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Holoholo: Oama Fly still doing work

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Jason, our prolific fly fishing Holoholo writer and in-the-water conditions reporter provides this update on his latest fly creation.

Jason: It’s been about a month since my last post “Oama Fly works!” and I’ve continued to fish the fly nearly exclusively.  Just thought I’d share some additional data points I’ve gathered since then.  The fly in question is a slightly tweaked Clay Yee’s Reef Special, a fly I had decided to try out after experiencing a few skunky weeks with my usual go-to patterns.  


Two weeks after that initial trip, I returned to the same spot with David, and managed to hook a couple more nice fish.  The smaller of the two was hooked on my old standby Super Gotcha, but the larger was hooked on the “oama fly.”   David, who wasn’t fishing an “oama fly” did not catch anything.  

A week after that, I returned once again and ran into my other friend Richard.   There were at least a half dozen other fly fisherman out, and fishing was tough due to the light winds.  I don’t think I saw anyone hook one all day, and we were about to give up ourselves when I got lucky and hooked one on – you guessed it – the “oama fly!”  

Coincidence?  The rational side of me knows that with oio, the fly typically isn’t as important as finding a fish in the right mood.  The basic Reef Special (and Clouser before it) certainly isn’t anything new, indeed it is one of the oldest patterns around.   But like most fisherman, I find once I’ve got faith in something, this becomes an awful tough thing to shake.  It’s partly why we wear lucky hats, avoid bananas on the boat, but bring the ti leaves.  In the end, it comes down to what we feel comfortable with, and this fly has definitely earned its way onto my shortlist of favorites.

Holoholo: Heeia Fishpond Fundraiser for Mauna Kea – Heeia trial nine

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This would be my ninth time fishing at the Heeia Fishpond, and I was hoping to take advantage of the rising tide for most of the time that I would be fishing there. When I got there, the conditions were pretty good for fishing, but it was also very humid due to the rain the night before, and no wind at all. Within an hour I was already soaked with sweat and it looked like I had actually fallen in the pond. I caught two Kaku on back to back casts on the Kastmaster, but then, after that I decided to go after some of the toau. Since both of my poles were occupied, I set up a handline. I had never handlined with a spool before, so unfortunately on the first toss I tossed both the bait and the $15 dollar spool of line in the water. 

Luckily, I had brought my nine foot net, and I just scooped it up. But if the water had been deeper, it wouldn’t have ended so well. I learned how to successfully throw it and landed three Toau in short order. But that was sadly the whole school of Toau. I put on an oama and started whipping with it, and I was just about to take it out of the water when a Kaku came out of nowhere and inhaled it. I was tempted to set the hook right there, but I let it swallow it and then set the hook. I landed it, and it was a decent sized 16 inch Kaku, and really fat for its size. I started to dunk some oama and then I heard the bell ring. Someone had tangled my line and I reeled it in to untangle it. The line was still halfway in while I was untangling it. After I untangled it, I put it back in the pole holder.

Immediately after, the bell started to ring again and the reel started to scream a little. This time it was a real fish. I reeled it in thinking the whole time it was a Papio, but it fought differently than I was used to. Then I saw why. A really fat moi had surfaced with my oama in its mouth. I yelled for the net and my mom came, and she started recording instead of handing me the net. I took matters into my own hands and grabbed the net, and netted the real fat moi. It was only 13 inches, but it must’ve weighed a pound and a half or a little over because it was so fat. Almost obese fat. I tagged it and released it, and watched what could’ve been a real good dinner swim away.

I started whipping shortly after with a bubble and strip rig. I was worried because the leader was only six pound, because I forgot the 20lb I usually use at Heeia because of the Kaku. I just hoped there would be no more Kaku that would bite that day. I was wrong. Far out, I saw a Kaku take the lure and jump out of the water with it in its mouth. It then took off on a short 15 yard run due to my relatively light tackle, with an eight pound mainline, but not ultralight. I worried about the six pound leader the whole time, but somehow it came in close enough for netting. It saw the net and didn’t like it at all. It took off on another run, but that was its last effort. It came in reluctantly into the net after. It was the biggest Kaku of the day, at a decent 17 inches, but good on six pound line. I bagged all of the Kaku that day, as well as the Toau, and donated them to the Heeia Fishpond staff, which were asking for donations. After that, I had a real nice strike on my dunking pole that would not stop. The hook eventually popped and I was super bummed about that. I think it was either a big Papio or Oio.

Overall, that day was sort of a success, but it could’ve been better. Interesting that almost none of the dunkers hooked up at all, but a lot of the whippers on the wall had caught fish. Once again, whipping takes the vast majority, but dunking hooks the quality fish, as it has with pretty much all my fishing trips. I think I prefer whipping. Kastmasters and strips were again KEY in catching the smart Kaku in the fishpond. Scott has some Kastmasters in his shop, the exact same kind I have, for cheaper prices than in the stores. Oama are fully in, go gettum guys.

Holoholo: Eel – 2, Hunter – 0

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Holoholo writer Hunter shares a too-close encounter with an eel.

Hunter: I was out fishing Kaiser Bowls with my friend Issey on Labor Day. I was dunking dead oama while Issey was whipping with grubs. Right off the bat I had my oama followed by a 4 pound omilu which just didn’t want to bite. A few minutes later Issey hooked up to a lai which we released. Then, a while after that my pole with dead oama went off but didn’t hook up. Issey threw out his pole and hooked up to a nice 11 inch omilu. We debated on keeping it or not. Eventually we just kept it because Issey had not eaten omilu in a long time.

We decided to clean it so I jumped in the water while Issey cut open the fish. I was holding the fish while Issey pulled out the guts when all of a sudden what felt like a knife cutting pretty deep and my hand was pulled under a rock. I pulled it out and saw my fingers bleeding rapidly. Issey’s hand had also gotten cut but his was nothing compared to my cut. I applied pressure and headed back in while Issey cleaned up. The eel got a 2-fer: a piece of me and the whole omilu. Initially I thought the papio bit me, not realizing there was an eel in the water. A group of people were kind enough to help me with my injury.

Afterwards, I headed to the hospital and ended up having my wounds glued shut.

Lesson learned: Never clean a fish while in the water with its guts and blood coming out. Especially near a rock wall which is most likely housing eels. I wasn’t thinking and I paid the prices for it. Be careful and if you are near a rock wall which you think could be home to eels do not go in the water with open wounds or anything that might attract eels.

Holoholo: Ultralight whipping

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Holoholo writer Matthew lets us in on some secrets to catch papio in heavily fished areas. Note when he catches most of his fish, and what gear he uses.

Matthew: Lately I’ve been hearing how fun ultralight fishing is. Ultralight fishing is fishing with very light line (4 lb or less) and a very soft rod, making the fish fight very hard, even giving bigger fish the advantage over you. I bought a 6’6” 13 Fishing Defy 2 piece rod and a Daiwa 2500 Procyon reel with four pound line loaded on. I tested it out at the bass stream first and hooked up on a few. Normally they don’t fight so hard, but with the ultralight rod they fought super hard and even pulled drag. The smallies weren’t too big but still put up a great fight on the four pound test.

I felt like it was time to catch a saltwater fish on my ultralight so I went to a go-to spot. I started at 4pm and dunked live oama while I whipped the ultralight. Nothing bit the oama at all until 7pm, and I set out a new batch of oama. Then, right before sundown, what felt like a 7-8 pound Papio hit, and it screamed maybe 20 yards out before I brought it in, and it resisted along the shoreline for a good 30 seconds, but then upon closer examination, I realized it was only a 10 inch White Papio. Lol. The ultralight really brought out the fight in the fish. On my normal gear, the fight would have been over in 10 seconds. On the ultralight, it lasted over a minute.

No sooner had I released the Papio one of my two dunking poles started ringing. I reeled it in, and it was a small 7 inch white Papio that somehow swallowed the whole four inch oama. No sooner had I had released that Papio that the other dunking pole started ringing too. Wow, there must have been a pack of them hunting around in the shallows. I reeled it in, and it put up no resistance, and the fight lasted a lousy 15 seconds. It was a bigger Papio than the first ultralight one, at 12 inches, but the difference between the fight is huge. My conventional has a 40 pound main and a 30 pound leader with a big circle hook. After that, I landed a Tohei on my conventional as well. 

I went back the next night and same exact thing, no bites until exact sundown. I packed up at 7:15, and walked back to the car, and made a few casts on the way back. Boom, screamer, this time a little bigger. It peeled 30 yards off the reel at first, then as soon as I would reel it in close to the shoreline, it would make another run past the ledge. I was lucky I had a friend that had a net, because as soon as it fell close to the net, the hook pulled and before the fish could swim away, he netted the fish. It was a nice 1 ½ pound Omilu, but I decided to tag and release it. I thought that was going to be my hardest and longest fight on the ultralight, but I was wrong.

Two weekends later, I checked a spot I hadn’t fished in two years. I whipped with the ultralight and a grub, four pound mainline, and six pound leader. I made a couple casts and hooked a pretty big Hinalea, but then a few casts later, I hooked what felt to be an Aha, but with some headshakes. The fish then took off on an insane run that lasted around 30 seconds. It took me around five minutes to bring it into 10 feet of the shore, where it stubbornly resisted for another eight minutes while also making a few runs. At this point I knew it had to be a nice size Papio. Then I saw it. A nice sized electric blue Omilu followed by his smaller friend. I think It saw me too because it took a final 20 yard run, but that was its final run. I brought it back in and then finally got to grab the tail of the Omilu. I threw it on the beach pretty fast. It was a nice three pound omilu, and a pretty fat one too. The same fish would have been overpowered and brought in in 45 seconds on my normal gear, but on the ultralight, the fight lasted some 15 minutes. A real nice fight, and I think I got so excited I was yelling. Tag and release, but the fish was exhausted by the long fight and it took a four minutes of reviving.

The day wasn’t over though. I released it and thought of the smaller omilu that followed it in. The leader I used was pretty bad, so I took out my heavier plugging rod and casted. The other Omilu must have still been there because within two cranks, I got hit. A very small five yard run, then it came in like a lizardfish. No fight at all. Two pound Omilu, but the fight difference was huge. The fight lasted 20 seconds.

I got a Lai as well, which felt like a Hinalea. I went to the flats later that day and landed a few Omilu as well as a nice sized white Papio that fought incredibly hard for its size. In the end, the UL really brought the fight out of the fish. I recommend you guys try it too.

Holoholo: Hiramasa on a jointed sunfish lure?!!

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The lure was later lost that day, this is the closest lure online that resembled it.

Hunter, a Middle Schooler, fishes all over Oahu and always manages to catch unusual, highly desirable fish!

Hunter: About 1 1/2 years ago on January 1 2018 I was fishing at my friends beach house at Laniakea. We started out fishing for bass in his private pond . We didn’t catch anything so we decided to move to the beach. About a week prior I was in Florida fishing from a pier when a kid approached me. He asked if I wanted his “Hawaiian lure” which was a bass lure that looked like a sunfish with a hook out of the top of the lure. I took it not expecting to use it.

Back at Laniakea, I saw the lure the kid gave me and thought it would be a good idea to try it out. I tied on the lure to my baitcaster that I recently got at Bass Pro Shops and started casting. The lure looked nothing like anything you would find here in Hawaii but I kept casting. After casting about 10 times a decided to move down further right. I casted my lure and started reeling and jerking the lure. Suddenly my pole started flexing and my line started to get taken. I pulled to set the hook and called my friend over.

I yelled “I got a fish”! Loud but my sister didn’t believe me. My friend came over and asked if it felt big and I said “heck yeah”. It was surprising a good fight lasting a good 4-5 minutes. When It got close we went towards the water to see what it was and saw a golden flash. We looked at each other thinking it was a pao pao but as we brought it up on the beach we realized it was a hiramasa (yellowtail that swam from Japan).

I was so excited and must’ve took 1000 pictures but somehow I only have 1 now. We brought it home and we fried it in lemon butter which made for a delicious lunch the next day. The only down side was that the next day I ended up with a fever and couldn’t attend school. Now that I think about it, maybe the lure looked like a kupipi?

Holoholo: New Oama fly works!

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Our man in the water reporter, Jason, has been seeing big omilu breeze by as he stalked wary oio. He decided to switch gears and try for the papio while they’re so close to shore.

Jason: With oama season in full swing, I had started playing around with ideas for an oama fly, eventually settling on a modified Clay Yee’s Reef Special  ( http://www.nervouswaterhawaii.com/default.asp?id=144), itself an oama imitation and variation of the classic Clouser minnow.  My humble additions included adding some olive to the wing to mimic the darker topside of the oama’s body, replacing the shiny polar flash with a few subtle strands of white Krystal flash, and replacing the white variegated tinsel chennile body with plain white chennile.  There are a lot of oama imitations on the lure market today, but I feel you can’t beat the natural movement of fur, hair and feathers.  I couldn’t wait to test it!

Ian, Jason, Dave and Mike

Turns out that weekend I was also supposed to “play guide” for friends Mike and Dave, along with Mike’s cousin’s boyfriend Ian, who was visiting from California.   Dave and I started out fly fishing together years ago, but he hadn’t fished in awhile. Ian is a big time trout guy getting his first taste of saltwater fly-fishing and Mike is brand new to the sport, and still learning to fly cast.  Not the most ideal conditions to test my “new fly,” but I was determined to fit it in.


Since I was out there to show Mike and Ian how it’s done, I wanted to hook at least one bonefish “for demonstration purposes.”  I started out with one of my favorite bonefish flies, a version of a classic Super Gotcha taught to me by my friend and mentor, Asa.  About 30 minutes in, I manage to hook a small one to show Ian.


After taking pictures and showing Ian the fish, I released it and switched over to my new “oama fly.”  The tide was going out, so I waded out closer to the break with the intent of targeting omilu in the turbulent white water.  About 5 casts in I hooked a nice fish that I could instantly tell wasn’t an omilu.  I spent the next 5 minutes chasing the fish around, freeing my line from the reef as I went.  At one point, the line got stuck pretty good and I could no longer feel the fish tugging.  I thought for sure it was gone, but when I waded over, I was surprised to see the fish furiously swimming in circles trying to free itself.  Luckily it was too tired to break my tippet, and I quickly scooped it up with my landing net.  It was a nice fish, made even nicer by the fact it was almost lost.  Not my target species, but I wasn’t complaining!   I got some photos, then revived and released the fish.  

The next couple of hours were pretty quiet, so we decided to double back to the spot where I caught the smaller fish and wait for the tide to come in.   Ian still hadn’t hooked anything so I wanted to try to get him on a fish.  I set him up to bomb a fishy looking pocket near where my earlier fish was hooked, but minutes later it was Dave who ended up hooking one.  This fish was around the same size as my first one, and could have very well been the same fish.  The fight had taken him back to the west, so he and I decided to stay there and let Ian have the “hot spot” to himself.  

At this point Dave and I had each got the monkey off our backs so we were just talking story and lazily blind casting.  Mike was about 75 yards in front and just to the east of us practicing his casting in a sandy pocket.  All of a sudden I was cut off mid-sentence by a strong take, followed by another episode of running back and forth across the reef.  This one was a bit smaller than the second one and took the same “oama fly.”  

After releasing the fish, we were all pretty hungry so we decided to call it a day.  Unfortunately, Ian ended up getting skunked, but I told him not to feel too bad.  Some guys fly out to Hawaii solely to chase bonefish and leave empty handed after a week of pounding the flat.  He only got to fish for one day, and on the last day of his trip.   He will be back, and will be better prepared next time.   As for me, I think I’ve got a new fly to add to my rotation!

Jason

Holoholo: Old, frozen oama still works when the fish are in

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SUP fishing had been slow for Holoholo writer Kelly the last few months but suddenly turned on in a big way! Seems like the normally hard-to-catch omilu are biting with abandon now.

Kelly: Oama sighting reports have come in from all over Oahu, but I dunno where oama stay for sure. Wish I had some livies for bait. Please run your tubs again Scott!

I did find a small pile of the baby goats last week on the Eastside and got
about 15-20 but my kids ate them … haha. Found a few pretty decent looking oama and a couple sardines in the freezer from months ago so I decided to go SUP fishing on a small high tide dawn patrol.

LOTS of ACTION, but nothing especially noteworthy. Couple omilus, a few
roi, taape and a cuda. No big strikes but was fun to get in the water and
exercise. Always nice to bring home some kau kau too.

The VMC 4X treble hook used as the trailing hook on the frozen oama did the job again. ALL the fish were caught on the rear treble. I’ve never had it open up, even on big fish.

Editor’s Note: Kelly was using the VMC 4X Size #8 treble as his rear hook. That size is very small but still strong. The next two sizes up, suitable for replacing hooks on lures, or used as a larger trailing hook on bait, are being sold in the store.

Stomach content notes: roi and taape all had eggs. They must be spawning. Felt good to clean the reef of invasives. Papio had a belly full of cooked shrimp. Maybe someone threw their scampi appetizer in the water?

Holoholo: Tips to help you catch more halalu

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Duane is a very accomplished shore caster, ultralight whipper and fly fisher. If it swims, chances are he’s caught it. He’s also married to the Oama Psychologist, Tina. Duane shares some technique and etiquette tips to put more halalu in your cooler.

Duane: Summer is here and most people get excited for the oama bite, but for me, I’m looking forward to the halalu run. When I get the phone call that the halalu school came in, some of my first questions are: how far out is the school, what color are they biting and how long does my leader have to be and what pound test?

The reason I ask how far out the school is, it will dictate what length of rod do I need. For halalu fishing, I will have 3 rods. A 5-6’, a 7-8’ rod and a 8.5-9.5’ rod. Typically, if the fish are closer to the shoreline, I will use a shorter rod. The shorter rod will provide more accuracy which is especially important when fishing amongst other fishermen standing a few feet from you. However, if the fish are further out, you’ll need to go with a longer rod to be able to cast past the school and drag your lure thru the school in hopes for a bite.

Regarding the leader question, it allows me to know how finicky the bite is. The more finicky, the longer and lighter the leader needs to be. That tells me how many casts will it take to get a strike.

And finally the question regarding the color of the lure that the fish is biting, I carry over 15 different color and shape combination of proven halalu colors and to be able to narrow down one of the variables from the start saves time and money.

The main thing to be successful at halalu fishing, as well as all types of fishing, is being able to adapt to what the situation calls for. One day the fish might be biting a fast retrieve and the following day, they might like a slower presentation. If I am not catching much, I will watch the guys hooking the most fish and emulate what they are doing. I will jig my rod at the same tempo, crank my reel at the same cadence, and see if I can get a peek at their lure. If they have figured out the magic recipe to hook fish consistently, then I should be doing my best to copy what has been successful.

Here are a couple old timer rules for fishing for halalu:

  1. Never cast into the school – this will only scare the fish and make the bite more difficult for everyone
  2. Cast straight – with people fishing shoulder to shoulder, it is very important to cast straight to avoid tangling others. If the school is not in front of you, wait til the school moves or pick up your gear and change spot.
  3. Cast from one direction – if the majority of the people are casting from one side of the break wall, don’t go on the other side that is 90* from the first wall and start casting. You will only tangle everyone.
  4. Don’t try to snag fish – while it’s tempting to bust out the treble hook and try to snag the fish when they aren’t biting, you’re going to just scare the fish more and turn off the bite. You’ll only snag sardines that is sometimes mixed in with the halalu but you’ll never snag halalu…they’re too fast anyways.

Holoholo: DIY snag free oama net

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Green nets are covered with shade cloth material, red net is covered with household fiberglass screen.

I met David last year on a day that the oama didn’t want to bite the usual cut shrimp bait, and my experimental bait was doing the trick. Here’s how that day went down (I refer to him as “the grandpa” since he was fishing with his grandson). We ran into each other again, and David turned me on to his secret baits and methods. Since then we’ve tried to help each other get better as oama catchers and papio fishermen. Another great friendship, like that with Tina the Oama Psychologist, forged on the oama grounds.

David generously shares a key improvement to a critical piece of oama equipment:

Most real fishermen have forgotten more than I could ever hope to know. But I do have one tip that could help Oama fishermen. The net…. Getting your hook stuck in a fabric net is the pitttttts and of course it always happens when the bite is “on”, especially if you don’t pinch down the barb. So some people line the net with a plastic bag, but when the net is in the water, the bag floats up and out of the net plus it makes an irritating noise when the captured Oama are thrashing around in the plastic.

Another angle of same nets

My solution, is to line the net with shade screen. They sell it at City Mill. It’s that dark green stuff that covers flower hothouses. You can either pull off the red or blue netting from the ready-made nets and discard it,  or just stick the shade screen into the net and use a needle and thread (or thin cord or wire will do), to secure the shade screen into the wire hoop of the net; or use plastic ties.  I happen to have large needles for sewing leather or carpet, and use leftover braided line to secure the cloth;  you can easily make a large needle by using some stainless steel wire and crimping the thread at one end, the same way you would make a needle to bridal live bait. The fish hook doesn’t  penetrate or stick on the shade screen because it is a plastic woven fabric and it severely reduces frustration levels.  I’ve made shade screen nets out of old squash and racquetball rackets also.  I hang them around my neck with bungee cord. Shade screen nets are stiffer and hold their shape and you can fabricate them so that they are shallower than mosquito fish nets that are too deep.

After all, the purpose of the net is just to secure the fish before it throws the hook and wiggles out of your hand, so a deep net is not necessary. Most of my shade cloth nets are only a few inches deep, kind of the shape of a small wok, just enough to keep the critters from wiggling away. The fabric is very cheap.

Aloha.

David

Holoholo: Oama Catch Report by Wahine Oama Psychologist!

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I met Tina a few years ago when I was a struggling oama fisher. I was doing so badly, Tina started putting her oama in my bait bucket! Since that embarrassing outing, I had seen her over the years at the spots, usually out fishing the guys. Her *secret* isn’t a bait, instead she studies the behavior of the oama to determine how to get them to eat that particular day. Here’s a brief set of tips, with more to come in the next installment of the Oama Psychologist.

Tina: One of the things I enjoy most on the weekends or after work is to go oama fishing.  I know it is a bit early for the oama to start running, but I was getting excited.  So a few weeks ago, I went to check to see if the oama had came in.  Walked around and around and around and found nothing at multiple spots.

{photo from last year)

Went to check it out again this past week.  The first spot I checked out, I searched all around and there was not one oama to be seen.  Went to the second spot and found a small school of maybe 50 oama swimming around with the tiniest oama- maybe about 4-5 inches long and really skinny.  The fish were not really eating a lot and were a little skittish.  There were some other people fishing with me that caught one or two fish, and then gave up and went home a little bit after I got there.  Some other people came to fish after that, and I noticed they were using large pieces of bait, and were not catching anything.  I started making my baits really tiny since the fish were super tiny, and started to catch a few. Caught just enough to eat for pupus, and then went home. 

So here’s some general oama tips for all you oama enthusiasts, that I have gathered over the years:

  1. If you want to find oama, don’t always rely on other people to find the schools.  Check around at different places, because the early bird gets the worm, and you might find some secret spots that no one knows about!
  2. Catching oama is not the same for every place.  You have to be able to adjust to changing situations.  Some oama like small bait, some like large bait.  Sometimes you have to drop your bait to the bottom, and sometimes halfway or leave it at the top. I even found one place that if the bait gets any type of dirt, sand or rocks on the bait, the oama won’t go for the bait. 
  3. Show aloha to others – I have made many friends out there oama fishing and had lot of good laughs and conversation.  It’s amazing how well you can get to know someone fishing together for an hour or two.  If you show aloha to those around you, they often will teach you the best techniques, or give you advice for gear, line and hooks that work best.

Holoholo: Ala Wai JDM vs Non-JDM and King Tide fishing

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Soon to be 8th grader, Matthew, fished the target-rich Ala Wai Canal with traditional and JDM lures, and fished the bottom and the top of the King Tide on a beach outing. Here’s his very entertaining recap and recommendations.

Matthew:

Ala Wai

Most people think of the Ala Wai as a stinky, bacteria filled canal, and that’s very true, but fishermen see it as a gold mine for fishing. Some of the less brave fishermen don’t fish it, so that takes away most of the crowd. But the fish that do remain in there have seen just about every lure on the market, including grubs, spoons, and poppers. So you have to switch it up a little bit. I use JDMs, which are lures that are made in Japan. I took Jacob, other Matthew, Luca, and Vance to fish the Ala Wai. 

The first hour and a half was very boring, with no strikes, until I switched it up with the JDMs. I tried the Shimano Shallow Assassin Flash Boost 99mm, which is a solid lure, but I had never tested it much. First cast on it and boom, a nice Omilu hits it but the side treble got stuck in its scutes, which made it feel huge. I kept fishing with it for a while, and eventually landed a decent White Papio, and a good size Kaku. 

Editor’s Note: Shameless plug – there are still 3 Shallow Assassin Flash Boosts left in the Store.

Then I switched to the transparent JDM model of the Lucky Craft Sammy purchased in the Hawaii Nearshore Fishing store for $7.50. First cast, and I could see a Kaku following it in. I paused the lure for a second and it jumped on it and immediately went airborne. I tagged and released it quickly and got back to fishing.

I landed one more on the Sammy before I decided to switch it up to the secret JDM lure that I’ve been using recently. No surprise at all, I landed four fish on it, three being Kaku, all violent and exciting strikes, but then I saw a bait school getting busted on in the middle of the canal. 

I casted far out there and saw four or five White Papio each fighting each other for the lure. They missed it many times, but one eventually grabbed it and stuck on. Right away it started peeling drag. It took an easy 30 yards on the ultralight setup and I started to get concerned of the huge log it was trying to run into. I radioed back to my mom that I had a big one on, and I decided I had to lock down and boost it or lose it. Remember, this is six pound line main with a 2500 size reel, an ultralight setup. I locked down the drag and muscled it out from the log close to where I could see it. When I saw it, my heart dropped. 

One treble was in its mouth and hanging by a flap of skin. I loosened up the drag, and that must be when it saw me and it took another 30 or so yards. It kept resisting for another minute or so before I got it close again. I kneeled down and grabbed the leader, and brought it up onto land. It was the biggest Papio I had caught in a while, so I was of course happy, and tagged it and released it. This was on a rising tide, and was around 2.1 feet when this happened.

Beach Fishing

Cut back to July Fourth and a -0.5 tide. This was the lowest tide I had ever fished and I could walk all the way to the breakers. First cast and the lure flies off to Narnia and I never see it again. Strike one. I keep walking out to the breakers, and retie. I spook a giant Oio and it scares me to the point where I fall off the boulder I’m standing on. Strike Two. I landed hard on the bottom of the boulder, right on top of a Wana (Sea Urchin). Dang. Strike Three. 

I pull off the creature but leave the spikes on my foot, and wonder how I am going to get inshore, because if it took me 30 minutes to get out here with two feet able, how am I going to do it with one? I see my answer soon. I go into the sand channel, which is a lot deeper, but only up to around my waist, and walk all the way in. I quickly pulled the spines out of me, and was careful for the rest of the time not to step on that foot hard. 

First cast since I made it in and boom, an aggro kaku hops on. It had a tag in it, and was my own! It had grown an incredible 4.5 inches since April, which is a lot. But that was the only fish of the trip if you don’t count an eight inch Omilu.

Go to July Fifth and I go fishing on the huge 2.5 King Tide. The spot looked a lot different from when it was a negative tide. I set my dunkers out from 6pm. I started whipping but the only fish that came up was a slimy Nunu (trumpetfish0, but it was caught on the Shimano Shallow Assassin Flash Boost 99mm. It got dark really fast, and I started to eat my food.

The rest of that night passed horribly quiet until 10pm, when we left. Not a single bell rang or a single bite. The dunking bite was horrible, as well as the whipping bite. Maybe because of the swift current? Keep tuned for future updates.

Holoholo: Fly fishing odd ball slam

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Jason, our resident fly guy, provided this unusual catch report and insight to what’s going on near shore.

Jason:

I was getting over a cold and felt that a fly fishing session was just what the doctor ordered. My first choice had no parking, so it was onward to my backup spot.  I got there, rigged up, threw on my wading boots and waded out, looking for fish and “bombing” (blind casting) as I went.   

On my wade out to my usual spot, I hooked a small scrappy omilu while “playing” with a spotted eagle ray.  As often happens when sight fishing bones, it seemed to come out of nowhere to snatch the fly before the ray could get to it.  It wasn’t much bigger than 7,” but what a load of fun on a fiberglass fly rod.  

A little while later, while bombing, I thought I had snagged the bottom.  I waded up to the spot where the fly appeared to be stuck, and tried to free it.  It was unusually stubborn, but after some finagling, I felt it give, but with a weight at the end.  “Great, a rock,” I thought to myself.  I was shocked to see a fully inflated porcupinefish appear at the surface  This was a first for me.   It appeared to be foul hooked below its anal fin (probably very near its actual anus, haha).

After a good chuckle, I continued to bomb the same general area, working a bit to the left, then later, a bit to the right, in front of a big blue hole, maybe a hundred yards or so from the “mouth” where it opened up to a nice, wide channel.  After about a dozen casts, I was about ready to call it day when I finally felt a tug.  There it was; I was just a short 2 minute fight away from completing…. the Fugu Slam! Actually, I don’t think that’s “a thing,”  but I’m calling it that from now on HAHA.    All were hooked on the same fly, too, which earns me extra prestige points haha.  

The bone was a rat, no bigger than a couple pounds, but this was about as fun and interesting a day as one could ask for.   

Holoholo: What kine papio did I catch on my SUP? Catch and Cook

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My kayak fishing partner Frank took his fishing SUP instead of the kayak for a quick outing and presented Kelly with his mystery fish after Kelly correctly identified it.

Frank: I had to get some SUP (kayak style) fishing and exercise in before the storms this week. I headed out looking at the dark gray clouds coming from the east, hoping I would get a few hours of calm winds and no rain.  After three laps around the area that was productive on my last outing, I headed East of the channel to try another action area and finally got hooked up.  I had to paddle for about 15 seconds to make sure I was clear of breaking waves. After grabbing the pole from the holder and starting reeling in, the fish was already in a hole and I got rocked. 

Feeling the bite was on I headed back to the West side of the channel and on my 2nd lap hanapaa! This fish was strong and  was taking line in spurts. I didn’t want to get rocked twice so I tighten drag to muscle it in. He fought all the way to the leader and was still splashing around refusing to be netted.  I could see stripes on the papio and I got more excited to get a fish I never caught before. Finally in the net and secured on the deck, I saw that the trailing treble hook did its job. The fish went in the cooler bag and was still flopping around while I did my last 2 laps before heading in.

Got to my car still not knowing what kind of papio it was. I asked my friends and Kelly said “barred” papio.  I gave him the fish since our kitchen is being renovated and he was stoked.  He said the fish is uncommon and very tasty.  I’m glad he and family enjoyed the special catch. Thanks to the FWA (Fishing With Aloha) crew for mentoring me at my new hobby. Be safe and Blessed. Frank

Kelly:

Frank gifted me his barred papio (Carangoides ferdau for you wanna be marine biologist types, like me) and I was super excited to try eating one for the first time! The 15″ fish was very thick and fatty, with pinkish meat similar to a yellow spot papio.

When cleaning it, I was surprised to find that it was full off eggs. Cleaning a fish with eggs is always bittersweet, since I like to eat fried fish eggs but would have loved for the momma fish to have been able to produce offspring.

We filleted the papio so we could make half of it sashimi and the other half steamed, Chinese style. The eggs were fried crispy, with only salt and pepper seasoning. They were ono however not much different from other papio eggs.

The sashimi was amazing, a bit like yellow spot (smooth and creamy) but less oily and the steamed portion was very good as well. 
Thanks again Frank! Now I can asterisk this “bucket-list” fish. One day I still hope to catch one myself and if/when I do, I will know how to prepare it … next time I’m making the whole fish sashimi!

Holoholo: June Catch Report

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Our hardcore Middle School fisherman, Matthew, provided this timely inshore report.

Matthew: I know I haven’t done a catch report in a while, so here it is. Fishing’s been picking up lately, with more Omilu and Kaku showing up inshore, even some Oio. Moi season is now closed. After going to Japan again, (I know, lucky) and picked up some new crazy good JDM’s, I went fishing.

I walked around half a mile until the crazy things happened. I saw some large Iao jump 20 yards from shore, so I made a cast. I reeled the lure in, but dropped my walkie talkie. The lure is sitting still in the water. I picked up my walkie talkie and there was a Kaku that had apparently jumped on my lure. It put up no fight, and I could see it was a goner. The hook was deep inside its throat and it was bleeding immensely. I quickly got pliers and got the hook out, and made a short cast at the 4 or 5 Kaku that followed the other one in.

Due to the rushed cast, I didn’t notice that the front hook was all tangled with the line until it started moving. The Kaku didn’t notice and didn’t care. A bigger one jumped on the back hook and must’ve been mad it fell for a fouled up lure because it fought extra hard. Tag and release. I thought they would have been tired of the Vertice Z by then, so I switched to the top-secret-sworn-to-secrecy-topwater-lure that has been working insanely well for me recently. A Kaku took a swing for it but popped off at shore. Then I realized in that rushed cast my baitcaster was very tangled. Great. At the worst time possible too.

By the time I fixed it, the school was gone. The lure that worked well that day is the Daiwa Shoreline Shiner Vertice Z, which is also the same lure that Scott opened with in his shop recently. I’ve been getting other mixed action recently as well. I visited a sardine pile on the east side and caught a few, but couldn’t fool the Omilu that were attacking the school. However, I made up for it with an Oio the same day.

That top-secret topwater lure has got me great catches, including some rather odd ones. I caught the biggest Kaku I’ve seen at my shallow water spot, while being smaller than my personal best, it was big for the flats. I also somehow got a Menpachi Papio at midday using that topwater too. Strange, huh? And something that was almost laughable, I landed a big Obake Weke on that topwater. If you want the lure’s name, you’re gonna have to do some real convincing. On the other hand, the Vertice Z is just as good or better at times.

Oama are in at some spots already, as well as sardines. No sign from the halalu though except for the spots that have most of the year. Nehu are getting bigger so time to upsize your lures. Go gettum guys!

Holoholo: First ulua!

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Middle school fisherman Hunter keeps catching bigger and bigger fish! Here’s his short recap of his recent, first ulua.

Hunter: I woke up at 5:30 to go to Kaneohe with my Uncle Dean, not expecting to catch anything big. I arrived and set up my pole for omaka and caught nehu. I then dropped down some sanma I bought from Times and some uluas came up and ate it, which was a good sign.

I dropped down my bait but the uluas didn’t want to play. Uncle Teddy came and saw the uluas. He came back and told me he was going to help me catch one. He helped me and showed me what to do. We waited for about an hour.

The uluas kept circling the bait but not daring to go for it. Eventually an ulua made a mistake and bit. I pulled as hard as I could to set the hook.  It was a 30 second back and forth tug of war battle but eventually I brought him to the surface and the battle was over. Uncle Al netted the fish. It came out as 11.30 pounds. Decent size for my first one. I released it because I think that releasing your first ulua is good luck and I was happy about that but my grandma was not lol.

Holoholo: Using inexpensive level wind bait caster for shore whipping

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Matthew explains in very relateable terms how level wind bait casters have become a joy to fish, once he got past the learning curve.

Matthew: Yes, I use a baitcaster for whipping, but not the kind you would use for Oio or Ulua. Uncle Scott had done a review on level-wind baitcasters in 2017, but I thought it would be good to revisit the topic, especially with the success I’ve had with them recently.

The kind of baitcaster that Scott, a few others, and I use in Hawaii are the bass reels that are made on the mainland. He uses the Tranx 400 along with a few other baitcasters like the Concept Z. I, however, am not willing to pay the large amount of money it takes to get one of those better reels, so here I am with my Abu Garcia Blackmax. It still is a very good reel, but it has more tangles than the rest of the reels also.

I use my Blackmax for whipping for Kaku, Papio, and whatever else will bite the lures I am throwing. I find it really shines in sub-surface lures, but I find it really lacks in popper and walk-the-dog lure fishing. It is hard to reel up the slack fast enough to continuously fish a popper the right way, and in walk-the-dog lures, I have a hard time walking any lure at all.

I originally started with spinners, until I saw a guy fishing the shoreline with those bass reels I had seen on mainland bass fishing videos. It kind of started curiosity about baitcasters. I researched more about baitcasters, until I finally realized that Uncle Scott used baitcasters also. I purchased the cheapest reel I could find, the Abu Garcia Blackmax, which I bought for 48 dollars. At the time, I thought that was really expensive, but it wasn’t until later I started getting into better spinning reels, like the Ultegra, and that isn’t even close to the top of the line.


I spooled some line on it and tried to figure out how to even release the line into free spool mode. It took me a while to figure that out. When I finally did that, I couldn’t figure out why the line was bunching up on one side of the reel until I realized there was a hole I had to place the line through first. Duh. I finally got comfortable with the small five meter casts, and then I tried to bomb it as far as I could. Big mistake. At the time I couldn’t figure out why it kept tangling each time I casted. So, I tossed the rod and reel in the storage closet until I finally met up with Uncle Scott. He showed me some quick tips and how to fish it better. From then on, I fished it a lot more, and eventually got proficient at it.

One thing I find good about the baitcaster is if there is no wind, then you can cast it a lot farther than a spinner would. If there is a tailwind, like in one spot I fish, then you can cast farther than I would have ever imagined a cast can go. However, if there is a frontal wind, baitcast fishing sucks. You will get wind knots if you have braid, and almost certainly get tangled a few times. Another plus about baitcasters is the conveniency of casting. I can cast with only one hand if I really want to, even if it casts a little less than a two handed cast, it still is good if you need to rest your other hand for a short while before reeling it in. Baitcasters in general are just lighter than spinners too.

If you were to purchase a baitcaster, I would suggest that you ask Scott or any other guy you know that fishes a baitcaster. Look for the gear ratio, which if you read it right, it can tell you how many inches per crank it retrieves. I am currently looking for a high speed baitcaster. Another thing you want to look for in baitcasters is the line capacity. Most of the reels on the mainland only have 100 or so yards, because bass don’t run at all. You want to have a baitcaster fit for Hawaii’s hard running gamefish, so 200+ yards in case you run into a big Papio. If you have any questions for me, shoot me a question through my email, matthewikeda808@gmail.com.

Holoholo: Personal best ulua, fishing wit da Uncles

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I met Mako through the Tag It fish tagging program and we talk story over text all the time. You can follow his feel-good IG posts @makosr. He likes to shorecast with “da Uncles”, making sure they’re safe when they’re landing fish at the water’s edge at night. He even brings live oama for the crew. Mako caught his personal best shore cast fish and relayed the details back to me over text message.

Mako: At first strike, scream my Penn Senator. I all ready knew was one Ulua. But my stiff Ozone pole brought it in in about 15 minutes. Seemed like 30 minutes tho. 🙂

Anyway I hardly fish for Ulua. Mostly small game, more fun. Ulua Fishing is really slow n boring!! Well, for me that is. What got me to slide bait was because I ran out of bait in freezer. BUT, I had 2 pieces of eel about 4 months old. My friend always let me use his tako but this time I actually wanted to go with Uncles and sit n cruze. Was lazy already. So I cast out only one pole. Slide my eel. And figure ok time to relax and talk story this time. Instead of always checking my poles. Catch baby eels etc. Not two hours in, my ratchet just took off like I never heard before. I grab my pole n felt its head shaking. That’s when I knew was Ulua!

The fish weighed 15lb, my first ulua. Dream fish, I’m having it Gyotaku’d. I cut it up in my small kitchen and gave it away. My next dream is to tag n release one.

Holoholo: Japan tackle shopping and fishing recap by Matthew

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Frequent guest poster Matthew was able to travel with his family to Japan during Spring Break and enjoy the food, tackle deals and fishing opportunities. Thanks for sharing your experience with us Matt, makes me want to go to Japan now!

Matthew: Warning: this is going to be a long one, so if you don’t have time, stop right here.

Over spring break I had a lot of fun. The day after I got out of school, I went fishing at my secret spot and got two Kaku and a Papio on some JDM’s (Japan Domestic Model products). I left for Japan, hoping to find more JDM’s and some fish.

We arrived in Osaka, stayed one night, then rode a local train to Kyoto, where we saw the monkey park and some other attractions. I found a Tackle Berry store, where I got some new used lures, even some JDM’s, some such as the Ima P-CE, and a lot others I will not name. However, the highlight of that store was a used Daiwa Sealine 250, which I got for only eight bucks. Must be a fake right? Nope, tried it when I got home and everything works fine, except for a few scratches and it being an old model.

In Tokyo, the food was so good, and one ramen place had the best ramen I’ve ever tasted. We visited Ichigaya Fishing Center, which has carp ponds. You have to pay to fish there, but it is worth it as you can catch up to twenty in an hour. I enjoyed fighting the carp on an ultra light handpole and a barbless hook. I was happy for my family, which all landed a fish. My mom and sister even landed one!

We visited the Joshuya in Shibuya, where I found the new Duel Hardcore shallow runner, which may be a limited edition, so get it while you still can. At a good price it should be 11-12 dollars in US conversion. For a general Yen price move the decimal two to the left. The shallow runner works very well, and is better than most lipped minnows, as it is not lipped, and has sort of like a built in lip, like all other Japanese lures. It is 90 millimeters and is floating, and has a knocker. Be careful not to get the mid diver, which looks exactly like it. It runs less than a foot below water when used correctly.

I also got a Pugachev’s Cobra, which is a lure that Uncle Thad likes so much. Now that I’ve tried it myself, I can see why. But for 90 millimeters it is highly priced at 19 dollars or up, some even going for 24 dollars on Amazon and Ebay. It walks very well, with a wide side to side motion. I also got a few more lures, but I have been warned to not mention their names. One works very well, with a slim nose and a nice surface action, moving around very erratically. We went to Shinjuku the next day, where we tried a fish foot spa. Some of you may have seen the video of me in the foot spa on my instagram – @shorefishing_oahu_style, but if you haven’t, then go check it out, it’s kind of funny. We went to the Tackle Berry there, where I found a used conventional for only ten dollars. Seems like Tackle Berry has good deals on used items. On research, I found out it was last made in the mid to late 1960s and was an Abu Garcia reel.

I picked up a lure that Uncle Thad had recommended, called the Daiwa Switch Hitter. It is 105 millimeters and has a neat S moving pattern 2 inches under the surface, which should drive the Kaku mad. I was lucky to find it marked off 30% of its original price, 17 dollars.

We went to a tonkatsu place next, where the chicken and pork tonkatsu was so soft, it melted in my mouth. I really liked that place.

The last fishing store we stopped at was Sansui, which is very confusing. They have two different “parts” that are broken up into four different stores, all within 1000 feet of each other. It was a huge challenge to find the saltwater part, and although it is a great place, I would advise you to not come here unless you know exactly which store you are going to, and which kind of fishing you are looking for. I purchased a Ima Komomo, which also was 90 millimeters and a diving bait with a knocker.

After five days in Tokyo, we left for Hakone, by Lake Ashi. We arrived there when it was already cold, but I couldn’t resist but to throw some lures. We ended up catching 11 smelt, but no bass or trout. After, we ate a traditional Kaiseki meal, with nine courses, which made me think my belly was going to burst. We stayed in a traditional Ryokan, with even a real Onsen. An Onsen is a lava-fed spring pool with minerals that are supposed to help with relaxation and skin issues. Only bad thing is that you have to get naked to go in there. With strangers. It was packed too, which was not good for privacy. Overall, I enjoyed the Ryokan though. The next morning, the lake was so glassy, that I couldn’t resist throwing topwater even though it was only 30 degrees fahrenheit. I somehow got a bite on my switch hitter, but it missed and was too lazy to come back for it in the cold weather.

We left Odawara Station for Osaka shortly after. When we got there, we checked into our hotel, which was very nice and in a good location. The food in Osaka was very good, unlike the fishing. I had the best crab ever at a street vendor selling king crab, Kani as they call it.

We left at five in the morning for a place in Misaki, for fishing. It was supposed to be good, but I ended up not getting a bite for four hours, and just watched my bobber move with the waves. My mom bought live Halalu, or Aji as they call it, to try lure in the Hiramasa (Japanese yellowtail). I had one do a heart-stopping circle around it before watching it leave. Again. Back to bobber fishing. Waited for another hour and a half, until, finally, I saw my bobber twitch. I broke out of my trance and watched it more carefully. Sure enough, it started moving fast across the surface. I set the hook hard, and a screamer was on. What could it be? Finally done with the junk fish, I thought to myself, and for sure a new species. No. No. No. No. No. It seems like bad luck follows me everywhere. After 30 well-fought seconds, I pulled up a fully inflated… Puffer. A puffer. Not those same pests you catch all the time in Hawaii, these can sell for hundreds of dollars per fish. But still, I was happy to finally catch a fish, but sad that it was a puffer. I was so discouraged by that, so that we left shortly after giving the Tora Fugu to a local fisherman, who was enormously grateful.

We left for Hawaii the next day, thinking about the crummy fishing, but also about how good the food was. I didn’t have a single meal that tasted bad or even mediocre in Japan. Now, time to test the JDMs. I tried my luck with the Kaku and got very lucky. I quickly got three kaku within only 45 minutes.

Next, I wanted to try bass fishing. I went to a stream and casted my topwater lure. Almost instantly, a nice size smallie demolished my bait and put up a very nice fight. I later caught a smaller one that I trapped in a pond before taking pictures.

Overall, it was a very good break and I hope to get more action on my JDM’s, and more good food like in Japan.

Matt (who is too tired to complete another long bait report)

I will do a brief bait report.

Sardines: Few, rare at this time of season

Halalu: Two piles I know of

Oama: Starting to come in, seven spots I know of

Iao: Plenty, almost everywhere

Nehu: Same as Iao

Holoholo: Damashi & Jig Mayhem!

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I met Robert on the beach as he was cleaning up after a full day’s kayak fishing outing. He recently purchased a used, big brother version of my kayak and we bonded over that. He scored a big uku that day, here’s that post. Since that day, Robert has been very helpful in getting Frank and me better prepared for the pelagics in the deep.

Robert: Well to start off, I am Robert Richards, a nearshore/offshore kayak fisherman. Hailing from Wyoming, I spent most of my childhood on Oahu and decided to become a resident back in 2007. Of course, I pursued shore fishing: whipping, dunking and even trying my luck at sliding dead baits. (no luck on the slide for me haha) Eventually I wound up wanting more. Not having resources for a boat, the next best thing was this kayak fishing craze that is seriously in right now. I picked up a kayak and the adventures began! Similar to Scott, I chose the Ocean Kayak Trident Ultra 4.7 after countless hours of deliberation as my current kayak.

Managed to get out this past week with a couple kayak friends, Reece, Jay and Ben. Normally we do an early launch to try and pick up any Menpachi (Brick Soldierfish), Aweoweo (Bulleye) or more importantly some Akule (Big Eye Scad) for the sunrise bite. However, this trip turned into a later launch at 5:30am. We tried to catch Opelu (Mackerel Scad) at the start of light, but none to be found. Hoping to catch the lowering tide, minor bite period at 6:30am to 7:30am and sunrise bite, we decided to rush to one of our spots.

We paddled towards our spot. On the way, Jay and Ben found an Opelu school, but they were too far away for me to try for that school. I tend to keep moving out on the water always searching for bait or good marks. I paddled up on one of my other spots and BOOM fish finder is loaded with the marks of Opelu. Got my damashi sent down just in time into the school. Picked up what felt like 2 Opelu. Started to work them up and then “ZZZZZZZZZZZ” my reel starts peeling line, over 100ft gone in the flash of 3 colors of braided line. I thought to myself: ‘as long as I can last this run, I have a chance at landing this fish’. Well, I did, this battle turned into a 400ft drift and nearly 40 minutes of tug of war before I finally landed a decent 10lb class KawaKawa (Mackerel Tuna) on my 10lb test damashi.

The top hook was hooked perfectly in the corner of the mouth. This isn’t as common in these cases, sometimes they get hooked in the mouth but usually they get snagged on the body somewhere. KawaKawa are strong fighters all the way until the end, no matter the size. The problem is that they rather enjoy stealing your Opelu in the depths and destroy your damashi. To counter this, I usually have a looser drag when I fight my Opelu, fighting the Opelu in a pumping fashion using my reeling hand to cup the spool for added drag pressure.

The day went on and the bait became scarce, though there were plenty of larger marks varying from the bottom to the mid water range. This calls for the jig! I dropped my jig in about 340ft and started to crank. About 12 cranks up, a huge hit and line peels off the reel. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop this beast and it ran into a cave resulting in line cut in bankrupt fashion…  I quickly tied a damashi and jig then back towards the original spot. However, Reece has been on a jigging binge, catching an estimated 20lb Kahala (Greater Amberjack) and couldn’t help himself but to challenge me to a jig battle! OH, it’s on! We found some good marks, dropped our jigs then, BOOM, Reece is hooked up and I am left with no bite, cheering him on. A battle ensued and Reece landed his PB Ulua (Giant Trevally) estimated to be between 25-30lbs! Caught and released.

We dropped a few more times with no takers, so we headed back towards the first spot. I paddled over another school of bait, this time managing to land one. Threw it out on the live bait rig and trolled. Making to the original spot, I found another bait school and hooked into what felt like one more Opelu. Score! Until… ‘ZZZZZZZ’, another 100ft of line ripped from my spool and the fight on another pelagic on my damashi started! This time I was a bit more impatient due to my time limit rapidly approaching. I wound up tightening my drag a little too much and broke it off. The funny part is the pelagics loved stealing the bait off my damashi this day but none wanted the rigged up live nor dead baits.. Sometimes that is how it goes. The over all conditions, stayed calm with light winds, plenty of sunshine and minimal current. The bite stayed on from about 6:30 until about 9:30-10am. Total trip went for about 6hrs.

Holoholo: Late February fish report

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Middle schooler Matthew has been actively surveying the fresh water and salt water fishing opportunities and provides this timely report.

Matthew:

Action has picked up just a little bit, but still not the desirable Papio and Kaku. I have gotten some barely legal Papio and some Kaku inshore. Besides that, they seem to have migrated offshore.

Like I said before, Smallmouth Bass fishing in streams is a good idea now, but watch the forecast and get out of the stream if it starts heavily raining. Many have died like that.

For saltwater fishing, go fishing for the less desirable fish like Moana, Roi, Toau, or Ta’ape. They are showing no disappearance in the colder months for fishing. Oio are showing up more surprisingly, with some big ones being landed still.

The smartest idea however, is to go on a boat inshore with frozen oama and slow troll. That will entice the predators right outside the surf break to eat. Trolling with lipped lures and surface lures is also a good idea. There has been a lot of wind recently, so kayaking is not often safe. Akule are starting to show up on boats inshore, fishing at night, along with some mixed catches of Opelu.

Now is the time to explore new spots that will fill with fish during the summer. I am trying ultra light fishing, with four pound line, to get the real fight out of the fish. As for bait, in some spots large schools of Iao and Nehu are showing up, so that is a plus. Early Oama are definitely starting to come in, and will be of catching size in around a few weeks. I’ve seen some very small sardines along the shore (0.5 inches), so hopefully this means it’s going to be a good Halalu and sardine fishing season this year.

However, nothing good is coming up except for Oio. Now’s a good time to try dunking (come on Uncle Scott!) and everything you didn’t do during the summer. Hope the action really picks up soon. Go gettum guys!