3 uniquely awesome JDM 120g jigs I need to test asap

May 15, 2025 By Scott Leave a Comment

I’ve been sitting on 3 jigs (not literally) in the 120 class that I’m sure are gonna slay but I’ve been having so much fun fishing the damashi/sabiki in 130ft or less for smaller fish. I plan to sell the jigs in the Store but wanted solid proof of their fish catching abilities first. The 3 are actually advertised as shore jigs, and at 120g (4oz) they could be cast from shore or dropped down from a boat or kayak.

With the windy season here, I’ll be going back to Waianae, and plan to drop these down in the deep waters close to shore.

Here’s what makes these jigs really appealing to our nearshore fishery. (from top to bottom)

Duo International Drag Metal Force 120g

This jig is so thick at only 3.5 inches long that it will get down very quickly, yet flutter erratically on a jerky retrieve due to its asymmetric design. Fish love eating bite sized jigs so I’m dying to try this. I’m hoping the local Duo distributor who gave me this to demo will be able to order more.

Duo International Metal Drag Force Semi Long 125g

The Semi Long is the stretched out version of the Metal Drag. The left side has a flat, Squid Glow pattern and the right side bulges out. That heavier side faces down as it slides, and the glow pattern appears to flash on and off as the jig leans left and right. We have these Semi Longs in jigs from 125g to 250g and they will make their way into the Store soon. For now, there is a 125g Squid Glow pattern fully dressed in the Store with premium BKK assists and rings for an incredible introductory price. Click here to see it.

A friend has fished the Duo Semi Long 155g size and got a kagami ulua and kawakawa with it, then used the 200g size and a fish swam away with it! Here’s his brief write up on the kagami catch.

Tungsten Knife Blade jig 120g (made for Hawaii Nearshore Fishing)

We got these in a few months ago but I’ve just been able to drop it down once. It fell really fast in 80ft of water, had little resistance on the retrieve, and got hit but didn’t stick. I need to fish it deeper over a good mark to give it a fair shot.

It’s actually marketed as a long casting shore jig that kicks and flutters on the rapid retrieve, but I am pretty sure it’s gonna perform well off a boat/kayak also. It’ll fall quickly like a heavier vertical jig, but will slide and flutter on the “pitch” due to its long, thin and flat shape. Would also be killer when retrieved near the surface for mahi and other pelagics.

This green&gold 120g jig along with the blue&pink&silver 180g jig will be in the Store soon once we have proven how effective they are. If you are an early adopter, there’s a green&gold 120g jig in the Store now dressed in the premium BKK assist hook and rings.

Hopefully I’ll be able to post photos with these jigs having off fish soon.

Note: The dressed jigs are selling out (I only had 1 of each available). I’ll keep replenishing them in the Store for a while.

Damashi/sabiki out fished live opelu and jigs but big fish kept breaking off, even with 40lb line! Early Winter shallow bottom report.

December 5, 2024 By Scott Leave a Comment

I have been focusing on shallow bottom fishing since I don’t start early enough for productive pelagic fishing. Bottom fishing has less variables since the fish are usually somewhere in the general vicinity but the trick is getting the right ones to bite.

Almost all species of predatorial fish seem to be attracted to small bait imitations moving up and down in unison. Often the morning starts with opelu biting mid-water column, and when that slows, fish near the bottom eagerly hit the damashi rig. Some spots are loaded with taape and small moana. The former I kill and release back to the reef, the latter I release unharmed.

While it’s always fun to feel the bites and bring up fish, unhooking unwanted fish is just time away from catching the desirable fish like uku, yellow spot papio and kagami papio.

This report comprises of the last 2 trips. 1 trip back, a 1.5 lb uku got tail wrapped and hooked multiple times and by the time I unraveled it, it was in bad shape so I had to keep it. While I’ve been trying to get uku here for years, normally I wouldn’t keep one under 2lb.

Then some toau (invasive black tail snapper) started biting, and since their bones are easier to deal with than the small boned taape, I brought them home.

I went out to the 200ft area but could only get a kahala checking out the underwater camera.

On the way in, I checked the nabeta spot with a small piece of aku belly on the bottom damashi hook and something hit harder than a nabeta could and took some drag. I was stunned to see a 2.5lb uku come up, which is still on the small side but the biggest for this greater area that lacks large rocks and caves.

A fat 11 inch moana hit next and joined the catch. All in all, a productive day learning the bottom fish grounds. My neighbor fried the moana and toau fillets tempura-style and said they were amazing. The smaller uku was steamed, and the bigger one was given to a friend who said the sashimi was firm enough and very good despite only being 2.5lb.

CHL Minnows added to store-bought damashi set

The winds dropped again this week and I set out to bottom fish the damashi armed with the 1.5 inch CHL Minnows (the ones with the split fish tail) and some leftover Japanese wormy lures. Since even my 20lb rigs were broken off on the previous trip, I had rigs tied all the way up to 40lb test.

Look at the bait school on the fish finder!

The opelu showed up on the fish finder and bit in the shallows. I filled the bait tube, requiring me to drag the tube around. Although the wind was down there was a strong current running South to North that kept pushing me away from my spots.

I put out a live opelu and landed and released a big kawalea (Heller’s Barracuda). Good eating but like all barracuda, its slime is really stink.

The next opelu was neatly sliced in half but there were small teeth marks also, meaning it probably wasn’t an ono. The following opelu just had small bites taken out so I gave up live baiting and focused on the damashi fishing.

The afternoon bite really turned on, and omilus and bigger jacks kept jumping on the hooks. I released 3 omilu and each of my rigs from 15lb to 40lb eventually get their branch lines cut or light gold hooks broken off by heavy, strong fish. Those brutes didn’t fall for a jig, interestingly enough.

I was feeling a little desperate with nothing but opelu in my fish bag and then I stumbled upon a very small area where a 1.5lb yellow spot came up, followed by a 2lb uku and then a light colored goat fish that turned out to be a large 12 inch malu (side spotted goatfish). Whew, finally got some great eating fish to take home.

It was a lot of work to get these small good eating fish, with so much bycatch (taape, hagi, small moana, lizardfish, etc). I gave the big opelu to a friend at the beach who plans to make lomi opelu out of them, and kept a small one to freeze for bait.

The malu had crabs and some red & white shrimp in its stomach a little bigger than my CHL Minnows, and the yellow spot papio had translucent baby fish just a bit bigger than the minnows. No wonder the small damashi lures were so effective. Maybe really big fish were eating the same small food? I’ll be taking 40lb damashi with longer shanked Gamakatsu hooks next time and hope to see what’s been busting me off!

Here’s a comparison of the yellow spot papio and uku, prepared as sashimi and steamed.

Here’s a comparison of the malu and moana, prepared steamed.

Holoholo: 40g beveled flatty tungsten jig slays Los Angeles Harbor fish!

October 24, 2024 By Scott 2 Comments

(top to bottom) 60g tungsten jig – repainted, 40g tungsten jig – repainted, 40g non-tungsten JDM jig, 40g Daiwa TG Bait

My buddy RJ, of the Promar – Ahi USA crew that took care of me when I attended the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach, had recently started testing the new Promar Ikara jigs and was really getting into micro jigging.

I had some knicked up tungsten jigs we sell, that I had touched up with glow paint and nail polish, and a couple other JDM jigs I hadn’t used in a while, so I sent them to RJ to compare with the non-tungsten jigs he was fishing.

He had a successful outing with them and agreed to share how the tungsten jigs worked on the saltwater bass of SoCal. Thanks RJ!

RJ Oropeza:
My background: Hi Scott. Being out on the ocean, with our lines in the water is where I always want to be. For me, targeting and landing large Calico and Sand Bass is always an option, but when the weather is good, heading offshore is a must. If it’s not Santa Barbara Island, then Catalina Island is the next best location. Fishing for rockfish when it’s in season, hunting for large yellowtails coming up from the South in the summer, and drifting for Halibut can result in big and memorable catches when offshore. When I am not fishing on the boat, I scratch the itch by surf fishing, and kayak fishing. I am open and enjoy all forms of saltwater fishing. I find the ocean to be my mediation zone, and when I am fishing, I am meditating.

On Saturday, we were able to take the boat out for a couple hours to see if we can catch some keepers inside the Los Angeles Harbor. We left the dock at 11:15am, the skies were slightly overcast, with light wind blowing. The outside temperature was 69 degrees, and there was a slight chop. Our first stop was a spot, near the San Pedro Bay Area, inside the break wall. It took about 5 minutes to arrive to our desired location, we shut the engines off, and prepared the trolling motor for a slow drift.

We could see via the fish finder that there were a few fish sitting on the structure, waiting to be caught. I reached for my Daiwa Harrier rod armed with the 40gram tungsten jig (Blue/White/Silver/Pink) with VMC Techset assists. To keep things stealthy yet somewhat abrasion resistant, I was using 30lb Seaguar Premier as the fluorocarbon leader. It didn’t take me more than 2 minutes to get my line in the water. Before I could feel the jig hit the ocean floor, I was already hooked up to what felt like a nice size bass. I was shocked at how fast it took to catch the first fish of the day. This is always a good sign, when you catch the first fish within 10 minutes of starting out the trip. I had a feeling the day was going to be fun.

With the help of the new jig, we managed to put a few more bass on the deck along with a fighting mackeral. I was able to hook them on the free fall, the retrieve, and on the bounce. It was clear to me that this tungsten jig was very attractive to the bass in the harbor. The predators around could not resist the sexy dance that this lure displayed. The beveled edges create a realistic sharp darting motion, and the weight allows you to launch the lure far enough to have a long retrieve back, giving the angler plenty of time to dance the jig back to the boat. The color scheme, with added glow dots, seemed to be very effective.

On several retrieves, I was able to see fish come near the boat as they chased the jig in hope of a better view. This jig made what could have been a slow day, turn into a fun and productive one. Overall I felt that this jig was a must have for any angler interested in slow pitch jigging. The small and simple design could not be ignored by the fish we were targeting. Thanks again, for your recommendation, as always I appreciate the wisdom that you share. You were right, this jig, “slayed the bass in the harbor“.

I look forward to landing more fish in the future, with this sexy piece of tungsten and will give the other jigs their fair shot in the water.

Aloha Scott! Keep your pole bent, and your line tight.

Editor: You can find the 40g and 60g tungsten jigs, dressed and undressed, in the Store here.

Super thin tungsten “knife jigs”. Had to order some to try since the compact ones were so effective.

September 30, 2024 By Scott Leave a Comment

Duo Semi Long 125g 13cm/ 5″ non-tungsten jig on bottom for comparison.

The price of tungsten jigs has been steadily climbing because of various economic factors having to do with the production and import from China. A manufacturer is letting me buy these jigs in relatively small quantities but they are so expensive even at wholesale pricing. The current retail price of the 180g size is over $40!

The thin, long jig is meant to “slide and sweep” back and forth as it falls, unlike the more compact tungsten jig shapes that fall quicker and need to be jigged with the rod tip to look like small crustaceans or bait fish. Knife jigs work well on mid water column fish like pelagics and jacks, but these have been proven to work well skipping over the bottom from shore.

160g 17cm – 5.6 oz 6-7/8″.

180g 18cm – 6.3 oz 7-1/8″

I was sent a blue/silver/pink 160g jig and a green/gold 180g jig to inspect. The almost holographic finish was dazzling, and the thin jigs couldn’t be bent. I was convinced and ordered a batch of 120g and 180g jigs to satisfy the shore, kayak and boater’s needs.

Stay tuned to hear how these unique jigs fish.

In this video from GoGoGoFishing Nabu, you can see how a smaller version of the lure looks skipped underwater.

Holoholo: I caught a Kagami ulua on a Duo jig I was testing!

September 10, 2024 By Scott Leave a Comment

Editor: I had picked up some Duo Drag Metal Force Semi Long jigs from our local Duo Distributor to try out. If they proved effective, I was gonna order some for the Store. I shared an asymmetric sided 155g pink with glow stripes jig with my friend and occasional kayak partner, Lawrence, who consistently catches fish jigging off his kayak, when the pelagics aren’t biting his live opelu.

Lawrence:

Here’s how it it all went down… I paired the jig with a JI Fishing Co assist hook and dropped it on a school of fish. No immediate bite, but did see a mark on the fish finder and noticed it was chasing my jig on the way up. I let my jig back down to the bottom of the ocean and the fish hit my jig. The fight felt like an ulua and during the fight one of my other live bait poles goes off. I’m double hookup. Focusing on my jig rod, I let my live bait rod fight alone and hoped it could handle the constant pulling. Unfortunately the fish pulled really hard and broke the line.

Refocusing on the jig line, I get to the point that I see color and first thing to my mind is ohh, white ulua. Nothing wrong with white ulua but I’ve caught a few, along with kahalas. Once it got to the surface, I realized it was a Kagami (African Pompano). Quickly grabbing my Kage (Hawaiian Spear), I stabbed it in the gills and brought it on board. Super Stoked to catch this dream fish of mine.

The kagami ended up weighing 11.24 pounds. I liked the Duo Semi Long jig so much I bought another one in 155g and a smaller one in 105g from HI Fish Gear in Ewa Beach!

Here’s the video of the action.

Note (9/29/24): The 155g jig I bought caught a small kawakawa!

Thanks for reading!

Editor: I plan to put my compact tungsten jigs away for a while and fish these larger Duo jigs. I’ll also rig them with BKK or Shout assist hooks and put some in the Store. Stay tuned!

Refinished some paint peeled jigs with the supplies I had. Looks way better. Hopefully the fish think so too.

August 30, 2024 By Scott 2 Comments

I have a growing pile of jigs whose paint peeled from either fish teeth, or initially lousy paint jobs. Some of the lousy painted jigs were tungsten samples I was given to provide an idea of what the jig shape would look like. Others were just cheaply finished store bought jigs that weren’t sealed properly. The tungsten jigs I ended up ordering have held up to a lot of abuse and haven’t peeled, but some ended up with teeth marks.

Seemed like a waste to not fish these lures since they were structurally sound so I used marker pens to color in the missing paint, but since those marks came off easily, I decided to “clear coat” the jigs. Some of the jigs lacked any glow effect, so I added some spots of Glow-On paint purchased from Amazon. I learned on the first attempt that the glow paint is really thick and can’t be brushed. It’s better dabbed on with a small wooden stick especially since that paint is pretty expensive at $14 for 2.3 ml.

I didn’t have proper “lure sealing” clear coat so I just used some Gorilla 5 Minute Epoxy and painted over the colored jigs. My first attempt at brushing the epoxy on came out ok.

But I did another batch the next day and the epoxy hardened too quickly after the initial jig, making it difficult to apply the thick solution evenly on the remaining jigs. The above jigs had another coat of epoxy to smooth things out but that batch was thickening on the last 2 jigs and never cured hard so I had to sand off the epoxy and recoat. Ugh. A $10 handheld uv lamp (Saviland) from Amazon was used to light up the glow paint.

Gorilla Epoxy, Saviland UV lamp and Glow-On paint

Gorilla Epoxy is “water resistant” not waterproof but after I soaked a finished jig in freshwater for a few hours, the epoxy seal seemed fine.

The jigs are now color fast and the added glow should make the jigs stand out more in the dark depths. I would think that epoxy would be a suitable clear coat for wooden and plastic hard body lures too. Will let you know if the jigs catch fish and hold up to the saltwater abuse.

Added some long casting minnows and shore jigs to the Store!

July 23, 2024 By Scott Leave a Comment

We’re approaching the peak fishing season in Hawaii. The compact tungsten jigs have been slaying papio and even oio from shore but we’re not able to order more so… I’ve decided to release some JDM lures from my personal stash. Pricing shown in the photos is the current market value and may be lower in the Store. Check out these Sinking lures by clicking here and scrolling through the items. If these sell well I’ll add more unseen gems.

Long casting sinking minnows. Zetz Gig 100S and Zetz F-Lead.

The bestseller minnow style jig “GIG” has been renewed. It’s designed to cast very far, even in wind.
Designed to catch fish on the fall or during a fast or slow retrieve. Until now most jig minnows had hooks on the tail only. This also has a hook on the underbelly with a swivel to improve hook-ups and reduce tear outs.

100mm long, 28grams. Sinking.

Zetz F-Lead lipped swimming minnow.

This was one of my secret JDM weapons. The ZetZ F-Lead 90S was designed to fish in the surf over sand but I had been using it in deeper water off the kayak, letting it sink down to the suspended white papio. It also trolled well with an aggressive rolling action that inshore predators couldn’t resist. But really, it’s a long casting sinking swimmer.

At 90mm and 26gm, it flies like a bullet. The center balanced weight makes the lure sink in a horizontal position, rolling and flashing as it sinks. The front hook is mounted on a swivel which allows the hook to freely rotate, drastically reducing the loss of fish. Furthermore, this rotation will also reduce wear on the hook tips from contact with the sand or rocks.

Xesta After Burner Fully Armed shore jigs

We’ve had great success with these jigs in the 40gm and 60gm size on boats and kayaks, catching ono and kawakawa. They come “Fully Armed” with a sticky sharp assist hook and rear treble hook. Rip ’em through the water for the sub-surface bite or fish them like a slow pitch jig. The center balanced design will make it flutter on the fall and the beveled cut will cause it to erratically flash when jerked back.

If you’re worried about snagging the bottom, take off the treble hook and just fish it with the assist hook. Very affordable, versatile lure to get your jig on.

Major Craft Jigpara slow, standard, semi-long and tungsten shore jigs

Jigparas are probably the most popular shore jig in Hawaii. These are some unique shapes: slow pitch and semi-long for more flutter on the falls, and tungsten for a faster falling, smaller profile lure.

2 more Phenix Rods to try! 6’6″ Black Diamond Heavy boat rod and 6′ PE 2-4 Megalodan jig rod.

July 15, 2024 By Scott Leave a Comment

I had purchased two “live bait” style rods from Phenix Rods last year, as a dealer and liked their lightness and build quality. Shipping of those two rods from California to Hawaii was about $50. Since then, Phenix Rods was purchased by the outdoor company GSM Outdoors, and moved to Texas. The new company worked out some kinks and is back to servicing their dealers so I ordered two more rods to see how the shipping experience would be. This time, shipping via FedEx costs $86 and took 8 days.

I got the 6ft 6in Black Diamond Heavy rod since the 7ft Extra Heavy version is a little too stiff for the 10 – 15lb fish I’m mostly catching, which caused me to pull some hooks on jumping fish. Angler error did play a role. 🙂 The shorter length is easier to work with from the seated position of the kayak. Most offshore kayak guys use rods 6ft 6in or shorter and I’ve been stubbornly using longer rods and losing leverage on bigger fish.

The Avet MX Raptor pairs nicely with the new Black Diamond Heavy rod.

The Megalodan jig rod series has a lot of backbone and guys in SoCal use the larger rod sizes for big bluefin. The one I ordered is rated for PE 2 – 4 (about 30lb braid) and 100g – 200g jigs.

Game Type J on top, Megalodan on the bottom.

Compared to the Shimano Game Type J rod I have that’s rated for even heavier jigs, the Megalodan is stiffer in the tip and has a thicker blank. The Game Type J has a more sensitive feel whereas the Megalodan feels much more robust like it could take the rigors of kayak jigging.

Megalodan on top, Game Type J on bottom.

The Megalodan, with the long EVA foregrip is really made to battle big fish.

After giving both new rods a good shake out, I’ll let you know how they performed and whether I recommend them.

BKK Hooks – Small bait hook, wide gapped jig head, offshore live bait hook, treble hook and assist hook. How did they work out?

July 11, 2024 By Scott 2 Comments

BKK Hooks are designed in Japan and manufactured to exacting standards in China. They are known for making very strong, sharp, long lasting hooks that meet specific fishing needs. They were tested by our various Holoholo reviewers. Here’s how they performed.

Red Octopus Beak

Tested as damashi/sabiki fly hooks for akule and opelu.

Product Description: The offset hook point provides much more contact with the fish’s mouth, resulting in a better hook-up rate.

Additionally, the red coating increases the concealment of the hook (matching the color of the bait used) and also guarantees great saltwater corrosion resistance.

Results: Akule and opelu flies were made with these. They kept their point and didn’t rust after 5 uses. Recommended.

Silent Chaser EWG Round Head

Tested as jig hook for oio whipping on the flats.

Product Description: The BKK Silent Chaser 1X EWG is a versatile round-head offset jighead featuring a wire jig hook with an Extra Wide Gap round bend, super sharp needle point and SS nano coating to enhance penetration when fishing with very light gear.

Predominantly used in finesse approaches close to the bottom, the Silent Chaser 1X EWG is designed for stealthier presentations and to be snag proof. Size range goes from size 1 to 4/0 for Texas rigging a wide array of soft lures.

Results: Multiple large oio were landed whereas other premium brand jig hooks bent open. Recommended.

Beastly Cat

Tested as rear live bait hook for offshore fishing.

Product Description: Designed with a thick wire, it features BKK’s signature Hand Ground hook point technology boasting an excellent penetration capability, being able to penetrate through hard bony jaws and reducing the overall weight of the hook structure.

The Super-Slide coating additionally minimizes piercing resistance and provides an instant and deep hook up.

Results: Used as an offshore live bait hook. More positive hooksets than other hooks used but corroded and lost its point after 1 use. Not recommended.

Raptor Z treble hooks

Tested as replacement hooks for plugs and poppers.

Product Description: The BKK-RAPTOR-Z incorporates BKK’s latest manufacturing technologies, being engineered to hook strong and aggressive “monster” fish and stay hooked to the very end.

Thanks to BKK’s Hand ground technology and Bright Tin coating, it is equipped with ultimate impaling power, being able to penetrate even the hardest bony jaws and superior corrosion resistance.

BKK’s Slim Ring Technology further allows for an easier attachment of split rings.

Results: Multiple ulua have been landed on these. The treble hooks don’t open up under intense pressure. Recommended.

Sea Ranger+ assist hooks

Tested as assist hooks on micro jigs.

Product Description: Developed to tackle big fish using a small jig.

Comes pre-tied with BKK high quality solid core assist cord, which is very robust yet retains its softness. Shimmering and glowing fibers increase the attractiveness of the jig, triggering more strikes.

It features a heavy gauge providing excellent strength to the hook and BKK’s Hand Ground hook point technology lightening the weight of the hook, providing an outstanding penetration performance. Additionally, the U-spade Slip Lock feature keeps the assist line securely in place.

Last but not least, the bright tin coating ensures sharp hooks in saltwater environment, preventing saltwater corrosion.

Results: Glow tinsel attracted small and large fish; hooks stayed sharp and corrosion free after countless uses. Never tangled on the jig. Recommended.

We didn’t sell these hooks in the Store except for the Sea Ranger+ assist hooks. Please let us know via the Contact Page if you’d like us to special order a box of hooks for you.

Price of raw tungsten has skyrocketed. Is it too late to order more compact jigs for the Store?

July 5, 2024 By Scott 2 Comments

Original batch of tungsten jigs circa 2021

We first looked into having tungsten jigs made in 2020 when it became apparent that jigs matching very small bait fish would get bitten better than larger, slower falling jigs. Vertical and slow pitch jigs were still catching on in the US, and interest in our compact tungsten jigs didn’t take off until 2023.

Then, the Southern Cal sportboat guys fishing for bluefin tuna at night discovered that the normally wary fish were suckers for heavy 3 inch jigs dropped 200ft under the boat, and demand for those jigs sky rocketed. Guys were spending more than $40 on a glowing 180g tungsten jig. I found out about this when the guys started asking me if I could get heavier jigs in. No one in the US had these sized jigs and soon the Japan-based stores raised their prices and ran out of inventory.

I reached out to the company that had made jigs for me in the past and they informed me that the price of tungsten powder was at a 10 yr high because China placed safety restrictions on the manufacturing of tungsten products, and the demand for tungsten products (not just fishing jigs) had spiked. In order to have more jigs made I would have to place a large order, and pay a significantly greater price than in the past. My little business didn’t have the capital for that so I reached out to a US distributor of Japanese fishing lures. He said that the Japanese jig companies are charging so much for tungsten jigs now, he’d have to charge a price for them that no dealer would want to pay.

Similar to buying gold at an all time high, this doesn’t look like an opportune time to buy more tungsten jigs.

I wanna thank the SoCal guys who helped me understand how they are brazing solid rings and assembling very strong assist hooks to land 100lb plus fish. Hopefully I can procure some heavy compact jigs that work for you.

Shh… What the shoreline tungsten jig fishers don’t want you to know.

May 28, 2024 By Scott 2 Comments

About fifty 40g and 60g compact tungsten jigs were sold or given out in the last 2 years to the early adopters. My kayak friends said that the jigs were catching all sorts of fish, but I hadn’t heard back from the boaters and shore jiggers.

Recently, a shore jigging friend placed another order of both the 40g and 60g jigs so I asked him how they had been working. He was initially secretive but said the small, heavy jigs have worked very well when the papio/ulua and other inshore predators were chasing small baitfish.

He fished this past weekend, using the BKK Sea Ranger Plus assist hooks as shown above, and caught and released 2 papio on Saturday but a shark took the next one along with the 40g jig. He switched to a 60g jig and caught and released another papio before the bite slowed.

He fished again on Sunday and caught a few moano but no papio. He reported that his hookup ratio with the BKK assists was excellent.

He offered a bit more hard earned wisdom: the small jigs cut through the wind well and out cast bait and every other lure he could use. There have been times when the small jig have outfished live oama, since the small size looks like nehu/iao and the assist hooks don’t easily snag the reef.

He shore whips with a 10ft JDM rod, Shimano Twin Power 4K, and 15lb braid. He’s landed ulua this way and is trying for his next one. I’d credit him for the amazing photos but he’s trying to do his thing on the down low. 🙂

So I think it’s safe to assume that the other jiggers are quietly catching fish with the heavy micro jigs and they don’t want the word to get out.

You can find the jigs and assist hooks in the Store by clicking this link. Sorry, we only ship to US addresses. Mahalo!

We are a Phenix Rod dealer! Anyone interested in trying these premium rods?

April 3, 2024 By Scott 2 Comments

Update: 4/24/24: Phenix Rods was purchased by a larger company and the factory has been moved from California to Texas so the shipping cost to Hawaii has increased. We’re currently working with Phenix to bring more rods in. Stay tuned.

We’ve been a Phenix Rod online dealer for half a year now and I’ve been trying to verify that the rods are as good as I’ve been hearing from the bass, trout and salt water guys. Been using a 7ft Heavy and a 7ft Extra Heavy live bait rod on the kayak and they performed well so far, but haven’t gotten really big fish to stress test them. I do like the lightness, sensitivity, components and durability of both rods.

Here’s a short video of the first day using the Black Diamond Heavy rod.

Phenix sells finished freshwater, saltwater, and travel rods in spinning and casting models, as well as the blanks of each. They are known to be very light in weight, yet strong in backbone, and are less expensive than the comparable high end brands.

Phenix offers a lifetime warranty on the rods that is basically this: If you break the rod, you send the pieces back to Phenix in California, and pay a bit more than 50% of the cost of the rod to have a replacement shipped back to you. That’s better than a lot of rod manufacturers these days.

These are just a few of the products the Hawaii angler may be interested in:

Black Diamond Surf – 2 piece Spinning rods 9ft to 14ft

View details on Phenix website.

Redeye Travel Saltwater Spinning rods – 3 piece, 7ft 6in, rated 15lb – 40lb and 30lb – 80lb.

View details on Phenix website.

Megalodan Jigging rods

Spinning: 5ft 6in PE 4-8 to 6ft PE 6-10

View details on Phenix website.

Casting: 5ft 6in PE 2-4 to 6ft PE 6-10.

View details on Phenix website.

Shipping of the rods from TX to HI is pretty expensive so I plan to order a batch of rods at a time. If you’re interested in trying any of the premium rods you see on their website, I’ll drop the price to make it worth your while. Please get in touch through the contact page.

Mahalo!

Uku, moana kali, yellow spot, 25lb ulua on damashi and 60g tungsten jig – I’ve been doing it wrong before!

January 30, 2024 By Scott Leave a Comment

I’ve been looking for uku and great tasting goat fish (moana kali and weke nono) on the Windward side for years now and kept coming up empty. Ended up changing my jigging setup and the area I searched, and the results were astounding. There’s a video of the action at the end of this post.

There seems to be uku (green jobfish) all over the South and West sides of Oahu. I’ve dedicated hours dragging live and dead opelu all over the Windward side dropoffs and no uku have bitten. Apparently the grounds I was fishing were sloping sandy areas, not rocky rubble the uku preferred.

The patchy reef areas did hold a lot of bait and reef fish, and I’ve hooked a few ulua and kahala jigging before, so the few times I took a break from bait fishing to test the compact tungsten jig, I did so on a rod designed for heavier jigs. Hadn’t been getting much action with that approach. I decided to give the 40g and 60g tungsten jigs the best possible presentation, so I switched to a light action Shimano Trevala rod paired with a Shimano Curado 300EJ bait casting reel with 25lb fluorocarbon leader. To hedge my bets, I used BKK assist hooks with glow in the dark fibers.

I started the morning catching a couple medium sized opelu, put them down on a weighted rig and slow trolled them over the 90ft ledge for 4 hrs. No uku showed up, only bait stealers. Out of frustration, and running out of fishing time, I headed to a slightly deeper but flatter reef structure I hadn’t fished before.

A cluster of reef fish showed on the fish finder, so I dropped the damashi down and a hard pulling fish responded. It felt like a papio and I was stoked to see a yellow spot papio come up. Since they feed on bottom dwelling crustaceans, they have a much cleaner, sweeter taste than their lookalike cousin, the omilu (bluefin trevally).

The next drop hooked a fish that pulled drag also, and I was looking to load up on yellow spot papio but it was a small moana kali. If it were a pound larger I would have been tempted to keep it.

Then the elusive uku bit the damashi but it was much too small also. The moana kali and uku did give me hope that larger versions would be nearby.

On the next drop a small omilu and a taape (blueline snapper) came up, then the action slowed so I moved shallower to a 90ft spot on my maps Capt Erik had given me years ago.

Taape first came up on the damashi and then hard pulls resulted in hooks broken off. I went up from the 12lb damashi rig to a 15lb rig and felt a small fish get hooked that was eaten by a larger fish. That rig had its hooks bitten off too so it was finally a great time to drop the 40g tungsten jig. Unfortunately the drift was too fast for that jig to fall quickly to the bottom.

I switched to a blue/silver 60g tungsten jig and hooked a kawalea on the first drop. That was probably what was cutting off my damashi hooks. I didn’t want it stinking up my fish bag so it was released. The next two drops of the jig yielded large, brown hagi. I’ve never experienced such a hot damashi and jig bite like this.

The next jig fish was a thick moano (manybar goatfish) proving the 2.5 inch jig mimicked small bait. It’s known to have tasty, soft flesh but small bones but I kept it hoping the bones would be big enough to avoid.

The bite slowed at this shallower spot and it was almost 2pm so I made a pass back to the deeper spot, on the way in. Hoping to hook a bigger yellow spot papio or uku with the jig, I dropped it down and the line went limp. I reeled up and the jig was cut off with no tug at all! What the heck was happening in the middle of this calm day?!

I had one more jig, a green/gold 60g tungsten jig that had produced before, and put it on. Dropped that down, slow pitched it a couple of times and the line surged angrily. Right away I knew it was a pretty big ulua (GT) and didn’t know if the light jig rod with only 25lb leader would hold. I tried to pump the fish up when it wasn’t running, and was surprised how much backbone the parabolic jig rod had. Offshore kayak guys like heavy action jig rods to fish for pelagics and I always thought they’d have too soft a tip, but I now understand how the soft tip is forgiving for the seated kayak angler.

I was just praying I’d be able to get a photo of the fish with the jig in its mouth and after a tense 20 minute battle, using the Bixpy motor to chase it down, it was on the surface. I tried to slide it onto the kayak to unhook it but the leader broke at the jig and the fish flopped in the water. It had barotrauma and couldn’t swim down, but was swimming in circles and was hard to tail grab it. Finally I was able to loop its tail with my gaff and pull it on board. I removed the jig and pushed it deep in the water. The fish finder showed it making its way slowly back down. Crazy such a large fish ate a 2.5 inch jig.

So why was the damashi and jig bite so good? Here’s my theory:

The relatively flat reef had enough structure to hold an assortment of fish.
The hot action perfectly aligned with the solunar major bite time for that day.
The soft plastic lures on the damashi and the small tungsten jig mimicked shrimp and small fish.
The 60g jig fell and bounced more enticingly on the light rod with light line better than it did on the heavy action rod with 40lb leader.

Everything came perfectly together that day. I’ll be back soon to see if it was a one-off.

This is what I brought home. The moana did turn out to still have small bones and the yellowspot papio made really good non-fishy, slightly firm sashimi with an oily feel.

The tungsten jigs and BKK assist hooks can be found in the Sinking section of the Store.

Here’s some of the jigging action.

A few micro 40g and 60g tungsten jigs are now in the Store, along with Little Jack gold blade flashers!

September 29, 2022 By Scott 2 Comments

After a year and a half of product testing, the micro 40g and 60g tungsten jigs are finally in the Store. To make them even more enticing, gold flutter blades from the Japanese maker Little Jack are also being sold.

Why did it takes so long? Well, 2020 and 2021 were actually lousy fishing years, not just because of Covid but probably because of the effects of La Nina. We’re still in a La Nina but fishing has picked up considerably. Oama are still flooding the islands and nearshore preds are being caught.

Because of the less than ideal fishing, jigging wasn’t on the top of mind of the lure testers but each had great catches before either losing their jig to a fish or the reef. There were no complaints about the jigs whatsoever.

The Little Jack gold blades are highly sought after jig attractants not sold in the US. When added to the rear hook of a jig, they make the jig look like it has a a small bait fish is following a larger bait fish. The blades are just shy of 1.5 inches.

Blades are often attached behind rear treble hooks so when the predator tries to eat the blade, thinking it’s eating a smaller fish, it ends up eating the treble hook also.

40g and 60g tungsten jigs in both the blue/silver and green/gold colors, and the 3-pack of Little Jack gold blades are being currently sold at introductory pricing. There are only 5 of each size and color combination (20 total jigs) and 5 3-packs of gold blades to start. Pricing will increase after this initial batch is sold out. Comparable tungsten jigs sell for much more.

60g tungsten jigs continue to catch the premier fish

September 14, 2022 By Scott Leave a Comment

Just wanted to share what two of our jig testers caught the past week.

Grant, who starts off in the dark on the Westside, targeting akule before the opelu bite turns on, hooked 4 menpachi papio / pake papio / sasa / bigeye trevally on the green&yellow 60g jig on his last 2 trips. Even though he wasn’t purposefully charging the glow jig, it must have picked up enough juice to stand out. Menpachi papio make really good, dark meat sashimi and he shared his catch with coworkers.

Terry was fishing the blue&silver in 30ft off a reef channel on the Windward side with his Temple Reef Elevate 2.0 jigging rod and Siegler SGN reel, just using the rod tip to bounce the jig off the bottom, when he hooked something with strong head shakes. He assumed it was a good sized white papio and was surprised to see stripes and a yellow tint. He bled the pao’pao (golden trevally) on the yak, and it weighed 5.5lb on shore. It made, by far, the best tasting papio sashimi he’s ever had. Pao’pao are very hard to catch on lures and most often speared as they come over the edge of the reef.

And by the way, Terry is rocking the Anetik Shade Socks that prevent sunburnt legs and are easy to put on and take off at the beach. We have a few left in the Store in size Medium and Large.

I bet the smaller 40g size would be even more effective on these jacks that are targeting small baits. Problem is, none of the testers have that smaller size. I gotta get those jigs to them soon.

Sorry I haven’t put the jigs in the Store yet. Since they are a new product I really wanted to make sure they would perform as expected. and decide on a fair selling price. Tungsten jigs are very expensive.

At this point, the little jigs have proven to fool even the smartest, tastiest fish.

Wondering how the testing of the 40g and 60g tungsten micro jigs is going?

August 12, 2022 By Scott 3 Comments

Small metal jigs have gotten popular with the shore whippers, kayak and boat fishers due to their versatility. No other type of lure can be casted so far and fished the entire water column.

The jigs made of lead and steel, shaped to imitate a fleeing, dying fish, definitely produce and are usually reasonably priced.

But there are times when you want the densest/heaviest jig in the smallest size available, to cast as far as you can, from shore, or sink as fast as you can while drifting on a kayak or boat. That’s when you need a jig made out of tungsten, which is almost twice as dense as lead. That means a lead jig of the same weight as a tungsten jig would be almost twice the size.

We first tested tungsten jigs in the 80g and 100g size and offered a few in the Store to see how they’d sell. Click this link to see what they looked like.

Since they sold so well (there’s a few 100g jigs left), we ordered smaller 40g and 60g tungsten jigs for the shore jiggers and kayakers targeting fish that want a smaller bait. A few guys have been testing them for almost a year now but I hadn’t gotten much feedback so I was concerned that they were duds.

Top row: Blue/Silver, bottom row: Green/Yellow

**Some examples of how to dress the jigs**

Instead I found out the kayakers were getting wreaked by fish too big for their small hooks (the jigs are 2.5″ and 2.75″ long), and the shore jiggers were quietly catching fish on the micro jigs. I haven’t jigged much in the last year and only have a picture of a small uku, but luckily Grant shot this video of a beautiful yellowspot papio he landed on a 60g tungsten jig. Thanks Grant!

Non-tungsten jigs definitely catch fish but when the preds are focused on tiny baits like oama and nehu, it’s good to have the micro jigs handy. The jigs have proven to glow for a long time and be scratch resistant so we’ll put them on sale in the Store soon. Just wanted to ensure we were providing a great product at a fair price. Stay tuned!

Update 2/5/24. Dropped the 60g tungsten jig over some good marks. Check out what happened!

Spring 2022 Shore to Boat Fishing Report and Summer Forecast

June 7, 2022 By Scott 4 Comments

The guys quickly summarize how fishing has been in the Spring, and what they expect in the next few months. Spring is normally a slow time before the bite picks up in the late Summer/Fall so it’s interesting to see how the different fisheries have performed.

Matt, Oahu whipper: The Papio fishing has been pretty good as of late, and the O’io action has been great since March. It’s sometimes frustrating to see crowds of fishers in my usual spots, but I’ve been moving to other areas and exploring new grounds. I was rewarded for my trouble two weeks ago with a three-hour O’io blitz in which I caught nine fish ranging from one to eight pounds.

Since late March, I’ve caught more O’io than I caught in all of last year but there’s signs that the action will start to slow down. While I wasn’t able to get out this weekend, there were multiple reports that the usual spots were completely dry. Perhaps the action has to get worse before it gets better again.

However, the Papio action seems to have picked up recently, with a bunch of my friends being able to land some nice fish. There are one or two spots with Halalu in right now, and just a few more with Oama, so try to get in on the Papio action while you still can. We can hope that this first wave will be refreshed by the usual June-July run, but it is uncertain. Good luck out there and tight lines!

Jeremy, shore jigger:

(click to enlarge)

Every year, I like to set a fishing goal for myself. This year, I’m really trying to get an ulua on a jig on a lighter setup (PE2 mainline or less), so I’ve spent a lot of time this year primarily focusing on this tactic.

The year started strong with some massive strikes that couldn’t be stopped. But, from around March till May, the action was relatively slow. Some of our usual spots that used to be pretty consistent, have been fairly quiet and only a few fish caught here and there. So we did some exploring and have found a couple new spots that have been pretty hot. We’ve found some schools of papio up to the 3# range, so hopefully that’s a good sign for the upcoming summer months.

If you’ve never tried jigging from shore, it can be really fun, but get expensive in a hurry. Besides the obvious challenges of possibly getting stuck on the reef, knot getting caught on your guides and snapping your line on the cast, you also have the risk of getting cutoff a lot. In just the past few weeks, I’ve lost about a $100 worth of jigs from fish cutting me off on the reef.

But, I love jigging since it allows you to work the entire water column and you will take strikes at any and every depth. Sometimes the strike will be when the jig is falling or right when it hits bottom, or it could be at the very surface. You just never know and that’s the best part about it. Just be ready for that sudden tug and hopefully luck is on your side. Good luck to everyone. Hopefully it’ll be a HOT summer.

Shea, Big Island offshore kayaker: In April, ono and mahi were biting. Opelu was somewhat plentiful. In May the opelu was hit or miss. The pelagic bite really slowed. Hoping the bite picks up soon but realistically Fall is the peak season.

BJ, Oahu night whipper:

Whipping at night has been productive since the beginning of the year. The menpachi and aholehole have been good sized, biting well, and have been around in high numbers. Papio are also coming up occasionally. Night fishing should continue to be effective throughout the summer and into the early fall, especially as the presence of bait fish fill the shoreline.

Scott, Oahu offshore kayaker:

Wind limited the number of fishable days in the last 2 months and the bite was still slow when guys could get out. Opelu has been sighted recently but they aren’t biting well. Kawakawa and small mahi mahi have been the most common catch. Ono have recently been landed.

This is the NOAA water temperature graph of inshore Kaneohe Bay last year, from May through December. Because of the placement of the sensor, the recorded temps are higher than the deeper areas of the bay. Temps rose before the end of May, to 83.5 deg F which was actually the peak for the year. That may explain why the offshore kayak fishing picked up before June and remained somewhat consistent until the water temps really dropped off in November, falling to 74 degrees. By the end of November, the bite really slowed down. Since this year is a La Nina year like last year, the water temps may follow the same pattern so I’m expecting the bite to pick up soon as the water warms!

Erik, inshore and offshore Oahu boater: Bite seems to be picking up offshore. A lot of guys have been getting ahi recently. We’ve found smaller cane-size mahi (5-8lb) nearer and aku piles further out. The opelu bite was good in the mid-morning but the size of opelu was on smaller side. Overall the bite seems to be picking up and should hit its stride in the Summer.

Sufix 832 has been restocked, 8lb to 40lb

October 7, 2021 By Scott Leave a Comment

Sufix 832, arguably the best braid you can buy in the U.S., is always out of stock in the summer. It’s finally available from the supplier, so we have a good assortment of pound tests and colors, at our regular very low prices but not many of each. Click here to get yours before it sells out.

Compact tungsten jigs in 80g and 100g sizes available in the Store!

September 3, 2021 By Scott Leave a Comment

We had been tested two shapes and four sizes of tungsten jigs from a reputable tungsten manufacturer, to make sure the jigs’ structural integrity held up and caught fish. Since the jigs performed well, we brought in a production batch of one shape to test further, striped with glow material to stand out in the depths.

The clear coat protected the paint from sharp teeth and snaggy reef, and the stripes glowed longer than most glow jigs. And, they continued to catch fish when the predators were keyed on very small baits.

This uku was stealing my frozen opelu off my bait rig so I put an opelu chunk on the jig’s rear hook and gottem!

I’ve even put small pieces of bait on the assist hooks and bottom fished to catch fish that were stealing the my larger baits!

We have a few of these production jigs left in the 80g (2.75″) and 100g (3″) sizes that we are now selling in the Store.

A large batch of 40g and 60g jigs in the second shape, perfect for shore jigging, and mimicking tiny baits just arrived. Soon to be placed in the Store and a fish’s mouth!

Caught the kawas (kawakawa and kawalea) and nothing went to waste

August 21, 2021 By Scott Leave a Comment

The rain squalls and wind took a break on the Windward side so I was finally able to take Terry out on his Scupper Pro to explore the deep. He had guided me on my inaugural Westside kayak outing a couple weeks before. The deepest he had previously gone on the Windward side was about 130ft and that’s where we started dropping the damashi in hopes of finding nabeta. All I could manage was a puny skinny nabeta I released. An opakapaka pup of about 8 inches came up next and I tried depressurizing it so it could go back down but it floated so I had to keep it. Then the deep water lizardfish swarmed us.

We kept going deeper in hopes of finding the opelu piles. Terry put down a lizard fish as live bait and took a big strike that managed to come off his hooks. That gave me the idea to drop down a twice frozen opelu while hunting for the bait schools and after a while my reel went off! After a spirited, jerky fight a very round kawakawa came up that had taken both hooks so far down I had to cut the leader. I brained it to calm it down, and bled it over the side until the runoff ran light pink. The kayak cockpit looked like a crime scene and took a while to wash off.

Terry headed into the shallow ledge to damashi for reef fish, and I tried to find more pelagics. Sure enough my multitasking skills tripped me up. My damashi rig snagged my bait rig and as I tried to clear the mess I wrapped the bait rig line around my rudder. So I headed into the shallows to look for Terry. I couldn’t raise him on the VHF radio even though I could hear other kayakers 2 miles away, and turns out his radio wasn’t receiving properly. I finally reached him when I was a half mile away. This drove home the point to test your safety equipment and make sure all are in proper working order. Had I needed help Terry wouldn’t have heard me and I would have had to call the Coast Guard or nearby boaters. Terry has since been in touch with the radio vendor to trouble shoot the range problem.

Terry had been catching small and medium moana on his damashi and had one out as bait. I joined him, and found good marks on the deep end of the ledge, as I drifted shallow. Small weke nono and moana climbed on but nothing big so I reset my drift and went over a better mark with bigger fish. Dropped the 60gm tungsten jig with glow spinner blade, which makes the jig look like it has a fluttering tail, and made contact with something that yanked a lot but couldn’t pull drag.

Up came a Heller’s Barracuda (kawalea or kawelea, depending how exact you want to be) that tried its darndest to either throw the jig or bite through the leader.

Nothing bit Terry’s live moana and we had been out for 5 hrs and still had a couple miles to paddle in (paddle and motor in, in my case), so we set a comfortable pace and let the trade winds help us. It was so nice not to have disorganized following seas to worry about.

The damashi bite was better than it had been the last few trips. Dunno if that was because the water had warmed or if we were just able to fish more effectively in the calm water. Some odd ball fish landed were baby kaku, small trumpet fish, baby porcupine fish and some mystery fish that busted our light leaders.

I picked up some ice on the way home and left the kawakawa and kawalea packed in a cooler over night. When I cleaned the fish the next day, they were in great condition. The kawakawa weighed 10lbs after being bled the day before, but was fat because it had eggs and a belly full of decomposing small fish of various species. One looked like an oama that hadn’t made it in from the deep yet. That’s a good sign, maybe the oama are making their way in now.

Kawakawa has a bad rap as a bloody tasting fish, but if bled well, cleaned properly and wrapped in paper towels to remove more blood, the flesh has a great consistency and more taste than small yellowfin tuna. There’s also so many usable parts. The kawakawa was shared as follows: center bone for my neighbor to deep fry, fillets with dark meat removed for a friend to eat raw, eggs for my oama buddy to palu, belly strips went into the freezer to be used as bottom fishing baits, and the bloody scraps went to my sister’s cats. I also prepped the opakapaka pup and kawalea for my neighbor to steam.