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It’s that time of year. Opelu is catchable because there’s less predators around.

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Winter is the season of light wind days, large north swells and the scarcity of pelagic predators. It’s the time when opelu and other prey fish are abundant and actively feeding because they aren’t being harrassed. Makes for a great time to brush up on opelu catching.

I fished the Southside the day before New Year’s eve and I guess a lot of guys had the day off because I counted 5 boats, 5 kayaks and 2 jet skis within a mile of us. Needless to say, the fishing was lousy and all I took home was a toau. That turned out to not be as forgiving as uku. The person I gave it to overcooked it and said it had rubbery skin, small bones and just an “ok” taste. But at least that invasive was taken off the reef.

The bottom opelu was actually used as bait and scratched up but not taken so it’ll be used again!

One crowded day on the Southside was enough to sour me from fishing there, so I went back to the Windward side the following week and found the opelu biting, even though I starting looking for them at 9 am. Ended up with 5 opelu, my PB so far, but the 12 inch opelu were too big to be swallowed by the small predators and the 7 inch opelu were pulled off the hooks. At least I had bait leftover to vacuum seal and freeze.

Followed that up with another Windward trip. This time the opelu bit late again but the small predators didn’t want to take on the 12 inch opelu and a 7 inch opelu got pulled off in the shallows. I caught one nabeta early and when I went back later to round out the catch I couldn’t find ’em. Since nothing big seems to be around in that area I’m gonna try another Windward spot I haven’t checked since last March.

Photo by Shea Uehana on Big Island
Photo by Devan Inouye on Oahu

The better kayak guys have been loading up on opelu and some have even found the elusive pelagics. So always got chance for something good when you have live opelu.

Holoholo: Offshore Kayak Fishing on Oahu – A Summary of 2022

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Oahu kayak fisherman Devan Inouye has been posting some helpful and entertaining videos on You Tube and Facebook so I asked if he wouldn’t mind summarizing his 2022 outings. It’s very interesting to see how Oahu’s kayak fishing seasons differ from the seasons Shea Uehana experienced on the Big Island. You can check out Shea’s summary of 2022 here.

Devan:

I’ve been around the water most of my life from my youth, whether it was fishing, diving, surfing, paddling, etc.  I really had a fondness for diving, but I’ve gravitated towards kayak fishing for safety and longevity reasons.  Getting old is inescapable!  It’s always nice to learn new things and have new challenges. Started kayaking a little more than 2 years ago. 

1st Kayak: Perception Pecador 12, found the propeller style a little cumbersome as I was not good at paying attention to line direction and keeping my lines clear of the prop when I first started. 

Current: Hobie Pro Angler 14 on Oahu and Hobie Outback on Big Island. I love the deck space and stability of the Pro Angler, but it does lack in maneuverability. The Outback rides like a gem, but the stock rudder leaves something to be desired as far as steering in more turbulent conditions. 

I’ve had many influences in kayak fishing and have been truly fortunate with close friends teaching me their secrets ofcatching bait, particularly opelu.  I’ve learned that there really is an art to doing it, and people on YouTube definitely made it look easier than it was when I first started. Some of the main friends I learned from were Elliott Garma and Dustin Jed (Seagull Fishing), but I’ve definitely shared strategies and gear choices with many other truly great fishermen since then. I tend to fish all over Oahu, but mainly we fish the north and west shores.  Recently I picked up a kayak on the Big Island and I’ve had a very auspicious start due to the company I keep and their willingness to help me explore those grounds, thanks Shea and Louie!

You may have seen an article of an Ahi I caught in Hawaii Fishing News or caught glimpses of me on YouTube as “Where’s D-AHI?”. My fishing experiences this year were not nearly as consistent as I would have liked due to many family trips both happy and sullen, as well as coaching obligations for my son Dace’s baseball team. So, sadly this cannot be relied upon as a time table journal of fishing, but I hope it at least can identify for any reader some of the things that can be looked forward to on your own fishing adventures! 

January

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Unfortunately my year started off quite slowly fishing-wise due to many family trips to Vegas, Hilo, and Kauai.  The times I did get out were loaded with bait, both akule/halalu (goggle eye scad) and opelu (mackerel scad).  The pelagic fishing seemed a little slow with just a few kawakawas (wavyback skipjack tuna) and some kamanus (rainbow runners) coming up for me this month.

February

This month immediately started off with a bang with some yellow fin footballs (shibis – yellowfin tunas under 100lbs) coming up, start to end this month, with the largest one being about 35lbs.  The bait was slightly scarcer, but still around.

March & April

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A few more family trips were scheduled these months, and this was the start of my fishing experiences on the Big Island.  Getting on bait in new fishing grounds proved to be slightly difficult, so I fiddled with a few different down-rigging strategies during this time frame.  A bunch of good sized ukus (7) and yellow spot papios (5) were coming up as a result of this, and the opelu that I was lucky enough to get on to seemed to be getting very large at this point in the year.

May

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Ahas and baby kawakawas flooded the fish finders at time during this month.  I witnessed huge swarms of them and could not keep them off my live baits and my damashis.  This was also accompanied by similar screens of bait in the darkness of morning and sunrise.  Tons of bait but very few pelagics this month aside from a few rat Mahis.  It feels like the bait schools were piling up at this point and the summer bite was hopefully about to start heating up.

June

This month truly marked the start of the summer for me.  It was electric and bountiful with every trip out being productive.  The fish tally this month resulted in 2 onos, a few kamanus (rainbow runners), a 25lb shibi, multiple large kawakawas, a few more ukus, and a 55lb ulua. 

July

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This month was hot again, but it felt like kawakawa purgatory with some days out resulting in 3-5 kawakawas coming up in single outings.  Bait felt plentiful but skittish, and basically any opelu I had out couldn’t stay alive in the water. Just as I thought I could only catch those silver and blue footballs, the FISH THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF came up!  This is the month I caught an AHI (a yellowfin over 100lbs gilled and gutted) that weighed in gng and tailless at 105.2 lbs (estimated total weight of approx. 125-130lbs).

August

The rest of July was cut short on account of a long family trip to Disneyland with my wife and son.  I could not wait hit the water when I finally got back in August and found that the bait was still plentiful and the bite was still on fire.  Again, every trip seemed fruitful; I only fished 4 times this month, but here’s how it went. Week 1: 3 kawakawas (with another sharked in half). Week 2: 60 lb shibi, kawa, mahi, kahala (cnr – catch and release which I do with just about all Kahalas and uluas unless someone specifically asks for them). Week 3: 52lb shibi and mahi.  Week 4: Mahi, uku, and kahala.  Week 5: (There were 5 fishable weeks this month!) 54lb shibi.  What a banger of a month! One side note, the sharks seemed much more prevalent and even more aggressive this month and I lost quite a number of fish to them.

September

This month I got out each weekend again and it went a little something like this. Week 1: Kawa and small 19lb shibi. Week 2: Came across some aku (which I tend to find unusual on a kayak) and an uku.  Week 3: Loaded bag with a hefty kawa, mahi, and loads and LOADS of opelu.  Week 4: Was a special treat getting to fish out at Punaluu on the Big Island with Shea (Affordable Wahoo) and Louie Tres Fishing (be sure to check them both out on YouTube!). Many pelagics were visible on the fish finder and Shea brought up a nice ono, but I only managed a 15lb shibi that day.

October

Only got out 3 times this month and they were mostly short trips as we were in the throes of the baseball season.  This is the month the I got to first try the Sufix Invisix fluorocarbon leader that you can find on this site!  Week 1: 42lb ono, mahi, and a stud uku that lost his tail to a shark (this is that ono that I caught on a circle hook and straight fluorocarbon with no wire, truly a lucky hookup!). Week 2: Dud checking out new grounds for me at Hawaii Kai, only landing a giant kahala. Week 3: Oahu Pelagic Pirates (OPP fishing club, be sure to check them out on Facebook Groups pages!) team event where my buddy Elliott and I took first place with a couple akus and got to witness a few of those elusive and odd red opelus be brought up.

November

Sadly, I only got to get out twice in November.  I started experimenting with the GoFish underwater cam this month and I’m sure it had some negative effect on the bite, but perhaps the summer rush was also slowing down here as well. The underwater cam showed me that some aku schools and shibi schools were still lurking around, but most of my production came down lower in the water column with 3 ukus, 2 kahala, and a few ulua.  One of the ukus was a PB weighing in at 18.6lbs. We also found a bunch of little baby shibis on the damashi, so perhaps that indicates there was some spawning going on which is exciting! 

December

Again, this month was consumed with travel, however the trips off Oahu were productive and luckily I got to fish on the last trip! A Hawaii Kai outing produced 2 ukus (13 & 16lbs) and a kawakawa (11lbs). Two more outings right before Christmas brought in one aku each and some nabeta.  The last outing was at Punaluu on the Big Island which was a bit of a dud for me being that I plowed through about a dozen baits and only landed a small 12 lb shibi and a big kahala. Ironically as I was fighting that kahala, Shea asked if there were still marks by me, I told him yes and he hooked into a 50lb shibi during that fight haha.  

That’s a wrap of my year.  I hope you found the read interesting and could glean some useful information out of this and I look forward to seeing you out on the water! 

Holoholo: Offshore Kayak Fishing on Hawaii Island – A Summary of 2022

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Big Island kayak fisher Shea Uehana (YouTube: Affordable Wahoo) summarizes his second year of offshore fishing. You can compare this to his previous year here, and to Devan Inouye’s Oahu Offshore Kayak Fishing Summary here.

Shea:

January 2022

Opelu and akule were both scarce through most of the month, but the few that I could catch were quickly eaten by hungry shibi ahi in the 25-35 lb range. I actually got a single shibi each trip out in January. 

February 2022

Opelu were easier to find as we ranged out to spots on the southern end of the Big Island. The shibi bite was hot on the east side, while Sailfish readily took live opelu every trip out to the west. I also consistently came across a large school of Great Hammerhead sharks just milling around on the surface in South Kona. 

March 2022

Bad weather on the windward side forced us to head west. The shibis were smaller at west spots, but Mahimahi and Kamanu (Rainbow Runner) started showing up. One of the Kamanu I caught this month is still my PB to date, a chunky 21 lbs. Smaller ono started showing up near the end of the month, and on one trip I lost six in a row to sharks! 

April 2022

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Opelu were suddenly abundant pretty much island-wide. I was finally able to break the ono curse and landed the first of the year early in the month. Large Mahimahi started showing up on the NW side of the island, and a buddy and I doubled up. His bull must have been close to 40 lbs and the cow I landed weighed in at 26 lbs. At the end of the month, I lucked out and landed my biggest ono yet… on a circle hook with flurocarbon leader!

May 2022

The opelu suddenly made themselves scarce, and even the akule were almost impossible to find in the pre-dawn darkness. The only pelagic I got all month was a Kawakawa (Mackerel Tuna). The skunking got bad enough that I made the leap and finally tried my hand at deep dropping for bottom fish in 600-900 feet depths. In a stroke of luck, I actually got my first Hapuupuu (Hawaiian Seabass) the first time trying this new fishing method. 

June 2022

I pushed further than I ever had before in search of good deep-dropping grounds. I even purchased a Penn Squall 40 paired with a Shimano Trevala X-heavy to have better line capacity and so I wouldn’t burn out my spinners cranking heavy rigs up from the deep. The deep dropping yielded delicious deep sea species such as Gindai, Opakapaka, and Ehu. On one trip out, I even caught a couple opelu (the first I’d gotten in over a month) and lucked out when two 30-40 lb shibis grabbed them on the way in. 

July 

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Fishing at our usual east side spots was shut down all month due to high winds and choppy seas, so we hit the old stomping grounds on the NW side of the island. Catching live opelu was really hit or miss. Some days we filled the bait tube in minutes and others we struggled to even catch a single one. The pelagic action was also pretty slow, but the few fish that I did catch were some of the best I’ve gotten to date, particularly a chunky ono and a slammer mahimahi. I also made the decision to upgrade my conventional reel to something with better cranking power and chose an Avet MXL 2-speed lever drag (thanks Scott!). The low gear on this reel is just great and made cranking heavy bottom rigs up from 700+ feet so much easier. I was able to get 3 absolutely delicious gindai in one day.

August 

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Catching bait was a breeze in the first half of the month, and it seemed like smaller (10-15 lb) mahimahi were starting to show up in numbers. However, in the later half of the month, the opelu once again played hard to get and I ended up falling back on deep dropping or vertical jigging to put fish on the yak. Reef fish like Black Trevally and Omilu saved the day some trips. This was really a stark contrast to August 2021, when we seemed to be inundated in opelu schools much of the time.

September

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The opelu at my home grounds continued to ghost us, but luckily there were some great breaks in the trade winds and we capitalized by heading to some fertile grounds. The bait were much easier to catch there, and aku, decent shibis, sailfish, and my PB to date ono all came up this month. From what I heard from friends who kept trying the usual grounds, the opelu bite was not great and fishing was tough. 

October 

I only went a couple times in October, but the mahimahi were pretty active both trips. Inspired by watching Rokkitkit on Youtube, myself and a couple other guys started using Gofish trolling cameras to capture underwater strike footage. I lucked out the first time using it and a decent bull mahi ate my dead opelu on camera and even tried to eat the camera itself! 

November 

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The opelu finally decided to come out in force, and it seemed like we caught way more than we needed every trip out. Nice sized shibis in the 30-50 lb range bit consistently, and we even lost a few that were probably way larger to sharks and pulled hooks. The last fishing session of the month was right after a huge cold front had passed and the shibis and mahimahi were voracious.  This month finally felt like the Fall bite we’d been waiting for was turning on…

December

Ended the year strong with shibis ranging from 40 – 55 lbs, Ono 35 – 45 lbs, and some Ehu for New Years dinner! Opelu cooperated on every trip and nice conditions made for a great month. 

Returned to kayak the SE side, the usual winter suspects were there including the Beast. Uku catch and cook.

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‘Tis the season to fish the South East side since the North swell is sweeping through the Windward side spots now. Woke a little earlier and got to the bait spot before 8am, and it made a difference. 🙂 Got 3 opelu in the tube, my best effort ever, and paddled them out to 220ft per Big Island Hammah Shea’s recommendation to avoid the shallow water bait stealers.

Let the first one out and it got picked up but the fish didn’t run hard with the bait. When I applied a little pressure I heard a splash behind me and the bait was dropped. The opelu came back mortally wounded and looked like it had been grabbed sideways by something other than aha and kaku. I put on a lively opelu, dropped it back and went out to 500ft and back inside 150ft and nothing bothered it. Decided to try for uku so I weighted it down with a 1.5 oz bullet weight and it got nibbled on when it got near the bottom. The nibbles turned to a screaming, unstoppable run. 300yd were out and I tried to slow down the Beast but my Strike drag setting had no effect on the run. I inched up to max drag and the braid backing shattered! The same thing happened last November in the same general area. Check out what happened that day.

My 70ft fluoro shock leader and 6ft fluoro leader was taken so I had to retie a leader directly onto the braid. No longer a stealthy setup, I just hoped a not-so-smart uku would happen by. Instead I got another fish that ran out 70yd and slowed. After a tough battle with a lot of vertical yanks, a 5ft to 6ft sandbar shark was pulled up from the depths and cut free. That shark really fought above its weight class compared to other sandbars that size. This made me think that the previous beast was a very large, fast running shark, not the ahi I hoped it was, since both times it bit near the bottom.

Finally I felt the telltale bite and jerky fight of a small uku and I landed my first one since January. I love catching uku. They’re easy to handle on the kayak and very versatile to prepare. I was hoping for a few more since it was small (3 to 4lb) but the winds picked up and water got choppy. The few boats out there left and I couldn’t get my bait down near the bottom anymore. It’s funny, I’ve never gotten more than 1 decent sized uku on a trip.

A friend was in town with his wife, visiting in-laws and he and his wife’s family had never eaten uku before. They wanted to dry age the uku but Christmas dinner arrived 4 days after the fish was caught and they couldn’t wait any longer. They wrapped the uku in foil and baked it at 450 degrees for 20 to 30 mins, intermittently checking on it after 20 mins. Ginger slices had been stuffed into slits in the body and after it was done “steaming” in the oven, a sauce of shoyu, sugar, sesame oil, mirin and oyster sauce was poured over the fish. The seasoned fish was eaten over a bed of rice, with a side of zuccini and kale, and from the looks of the photo, the bones were picked clean. When I pressured my friend for a review of the steamed uku he said “it was nice and meaty, medium-fluffy, not too oily, but not dry, not really fishy. It was fresh tasting, and a great base for the sauce that was poured over it.” What a descriptive, easy to relate to review!

Better Oahu kayakers are getting ono, mahi, and kamanu (rainbow runner) in the Winter so I’ll be out again when the weather allows, but won’t be disappointed if another uku bites the bait.

I motorized the Scupper Pro and took it out on a windy, choppy day

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It had been too windy to fish offshore for the last few weeks and I wanted to get some exercise on the water. Decided to take the Bixpy motor off my Trident Ultra and put it on the oldie but goodie Scupper Pro. The only mod I had to make was to cut the bottom of the Scupper Pro’s rudder blade to mount the motor.

The wind on the Windward side was 12 – 17mph and the swell was over 5ft so I stayed in the shallows and tested the motor against the wind and chop, and did some damashi fishing around the “papas” or reef tops.

Bixpy adapter on SmartTrack rudder.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been in the Scupper and forgot how cramped the cockpit is and how much the long, light bow bounces in chop, but the motor made paddling through the strong wind a breeze. It’s so easy to mount the Bixpy on anything that floats (raft, board, kayak, etc) and such good insurance that you can safely get in when conditions turn nasty.

Here’s a 1:45 video illustrating the benefit of the motor. Instead of testing top speed, I just showed how the motor assisted without aid of paddling, and with paddling in rough conditions.

Please contact me if you have any questions about the Bixpy product line. Mahalo!

Been struggling since March. Couldn’t catch bait, couldn’t catch fish.

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Man, it’s been a tough slog on the Windward side for me. On the rare good weather days I could get out, I couldn’t catch opelu and the target fish didn’t want to eat frozen opelu. It was so slow that I brought home the same pack of opelu 3 times, refroze and used again. ‘Course each time the bait spoils a little even though it’s on ice, so each time the refrozen bait is less appetizing.

Others have fished the same spot and caught opelu. Was good to hear that the bait was still there, bad to know I botched it. Seems I’ve just been unlucky with my timing and where I looked for bait. Only once did we get lucky with kawakawa and mahi on frozen opelu

Always dicey to unhook a toothy kaku

Out of desperation, I fished shallower with the buss up opelu and aha, kaku and ulua hit baits. Too humbug to land and clean so they were released.

Looks like I have to revisit the South side and hope the boat and kayak traffic is manageable now.

Finally hooked a fish that stress tested my tackle, and me

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Half a year ago I was given a St Croix Mojo Salt conventional boat rod to test. Here’s why I upgraded to that rod over the G Loomis Bucara I had been using. Since then I’ve been in a slump and the biggest fish I landed was a 6lb mahi mahi. Well, that finally changed.

Frank’s ulua weighed in at 17 pounds

Frank and I hit our Eastside spot and looked for bait at 9am. Only thing I saw was a promising large mark 75ft down in 170ft of water that didn’t bite. On the advice of someone who found bait a couple weeks ago, we spread out and traveled a mile up current but didn’t encounter much on our fish finders. Then Frank radio’d that he was on a fish and a good amount of time later said he had landed his first ulua and biggest fish ever!

You can see the black tunsten weight on the right side of the aha’s head

Stoked for him and realizing my unweighted frozen opelu hadn’t been touched at all, I put on a 1.5 oz sliding tungsten weight to get the bait down a bit and make it swim more naturally. A few mins later the ratchet went off but I saw a blue bone needlefish (aha) jumping in the distance. I really hate those things. As I unhooked it, I noticed it bent the wire stinger leader a little and nicked the fluorocarbon leader. I didn’t expect anything noteworthy to bite so I just used the dinged up rig and put a twice refrozen opelu out.

A few mins later the ratchet went off again, in spurts and the line seemed like it was going straight down even though I was in only 80ft of water. I could feel the fish running through underwater caves but miraculously the fish came out and headed towards deeper water. Since Frank had just caught an ulua, I assumed the strong surging fish was a big ulua and was worried it would reef me soon but it stayed on and was brutishly strong.

I tried short pumping it up to break its spirit but it still pulled line off and headed back down to the bottom. I kept my feet on the foot pedals to steer with my Bixpy motor, but had to counter balance when the fish pulled from the side of the kayak. I tightened the drag on my Avet SX Raptor two-speed as much as I dared, and dropped into low gear. The reel still needed to give up line if the fish suddenly made a dash in a different direction.

Shaven but not beaten, Sufix Invisiline

I knew this was the biggest fish I ever fought and really wanted to see how big it was but my back and biceps were burning. After more than 30 mins I painfully got back all my braid and just the 30ft or so of fluorocarbon shock leader and 6ft of leader were out. I could see curly cues of the fluorocarbon scraped by the reef. Smaller ulua usually give up and get the bends in the last 50ft but this one fought me all the way to color.

I could see it was a silvery jack, and hoped it was a really big kagami ulua but no, it was a thick white ulua or GT. It was really hard to carefully slide it onto my lap without damaging its gills or jaw and I was too tired to lift it up when Frank came by to video with my GoPro.

I put it back in the water, holding its tail, and it kicked off and swam down strongly.

Thanks for documenting the catch Frank!

This is the gear that withstood the punishing runs of the estimated 50lb plus ulua. All but the Knot 2 Kinky titanium leader and the St Croix Mojo Salt rods are sold in the Store.

Holoholo: Hui Waʻa Kaukahi Kayak Fishing Papio Tournament 2022

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Written by Terry Shimabukuro, long time Hui Wa’a Kauakahi member and avid Oahu based kayak fisherman.

Thirty kayak fishermen and women paddled or peddled in the waters around Kualoa Regional Park competing over the weekend of September 24-25, 2022 in the 18th Hui Waʻa Kaukahi Kayak Fishing Papio Tournament. Many of the participants camped at the park for the weekend so that they could be on the water for the dawn patrol. In this unique tournament, fish must be caught from a human or wind-powered watercraft with the grand prize awarded for the biggest papio. Catch a jack over 10 pounds, well, that’s an ulua and your fish goes into the consolation biggest other fish category.

Hui Waʻa Kaukahi is Hawaii’s oldest recreational kayaking club. They started this tournament at the turn of the century as a social event with the Kaneohe Yacht Club. Over the years it grew along with the popularity of kayak fishing into a weekend competition open to the general public. While centered around a competition, the event promotes fellowship within the kayak fishing community and provides a wonderful beach camping experience with family and friends.

Steady trade winds in the 10 mph range generated some chop and white caps in deeper water on both days. That kept most of the kayakers nearshore, but a few of the hardy pelagic hunters ventured out early to find opelu and troll in deep water. This summer’s oama run supplied many with the best known bait for papio. Fishing began pre-dawn and contestants had to be back on the beach by 2:00 pm for a 3:00 pm weigh-in each day.

After a hard day of fishing, the anglers took full advantage of one of the best features of this event, the opportunity to talk story with anglers outside of their usual fishing group. There was plenty of time to look over other kayak setups, talk techniques and tackle, show off photos of past catches and, of course, tell the tales of the big ones that got away.

A variety of papio turned up at the weigh-ins. A paʻopaʻo (golden trevally), yellow spot (Island jack) and kagami (threadfin jack) were caught along with many omilu (bluefin trevally) and white papio (giant trevally). The nearshore anglers also caught several large ʻoʻio (bonefish) and a large ʻawaʻawa (ladyfish). The deep water hunters hauled in kahala (greater amberjack), kawakawa (little tuna), aku (skipjack tuna), shibi (yellowfin tuna), mahimahi (dolphinfish) and ulua aukea (giant trevally).

This year’s bragging rights for the biggest papio go to Alan Matsuo who reeled in an 8.5 pound omilu on Saturday. Clifton Twiggs made Alan squirm a bit at Sunday’s weigh-in with a nice size white that tipped the scale at just over 10 pounds. So close!

The tournament winners were (sorry, don’t have photos of all the winners):

First place – Alan Matsuo, 8 lb 8 oz omilu

Second place – Maynard Lazo, 7 lb 7 oz white

Third place – Grant Taura, 6 lb 1 oz white

Fourth place – Dustin Dasigo, 5 lb 2 oz omilu

Biggest other – Shane Kaniaupio, 35 lb, ulua aukea

The event was organized by Hui Waʻa Kaukahi member and Windward Boats Kayak Manager Stan McCrea with support from fellow club members Wilbert and Arlina Wong. Prizes were donated by Windward Boats, Campania Lures, West Marine Honolulu, Nanko Fishing Supply, Gyotaku by Naoki and Windward Paintball.

This tournament is held annually in September or October (pandemic years excepted). Look for the announcements next year and come join the fun!

Fish didn’t bite and I wrapped my trolling line in my Bixpy motor :-(

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Well that was a bummer. A few weeks ago, on the Full Moon day, I went out to the Windward/Eastside in rainy conditions. Wind wasn’t bad and the brown boobies were circling around looking for bait. I had high expectations but the big balls of bait and bottom critters I had seen during the previous trips weren’t around so I resorted to dragging frozen opelu out to 250ft and back into 90ft. I hadn’t weighted down the bait so the line was slack on the surface as I spun around to unhook some moana off the damashi rig, and wrapped my trolling line around my rudder. I ran the motor to spin the opposite way of the wraps and succeeded in sucking up yards on my Invisiline fluoro leader and Sufix 832 braid around my motor shaft. I could smell a burning plastic smell as the motor turned so I sadly turned the motor off and paddled the 2+ miles back to shore with almost no wind on my back to blow me in. My frozen opelu was still hanging off my motor and didn’t even get nibbled by rubbish fish.

On land it was quickly evident that I couldn’t free the line without disassembling the motor, so that was the end of a very unproductive trip. At home I cut off as much line as I could but there was braid fused in the plastic motor housing, which was sliced down and melted by the friction of the braid whipping around.

I had to send the 2.5 yr old, out-of-warranty motor into the Bixpy factory in San Diego. They cleaned out the debris, replaced the rear plastic housing (labelled “1”) that was chopped down by the Sufix, tested it and sent it back to me with Priority 1-Day mail, for a reasonable fee.

It was very reassuring to know that Bixpy would be able to repair my discontinued motor quickly and reasonably. Now I gotta figure out why fishing was so slow during the Full Moon, rising tide. It’s been an unlucky Summer and Fall for me. I’ve missed a bunch of light wind days, and haven’t caught opelu the last 3 times out.

Eastside: We finally made it out deep; there was a lot of life out there!

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I hadn’t caught the target fish (anything big enough and great eating) for 4 trips in a row but had a feeling I was getting closer on the last trip as 8 inch weke nono / weke ula and 11 inch opakapaka pups grabbed the damashi hooks intended for opelu. The one opelu I did manage to land went untouched past 200ft and eventually taken by a line-cutting kaku at 70ft. With so much life crowding the shallower opelu grounds I had a feeling the opelu were being pushed deeper.

Weke nono too small to keep

Finally a very light wind day aligned with our schedules so Frank I made plans to go all the way out to the 500ft ledge per Big Island kayak guru Shea. That’s 3.7 miles of paddling with Bixpy motor assist so definitely we needed really calm conditions.

Past 100ft, the first damashi drop yielded 2 weke nono on the top 2 hooks and something broke off the bottom hook and lead. Ugh, I had to dig out another pre-tied damashi from my tackle bag and re-rig.

Next drop, bigger opakapaka teamed up and broke my 12lb damashi rig, again taking the bottom hook and lead. Ugh, ugh. Then something even heavier broke the 3rd rig at 170ft. Ugh, ugh, ugh. There were so many fish busting my damashi that I couldn’t even find any opelu.

So we decided to troll frozen (mine was thawed at least twice) opelu out to 500ft and then drop bait to the bottom. I put on a sliding bullet weight to get my bait down a bit and make the frozen bait swim better, and got a jerky hit at 250ft. I could see a small mahi porpoising in the distance and it didn’t seem like my line was connected to it but it was. Finally, I got to fight something on the new St Croix Mojo Saltwater boat rod, which felt light and powerful.

After a much stronger fight than I would have expected, I kage’d the 6lb female mahi and secured it. Mahi have short lifespans, growing quickly, spawning multiple times a year, and dying by year 4, so there’s no shame in taking a small one, since they are super dangerous to try to unhook alive.

(Sorry for the less than ideal on-the-water photos. It was so hot I kept dunking my cap with the GoPro in the water and the cap was angled upward when I shot videos, cutting off a lot of the view.)

Frank had made it out to the 500ft ledge and attached a 4oz sinker to his leader and dropped his opelu down. I added an 8oz sinker to my rig and put cut aku belly on my 2 hooks. There was very little current on this calm day so the rig eventually reached the bottom but never got touched. Cranking it back up with the Avet SX Raptor in either low or high gear was a breeze though.

Just as I was thinking we should return to where the mahi was, Frank hooked something as he dropped and retrieved his opelu like a jig. With so much line already out, the fish took even more line and a tense battle with a strong running fish ensured. Frank was chanting “hope it’s not a shark, hope it’s not a shark” and was rewarded with a really nice kawakawa, his first. He gave thanks to God, carefully bled it out, then iced it. We didn’t get any more action out deep so we headed back in.

Frank’s bait got raggedly cut in half at the 250ft zone, and when I reached that area I marked what looked like a nice opelu ball. I slowed and my weighted bait got hit and the line was cut above the first hook. We had been out for a long time in the hot, windless day and still had more than 3 miles to go, so it was time to use our Bixpy motors to help us get in.

Frank’s kawakawa was a 13lb female with eggs so he fried the belly, bones and eggs and poke’d the fillet, sharing with family. My sister baked the mahi with lemon, butter and garlic, and also teri panko fried it for my dad. He said “it wasn’t bad but wasn’t good”. He seems to only like salmon and butterfish, two fish I can’t catch in Hawaii.

Seems like the best season of Hawaii kayak fishing has arrived. Light winds in the Fall and pelagics still within reach. With so much life around, I want to go back and see what fish we missed, and fight something bigger on the St Croix rod.

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

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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.

Photos by Dino. Xesta jig.
Metal Addict jig.
Xesta jig.

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.

80g tungsten jig with gold blade

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: 60g, bottom row: 40g
Top row: Blue/Silver, bottom row: Green/Yellow

Some examples of how to dress the jigs
Uku had been feeding on small bait fish

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

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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.

St Croix Mojo Salt Conventional Boat Rod – Purpose built for my offshore kayak needs

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Quick background: I’ve been using a 7ft 7inch G Loomis Bucara conventional trigger stick rod purchased in 2004 and put into offshore kayak use in 2018. It’s a super light rod with a lot of backbone, sensitive tip and a fat cork foregrip that brought up heavy sharks and target fish. I liked the length for getting around the bow of my 14ft kayak, and for trolling from the front, keeping the line out of my rudder. I didn’t have any complaints at all but started looking for a backup rod in case the Bucara needed repair.

Offshore kayak fishing is pretty rough on rods so I was looking for a graphite – fiberglass composite that I didn’t have to baby, was close to the 7ft 7inch length, had a comfortable foregrip, medium fast forgiving tip and a light mass to match the compact Avet SX Raptor reel.

I looked at what the name brand rod makers had to offer and the closest match was a St Croix Mojo Salt Conventional rod that debuted in 2018. I reached out to St Croix through their website, asking if they would consider selling their 7ft 6inch Medium Heavy, Medium Fast conventional rod rated for 40 – 65lb braid and weighing only 12.3 oz, at a reduced price if I would properly review it. Instead, big wave surfer, canoe and paddleboard paddler, well respected Costa Del Mar and FCS Fins marketing rep, and all around nice guy Keoni Watson contacted me. Keoni, who also reps for St Croix, managed to convince the marketing team that I would be able to provide a fair evaluation of their rod in the adverse Hawaiian offshore conditions if they sent me one.

Beyond grateful, I received the rod yesterday. The Mojo Salt Conventional boat rod is resplendent in purple like the G Loomis Bucara, but different in many ways.

Bucara on top, Mojo Salt on the bottom

The foregrip is much longer, comprising of EVA foam instead of cork.

Bucara on top, Mojo Salt on the bottom

The guide eyes and supporting structure are much larger and stronger.

The butt cap can be removed, revealing a gimbal butt. The tip is a more forgiving medium-fast taper.

G Loomis opted to keep the Bucara as light as possible, using less fiberglass fibers, smaller guides and cork on the fore and aft grip. In 2004, the Bucara retailed for $250 which is $380 in today’s dollars (I got it for $200 on sale). The Mojo Salt Conventional sells for $240, even less than the Bucara did 18 years ago.

The Bucara was really meant to be held all day, casting big baits and lures, or bottom fishing. The Mojo Salt is a much more versatile, durable boat rod yet still light and at a very good price point. Here’s what St Croix says about this beauty.

Avet SX Raptor on Mojo Salt

I can’t wait to see how the Mojo Salt + Avet SX Raptor feels on a big fish.

Did the offshore kayak season just start? Bolo is over!

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Not counting some good eating damashi fish (nabeta and small but keeper opakapaka), I bolo’d (skunked) the last 6 trips. January through March is just so slow. But the bolo broke and it sounds like pelagics were caught all around Oahu this past week.

Frank joined me on this super calm Eastside trip. Surf was really small and the wind didn’t pick up ’til 1pm. It was the calmest it could be, but there was a moving tide so the water was a little off colored, which was good for getting bites. The solunar activity was low so I wasn’t expecting much. Man was I wrong.

We glided over the glassy water to the opelu grounds but it took a while to find them. My damashi rig was beneath a nice pile I saw on my fish finder, and as I luckily intercepted it, I hooked 3 opelu on my 3 hooks! 1 must’ve flipped off while unhooking the other two. I gave one to Frank and put the other in my lazy man’s bait tube (a long cylindrical food container I kept refilling with water). We tried for more opelu but couldn’t find the school again. Frank put his opelu out and it got inhaled about 10 minutes later.

He carefully battled his fish, making sure he could get it boatside for identification, and I put my opelu out on fluorocarbon with no weight since BI kayak fisher Shea has been telling me to free line live opelu to present in the most natural manner. Frank boated a nice aku which surprised the heck out of me. We were 3 miles from shore and I thought aku don’t come that close to the island? We celebrated Frank’s first aku ever, and resumed trying to find the bait pile.

My opelu got picked up and dropped 3 times and eventually killed. It looked like the fish was leaving marks by the opelu’s gills. Maybe a second hook on the tail would have hooked ’em? I stuck to the single hook and no weight to appease Shea and decided to head out to deeper water that had yielded kawakawa last year. I was so relieved when my dead bait was finally taken. The fish fought really jerky and surgy but when I dropped the Avet SX Raptor in low gear it was coming up as if my line cut. I slowed down my cranking to make sure I didn’t pull the hook, and an aku surfaced with a busted tail. First aku for me too, and fishing with no weight works, even with dead bait!

Pressure was off, we both had fish, and my bolo was over. Whew. I called Frank over to where I hooked up and was putting on a new leader since the aku swallowed the hook. Frank dropped on a huge bait mark and hooked something on his 15lb damashi line that almost spooled him! He had to cup the spool of his spinning reel to regain line and was in for a long battle. I figured no way could he land a pelagic on that rig and tried to catch ’em on a jig but the school had moved off. Frank masterfully played out the fish and a slightly smaller, very tired aku came up!

We drifted back in to where the opelu school had been earlier but couldn’t find biters and damashi’d around to check the status of the smaller fish. The lizardfish, trumpetfish, small opakapaka and moana were back. Looks like even the inshore fishing is on!

I’m still stunned we caught aku from the kayak. I had thought they didn’t venture in too shallow, and if they do, they’re gone before you can reach them. When Capt Erik saw this photo he said my aku (top most) was male and was probably tail wrapped, hence the jerky fight and broken tail. He said Frank’s were both female, being shorter and fuller in the belly. What a forensic fisherman, he was right! I found sperm in my aku and Frank found aku eggs in his two. The lowest one in the photo is the one caught on the damashi rig.

Mine taped out at 25 inches and weighed 11lb at home. Frank didn’t have a scale handy but said his larger of the two egg carrying females was 23 inches.

I had been carrying cube ice in my fish bag all these past bolo trips and finally got to use it. The aku was iced well on the kayak and the drive home, and packed with even more ice in a cooler overnight, so when I cleaned it, was very firm and far less bloody than the kawakawa have been.

Photo by neighbor Brian
Photo by neighbor Brian

Capt Darren said kawakawa is bloodier than aku to clean, and my friends who tried the aku said it had an “ocean umani” taste that had more flavor than kawakawa, but was less “irony”. But they liked kawakawa sashimi also. They were happy to get any fish after waiting so long during the Bolo.

Frank sashimi’d, poke’d, seared and fried his two aku and shared with his Men’s Bible Study and family.

Hope we get another shot at aku this season.

We’re an authorized Avet dealer!

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Avet reels have been around for 20 years and are known for their small-footprint frames billeted from aerospace grade aluminum in the good ol’ US of A. Because their machining tolerances on their stainless steel gears are so small/exact, the reels don’t have to rely on excessive bearings to run smoothly. Instead, the reels are very easy to maintain workhorses that can take a lot of abuse in the salt and keep on performing at a high level.

Just some of the lever drag series available

There are 6 lever drag series and have recently added a star drag series. The base models start with a single speed gear and a single drag washer, and their largest reels have 3 speeds and 4 disc drags. A magnetic brake to minimize back lashes can also be added. Then there’s all the colors you can choose from. Really, it’s like building your own custom reel.

Raptors of each series

I’ve been kayak fishing with an SX Raptor for almost 2 years. The SX series is their smallest frame, but the Raptor model added magnetic cast, 2-speed and a max drag of 26lb in a 17oz reel. It’s been awesome to grind up ulua and sharks in low gear, and when I took it apart to clean it, there was very little residue to wipe off.

Hawaii shorecasters have been loving the medium sized Avets to cast effortlessly and bring in big game, and the boat guys have been running the large trolling reels.

The Avet reels have been underpriced for so long that they did raise their prices this year, but are still much cheaper than Shimano and Accurate when you compare features.

Drop me a line if you’re interested in an Avet. I’ll order the reels as they are requested and while I’m prohibited from selling at a discount, I can provide a rebate on other products purchased in the Store.

You can learn more about the various Avet reel options by checking out the Avet Reel website.

Eastside: Calm conditions again but damashi fish didn’t bite well, was it the slack tide?

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January had at least one day of light wind every week; which was unusual but appreciated. So with the swell down, I returned to my Eastside spot I hit the previous week, hoping 3-day old opelu would entice the big fish to bite. What I found was the big fish were absent again, and the damashi bite was very slow.

I trolled a dead opelu out to 280ft and back into the reef dropoff, for no bites. The baby opakapaka, about 9 inches, did jump on the damashi CHL Minnows but luckily decompressed so all could be sent back down. The normally annoying lizardfish and pesky reef rubbish fish didn’t bite, and I had to drift the opelu in areas I usually don’t fish, only to hook a pinktail hagi, and a huge roi that fell off the hook before I could kill it.

The hagi and roi were on a reef with less current and a higher water temp. Basically dead water with junk fish. The fish that hit the damashi last week were in an area with a lot of moving current and cooler water, but, with the tide being pretty flat, there wasn’t much to get those fish going.

So it appears that winter cold water + calm conditions + slack tide = lousy fishing. This applies to shore fishing also. Predator fish stage in areas of turbulence and current where they can ambush unsuspecting prey. Guess I have to pick a day with a big tidal swing if I want to catch something on these calm Winter days.

Deep diving Rapala XRap Magnum 30 – the Ono Killer

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Ordered some XRap Magnum 30s for my buddy Capt Erik. His dad and uncle had the XRap Magnum 30 out with a medium sized spinner and 30lb braid so they had to baby the ono. Sharky took his share at the end of the 15 minute fight. They now run the proper gear since the XRap always gets bit!

Here’s an intact ono caught on a trip before then.

I ordered extra to share with boaters, jet skiers, OC1-ers and kayakers that can troll above 5mph. The Xrap Magnum 30 dives to 30ft.

Lowest prices on the internet, in the best colors so get ’em while they last.

Sub-surface lures in the Store.

Eastside: Calm, big moon, light boat traffic. Small fish hungry because big fish not attacking?

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The winds continued to be very light, and the North swell took a break so I went to one of my favorite Eastside spots to compare conditions with the Southside. I had never fished this area in January, and was expecting the water to be cold. Instead the water was sheet glass calm and a degree warmer, 75.5, than it was last week on the Southside.

It took 45 mins to get out to the first spot, with the Bixpy motor doing the heavy lifting. I had forgotten that the Eastside comparable depth was a mile further than the Southside. First drop in search of opelu and a small-medium nabeta came up! I hadn’t found these all of last year, and was very pleasantly surprised. Caught 2 more to make a meal of them but snagged structure twice and had to retie. Left the area to get away from snags and didn’t find any bait. The damashi continued to get bit and occasionally bit off on every drop. If this were the Southside on a sheet glass day I’d have to use bait on the damashi, but the fish were happy eating CHL Minnows.

I was really enjoying seeing what would come up next until realizing I had spent 2 hours playing on the reef without a hard tug, so I put out a frozen opelu and headed out to 225ft. Nothing showed up on the sonar and nothing hit the opelu. So different from the summer when deep opelu schools were hanging out near the bottom and kawakawa were taking dead bait.

Drifted back in, had the opelu pulled off at the shallow drop so I put on a live long nabeta looking wrasse and it was just pecked at. Dropped down a live 9 inch lizardfish next without better luck. Put down another frozen opelu and it got pulled off. Seemed like the small bait stealers were pretty brazen because they knew the big predators weren’t around but definitely preferred opelu to reef fish you and I wouldn’t eat.

Uku and moana
Weke nono happily heading back down

A bunch of weke nono and a baby uku came up on the damashi, but too small to keep and it was past time to head in. Can’t believe I was playing in the calm water for almost 5 hrs. Then my bait rod finally hooked up but the fish ran into a cave. I’m telling myself it was a roi so I won’t be as bummed. I broke the line off and heard sea birds laughing behind me. I turned around and couldn’t believe my eyes. Fish were crashing on the surface and birds were dive bombing the bait that was chased up. I didn’t have hooks on my bait rig but wanted to get a closer look so I motored/paddled over but the melee ended and the birds sat on the water waiting for the bait school to be chased up again. Unfortunately the action didn’t show up well on the video I took.

Well, the frenzy never reappeared so I headed in with just 3 yellow nabeta in my fish bag after 6 hrs of hard fishing., I learned that the small fish still bite even though the water is super clear but the predators may not feed on calm days after a big moon. It’s definitely worth going back in the Winter until the damashi bite slows down.

Photo by Brian

My neighbor masterfully deep fried the nabeta by first seasoning in salt and pepper, then coating with corn starch. He scored the fish to allow the oil to cook the bones to crunchy perfection.

When in doubt, fry longer to make sure the bones are cooked through and the flesh is no longer mushy.

Southside: Calm day, less boats, fished shallow – caught fish!

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For the second straight week the winds were very light. I picked a day during the work week that was forecast to be windier than the rest, 8 to 12 mph, and it paid off. The boat traffic from the previous week was non-existent. Unfortunately I had run my Bixpy electric motor into shallow sand when I launched and it was turning itself off. Only after returning did I fix the problem; the power cable wasn’t attached properly and the fail safe system was preventing it from shorting.

Because I was without the use of the motor, I stayed within 70ft deep knowing the winds would eventually kick up. The water had dropped a degree from last week to 74.5. Decided to just see what would hit the CHL Minnows on the damashi in clear water. It initially was slow, like in last week’s glassy conditions, so I put a strip of kawakawa on and that turned things around. Taape, toau, and hagi were coming up, and when I took the bait off and just used the soft plastics, moana bit and continued to bite. That led me to believe that boat traffic on very calm days does shut down the bite.

I used a plastic pasta noodle container as a poor man’s bait tube, refreshing the water every so often, and the moana were no worse for wear. With the damashi reef fish test over I wanted to see how live moana would work in the shallows. Not so good, the moana just had its stomach ripped out, and nothing else took it. I let the other moana go.

Next up was a frozen halalu, and that just had its eyes and stomach removed. Hmm… maybe there were only bait stealers in the shallows? I didn’t want to waste my precious frozen opelu so I kept paddling against the current (man was I missing my motor) , and came across a school of opelu I could see from the surface! Unfortunately they didn’t want to bite but I saw what looked like predators cruising the edges of the school.

So I lowered a frozen opelu to the bottom, raised it up 20ft or so and felt the hard taps. Eventually line pulled out and a very jerky battle began. The water was still glassy at this point.

I could not believe how blessed I was to catch a 4.5lb uku at 60ft! Are they always this shallow but just don’t bite when the boaters and divers are churning up the water? I put down another opelu after paddling back to the spot (man, I miss that motor!), and had a smaller uku rip it off. By then, the wind was pushing me west so it was time to paddle in unassisted. Did I say I missed my motor? Nothing hit the 3rd opelu on the way in.

The uku turned out to be a male preparing to spawn in a few months, and that made it nice and oily on the sashimi plate. Gotta love the shallow water winter-time uku!

Super calm conditions on Southside = lots of boat traffic, and slow fishing. Eventually caught some fish.

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After weeks of wind and rain, the water temp dropped to a chilly 75 degrees and the conditions got super calm. Too calm actually. There were boats, jet skis and kayaks fishing “the zone” and no one seemed to be hooking up. I did get one bite on my frozen opelu but my titanium stinger hook slipped off the front hook. Turns out it’s been doing that because I pinch the barbs of my hooks down, so the wire loop of the stinger rig doesn’t have a much of an obstacle to hold it in place.

I put on a full fluorocarbon double hook rig, got a hit and the back hook was chewed off! Can’t win, but hopefully that was just a shark. So I put on another titanium stinger rig, secured it a bit better and crossed my fingers.

It was so slow with all the boat and jet ski noise that I paddled a mile away into an area that has had ulua, uku and kawalea (deep water cudas) in the past. It was so peaceful there that a baby whale came by to check me out… magnificent looking but a little scary to be so close to me.

A really huge bait ball showed up near the bottom and my damashi rig got bit first, then completely cut off. Dropped the Williamson Benthos 100g Speed Jig hoping the 6.5″ length would keep sharp teeth away from the leader and got hooked up on the fall. Fish fought a bit but wasn’t too strong, and a 14″ kawalea came up, snagged at the dorsal fin. Those fish stink almost as bad as kaku but have a soft texture and delicate taste that folks like, so I kept it and tried to load up with more. I hooked two smaller ones, properly hooked on the bottom hook before I lost the school. My kayak and I smelled like kawalea but at least I had a few fish to share with friends. The Benthos jig didn’t have any teeth marks and my leader was not nicked at all. Success! It was the first time using the Benthos, which I hoped would look like a dying opelu to the pelagics.

At this point I had been flaying around for 5 hrs and the water was still too calm. I paddled back to “the zone”, which was pretty empty now since most of the guys gave up. Since I only had 2 frozen opelu left I caught a moana to live bait. Moana don’t work for me so I was surprised when it got bit, but what came up was a huge hagi on the back hook.

Wind was finally chopping up the water so I put out the second to last opelu and headed for the uku spot. Tap, tap, jerk, jerk, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Finally a solid hookup and a 4lb uku was safely in the fish bag. It took 7 hrs and 9 frozen opelu to catch that fish.

Sadly, the last opelu was taken by a shark.

While it’s really easy to paddle over glassy water, the fish don’t bite well. 8 to 10 mph seems to be the ideal wind range for me.