packing the night before my next fishing adventure and OJT (on the job training) with Scott was extra exciting. This will be my 2nd time on his Swing kayak and first time using Scott’s fish finder. Our main plan was to jig in deeper water and this will be my 1st time jigging. Scott instructed me to join a 25 lb floro leader line to the 30 lb Suffix Braid line that Scott gave me to fill my Penn 440 SS. He has choke top of the line fishing gear and he’s so generous. Scott showed me the Uni knot a long time ago while teaching me top water lure fishing. Of course I forgot so I had to use instructions with pictures. Tying the Uni knots took a while but it came out pretty good, I hoped. I made sure I packed the jigs Scott gave me. My first plan was to troll oama on the way out prior to meeting Scott in the deep for my OJT jigging session. So I had to pack pre-tied leader lines and hooks and stage the frozen bait to load the next morning. Fishing gear, rinse off water, fishing/change clothes and paddle was now in the car. After going through my new check list (for kayak fishing) it was time to sleep.

We met at our launch site about 8am and the ocean conditions were perfect, what a Blessing! After unloading and setting up the kayaks with fishing gear, Scott briefed me on how to read the fish finder and how to attach/remove the jigs on the Anglers Power Clips along with some jigging techniques. We made sure our safety gear was secured, walkie talkie radios loud and clear and cars were locked. We dragged the kayaks into the water and I said a pule before hopping on the kayak. As we started paddling that’s when I realized that I forgot the oama. I grabbed the Arctic Ice pack from the freezer for my fish bag but forgot the oama. I told Scott my plan to troll was canceled so I concentrated on the fish finder. It’s an amazing tool to measure depth and see fishes. It was cool to see the change from 30’ to 100’ and the scattered fishes at different depths.

We paddled to an area where there were a lot of fish so we started jigging. I picked a Live Deception jig and attached it to the clip, then double checked that it was secured. As I was dropping the jig down I was so thankful for the super calm day as the line was almost straight down. After hitting the bottom I started slow jigging while trying to follow Scott’s instructions. It took me a long time to get a good rhythm while untangling the line tangled around the rod tip during the lifting and dropping motion. After a few drops I paddled to another area that the fish finder (FF) was marking fish. After slow jigging for a while I changed jigs and tried jigging again using different jigging techniques. After a few more drops and tangled line on the rod tip I changed the jig again and tied my luck again but no takers. I think the fishes knew there was a rookie on the other end of this jig. I drifted apart from Scott so I reeled up the jig roughly half way up, put the pole in the pole holder, attached the safety clip to the reel and started paddling toward Scott. The water was so calm and clear that I spotted a long silver fish about 30’ to 50’ down just cruising. I thought it was pretty cool to be able see a good size fish swimming right under me.

After paddling for about 45 seconds the pole bent over and my first thought was I snagged the bottom. I realized that I reeled the jig up quite a bit before paddling so it couldn’t be a snag, and then the pole started reacting like a hookup. I grabbed the rod and reel from the pole holder and the fish took off taking line with ease. After two long runs I was thinking the fish was going to spool me so I tightened the drag a little. It stopped taking line but the fish was pulling me East. I finally had the chance to call Scott and tell him I had a good size fish on. He started paddling towards me while my good fun battle continued. Our give and take tug o’ war lasted a few minutes when the line went kinda slack so I reeled in as fast as I could remembering my last adventure fighting a good size heavy fish from a boat. That boat fight lasted over 50 minutes when the fish started swimming toward the boat and I didn’t know to take up the slack in that situation. The fish turned and I felt a tug on the line and I lost that battle.

In this battle I prayed I didn’t lose the fish as I reeled in fast until I felt the fish’s tug again then panic turned to joy again. Scott was close enough to watch his kayak being towed by a fish. He yelled with excitement and encouragement saying to take my time. But Scott also said on the walkie talkie that I should try land the fish ASAP because the possibility of sharks.

Editor’s note: I said that because my feet were in the water for balance to help land the fish and I didn’t want to become shark bait!

I didn’t”t want my first good size fish from a kayak taken as an easy meal so I picked up the pace. The fish was getting closer and it also started swimming in a counter clockwise direction around the kayak. It wasn’t close enough to see color but it did keep me busy reeling in while trying to keep the line clear of the bow and the stern of the yak as it kept circling in the same direction. My poIe was just long enough to clear both ends of the yak, another Blessing. I could reel in line only when the fish was on the port and starboard side of the yak. After uncountable circles around the yak I finally could see a sliver color. I told Scott it was a Mahi Mahi but it was an Ono. Scott soon paddled in closer to see the sleek silver fish still swimming around the yak. Scott’s excitement got me more excited. As the fish got closer we started talking about how we going land our very first Pelagic on kayaks. Scott got close enough to see that the jig was hooked to the left side fin which prevented its sharp teeth from cutting the 25 lb. leader line. Another Blessing and more excitement but we still needed a plan to land the Ono with a round gaff or a “bonker gaff” used to pull Alaskan halibut aboard boats and then bonk ’em. Problem was both were on Scott’s yak. The Ono was still circling the yak but was slowing down. We agreed that as the Ono circled around in between our yaks Scott would gaff with the bonker gaff. As the ono was coming along my port side Scott saw that the ono was making a U-turn around the transducer. His calm voice turned to frantic instructions to free the line from the transducer to prevent cutting. The wrap was loose so I freed it easily. The ono continued in the same direction but did the same U-turn. It was like an instant replay with the coach yelling from the side lines. Kinda funny now but nobody was laughing at that moment. Good thing the Ono was tired and swimming slow, the line was easily cleared from the transducer, another Blessing. The transducer was tilted out of the water and it was time to gaff this fish. Scott got into position (my starboard side) and was ready with the bonker gaff. The Ono made one lap around my yak and heading next to Scott but was little too deep to gaff so I reeled in more line as it made one more lap. It cleared my stern and was heading to Scott right below the surface. As it got within Scott’s reach he used one chopping motion to set the gaff but pulled up and immediately said he didn’t want to cut the line using that gaff. I reeled up to the leader and had the fish on the starboard side of the yak. Scott said he was going to hand me the bonker gaff as he paddled to my port side. After he gave me the gaff the fish swam in the same counter clockwise direction around to the port side. I grabbed the leader line, pulled the Ono along side the yak and inserted the gaff into the gill and lifted it on board. The Ono was barely moving and my coach said to make sure it was dead so I used the back side to the bonker to knock em out. Now we could celebrate, take a few pics and relax after a exciting battle. Our first pelagic! A Blessing from God! I didn’t even know what a pelagic was until my coach told me.

Our challenge wasn’t over yet. Our Ono was longer than my Seattle Sports fish bag which is 20” long and we were about a mile from shore. While we were deciding what to do to keep our Ono fresh, Scott was marking a lot of fish around him and his attention quickly focused on catching another pelagic. My mind was on sashimi, fried fish and fish soup. I looked at the fish and the fish bag lengths and figured half of the fish would fit in my bag. A thought came to mind. Scott had the exact same bag with the same Arctic Ice pack and was empty. If I put the other half of the Ono in Scott’s bag and butt the openings together, the Ono would have a better chance of staying cool. Scott let me use his fish bag and the Ono fit perfectly, still another Blessing.

I watched Scott fish while I rested and hydrated. After a few minutes I told Scott I was going to start my long paddle in. He was going to fish a little more then head in also. After a radio check I started my paddle in, still in awe of what an exciting adventure this trip turned out to be. An adventure filled with excitement, flashbacks, panic, joy and choke Blessings. And I got to share this special experience with a great friend and fishing sensei.

We finally made it to shore safely, our biggest Blessing. Within an hour we were at Scott’s house. The makeshift Seattle Sports fish bags and Arctic Ice packs kept our Ono surprisingly cool. After a weigh in at 11 lbs and a few more pics, the Ono was cleaned, cut, bagged and iced in a cooler. We were able to Bless our families, FWA (Fishing With Aloha) brothers Scott, Kelly, Erik and Thad, and a friend who fabricated Scott’s transducer holder with fresh Ono.

When I asked Frank to take a photo of the Xesta After Burner swimming jig he caught the ono on, he decided to wear it as a necklace.

This fishing trip definitely tops the list of all my fishing adventures since retiring and learning to fish more seriously under Scott’s tutelage. Mahalo to the FWA guys who humbly shared their many years of fishing knowledge and experiences which has helped me enjoy fishing, catch fish and see more our beautiful Aina (from the ocean). They even stretched me to write this article which is harder than tying knots. Mahalo & Aloha ke akua.

Guest Post: Shibi catch of a lifetime on aluminum skiff

January 7, 2018 By Scott 13 Comments

This post is from my fishing buddy Erik who has taken me out on both his 14 ft aluminum skiff and 16 ft Livingston, and taught me how to jig two years ago. He is a very talented videographer with a huge following on Instagram (@fishoahu). We’ve also shore fished together but didn’t do nearly as well land-based. 😉

Aloha fellow lawaia,

This is the story of my first shibi.

This day I planned to go out for a half-day whipping/plugging session from our 14ft. Aluminum Lowe skiff paired with a 9.9hp Yamaha tiller. My dad (usual fishing partner) was in a training off-island and weather was calling for very calm winds so I invited my cousin’s boyfriend, Kekoa along with me. Kekoa’s only other time with us had been using small poppers on our 16ft Livingston a few weeks prior. We didn’t do so well that day so I wanted to see if I could put him on a fish.

Swap Meet kage!

The night before we headed out I packed my usual gear along with my new Garmin Striker Fish Finder/Chart plotter, a $10 Kage I found at the swap meet and one lure that was speaking to me. I’d been reading and seeing a lot of posts about the Shimano Head Dip lure but didn’t have one to throw. Most of my time spent throwing top-water lures has been with poppers that have cupped-faces. A 60 gram GT Fight Club floating stickbait, “Oddyssey” was thrown into my lure box along with some other poppers.

The morning of our trip, Kekoa and I met at 6am at my grandma Filomena’s oceanfront rental property, loaded up the boat and were on the water just before seven. The skies were clear and the water inside Kaneohe Bay looked like a lake. Anxious about getting Kekoa a bite, I hastily stopped at a reef where I’ve had pretty consistent bites from papios. Since the wind was non-existent and the tide was at its lowest and heading up, the drift was very slow. After a few casts with nothing chasing or hitting, I quickly decided to head out to deeper waters. My plan was to get as far and fast as we could to fish places that are typically less-fished (because of normal rough conditions) while it was still early.

Only 15 minutes into the full-throttle run I spot a school of bait-fish “snapping” at the top of the water. I motioned to Kekoa and tell him “look over there!” His eyes lit up and I tell him to put on a lure and get ready. The school looked to be maybe 15ft. circumference? and they glistened at the top of calm seas. We could see clear to the bottom of the reef and I guessed we were in about 30 ft of water. Kekoa put a yo-zuri hydro popper on his Daiwa setup and waited for me to position the boat. I pull up close to the school and Kekoa starts casting around it. I turned the motor off to drift and just observed the school a bit while Kekoa was fishing. I didn’t know what the bait fish was so I stood up in the boat and thought that I saw bluish back with yellow tails . . . Opelu?!? I’ve never heard of opelu schooling on the top like that and it definitely wasn’t nenue or awa (what I normally see) so I was puzzled. The school of bait seemed mostly unaffected by Kekoa’s popper but sometimes the school would scurry below the surface if the lure got too close. The school would always reappear at the surface after a few moments. Since Kekoa was on top-water and I could see that the bait fish weren’t getting hit by big predators I decided to try drop a damashi to catch one of the bait fish. While I’m setting up my rig I see Kekoa hooked-up. He’s fighting the fish well and it’s giving him some small runs. He gets the fish boat-side and is smiling ear-to-ear. Kekoa easily hoists the 11” omilu into the boat and we feel that the pressure to produce is now off.

Notice the ceramic eye that popped out, exposing metal ring

After repositioning a couple times to stay near the school we managed to get really lucky and have the school nearly run into the boat. When the school got really close I hooked a small fish on my damashi. It was a medium sized la’i. Was that what that school of bait was?!? I rigged the la’i up for live-bait, Kekoa continued whipping and I decided to try out the new GTFC floating stick bait. I threw the stickbait out and watched it sail across the clear blue sky before a loud splash-down. I kept the rod-tip low and gave the lure some small sweeps. I liked the way the lure disappeared for a second and then reappeared at the surface making the water move around it. On my 3rd cast . . . BOOM! I got a big blowup on the lure. Kekoa quickly turned his head and looked at me and I realized he heard what happened. Because the wind was so light the bait fish-snapping sounded like someone nervously tapping a pen on a desk and when the fish came up to my lure it sounded like someone loudly slapping the water. The fish didn’t stick or come back for the lure so I inspected it and found a couple nicks. There were no scratches in the lure so I could only guess it was an ulua. I also looked at my daiwa coastal rod and saw that the ceramic inner part of the eye separated from the 4th guide. There was enough pressure to fit the ceramic piece back into place but I wasn’t too confident it would last the rest of the session without causing damage or knots. After that hit, our hopes grew but we were having a harder time staying around the bait pile as the sun rose. While we kept repositioning I continually checked the live-bait but nothing was happening to it.

At 8ish we decide to go deep and try bottom fish. On the way to the bottom fishing area we spot the school and are were positioned to get a better look because the sun was at our back. I stand up and see the bait fish and then to my surprise I see an approximately 3ft long black-backed fish right in the middle of the school. I didn’t know what to make of it so I slowed down and tossed the live-bait back out to troll it with the school, hoping that the big fish would see an easy breakfast. The school was getting harder and harder to keep up with because it wasn’t staying at the surface as long and starting to go deep. We also noticed that there was more than one school of that bait fish. Nothing was happening to my live-bait after 10 minutes so I pulled it up and throttled towards the bottom fishing area. We arrive at the bottom fishing spot and I look at the fish finder and see some small stuff at 100 ft. I drop a damashi rig and Kekoa continues on topwater. I wasn’t getting anything deep but was having fun watching the new fish finder. Our drift was pushing us from deep to shallow and noticed that visibility was great to 80 feet. I wasn’t getting bit on the damashi after a couple long drifts so I went back to topwater with the GTFC Odyssey lure. We were still seeing the bait schools which gave us hope.

We were drifting into 60 feet of water when I got the bites I’d never forget. I stuck with the same retrieve that caught the interest of the previous fish. I was able to get a hookup on the third cast but the fish quickly came off. My sixth cast proved that “keep casting” pays off. I didn’t realize that I was filming during the hookup as I usually turn my camera on after I’ve hooked-up (which is why I didn’t get the blistering first run and chase-down with the boat). I realized after I watched the footage that I turned the camera on while bottom fishing because I had a fish on that got off and then forgot to stop recording. In the video after the hookup and when the fish started taking the first run you’ll see my hand go over the camera. That’s when I thought I was turning the camera on! What happened between that time and when I finally turned the camera back on was lots of excitement followed by some nervousness. When I turned the camera off during the initial run the fish dumped about 1/2 my spool very quickly. The fish headed down and then toward deeper water. I realized then that I didn’t have a small fish on and told Kekoa that I wanted to turn the motor on in case I had to really chase the fish. I started the motor and the fish was still running so I put the boat into gear and headed towards it while gaining some line back. Once I was over the fish I put the boat into neutral and Kekoa had cleared the deck and was in position to help me land whatever was at the end of my line. While watching me fight the shibi he noticed that the red blinking light on my GoPro wasn’t running like it usually is while filming. I quickly looked down to see that it was off and was so bummed that it wasn’t filming but was grateful he noticed so that I could turn it on. Anyhow, here’s the edited video of what ensued:

The video tells the majority of the story but aside from some prayers here’s some things that kept racing through my mind during the battle:

“is that ceramic eye going to pop-off on one of these runs?”

“is my drag setting too loose/tight?”

“why the hell didn’t we bring a gaff?”

Since the last part of the video was cut-off due to my sd card not having available space here’s what happened: We realized we had to secure the fish with the kage and Kekoa gripped it tightly while watching the fish’s every move. I started to slowly scoot over to the opposite side of the skiff to counter balance Kekoa’s weight and give my pole more leverage to get the fish boat side. The fish was near the top of the water on the next go around and Kekoa hit the fish square in the body. The fish splashed hard as it freed itself from the kage, Kekoa held onto the kage and the fish was free to take another run. The fish tried to swim away but I could feel that Kekoa hit the fish where it hurt. I saw blood trailing only 10 feet to where the fish was and could feel the “fight” was leaving the fish. I quickly angled my rod around for Kekoa to spear the Shibi with the securing blow and this time the fish could not swim off the kage. Kekoa moved fast to grab the tail and expertly lifted the fish into the boat. WE. WERE. . . what’s a word for ecstatic-elated-relieved-overwhelmed? Because that’s what we were. We immediately low-fived and let out some yell’s that I swear could’ve been heard from Hawaii Kai.

Erik holding the Oddyssey, Kekoa holding the shibi

I never expected a catch like this and the amount of ice and size of cooler showed it. I knew that we had to make sure that the fish was taken care of so that the meat stayed fresh, so we immediately bled it and headed back in. The entire 25 minute ride back was full of talking about the battle, looking at the fish and Kekoa patting the fish and saying “Brrahh!!! what?!?!?” As if checking to see if it was real and not a dream. When we got back to my grandma’s beach house we put the fish on an old rusty spring scale and it read 34lbs. That evening I cut up the fish and invited some family over for some fresh sashimi. The fish was shared with family, friends and even my son’s teachers.

Erik with his hard earned catch

I really wish that I got Kekoa securing the fish and bringing it onto the boat on video. Our elation once that fish was on-deck cannot be described with words. If I were to try I would say that it was one of those moments where there’s an instant bond made with someone due to a life-changing event. Though this is not a 100lb ahi or 1000lb marlin it meant a lot to me to be able to land it on the gear I did. Also, my grandma Filomena passed away a few weeks prior to this catch. She was the matriarch of my dad’s side of the family and a huge reason why I get to fish from a boat with ease and as often as I do. During the fight I was thanking her and praying that she help me get it in the boat. She came through in the afterlife just like she always did on Earth.

Big thanks to Kekoa and my Grandma Filomena.

Drag was set just enough to not bend the hooks completely.

Guest Post: Big South Shore Omilu on SUP – Catch and Cook

November 16, 2017 By Scott 16 Comments

It really was this big and I have the photos to prove it!

Here is a guest post about a recent stand-up paddleboard fishing adventure on the South Shore of O`ahu by my fishing buddy Kelly. He prefers staying a little anonymous for now.

Howzit fellow fishers! Scott was nice enough to humor me and let me do a second writeup for his blog. In my first guest post I caught a personal best yellowspot papio in Waikiki. Lucky Lucky.

It was a nice calm Sunday morning with a very high tide 2’+ at 7:12am and the moon phase was good, so I dragged my lazy butt outta bed early to see if the fishies would give me any action. The surface of the water looked smooth and some surfers were preparing in the dark to paddle out, so I did the same with my wetsuit and fishing gear. Hopefully no freak sets would wipe me out, as occasionally happens!

As has become my custom, I brought my foamie SUP board, although the new wrinkle for this trip was that I decided to try an ancient used Penn 209 level-wind that I bought from eBay for $25. The reel was loaded with 30lb test Yozuri Hybrid fluorocarbon/mono that some fishers in Hawaii swear by. Hopefully this reel and the heavier line would allow me to land some of the larger fish which have been giving me trouble the last year or so. I had asked Scott to service the reel, since it was kinda similar to the bait casting reels he uses. The drag had been very sticky and freespool was all hemajang and when I took it apart it was giving me fits getting it re-assembled. To my mild surprise, Scott was able to do a full service and even get it so that the drag was silky smooth and the freespool could now spin for days. I was now loaded for bear and figured the little papios were gonna be toast.

At about 6:30 in the morning I paddled out at one of my usual spots, with my cheap-o used conventional reel and charity hand-me-down baitcasting pole from Scott. The rod was a bit stiffer than I am used to and that little trigger kept jabbing my lower back due to placement but the setup seemed to be passable. I figured at the very least, I would get to paddle in some nice glassy water, get some cardio in and see a beautiful Hawaiian sunrise. 🙂

As you may have read in my other guest post, my fishing budget is extremely limited and I always try to catch fish using very inexpensive tackle that still works for the fish I target (papio). I have found that just trolling dead baits like frozen oama, halalu or sardines with a pole stuck in my shorts is pretty easy and productive. It also minimizes my gear (and prep time) and allows me to catch/surf a wave if and when one happens to come along.

The sun was just rising and the tide was peaking, so I felt there was a decent chance to catch a legal-sized omilu or two for dinner. Since the water was very high and I had LIVE oama, I decided to stay inside the breakers and close to shore, at least initially. Scott had generously given me some live oama, which I picked up in the bucket right at the spot he left them in his garage. The pickup was in the wee morning hours, prior to heading to the fishing spot -so I am very grateful that he would leave the liveys out for me! Scott even let me use the bucket and pump. I think I owe him some good homemade char siu soon. 🙂

Editor’s note: Welcome anytime!

So off I paddled, first out about 50 yards then parallel to shore. My instincts proved true and within 5 minutes of launching from the sandy beach, I got a 2+lb omilu in the bag. The fight was pretty good even though I was using a big soda-can sized floater to try to keep the big live oama from swimming down and snagging the bottom. Despite the resistance of the huge floater, the omilu made several strong runs before I dragged it onto the board.

The floater seemed to be working as an attractant, because after re-baiting and paddling back to about the same spot, I scored another thick 2.5 lb omilu right away! Both were caught within casting distance from shore. The morning was still young, so I decided to hang around to fish a bit more and use my last few liveys.

With the pressure off and the tide now falling, I headed out to the breakers. Often the action in the surf zone is hot and heavy, with all the turbulence and whitewater seeming to stimulate the fishes to eat. I landed another 2-pounder in the surfers’ channel on the way out and then decided to go past the surfers to scout some new reefy areas, quite a bit past the breakers. Anything else now would be icing on the cake.

After about 15 minutes, and a couple bait stealers taking my last liveys, I switched to a frozen, salted Halalu from Thad (that halalu trip was written up here) and replaced the floater with a light clip-on weight. Those freebies from good friends seem to have some kind of mana, as I always seem to get lucky when using gifted gear/bait!) Actually there was a lot of Aloha involved in this fishing trip, since Thad gave me the secret bait I used to catch the oama and he also gave me charity salted halalu which he caught whipping. Scott gave LIVE OAMA, the baitcaster rod and serviced my new old reel, another friend gave me the remnant line I used for leader and so on and so forth … maybe I stay just one old pa’ke (thrifty Chinese) fisherman … haha

As I trolled about 40 yards outside the surfers, I hadn’t had a nibble in about 10 or 15 minutes, so I was contemplating going in early to clean my fish. Maybe the halalu was not a good bait for this area? Maybe the bite was pau already…?

As I was daydreaming about why I wasn’t getting hits, all of a sudden BINGO-BANGO and my clicker started SCREAMING. My line was ripping out -it sure is nice to hear that loud clicker, since I usually hear a pretty quiet spinner drag. Scott’s comment regarding his screaming clicker sounding like Wicked Tuna played in my head and I told myself that this was a BIG M’Fer and I better not lose ‘em!

I fiddled clumsily with the reel since I am not used to using a conventional, I had to switch hands and flip the pole over, then finally set the hook two or three times by jerking the pole upwards, more out of habit than anything else. Of course, that made the fish pretty unhappy and he went on a 20-yard spurt. Since the water was about 15 or 20 feet, I let him run a little more than I usually do then started to retrieve line slowly, but surely. During the fight I vacillated with letting the fish run then clamping down, afraid of being rocked, as I often am. Finally, I rationalized that my line was heavier than usual and my reel bigger and stronger than my junky spinner, so I could probably just boost the fish in. I palmed the spool and just started “winching”, which is kinda how I feel fighting a fish on a rather foreign (for me) conventional reel, but after about three or four minutes, I saw the familiar electric blue hue and knew it was a nice sized Omilu.

The fish made a couple of death circles under my board, and I used the time to grab my glove from my pocket. I don’t bring a net, so I just grabbed the tail on the scutes with my gloved hand and the fish was mine. The knockoff Gamakatsu live bait hook I used was easy to remove and as I bagged the fish, I realized my backpack cooler would not zip up, so I had to leave the tail sticking out.

By now I was sooo dang stoked! My paddle-in seemed like I was just floating on a cloud, so effortless. I rarely catch nice sized papio, usually just papiopio, which are mighty tasty anyways. It turns out that this was my second largest papio … EVER!

After fishing, I stopped at Scott’s house to return his bucket/pump and he was nice enough to weigh my fish with his IGFA certified spring scale. Turned out to be a bit over 6 pounds and made lots of sashimi, poke and vina dos.

My wife also experimented with the filets and made a Japanese style nanban-fu dish that is served cold and was pretty AMAZING .

The sashimi was cut and eaten on the second and third day after the fish was caught. We like to eat our raw fish than way for most fish, since the flesh tends to be a bit softer after a couple days (depends on fish type though). My catches are small and I always ice them very well, that is the single most important aspect to keeping the fish as fresh as possible with the goal always to have sashimi quality fish at home, whether we eat raw or not!

We made poke from the not as pretty but still super fresh cuts of fish. This time I made a sweet ginger shoyu poke, which is normally the most popular with my children. Basic ingredients are shoyu, sugar, round onions and ginger. Other things we like to add depending on taste and availability are sesame oil, chili pepper, honey, toasted sesame seeds, green onions. You can also try the secret ingredient, a touch of oyster sauce … get creative and let your taste buds make the decisions!

Vina dos is a Portuguese style vinegar fried fish that my kids love. We use it for the bones, belly and other “scrap” pieces of the fish. Many popular recipes are online, so I wont go into detail but the main ingredients are vinegar, Hawaiian salt and fresh garlic – lots of garlic is the key! Oh, I almost forgot, my mom made a fish soup (“chiri”) with the head … no waste 🙂 … we live by the motto … “you kill it, you eat it” … although maybe that is just my old plantation pa-ke roots coming out … hahaha

Thanks for reading my fishiiiiing taaaales!

Reader’s Tip: Keep your oamas alive and healthy until you can use them

July 18, 2017 By Scott 2 Comments

Mark on Kauai sent this tip with photos to show how he keeps his oama alive and healthy until he has time to use them for live bait. He puts the oama in a bucket of sea water lined with a black trash bag that has sand on the bottom. He says the black liner keeps the water cool, and the sand calms the oama down. Mark uses a simple air pump to oxygenate the bucket and a water pump and bell siphon to recirculate water between another bucket of seawater, but you could just do intermittent water changes when the water gets too warm or soiled with fish waste. Ammo Lock or Prime, purchased from a pet store, will neutralize the toxic ammonia the fish produce.

Here’s a nice Hanalei white papio caught on one of his frisky live oama.

Thanks for the tip Mark, and I hope you get more papio before the season is over!

Guest Post: Waikiki Standup Paddleboard Fishing – Catch and Cook

May 31, 2016 By Scott 8 Comments

This is a guest post about a recent stand-up paddleboard fishing adventure in Waikiki. The writer is one of my fishing partners who prefers to remain relatively anonymous while still commenting on most of my posts. His name is Kelly and he’s a master at catching fish near the reef on his foamie SUP with the rod tucked in his shorts.

Playing hooky from work always seems to bring me good fishing luck, so I decided to try my luck on a Friday. Although it was a windy day with poor fishing tides (only a small 1.0’ high tide at about 10:00am), I decided to take my foamie SUP board and paddle around to see if the Papio season had indeed started, as Scott had been hearing through the grapevine. The trade winds were whipping, which limited my SUP fishing location options, so I headed out to Waikiki after dropping off the kidlets at school. I figured at the very least there would be nice blue-green water, beautiful white sand, attractive “scenery” and I would get some much-needed exercise.

I paddled out at my usual spot about 8:30 in the morning, with my brand spanking new cheap-o spinning reel loaded with generic 15lb test mono and my state of the art junk-a-lunka $20 pole. My fishing budget is very limited and I always try to catch fish using inexpensive tackle that still works well for the fish I target (papio). Normally, I just troll dead baits (oama if I can get them) by paddling along with a pole stuck in my shorts and that is just what I decided to do. The pole in the shorts trolling technique is fun and allows me to fish cheaply, with very little gear to pack and cover grounds that are usually less heavily fished.

The sun was out and the tide was rising, so I felt there was a decent chance to catch a legal-sized Omilu or two for dinner. On some days, I have had moderate success near the surf breaks and impact zones with all the turbulence and whitewater, so I headed out to the breakers. After about 10-15 minutes, I felt a light tug on the pole, which was tucked in my shorts right below the small of my back, and in short order pulled up a cute little Omilu. It was quickly released unharmed. A bit later, a slightly larger Omilu hit and gave me a short, but stubborn fight. This one was about 10 ½ inches, pulled a little drag and was bagged quickly. I like to land the fish as soon as possible to avoid stressing the fish – it makes fish tastier to eat (my main objective) but also keeps fish healthier if it is to be released. More on the eating part later.

After trolling for another 30 minutes or so with only one more legal Omilu hitting my bait, it was time to head in to meet Scott for a quick kayak safety exercise near the shore. I reluctantly headed down wind, back to the paddle out spot. The tide was near its peak now and I was slightly disappointed to have to paddle across a “dead area” in order to get to the stretch of beach where we had agreed to meet.

In order to arrive on time, I took the most direct route that was over a very shallow flat, rubbly reef interspersed with sand and a few coral heads. In about five feet of water, my attention focused on the beach looking for a red kayak, all of a sudden BANG! My pole doubled over and I thought WTF!??! Did my dead bait get stuck on a coral head as I paddled slowly?? I grabbed my pole from my high tech okole rod holder and pulled upwards. Well that sure pissed off the creature and he (it was a male, more about that later) made a long run parallel to shore. It was odd because it was not the smoking, head shaking run I experienced on big Papio strikes, but rather a strong steady pull. My second thought was “WTH is this, a turtle??”, since the honu frequent the calm waters in that area and sometimes eat dead fish. Throughout the fight there was the lingering question in my mind about what was on the other end of my line. Occasionally I felt a head shake, but was still flummoxed as I racked my brains trying to figure out what I had hooked. After about three or four minutes, I was able to see a silvery color and a very vague roundish shape, but still could not make out the species of fish. Whatever it was, I knew the size and color meant if I landed him, he was gonna make for some good grinds.

After another 30 seconds or so of him pulling my board in a 360-degree clockwise circle, I was able to make out a Papio … but there was no electric blue color and the tail had a black outline. I was still unsure of what exactly I was fighting. It was definitely not the color of an Omilu and did not fight like a white Papio. Could this be my first Barred Jack? I got excited and the fish must have sensed it, because he made another run that took him out of my sight range. Now I was getting a little nervous and hoped that my hook did not pull. I double-checked the drag and slowly worked him back to the board. After a few tuna-like death circles under the board, I decided that it was time to try to land the big guy. I pulled my long rashguard sleeve over my palm and fingers and grabbed the tail. The tail stump was very girthy and I was very pleased with myself indeed … but then the fish gave a hard kick, slipped out of my hands and started swimming away! “OH $HIT”!!! I screamed! Luckily, he was still hooked and I worked him back to the board again. Made a more decisive grab this time and got a death grip on the tail. Finally after hauling the fish on to the board, I saw that it was a big, fat Yellowspot Papio!!! I checked to make sure the hook was secure, in case he flopped off the board somehow.

After a minute of rest and exultation, I removed the hook and bagged the fish. WOOOHOOO! In disbelief, I started paddling for shore. Every so often, the bag would thrash around and I would have to make sure my once-in-a-lifetime catch would not escape. As an intermediate fisher with limited time and resources, I do not catch nice-sized fish very often. In fact, this was my biggest Papio ever. It was pure luck! I heard that it is not common to catch yellowspots in very shallow water and I would not have fished that area at that time, except that I had promised to meet Scott at 10:30am. As they say “better to be lucky than good”.

The Papio made some nice sashimi, poke and Portuguese style vina dosh. Here are some photos. If you look carefully, you can see the fish was a mature male and you can see the milky gonads with red veins. The sashimi was amazing, smooth and buttery with a nice soft texture. The poke was made with invasive “gorilla” ogo harvested the next day. The “gorilla” ogo is a great ingredient in poke (and a fine namasu), is very plentiful and easy to harvest. I drove up to the beach in Maunalua Bay grabbed the ogo and drove home. The harvesting part took about 3 minutes and I highly recommend this crunchy limu as a food source.

It was a great fishing/culinary experience and I will never forget my lucky luck Waikiki Yellow Spot.

– Kelly