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Holoholo: Lady Luck Has Me Hooked!

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After enjoying occasional fishing adventures as a child, Logan started whipping this past Fall to spend more time with Holoholo writer Dino and to find a way to unwind. The repetition of casting and retrieving while occasionally catching a fish is now her way to relax between teaching and doing work to support teachers. Now she’s hooked and has recently been outfishing Dino and Matt (Holoholo writer and Hookum Flies owner).

Logan:

It all started on a Saturday at the end of September 2019.  Dino wanted to stop to pick up more fishing gear and I jokingly picked up a pole and reel combo and said I was going to buy it. Well, the joke was on me and we left the shop with a simple setup and a pair of tabis. That afternoon we went to Magic Island and I caught a moana. The next morning we waded out on the flats and I caught a small papio. I was hooked!

After a couple of months of what seemed like endless sessions of coming up empty, Lady Luck is on my side again.  It started a couple weeks ago during an unplanned afternoon trip to our favorite spot.  The tide was higher than normal and the surf was up. I was tempted to say the conditions were too rough, but I had a good feeling. I’m glad I stayed because I caught eight omilu (6”-9”), a lai, and a wave (knocked me off my feet and dunked my reel!).  That Sunday we went to the same spot for a dawn patrol session and I walked away with two omilu added to my count. Dino couldn’t believe it and suggested we go out one more time that afternoon.  I almost didn’t go, but Lady Luck was calling and I caught two bigger papio and a tilapia. This past weekend, my streak continued.  I added five omilu, a papio, and two kaku to my count. I can’t wait to get away from my computer and my virtual work this weekend. Hopefully the streak continues!

My strategy? Keep it simple. I use a simple whipping setup with a medium bubble. I usually use grubs – greens and anything that sparkles are my favorites!

People say Dino is lucky that his girlfriend likes to fish, but I am lucky that he’s a patient teacher and gives me tips so that I can improve. Poor Dino has had to listen to me brag to my dad about catching more than him and listen to me cheer when I feel the tug.

Holoholo: Matt is selling his Hookum Flies!

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Holoholo writer Matthew, soon to enter the 9th grade, has dialed in his fly patterns after putting in a lot of field work.

Matthew: Over the past few months, I started tying flies, got better, and eventually started selling them after extensive testing. Many of the tests were successful, thanks to testers. Thanks to everyone who tested flies out and decided which flies were the best.

Based on the test results, we will be releasing the four colors that have been working best, which are the Vanilla Ice (white with flash), Halalu (dark green top, yellow stripe, white bottom), Golden Blaze (gold, black, red), and the Oama (olive top, yellow stripe, white bottom). All flies are tied with premium 2/0 gamakatsu hooks. Currently, they will be sold on my IG page @hookum_flies and in the HNF Store. They will currently be sold for $8.99 USD.

However, if you’d like to request a custom order, please contact Scott, who will contact me. There are also many other colors that I make that are also proven, and if there is enough demand, we can bring those in too. Here are the pictures of the four flies we will be selling for now:

  • Vanilla Ice
  • Halalu
  • Golden Blaze
  • Oama

Many Papio have been caught on the flies, as well as Kaku and an Awa Awa, which was caught by Dino in the last post on the Oama fly. Here are some pictures of fish that have been caught on the flies in the past month:

Note that I have not caught all of those fish, but some are mine. 

A question I get often is, “What time do I use the flies at?” and the answer is that the flies will work at any time as long as there are fish around, but there are times for certain colors that have been proven to do good. The Golden Blaze seems to be a killer in low light conditions, at dawn and dusk, but it can do good at any time of day. The Vanilla Ice seems to do best in high light conditions, AKA midday, where the massive amount of flash can be refracted off the most due to the sun shining. The Oama seems to do best all day, and there is no time it will work better than not. The Halalu also seems to be the same case, but the test subjects bit a little bit after dawn.

Another question I have gotten asked is, “How do I store the flies and is there anything I should know about caring for them?” and the answer is that since they are Gamakatsu hooks they should last for years, so if you rinse the fly with fresh water and dry it before storing, it should last. A general rule is to never store somewhere moist, as that may cause eventual rust. However, the Gamakatsu hooks are exceptionally good, and have a hard time rusting. 

Another question I have got before is,”What setup do you recommend for using your flies?” The answer is that you can use whatever you want. Some people use egg lead setups, same as a grub, but so far all the fish caught have been on bubble floats. For the bubble rig you’ll need a large size bubble, a barrel swivel, monofilament line for leader (I use 30), and the fly. You’ll need to feed your mainline through the bubble and tie it to the barrel swivel, then tie anywhere from 4-7 feet of mono to the other side of the swivel, it is all preference. I prefer around six feet. You’ll need to fill the bubble up with water to make it go far, by pushing down the skinny-push-button-looking thing and letting it fill up with water. You’ll know it is filling up when you see bubbles rising. How high you fill it depends on your pole. Lighter poles may require less water in the bubble to cast effectively, and heavier poles may need the whole bubble filled up. I fill my bubble up either ¾ of the way or all the way. 

Let me know if you want more colors of flies to be brought in, some that I am looking at bringing in are the Hinalea (Hinalea – Blue, Orange, Green, Red, Gold), Akakin (Red, Yellow, White), Big Red (Red, White, Gold), and many more colors, if there is enough demand.

Holoholo: Slow season fishing? Go for the Awa awa!

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Dino’s been fishing most of his life. His father taught him how to fish and he’s been keeping it going ever since. Was a heavy bait caster and is now a heavy whipper. He’s also the adult fishing partner of middle schooler and Holoholo writer Matthew.

Dino: Winds were light and the tide was dropping, so Matt Ikeda, and I headed out to one of our spots that we like to hit up (Matt doesn’t really like this spot, but I think he’s starting to warm up to it lol). Fishing has been a little slow for us lately, but just being outdoors and getting to cast the rods is more than enough to make us happy. The water was pretty calm today, so we ventured out to the point. Bubble + Fly was the name of the game today, and I was using an oama pattern Matt tied for me.

Soon after our initial casts, Matt hooked up to a nice Lai that he kept for a meal and use the skin for his flies.  About the 169th cast in, I felt a nice healthy tug on da fly about halfway in. Bango! I’m on! It instantly started jumping and flipping in the air. It made a couple of nice short runs, and was landed shortly after.  Eh, it was so nice to hear the reel talk back to me little bit! She’s been giving me silent treatment lately. The awaawa weighed in at 4.5 pounds. A bit refreshing since only baby paps have been caught lately lol.

All in all it was a good day spent being outdoors. Especially during these times. Big Mahalo to Matt Ikeda for netting my fish.  Be safe, be healthy, and remember it doesn’t matter if you catch or not. Sure as hell beats working any day.

~ Dino

Holoholo: The one that almost got away!

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Our fly fishing Holoholo writer Jason shares the details of a how a big, smart fish had him on the ropes and he had to throw in the towel but luck and skill prevailed.

Jason: I managed to coax my friend Dave out for some fishing, so we decided to hit an old spot where we both started fly fishing together years ago. The plan was to hit our usual haunts, starting with bombing one of our favorite channels before moving west to sight fish. 
The channel ended up being dead, and an hour went by with only a single grab, which was probably a small papio.  With the tide bottoming out, we moved onto a shallower portion of the flat closer to the break to do some sight fishing.  

I saw a few as soon as I got out there, and had some decent shots with a couple follows.  I hadn’t done a ton of sight fishing with my new 11 ft Trout Spey, and was impressed by how it cast one-handed.   About the fourth fish I saw was the perfect setup – a lone fish swimming slowly straight at me from about 40-50 ft away.  I made my cast and carefully watched its body language as I slowly stripped the fly in.  I fully expected a follow, then a rejection, but instead saw him accelerate towards the fly, and wiggle a bit.   This was my chance!  I stripped sharply, felt the weight of the fish, and before I knew it he was headed for the horizon, literally.  

It felt like a pretty nice fish, and seemed intent on heading for open ocean.  Rather than risk breaking the fish off, I clamped down just a bit, but still allowed him to take line.  When I finally felt him slow down, I felt exactly what I dreaded – I could no longer feel the fish and instead felt the line stuck in the rocks.  I waded out as far as I could in a desperate bid to free it, but I was already pretty close to the break when I hooked him, so things were getting dicey.  At one point, I was up to my chest in water getting slammed by waves, so I decided to throw in the towel.  I was heart broken, but decided no fish was worth drowning over.

I reluctantly started walking backwards with the drag locked down, just like you do when breaking lead line while ulua fishing.   My line was stretching quite a bit, and at some point I realized the line wasn’t stretching at all, but was actually slipping against wherever it was pinned.  The line gradually loosened up and I could suddenly feel the fish again – I could not believe my luck.   I slowly brought the fish in, while praying that the line, hook and all my knots held together.  It would be incredibly anticlimactic for it to suddenly come off now, I thought to myself.  Luckily, the fish was so spent from struggling against the pinned down line that it came in without even making a second run.  I was ecstatic, mostly because I felt there was no way I should’ve landed it.   

Dave ended up getting a mongoose fish and a nunu, and the reports I got from other friends fishing nearby were mixed.  One friend had landed one and lost one, but the majority of the others (which include some VERY good sight fisherman) reported not seeing many fish.  Hmm…  I think I really got lucky today!

Holoholo: Hand-tied flies end the Rubber Hook Curse

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JDM expert and whipping aficionado Thad fills us in on how his last 3 months of fishing has turned around.

Thad: The papio bite at my usual spots had shut down since the start of February, so I tried targeting oio for a while without much success.  Other guys I know that were fishing similar spots were landing nice oio regularly so it kept my hopes up every weekend.  Its not like I wasn’t hooking up though – I’ve been stricken with the “rubber hook” curse, fighting decent sized fish on most trips only to have them spit the hook before I could land them. 

So the weekend before the COVID-19 shutdown, I decided to try the usual spot again, armed with some new flies Matt (IG: hookum_flies) had tied and given to me to test.  For someone that just started tying flies a week or two earlier, they were well made and looked sure to fool a fish into biting.  The morning proved to be slow again, but I managed to hook what felt like a good sized papio on Matt’s Golden Blaze color.  Just as I was bringing the fish to the surface and could see color, the rubber hook curse struck again.  Losing fish is just a part of the fishing experience, but I felt a little disappointed that I couldn’t send Matt some pictures of his creation in a fish’s mouth.   

Skipped fishing the next two weekends after the COVID-19 shutdown.  By the time I felt comfortable enough to get back out there, I had also received some additional flies from Lawaiaflies (IG: lawaiaflies) that I was excited to try.  Armed with the new flies on April 26th, I tried my luck again, expecting it to be another slow day but hopeful I could send some fish pictures to some fly makers.

I decided to start with an orange and white fly from Lawaiaflies, appropriately called the Creamsicle.  Not long after I started whipping, I got a solid strike and landed a scrappy 12.5” omilu.  It felt great finally being able to land something after losing so many to spit hooks.  I quickly tagged it with a PIFG tag and released it to fight another day.  For the next hour and a half, I continued whipping without any action, switching between flies from different makers. 

Walked to another spot I hadn’t fished in a while, to see if anyone was hungry.  I tied the Creamsicle back on and immediately foul hooked a small omilu on the top of its head. 

A short while later, another small omilu decided to take the same fly.  Man, this Creamsicle color was really productive!  Just as I was thinking I may need to order more of this color, I got a big blow up on my big Tough Bubble that immediately cut my mainline.  I’ve caught several big kaku there so that was the likely culprit.

It was time to start heading back in so I put on another bubble and tied on Matt’s Golden Blaze fly.  I tried a slower retrieve this time, working the fly a little deeper in the water column.  It worked and I was able to land a very colorful moana.  I took some pics for Matt and called it a day. Reports I’ve been hearing from friends and the recent papio bites (albeit small ones) seem to indicate that we may be working our way out of the slow season.

Holoholo: Surfboard Fishing Report

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Holoholo writer Kelly cheerfully reports that the fishing just past the reef has picked up recently. Despite the Covid-19 social distancing mandate he’s been able to legally bring home much appreciated kau kau for the ohana. Thanks for the update Kelly!

Kelly: In March and April, the papio bite was still pretty slow. I have been surfboard fishing near the breaks every couple of weeks at a variety of spots, mostly on the South and East shores on lighter wind mornings.

Usual catch has been a couple of 1-2 pound omilus with plenty of bait stealers which I am guessing are baby papio. South side has been having good size barracudas, about 3-4 pounds which I have been keeping for kau kau.

Here is a photo of the spicy kaku poke we made 🙂

There have been some random catches like moana, nunu and rois. The one noteworthy catch was a nice six and a half pound kagami on the east side which hit a frozen oama that had been getting freezer burnt from last summer. 

Holoholo: Fishing during the winter months

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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: First fish on the fly gear!

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Accomplished whipper Jeremy recently picked up the fly fishing game. He landed his first fish on fly gear this Saturday, and followed that up with a solid catch on the spinning gear Sunday. He’s making it look easy during the “off season”.

Jeremy: Had a good weekend of fishing. 

Saturday morning:  Winds were projected to be light, so I decided to bring out the fly gear.  I’m still a beginner and I need the lighter winds so I can practice casting.  Fly fishing, especially the casting, is the hardest type of fishing I’ve ever done.  I still suck at it, but can’t get better unless you practice, so my buddy and I headed out just as the sun was coming up.  We split up and started looking for tails.  My primary goal was to get in casting time, so I blind casted as I made my way onto the flats.  I still haven’t caught anything on the fly gear, so catching any fish would be an added bonus. 

I slowly walked and looked for tails and every so often made some casts into “fishy” areas.  At around 7:15am, I made a blind cast, slowly stripped in my fly, and about halfway into my retrieve, I felt a small tap.  I set the hook and there wasn’t much movement, so I figured it was a really small papio.  But after about 5 seconds, I think the o’io finally figured out he was hooked and took off on a blistering run.  I stop the initial surge, got him turned, and then he decides to swam almost directly back to me!  I tried to crank my reel as fast as I could to keep tension on the line, but it felt like he spit the hook.  Just as I’m about to give up hope, I feel tension again on the line.  Yes, fish still on!  He made a couple more small runs before I finally landed him.  Chee!!!  My first fish on the fly setup!   Took a few pictures and released him back.  

No other action for the rest of the session, but I was stoked.  Landed my first fish and got to get in some much needed casting practice time.

Sunday morning:  Winds were slightly stronger, so brought out the spinning gear.  No action in the first hour, but around 8am, I felt a small tap on the line.  I set the hook and it felt like I was stuck.  I maintained tension and then it took off.  Scrapped the fish for around 5 minutes and landed another nice o’io.  

No action again for the next hour, then I get another slight tap.  Set the hook…Hanapa’a!  Small one, but it’s a beautiful 13” omilu.

Awesome weekend for me.  Landed some nice fish in this “slow” period.  But, one thing I’ve noticed recently is the strikes are really different.  I’m not getting any of those hard hitting ones.  Almost all my bites in the past couple months were really small taps or felt like dead weight, like I was dragging in seaweed.  It’s like the fish don’t really know they’re hooked for the first few seconds.  So my tip for the week:  set the hook if you think you felt a bite and keep constant pressure for a few seconds, even if it feels like seaweed.  It might actually be a good sized fish ?

Holoholo: Another fly fishing oddball slam!

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Jason, our fly fishing writer and in-the-water reporter shares another unusual catch during the “winter off-season” . There’s fish to be caught, just might not be your normal target species.

Jason:

My car’s dashboard read 72 degrees on the drive down around 9:30 am.  Winds were light and variable.  Not ideal conditions for bonefish, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try.  I hit my usual spot, and started blind casting.

No more than 30 minutes in, I snagged a suspiciously bonefish-like object which immediately took off running.  I was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t feel that big but fought very hard for its size, making 4-5 runs before I finally got it in the net.  It was a nice fish, I would guess 4ish maybe 5 lbs.   
I was thinking I got pretty lucky, but then I hit another one about an hour later.  This one unfortunately spit the hook before I could subdue it.  Felt almost like a large papio the way it ran laterally with some head shake, before taking off, but smaller oio often fight like this.  Odds are it was smaller rat-sized bone.

The day was rounded out by a mixed bag of random stuff – a nunu, a flounder (my 2nd ever on the fly) and a micro omilu – all hooked on the same fly.  


I headed back to the lot at about 12:30, feeling pretty pleased with myself.  There is nothing more satisfying than a productive and efficient morning, especially when you weren’t expecting to hook anything.  

Holoholo: Fly fishing report for 4th week in January

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Jason, our fly fishing enthusiast and on-the-water reporter kicked off the year with an oio that would beat most dunker’s PB.

Jason: Last week, a group of friends and I decided to wade a well known Oahu flat in search of bonefish. Many in the group were chasing their first fish of the year, and despite the wintery conditions, anticipations were running high. I decided to bring out my new rod, an Epic 411 (4 wt 11′) Trout Spey wrapped by my friend Asa, who was also part of the group. A “trout spey,” for those unfamiliar, is basically a scaled down Spey rod (two-handed fly rod used for salmon and steelhead), adapted to fish smaller rivers and streams for trout.

We arrived at the “entry” point around 7 am. One member of our group parked his vehicle further down the coastline at the “exit” point in order to transport everyone back at the end of the trip. Conditions on this morning were chilly and windy, so we knew every fish would be hard-earned. It’s well known among Hawaii fly fishers that cold weather means bonefish prefer to stay deep, with only the larger or more desperate fish venturing onto the flat to feed. The first 2 hours were uneventful, with the group mostly blind casting due to the heavy clouds overhead.

I picked one of my favorite “go-to” spots and, after what seemed like the millionth cast, I finally felt a nice take, followed by the strong steady pull of a feisty rat (smaller bonefish). The fight ended quickly, and I took a few photos of the fish and released it. I was super stoked to bless the new rod so early in the trip, and decided anything hooked after this would be a bonus.

The bonus came about an hour and a half later, when I hit another one about a quarter mile down the coast. I could tell it was a good fish by the way it took off and knew the 4 wt Trout Spey would be put to the test.

The fish made several strong runs but each time I was able to stop it, just before it reached the edge of the reef. This tug of war lasted close to 5 minutes before the fish finally ran out of gas and allowed itself to be brought in close. Despite being exhausted, it still proved difficult to land as the 4 wt lacked the backbone to control and get it to the surface. It took several attempts, but a few tense minutes later, I finally had it in the net. I don’t normally carry a scale, but my friend Glenn does, so we got a weight – 8 lbs on the dot. Not too shabby for a “trout” rod. With the tide going out, I spent the rest of the day sight fishing. Despite the wintery conditions, I managed to spot 5 fish, and even got a few follows. A third fish would’ve been nice, but under these conditions, I felt grateful to even get the two. When we regrouped at the exit point, I learned my fish were the only bones hooked. Better lucky than good!

Holoholo: Whipping report, 2nd week in January

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Jeremy is a long time fisherman who loves whipping, but will be adding fly fishing to his game this year. He’s been posting catches on his private IG account @jeremy.poi while the rest of us have been getting skunked, so I asked him if he’d mind sharing his most recent catch report with us. There’s a lot we can take away from this!

Jeremy:

Everyone knows that during the winter the bite really slows down, but can’t catch fish if you don’t go fishing so I try to get out there as much as I can.  This past weekend I braved the weather and was glad I did.

On Saturday morning, my friend and I decided to do a dawn patrol session.  It was super windy and rainy, but we love fishing so we just threw on our jackets, grabbed our gear, and headed to the spot just as the sun was about to come up.  The tide was really high and the water was a little dirty, so wasn’t the best conditions for wading, but we slowly worked our way out into the water.  I continuously made casts as I walked the reef and about 15 minutes into our session, I got a nice hit.  It’s a decent sized fish and I can feel the head shakes, so I know it’s a papio.  I get it to hand and see a nice 14” white papio on the end of my line.  I take a few quick pictures and release him safely.  First white of the year for me, so I’m happy and the pressures off. 

I continue to work the reef and cast into “fishy” areas.  About 30 minutes later, I feel a strong tap on my lure…miss…then another miss.  And then finally, on the third hit, I get a solid hookup.  Hanapa’a!  Line starts ripping off my reel and I know it’s a good sized one.  It takes about 60 yards on the first run before I get it to turn.  I’m only running 8# braid with 10# leader, so I need to be patient and not horse it in.  I slowly gain line, but the fish is still strong and takes multiple smaller runs.  I could feel the line rub slightly on the reef a few times, but after a back and forth battle of about 10 minutes, I was finally able to see the fish, grab my leader, and land this 5# o’io.  Chee!  Took some pics and thanked the fish for the awesome scrap before releasing it.  And that’s when I notice my hook.  The fish wasn’t hooked in the mouth, but on the side of his face on the gill plate, and my hook was opened up.  Got lucky on landing this one. 

Tip of the day:  Set your drag only as strong as your weakest link.  I run my drag on the light side since I’m running light line, but the wire of my hook is thin as well, so my weakest link in my setup was my hook.  Thankfully my drag was just loose enough and I didn’t lose this fish.  

Another fun session in the books.  Always nice to be able to get out there and do what we love.  And catching fish once in a while is nice too.  So all the guys not fishing due to the junk weather, take a chance and make some casts.  Fish still have to eat, so hopefully it’ll be your lure.  Good luck and tight lines!

Holoholo: Persistence paid off

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Holoholo reporter Matthew describes how he overcame the slowdown at the end of “papio season” and found a way to consistently catch fish in the “off season”.

Matthew: Mid September to Mid October was one of my worst streaks ever. Lost a lot of big fish, couple whitewashes, and many lost lures. At the end of November, it all changed for me, but before that it was slow-complete shutoff bite. Some others have been getting good luck, but I haven’t been as lucky as them and the bite has significantly slowed down for me. 

Many fishermen have been getting good and consistent luck on flies, which might mean that the bait is getting bigger and that I need to upsize my two inch grubs for something a little bigger. Most of the master fishermen who use flies fish semi-turbulent deep water. I fished a few times with a group of fly fishermen and one time got totally smoked by them. One guy got two Papio, his girlfriend landed six Papio, and I landed none on the grubs. They were using bubble and fly rigs, and the flies seemed to be either oama or light brown colored. 

I have been getting limited luck on the sardine pile somewhere with a Lai and two Kaku, and then a nice sized Yellowspot Papio at a spot near my house. The next five trips passed painfully, with over 15 hours fished with not a single fish landed. In those trips, I lost a big Omilu, around four pounds. It fell off as it was being reeled up the wall. That was really painful. 

The next trip, I hooked a screamer on my ultralight and fought it for over 10 minutes at dusk. I could barely see it when it came close to shore, but I immediately recognized it as a big white Papio, upwards of 17 inches. It made another run, and I was able to see it one more time before it made a last huge run, and I felt the line go slack. The four pound line had cut. I knew it was coming but I was still mad. Probably the closest I’ve ever been to having a fit when losing a fish. I don’t usually get mad, but that was after two trips of nothing and last trip of losing a big Omilu. I was beaten. I thought for sure that next trip I would land a fish, but I was dead wrong. I hooked something big, and lost it again. This time I didn’t even get to see it but I think it might’ve been a decent Papio. 

Fed up with all of the losing fish and whitewash, my morale was at an all time low and seriously did not know what was going wrong. I decided to make a last ditch run to one of my most consistent spots with my partner. It paid off greatly. 

The first cast, I landed what felt like a small Papio, but upon closer examination it was a nunu. I didn’t care. I needed anything after that long whitewash period. It got even better though. The next cast, I hooked something that ran really hard, and resisted in the whitewash for quite a long while. It made another run and that’s when I knew it was a good sized Omilu. I had to find a safe way to land it, and my partner went down in the splash zone and netted it for me. I was screaming. I don’t know how the neighbors did not think something was wrong and called the police, but I’m glad they didn’t. After five trips, my gamble had finally paid off at the spot I knew I should have been fishing all along. The day was not over though. 

I proceeded to land another good sized Papio, and another, and another. I was pretty hyped, and so hyped that I didn’t even bother to change my leader where it was frayed. As it so happens, laziness  Within thirty minutes, I had landed four good size Omilu and a Lai. My partner had also landed a Lai as well. This was probably the best day I’ve had all season, and so late in the season too.

The following weekend, my sister had a tennis match, so I got to fish during her tennis match at a place right near the courts. The water was really murky and I had a hard time seeing inside the water at some points. The fish didn’t seem to care though. I was using my ultralight and felt something take it with a lot of power and make a very powerful run out toward the open sea. It took a whole two minutes for me to bring it into sight range, and I landed it another minute later after it made a few stubborn runs right at shore. To my surprise, it was the biggest Kaku I had seen in a long time inshore. I didn’t measure it, but it was pushing 24 inches or a little up.

On the ultralight four pound test and a 1/8th size kastmaster, it was amazing that either the very bendy hook did not bend out or that the line did not touch the Kaku’s teeth. I made another few casts, and hooked another Kaku, at around 14 inches, on the ultralight again. I landed it, but it didn’t fight half as hard as the other one. I switched to the bigger kastmaster with the VMC red trebles, and landed another Kaku, this one at 13 inches roughly. Already happy with my success, I let my dad use the ultralight with the kastmaster in hopes of him catching his first Kaku, and he handed me the light rod with the grub and egg lead. 

We moved more toward clear water and stayed there for five minutes when I felt a take, and all of a sudden, line started peeling out, and after a very spirited fight, I could see the electric blue outline of a decent size Omilu coming in. The fight lasted too long, because I was really letting it tire itself out so the hook wouldn’t pull. I got it in eventually and it was roughly 12-13 inches fork length. That was the last bite of the day for me, however, I was still very happy because all of this action happened between 1130 and 1245pm. I had a chance to fish later that day, and since I was already happy with the action, I decided to go after something that I never catch anyway-Moi. 

I went to a spot I heard had Moi, and after a while, I had a fight with something that pulled hard, but with hardly any drag pulled. I started yelling to my uncle as I realized it was a Moi. I took a picture, and then measured it. It was half an inch short to my dismay. I released it. 

The next cast I hooked something that felt really big, and pulled a lot of drag, when all of a sudden the hooked popped. I am 99% sure that it was a very legal moi. The very next cast, I hooked another Moi, and during all my excitement, I forgot to release it in the tidepool the other Moi was in, and I threw it back into the ocean. I realized what I did as soon as I let go of the Moi, and made a rushed cast toward the Moi hole, but the bite had already shut off, and the Moi weren’t biting anymore.

I’m sure I would have caught a legal Moi that day if I hadn’t released the little one. I kept casting, and on the way back, I was lucky enough to catch my second Kagami Papio ever, even though it was small, I was still stoked on landing such a rare fish again. 

Anyways, hopefully it sheds some light on the next few weeks of fishing. I haven’t been trying for Oama at all in the past few weeks, but I have been seeing quite a lot while whipping. Lots of Omilu are coming up onto the sand when the waves pound it just to eat the oama. Maybe it’s time to try a little bit of oama style lures? The nehu are still somewhat in as well as the mullet. Good luck guys.

Holoholo: Sufix 832 works in freshwater too!

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Shaydon has a huge following on IG @96degreesindashayd, posting pics of Kauai land based jig caught fish and mainland freshwater bass, with a consistent Aloha vibe. He’s been spooling his freshwater reels with Sufix 832 and we asked him if he’d mind sharing his results.

This freshwater review is in conjunction with the saltwater shore whipping reviews.

Shaydon: I’ve spent this year  in Pennsylvania for work and being an angler at home in the islands, it was necessary for me to invest in some gear dedicated to fishing the Delaware River for its wild Bronze Back (smallmouth bass) and walleye. If it’s anything I’m particular about for any of my setups, whether it’s my salt water or freshwater gear, it’s gonna be my line. It’s the link between the angler and the fish being fought. Of course the  hooks, swivels, split rings, etc. are key but if those are up to par then I believe your line should be too. The problem I run into here on the east coast, is that I prefer to use Japanese PE line which is not so much available off the shelf, whereas Sufix 832 is.

Sufix 832 has been such a great braided line. Like PE braid, it’s very supple which makes for great knot strength. I’ve got into some situations and it has also proved to me that it has great abrasive resistance against logs and decently sharp rock ledges. I’ve found that this line casts better and better as you use it. Below are some of the many catches on Sufix 832 15lb. and 30lb. On both spinning and baitcast setups.

Holoholo: Sufix 832 works well whipping from shore

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We asked some of the whipping hammahs to let us know what they thought of Sufix 832 braid. Not surprisingly, their experience was positive like ours was. You can still buy the 8lb, 15lb, 20lb and 30lb in the Store and if the Sufix 832 sells well we’ll bring more in at great pricing.

Keola (Oahu shoreline whipper and plugger): Went whipping in East Oahu Hawaii and got this Omilu (Bluefin Trevally) on my light setup. Tested out the Sufix 832 Advanced Superline braided fishing line (8 pound test). This line has excellent casting ability and lays nicely on the spool of my Shimano Stradic CI4+ 1000HG. In addition, the quality/color of the line does not appear to decrease/fade dramatically after multiple uses like is common with other line manufacturers. Overall a great product that I recommend you try. Here’s a short video showing the Sufx 832 at work.

Brandon (Owner and private seller of Vividprizmflies): I’ve been using Sufix 832 on my 3k Stradic fl. It’s an awesome alternative to YGK braid from Japan. Thin, smooth, casts through guides easily, and I haven’t gotten any wind knots yet. The 10lb Sufix I’m using says its equivalent to 6lb test monofilament in diameter but its actually more like 4lb mono diameter. Hands down if I can’t get my hands on JDM or other high end braid line, Sufix 832 will be my go to over PowerPro and J-Braid.”

Holoholo: Oama and omilu report from Kauai

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Mark had shared his simple yet effective system for keeping oama alive, and is back visiting his family’s home on the upper east side of Kauai. He was surprised to find so much oama this late in the year and the omilu were still biting for him.

Mark: I wasn’t able to get over to Kauai during the peak season but have been reading HNF (Hawaii Nearshore Fishing) to keep track of the oama season. Finally got to Kauai and was very surprised to see sizable schools of oama in very shallow water. Been whipping live and dead oama from shore using ultralight gear with maybe 8 – 10 pound test (mono-wish I had some braided) so I was pretty lucky to land the omilu.  I was using just a single hook, wish I had some red ones, but tackle seems to be scarce on this side of the island.

The area on the east side I’m whipping is 2 to 5 feet but pretty choppy.  Bite has  been at low/incoming tide in the morning.   It’s been wild.  One or more omilu each day I’ve fished, and I just kept this one to eat.

The oama have been so thick I was catching them between casts.  The best catch was on a fat live oama I snagged right off the reef.  I have to give HNF credit. I have switched up my technique this trip adjusting to some of your stories.  Really enjoy all the posts when I can’t be on the island.

Mark

Holoholo: Junk, no eat… (catch and cook)

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My oama fishing buddy, David, has a wealth of fishing experience and knowledge and I’m constantly learning new things from him. He surprised me with this comparison to my jointed lure fishing outing.

David: Scott recently fished the incoming tide at a well known stretch of beach, casting some newly acquired, jointed, shallow running lures that had tremendous side-to-side action; these lures look irresistible (to me, but who knows what a fish thinks). Having described his whipping episode, I thought that I would conduct a crude experiment to compare underwater lures to top water poppers.  I have this mild, unsupported theory that poppers have an edge over underwater lures in shallow water when it comes to Kaku and Papio because I think the splashing and chugging turmoil initiate predator instincts. Of course, logic doesn’t always apply to the habits of fish, but my reasoning is that if a fish is not overly hungry and sees bait swimming by (in this case, a swiveled-body lure), it’s sort of “ho-hum”, just another fish, but maybe not worth expending the energy to chase and grab the bait.  On the other hand, I’ve always felt that fish are opportunistic feeders, and since splashing is usually associated with distress, it would seem that a  splashing  popper might trigger a reflex attack action. So I thought that I would try a comparison test.

I knew what time he had started fishing, so I started 1/2 hour later the next day, to mimic the same tide conditions. Scott said he had about 5 or 6 Kaku follow the bait, but only one missed strike. I basically fished the same waters with approximately the same tidal conditions, but threw poppers instead of underwater lures. There are of course a zillion environmental conditions that were different and obviously any fish that lived in the area had moved around or left completely, but since Kaku are somewhat territorial, it seemed likely that unless someone else had caught all the Kaku in the area, that they were probably still in the general vicinity.  At this beach, there is a beginning and an end, so the grounds are finite.

In any case, I tried to duplicate his path and tossed poppers the entire stretch of the beach. The tide was rising quickly and it was a perfect day with little wind. Would the poppers make a difference ? I walked and threw my favorite popper, hardly pausing at all. The entire length of my trek, about 4 or 5 Kaku chased, but none hit. At the end of the beach is an area where bait fish sometimes congregate. I got to the end, and there were small schools of bait swimming around. I threw 5 or 6 times and bang ! A solid strike, my pole arched, followed by the sweet sound of the drag. I was using 6# test and a semi-noodle rod. The fish jumped twice, then it was over. Attached is a photo of the 18″ Kaku.

Scott had several chases but only one soft bite, but no hookups. I had a similar amount of chases and one hookup. Was there a pronounced difference ? No. Are poppers better than shallow runners ? Probably not. The only difference was luck. The fish just happened to be where I randomly threw. Pure luck. But hey, I had a good time and got a fish. I happen to love to eat Kaku; most don’t.

My mother was a fantastic cook, and my father was her greatest fan. Anytime I visited them and he was eating, I’d ask if the dish was good. He’s always reply with a grin, “nah, junk, no eat”. The stronger his insistence, the better the dish. So, to those who don’t favor Kaku, eh, “junk, no eat”.    🙂

I’ve tried barracuda a couple of different ways, steamed Chinese style, fried, etc. My favorite is tempura. Normally I’d cut the body into steaks then batter and deep fry them. But I filleted this one then my wife deep fried the tempura and made Tartar sauce. When it’s cut up into steaks, there are bone fragments left in the meat; but when filleted, it’s much easier eating. Goes good with Takuwan or Sanbai-zuke. I also like the center bone salted and dusted with flour, then fried like Aku or Ahi, or salmon bones in the local style. A good friend of mine makes his dip with julienned onions and mayonnaise. Both are good. I’m sure Ponzu would work well. Sometimes I use Chick Fillet sauce for the dip; of course, that makes anything taste great. Really junk, no eat……   🙂

Holoholo: Flying Fish TV double ono, shibi and kawakawa on kayak!

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My name is Dan, but a lot of people know me by my YouTube channel Flying Fish TV. I am pilot by profession, former military and now as a civilian I am pursuing my greatest passion, kayak fishing. Before moving to Hawaii I told myself that if I managed to figure it out that I would start a channel to teach others. I started kayak fishing back in 2010, but never really went anywhere with it until my family was stationed in Hawaii. After fishing mostly solo for 6 months in Hawaii I started to get it down and started a YouTube channel in May of 2018. 

Dan: It was a Saturday morning and despite having to work in the afternoon I hit the water. My friend and I had been eyeing the forecast and it looked like the last day before the wind was going to pick up. It was supposed to be 14-18 knots and 4ft swell. On the way out in the dark we could tell that it was going to be a little rougher than expected. As the sun came up and we could see the conditions and we decided to make it as short of a trip as possible. We easily caught bait and I filled my bait tubes with 5 opelu each. I set out my first long bait and then my short bait, both on wire. The current was ripping pretty hard and after about 40 minutes I was thinking we would be going home with a big donut.

I had drifted a couple hundred feet in that time and started moving back. I opened the bail on my long bait and the line seemed to peel off a little faster than my bait could move. I closed the bail and I was on. It was fighting a little weird and I wasn’t sure if I had a needlefish (aha) at first or later on a yellow fin tuna (shibi) or a wahoo (ono). I had the fish at my 50ft leader and I strained to see it in the water. With waves and the ripples I wasn’t able to tell it was a wahoo until it popped up right by my kayak. Knowing there wasn’t enough light to get a good picture I kage’d him and brought him in the kayak. It had a big scar near the tail and a broken dorsal fin as well.

At some point after catching bait I managed to lose one of my bait tubes despite it being in a carabiner. It must have slipped out, but the paracord may have broken as well. Either way the bait tube sailed off with 4 live baits inside. During the fight I managed to drown my other bait and after switching it I set it out at my 200ft mark. Shortly after I put the wahoo in my fish bag I heard a buzz as something hit my long bait. I picked up the rod thinking that I missed the fish. I left my bait out there hoping the wahoo would come back for the other half. After a few seconds I started reeling in the slack and the fish was still on. I moved my other live bait rod around so I could chase the fish without getting majorly tangled. I got to my leader quickly but the fish fought hard digging in circling below the kayak. I must have gotten the yellowfin in range to kage several times, but it kept taking line. I finally kage’d the fish and I was surprised how lit up it was. It might have been that I pulled the fish in about half as much time as usual.

During the fight a big swell of around 8ft knocked something loose on my battery or so I thought. The fish finder kept powering on and off every second and it turned out that the power cable was broken at the fuse. I disconnected the fish finder after the fight. I now had my first ever wahoo and yellow fin combo and I started to dream about a grand slam. I have had several yellow fin and mahi mahi combos in the past. Another swell snapped me back into reality as I put the yellow fin tuna in the fish bag. I had drifted about a half mile since the first hook up and decided it wasn’t worth moving back. I set out another short bait on wire and it wasn’t long before the bait was freaking out. The rod tip was bouncing so much I wasn’t sure if a shark was about to eat it or it was running for its life from a pelagic. I opened my bail to let it run as life like as possible. It was maybe 3 seconds later it stopped taking line and I closed the bail. I could feel that something was chomping on it so I put the reel into live liner mode. Once the fish started to run again I clicked off the live liner mode and I was on. It felt tiny like I had hooked a bonita (kawa kawa) or a small yellow fin as I brought the fish to my leader. I pulled it right to within 20 feet of the kayak and then it must have realized it was hooked. It was another yellow fin screaming off line in desperation. Once I got the fish close again I saw that it was only hooked by the stinger and I stood a good chance of losing the fish. I chilled out a little bit and waited for it to wear itself out. I pulled it into the kayak and it was a copycat of the first all lit up. I told my friend that if I caught another fish that it was going to be too heavy for the kayak as it was getting pretty tippy with the big swells. He offered to let me throw fish in his fish bag if needed. 

The night before I had texted my friend that I was going to bring the Dock Demon, my toy rod. If I was successful in catching one wahoo I was going to try to get one on the Dock Demon. I was still in the area where I caught the last yellow fin and set out my second to last bait on wire with the dock demon. Initially the bait ran around my bait tube lanyard, but after I got it loose I free lined the bait. It swam down and away from the kayak with the line jerking off the spool. The last fish I had caught on the dock demon was the 20lb yellow fin and a lot of the braid was tightly compacted. With the jerking motions I barely noticed that something had picked up my bait and was swallowing it. That was until I stopped free lining with about 70 feet of line out. The small dock demon bent over and I felt the weight of something. I instinctively moved the steering handle in an attempt to get the line around the bow to the right side of the kayak. If at all possible I fight fish from the right side of the kayak that is free from my camera, fish finder or transducer. The line got caught on the front handle and my luck held as it popped free.

By now the fish was running and the Shimano Senora was singing. It was way up on the surface and I knew it had to be a wahoo. I initially thought I was in for a pretty long fight but after a few minutes the fish had stopped running on the surface and was around 30 feet below the kayak. I could see something long and skinny, but a little smaller than I imagined. Below the kayak it started circling and having forgot about my other line and I slowly drifted over it. I grabbed the small wahoo and after putting the dock demon in the rod holder I started to realize that I actually made it happen. It was at this point I noticed my other line going under the kayak and grabbed my rod to avoid a tangle, but it was too late. My line was flapping in the wind as it had been clean cut 200ft above my bait. I’m pretty sure that the wahoo swam through my line and cut me off. Since the fish was pretty small I decided that it would just barely fit in the fish bag with all of the other fish. It wasn’t easy maneuvering the fish bag with nearly 100lbs in it, but in the process the unthinkable happened. While struggling to get the zipper closed my hand slipped and I knocked the Dock Demon out of the rod holder and it was gone sinking below the kayak.

A little heart broken I had almost met my goal of catching a wahoo, yellow fin tuna, and a mahi mahi on the dock demon. I was totally loaded down at this point and started heading in slowly. I still had one bait left and I tossed it in not knowing the depth. My friend was also near us on his boat and I asked him if he wanted one of the yellow fin tuna. He said yes and was maneuvering to take the fish when my bait got hit. It was a kawakawa and I ended up giving him both fish. I gave the smaller wahoo to my friend on the trip.

I finally purchased a scale and the wahoo were 24 and 16lbs, and the yellow fin tuna was 18lbs. With my 20lb bag of ice my fish bag had 96lbs in it, the second most weight I have ever put in it. If it was flat this much weight would have been fine but not in 5ft waves. My friend was still trying to catch some more fish but after the bite died off we made our way in at 9am. Tons of action for such a short trip and my best fishing trip in Hawaii far. Double wahoo and a yellow fin, now I just need to tack a mahi on and I’ll have a grand slam.

Holoholo: Late Season 2019 Whipping Report

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Thad, our JDM expert and shoreline whipping enthusiast, provides this report in early October.

Thad: Like many years before, I wasn’t able to fish this season’s peak summer months for oama, halalū, or papio due to other important things going on at home.  Seeing and hearing of all the action my friends were having made me envious but I knew fishing would always be there and the next summer season would be just around the corner. 

Recently, I’ve been able to venture out to do my regular early morning fishing sessions and was expecting the predator action to be slow so I went oio fishing instead.  My friends were able to catch and release some legal sized papio while we targeted the oio so I wondered if the season had truly slowed down.  It was already the middle of September and the bait schools weren’t as plentiful but it seemed like the papio were still hunting inshore. 

The following weekend, I decided to devote my time whipping some CHL grubs Scott had given me to try.  It was a decent morning with five omilu landed and several more that came off.  Nothing big, but all legal sized ranging from 10 to 12 inches.  Were these the last remaining papio of the season?  Only one way to find out.

Two weeks later I decided to try my luck whipping some papio flies my friend Brandon makes for me, which I’ve had much success with in the past.  The result of this morning session was several more hits and misses, with a 10.75 and 15 inch omilu landed. My fishing partners also landed a 13 and another 15 inch omilu on grubs.  Still some pretty good action for October.

This past weekend I went on a solo mission – which is usually when the big ones bite right?  I noticed a small school of tiny baitfish darting around the shoreline as well as a small pile of oama.  The first cast of the morning with Brandon’s “Sparrow” fly produced a 10.5 inch omilu.  Several casts later, something blew up on the fly only a few yards out and took off.  There was no slowing the fish down on the first run.  Then I felt the fish pop off much to my dismay. 

I continued casting but whatever it was, it wasn’t around anymore so I decided to change it up and try a Mark White oama lure.  One the second cast, another solid hook up and short run before the lure popped out of the fish’s mouth again.  I like to change up my lures often so I went with grubs to see if there were any takers but no luck.  It was nearing the end of my fishing time so I switched back to the trusty Sparrow fly to cast as I worked my way back.  Sure enough, I got a few more tugs here there before I landed an 11.5 inch omilu to end the day.

Since I wasn’t able to fish the peak months of the season, I have no way of comparing the recent action to how it may of have been in June – August.  The recent action has been pretty good though, so I have no complaints.

Holoholo: Red VMC 4X trebles worked again!

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Kelly, our minimalist SUP inshore fisherman, provided this short report to let us know the omilu are still around and the hooks are working!



Kelly: Fished Eastside on the morning rising tide over the weekend. Lots of papio action dragging dead oama outside the reef. Caught four and lost four. Red VMC 4x, size 8 hooks from Scott worked great – thank you! They look tiny but they hold. All the fish were caught on the rear treb hook, even this 17″ omilu.

Editor’s note: Still got some 4X trebles in the store. Use to replace weak stock hook, and as stingers on bait. So cheap and so good!

Front hook is a Gamakatsu knockoff from Korea.

Editor’s note: We don’t sell knockoffs. 🙂

Holoholo: Floater fishing for slide bait

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Elijah is a 5th grader and has been fishing for about a year with his dad and younger brother. He wanted to share his love of fishing and some slide bait catching tips with the readers.

Elijah: I don’t whip a lot because my brother can’t so I float baits right now . I can do a report on catching small pan size fish like mamo, kupipi, and slide bait size hinalea.

So this is my 3rd time at some popular Westside beaches and I kinda know where the fish are and when I cast out to that spot (usually where red is surrounding a sand bottom) I felt a small tug and out of nowhere my drag starts screaming and I set the hook but it popped so I retrieved my float and the buggah took my bait so I walk to the cutting board and use my secret method of hooking squad and making it look appetizing.

So I recast and jiggled my floater and suddenly my float zooms 3 feet under the water and I see the fish, a nice sized mamo and some omilu! And I see the floater straining a mamo to the surface and I quickly reel it in and it was a good 2 pounder! Soon after we had to pack up and leave.

Next day we went to another beach and we set up. I was rushing to get my and my brothers floats in the water and on my first cast I realized I had missed an eye! So I reeled in the float that was 4 feet away from me and felt a small tug I reeled it to me and found a baby hinelaea chewing on my hook!


My dad told me to put it in the bucket for slide-bait and I quickly dropped it in. The secret to catching small fish for live or slidebait is to look for small pools of water in the rocks and just drop your float down and wait. You can also find some kupipi and mamo in the holes and hinalea. In the end I caught about 15 live baits, a poopa’a that we took home and some squirrel fish (my dad wasn’t happy about the squirrel fish) and was a successful day! If you are setting up a slidebait and need bait FAST jiggle your bobber for a couple of seconds.

Aloha, Elijah