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.

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.

Compact Tungsten jigs have slayed nearshore and offshore!

March 8, 2021 By Scott 4 Comments

Last summer I requested some Tungsten jigs from two jig manufacturers , and was sent a batch of 60gm test models from the first company. A few months later the second company sent a couple 80gm and 100gm models. Both sets were painted but lacking the tough clear coat to make them puncture proof, and some were eye-less. I had a feeling they’d work, purely due to their small size, and resemblance to tiny bait fish.

The 60gm jigs came through just about every time I tried them off the kayak, catching fish as small as moana, and as large as ulua and kahala. They were so easy to fish because they got down to the bottom quickly, even in current, and didn’t have much resistance as I jigged them back up. As a control, I switched back to a lead jig of the same weight in the middle of a hot bite, and didn’t get a single hit.

These are some jacks that went wild for the compact jigs.

Wanted to see what these jigs could do in the hands of a jigging pro, so I passed a couple of the little 60gm jigs to Capt Erik. One day at the buoys the pelagics were showing on the sonar but not taking trolled lures. Capt Erik and his dad started with larger lead jigs that had caught fish in the past, but those jigs were ignored. So they dropped the little 60gm jig down and KABLAM! Shibi and aku fought over them and the guys had to stop fishing and drive away because they caught enough for their ohana. The tuna had tiny bait fish in their stomachs and the jigs had perfectly matched the hatch.

Thanks for making this video Capt Erik!

Tried the 80gm and 100gm jigs a couple times off the kayak and like them because they are heavier and get down faster when I’m fishing deep but I haven’t landed anything on them yet. I broke off two ulua and unbuttoned what felt like a small uku. These bigger jigs don’t look as eye catching as the 60gm jigs from the first company, but they still hooked fish. All this has convinced me that compact jigs dropped on hungry fish will get bit!

I ordered a small batch of 80gm and 100gm jigs from the first company with a few 60gm jigs thrown into the order. The production finish, with glow in the dark stripes exceeded my expectations. Almost too beautiful to fish, and coated with a tough sealant. I’m selling these at “friends and family” pricing to guys that catch fish and take great pictures. 🙂

Stay tuned to hear how effective those jigs are, from cliff, kayak and boat. Mahalo.

Update: Check out how well the tungsten jigs worked for Coach Haru here!

Sheet glass conditions on a big moon day

March 15, 2017 By Scott 1 Comment

Erik invited me out on his small aluminum boat again since the conditions were too good to pass up. Sheet glass, no wind for a few hours, and small surf. The water couldn’t be any flatter than this. Only concern was the big moon the night before.

The plan was to fish upwind of the normal wind pattern and work our way back. On the way out Erik saw aha attacking bait and threw his sinking JDM swimmer. An aha went airborne with it and shed the hook. The heavy, calm air transmitted sounds for miles, it seemed. Whales were breaching and expelling air, turtles were startling us with their snorkly exhales and big 10″ to 12″ malolo were being chased around. We even saw a dolphin school playing a few hundred yds off. All that life got us pumped up.

We kept motoring upwind but the deep reefs were just too tempting. Erik hooked up his portable Huminbird PiranhaMax fish finder and we trolled around until we found the edge of the 100 ft drop off. Down went our small jigs but nothing was interested in them. We kept heading upwind while watching the fish finder. Fish were stacked up so we dropped the jigs again. Erik jigged his lure erratically after reaching the bottom, then let it hit bottom again. His lure looked lively on 10lb braid and he felt something heavy. Hage! But at least we found fish.

When the fish finder found clumps of fish we fished harder. I tried my 20 gm jigs, 30 gms jigs and 60 gm jigs until I finally got a hage too. By then Erik had let go a few.

Then we stumbled on a spot where Erik hooked something 1/3 of the way off the bottom. It felt small but had a consistent tail beat. Baby weke ula!

I was able to get one also, then Erik hooked a stronger fish with his erratic jigging motion. It tried its best to stay on its deep, home reef but Erik coaxed it up. Omilu! It taped out at 11 inches, head to fork of tail, and was tagged and set free.

We drifted off that productive spot and Erik had a hunch the deeper drop off would be even better. At 140 ft the finder was marking fish a little suspended off the bottom. I ended a dry spell with the lowly trumpetfish so we moved a bit and Erik hooked two more juvenile weke ula, and I brought up the ubiquitous hage.

Erik quickly dropped his jig back down on this productive spot and something strong ripped line for about 5 seconds but the hook pulled. Arrggh. We’re thinking it must’ve been a big papio or ulua.

He even caught a medium-sized moana on a deep reef with his active jigging action. My slow pitch on 17lb mono wasn’t even attracting the hage anymore.

We had an hr left of fishing time so we tried throwing poppers and swimmers on the shallow reefs but there were no takers this time.

I think the bite was slow in the shallow water because the water was so clear and the moon was so big the night before. The big predators had been chasing bait the night before and the smaller fish were running from the predators. They all must’ve been resting in their hidey holes until the big moon evening activity started again.

But wow, what a beautiful day to be on the water. All the fish caught were released.

Here’s how we did last week on a flatter tide but smaller moon.

Extensive product testing in nearshore waters

March 9, 2017 By Scott 12 Comments

I was fortunate to go out on Erik’s small aluminum boat again and test some lures. The wind was really light and swell was on the smaller size so we started up the coast, behind the breakers. The water was pretty clear and maybe 20 to 30 ft deep in the sandy channels. The reefs looked about 15 ft deep. Erik used a casting jig to work the full water column and I used the JDM sub-surface lure I’ve been using lately on my inshore rod. As good as the spot looked, we didn’t get a single sniff so we drifted in closer to the back of the waves.

Erik switched to the Waxwing Baby to cover ground quicker and I switched rods to a GLoomis 8ft “Backbounce” rod that has a graphite – fiberglass blend to flex more on the cast. I had the new Tranx 400 mounted and loaded with 50lb Sufix 832. First time trying the Tranx 400 and first time using Sufix 832 as braid. The heaviest swimming lure I had was a lip-less with a lead cylinder in its body. It didn’t swim as well as the lighter swimming lures but cast well on the Backbounce rod and Tranx. I was impressed that the Suffix was coming off the reel smoother than the PowerPro I used in the past.

Still no hits so Erik changed to a floating gurgling type of JDM lure that had been very consistent in the past. Omilu came up to investigate but didn’t commit. I was enjoying casting the 1 oz heavy swimmer but really didn’t have confidence in its fish attracting qualities. Then a fish hit it about 10 inches below the surface, halfway to the boat and flipped its tail at us. Hanapa’a! We were getting close to the back of the breaking waves so Erik started up the motor and pulled us away a bit. The fish felt strong on its initial runs back to the safety of the reef but the Tranx drag was smooth and its gears brought the fish boat side after a few mins. Electric blue Omilu!

Erik filmed the fight and landing and netted the fish with his other hand. Not only did he put us on the fish but he captured the action and did post production on the pics and video. Can’t beat that service! The fish taped out at 20.5 inches (FL). Not sure how many pounds that equates to but it was definitely bigger than the 4lb omilu that were my previous best. I tagged and released it and it splashed me in the face in its hurry to get back home.

I broke one of the flimsy treble hooks when I unhooked the fish prior to tagging and releasing. It seems like the JDM lure manufacturers choose light hooks so the lures swim as well as they can. The US domestic lures have stouter hooks but don’t swim as well. So we’ve been changing out the JDM hooks to larger Owner trebles that don’t adversely affect the action.

Back to the action: After seeing the omilu swim off strongly, we looked up and could see a wave building. Erik put us in gear and we scrambled to safety. Whew. It’s definitely dicey fishing that close to the impact zone where the fish hang out. The sinking swimmer’s broken treble didn’t dangle properly so I switched to another untested lure, a larger floating pencil style bait meant for small pelagics. It was lighter than the sinking lure so I backlashed the first cast into the wind. Ugh… the tangle looked bad but once I picked it off the Suffix cast fine. That was my only backlash of the day, much unlike my experience with PowerPro and a bait caster. The pencil lure didn’t have much action on its own and I struggled to make it walk from my seated position on the boat. Then there was a blow up but the fish hit just in front of the tail hook. It left teeth marks but didn’t come back. We think it was a big papio/small ulua.

We moved away from the waves to the safety of the inner bay. Erik put on a JDM walking top water lure he had success with in the past and some omilu too small to take the hook followed it in. Going further inside, I threw the JDM sub-surface lure I started the day with. A small omilu checked it out on the way back to the boat that was first attracted by Erik’s 1/4 oz Yozuri popper. It eventually hit it but was too small to tag. Erik got more papio to come off the channel bottom to investigate his popper but not commit.

We suspect the action was slow because of the mid-day sun and the mostly slack tide. The fish weren’t aggressive enough to commit to hitting surface lures but did occasionally hit my lures that ran up to 1 foot under water. It was good to try such a variety of lures for comparison. Sub-surface swimming action isn’t as critical as I thought if you run the lures over where the fish are hanging out in the impact zone.

I was really pleased with how the Tranx and Sufix performed. Smooth casts and fast, powerful retrieves. 2 products I need to test again!

My favorite nearshore and semi-nearshore lures – 2016

October 20, 2016 By Scott 14 Comments

Please keep in mind that my recent experience has been limited to fishing

knee high water from the sand
the tops of shallow reefs from my surfboard or kayak
jigging from a boat in 50 to 300 ft

and I use a 7’6″ to 8′ bait casting rod so I like lures I can hang a few inches off the rod tip. I don’t cast the bubble and grub even though that method works very well for folks with long rods.

In my limited experience I stumbled upon some relatively new lures that out performed the old standbys.

Shallow shoreline, light winds, clear water, low light:

I’ve recently tried a number of finesse top water lures from Japan and have been amazed at how they draw strikes from papio and kaku when other mid-column lures have failed to produce. The slender Japanese lures mimic the small inshore baitfish well and don’t have thick bodies to get in the way of their hooks. On days when the fish are being finicky, the gurgles and dips of these works of art draw strikes. The fact that these lures float make them safe to use in even the skinniest of water.

Shallow shoreline, off color water, choppy conditions:

When the fish can’t see the top water lures well, the sub-surface Shimano Waxwing shines. In really murky conditions, the fish are still able to see the bone color Waxwing and feel its tight zig zag swimming pattern. Slow down a bit to give the fish a chance to zero in on the lure.

Covering a lot of relatively shallow areas:

The Waxwing can be fished pretty fast and stays safely out of the rocks at that speed, so it’s a good lure to use in search mode.

Around bait schools when predators are crashing the pile:

Small to medium sized poppers like the Yozuri Hydro Popper work well in imitating a predator boiling on bait. The most aggressive predators will explode on the popper as it noisily makes its way back to you.

Fishing vertically in 50 to 75 feet of water on a slow drift day:

Break out the shallow water micro jigs and “slow pitch” them. Keep them in the strike zone by smoothly lifting and lowering your rod tip a few inches at a time. Most strikes come as the jig flutters down. If the current isn’t running too fast, a 1 oz jig or lighter should work. Go with as light a jig as you can get down to the bottom.

Fishing vertically in 75 to 300 feet of water on a slow drift day:

The Shimano Flat Fall and similar center keeled lures designed to fall slowly by zig zagging their way down the water column provide an enticing action and still make it to the bottom. Start with the 80 gm size and if the currents prevent it from reaching the bottom, go up to the 100 gm size. Slow pitch these larger lures like you would a micro jig and speed jig them after you’ve covered the bottom fourth of the water column.

Don’t forget to drop a 2 to 4 oz Live Deception jig also. I still don’t understand why the lure works so well but it just does. If you want it to fall slower, bend the jig in a wide “U”.

There you have it. To fish the shoreline out to 300 ft deep, you just need an inshore top water lure, sub-surface Waxwing, small popper, micro jig and a couple heavier slow pitch jigs. You probably could get away with just 2 rod setups: a medium action whipping / jigging setup, and a heavy action jig setup for the deep water but if you want to splurge, add a light jig rod to make the small to medium sized catches more enjoyable.

Gear shake out

July 12, 2016 By Scott 2 Comments

Finally, after a month of gusty days, the wind slowed enough to kayak fish. During that time off the water I had repurposed two reels I hadn’t been using, purchased a light, sensitive jig rod, and assembled some eye catching micro jigs from Japan. With so many things to try out I left the frozen oama at home.

(L to R) Calcutta 200TE, Calcutta 300TE w/Trevala rod

I started by whipping the black/chrome Waxwing Baby with an upgraded Calcutta 200TE. The level wind reel was great for fishing bait but too slow for retrieving Waxwings, so it hadn’t seen use in months. I came across a 200TE main gear upgrade sold on a Japanese Domestic Model (JDM) website that increased the line retrieval from 25 inches to 32 inches per crank. The downside of that retrieval increase is a proportional decrease in torque and drag (level wind reel have drag washers on the gear stack and are affected by gear ratio). Sure enough the Waxwing was zig zagging like it does on the high speed Shimano Curado 300EJ, but on the discontinued Calcutta 200TE that sports a stronger frame and better centrifugal brakes. I did feel one bump and a miss.

I put the whipping rod down and picked up the new lightweight jig setup: A Shimano Trevala S rod so thin and light that it made the compact Calcutta 300TE reel look big. The 300TE, one size up from the 200TE, was gathering dust in a box since I stopped using it as a small trolling reel. I added a longer power handle to replace the two-knobbed paddle handle and could immediately feel the increase in cranking efficiency.

(top to bottom) Live Deception, After Burner Japanese jig, Jigpara Japanese jig

I lobbed the shiny, nehu looking Jigpara jig (bottom lure in the photo) from Japan and lifted and fluttered it back. Not a single bump. Odd. So much activity on the fish finder and so little interest in the lures. In the distance, 2 guys on a boat were whooping it up like they landed an ulua, so that made me fish harder.

Switching back to the WW whipping setup, I cast onto the shallow reef top, hoping I wouldn’t backlash and get my lure stuck. A long fish lunged for the WW and missed the hooks. On the next cast, the lure was sucked down and a fish swam through the shallow crevices in the reef. I was relieved to see omilu blue instead of aha gray. The omilu ran line out against the drag and I had to tighten it further. The drag really was diminished by the higher gear ratio, and didn’t feel as smooth as it normally did. Because I was “practicing” tagging papio, I had planned to take a photo while the fish was still in the water, measure the fish against the markings on my kayak, and let it go. The fish wasn’t aware of my good intentions and literally spit the lure at me. It missed me by about a foot to the right. The freed omilu, which I got a good look at, was at least 2lbs, maybe even 3lb.

Nothing else was on that reef top so I paddled out a bit and cast over another reef edge. A pretty big aha grey hounded across the water like it’s nickname “poor man’s marlin” and also spit the hook. I was relieved my lure was still attached and I didn’t have to release that toothy demon. To give the jigs an equal chance, I switched back to the jig setup, changed to the Live Deception jig and bounced it off the shallow bottom. Still no interest. Back to the Waxwing and I got another hit and drop of either an aha or kaku.

It was about time to see if the white papio were gonna swarm at dusk like they did the last time they hit every micro jig dropped in the water. The fish finder picked up breezing fish gathering close to shore, but they didn’t take the Waxwing or the Live Deception jig. Maybe it was too early? I waited for the sun to drop lower and then “poof” they were gone. No fish on the fish finder. I paddled around not believing that they would suddenly pick up and leave but appeared to be what they did. The whites must’ve gotten bigger and headed somewhere else to attack bait.

Look at what 3 fish did to this lure! (zoom in)

Maybe I had missed other fish and didn’t realize it?

No fish landed but I was glad my confidence in the Waxwing was restored. It had recently been outfished by surface poppers and heavy jigs, but proved once again that in shallow spots holding bait, there is no equal to a well-retrieved Waxwing. And the Calcutta 200TE with higher gear ratio was fast enough to make the Waxwing look enticing.

The Trevala S light jig rod could cast jigs well despite it’s short 6’3″ length due to its soft tip. I guess I’ll have to see how well it holds up to a fish some other time.

Note: Charley’s is running a jig combo special, which includes the Trevala S jig rod and the Shimano Curado 300EJ reel I used on that Big Island jigging trip of a lifetime. Trust me, it’s a deal you don’t want to miss out on.

Big Island boat jigging trip of a lifetime

June 16, 2016 By Scott 12 Comments

Warning: This post will cover action beyond the “nearshore” boundaries and may take a while to read.

I was invited by Neil, the President of Pacific Islands Fisheries Group (PIFG), to boat fish the Big Island the day before the Tokunaga Challenge weigh-in. We would be working the weigh-in, collecting nearshore tagging data and selling Lawai’a magazine subscriptions. I almost declined the invitation because I had gum surgery 2 days before the planned fishing trip and hadn’t eaten solid food since. I’m glad Neil encouraged me to go. I decided to bring a 3-piece Cabelas travel casting rod instead of my 1-piece rods, to avoid paying for oversized luggage. The rod tip was pretty stiff to jig with but I had no other option. I paired the rod with a medium action Curado 300EJ, filled with 15lb fluoro and backed by 50lb braid. There was about 175yds of line in total, and I attached a 25lb fluoro leader. I was hoping for some goats, papio and maybe even an uku on my relatively light gear.

We had Captain Wes at the helm, first mate Braiden, Neil and myself aboard the 19.4ft Alii Kai named the Akemi K. We started by trolling frozen oama but they were quickly mauled by hage so we replaced them with Crystal Minnows. A just-legal yellow spot papio was landed during a long dry spell so we stowed the trolling gear and zipped out to the first bottom fishing spot.

We wanted to field test a few different jigs so I handed Neil a 42gm (1.5oz) Shimano Coltsniper, one I hadn’t fished before. He dropped it down with his medium spinning rig, got a bump, had a fish pull line and come unbuttoned. That was promising. I free spooled a 2oz Promar Live Deception jig, a size I had never fished, and dropped it to the bottom. Jigged it up and down as best I could with the stiff rod tip, and began to do the slow lift and crank. About 15 feet off the bottom the line took off.

It felt like a good-size papio, making smooth runs, shaking its head and resisting being pulled up. The Cabela’s travel rod had a good parabolic arc, bending from the middle of the rod, and performed much better than expected. After about 5 mins we could see what looked like a big omilu making deep circles under the boat. As it got closer we couldn’t believe our eyes – Kagami Ulua (African Pompano), a relatively rare and delicious catch. Braiden gaffed the fish and it was official. Kagami on the first drop of the Live Deception! My first ulua ever. Neil and Wes looked at each other in disbelief, then Neil quickly dropped his Coltsniper back down.

Neil got picked up and the fish fought stubbornly but didn’t shake its head. Uh oh, hage action! That was his introduction to micro jigging.

I dropped down again, jig/pumped and about 20 ft from the bottom, felt a hit. A few nice runs, abrupt headshakes, and a 3lb omilu was boated. I expected a larger fish from the way it ripped line and shook its head. Man those omilu are tough. I checked the line and the 25lb leader had a couple small nicks so I changed it out and made sure the uni-to-uni knot connecting fluoro main to fluoro leader was cinched down. I didn’t want to lose another big fish to a badly tied knot like I did a few weeks ago.

Captain Wes re-positioned the boat and Neil hooked into something that pulled stubbornly but not like a papio. After a fun fight, Neil hoisted the largest cornetfish I had ever seen. Cornetfish are often confused with the trumpetfish, but the cornetfish can get much larger. It was shaken off the jig and set free.

Neil followed the trumpetfish up with a moana and was definitely catching on quickly to this “shallow water” jigging technique.

We moved to a new spot; I dropped the Live Deception down and before it hit the bottom the jig felt like it got picked up in a strong current. I engaged the reel and line peeled off the drag. The line angle looked straight up and down but the water wasn’t as deep as the amount of line out. 75 yds of 15lb fluoro top shot was out and the fish wasn’t slowing. Captain Wes quietly said “this is a big fish”, telling the others to clear their lines. I tightened the drag carefully and the fish still kept going. Finally I tightened it to the point the line started pinging and there was maybe 25 yds left on the spool. The guys were coaching me but we all figured the fight would end in a few seconds. Miraculously the fish slowed and I started making very small pumps, gaining one or two turns of the handle at a time. The fish rested and I got back 1/4 of the braid backing. It surged again, but didn’t take out too much line. I then started doing the drop a few inches and crank quickly method and the Capt remarked that he never saw anyone boost an ulua with such small gear. I took that to mean “be very careful” so I slowed the pumping action and tried to be as smooth as possible so the fish wouldn’t realize it was being yanked out of his home.

The travel rod’s foregrip was half the length of my other rods so my left hand spilled over the ends and was beginning to cramp. My left bicep was engaged the whole time and felt like I was doing a really long isometric curl. But I could hear the voices of ulua vets in my head saying “kill its spirit, don’t give him hope”. So I kept the tension in the rod, hoped my back would hold out, and short pumped when I could. Halfway up, the guys decided to resume jigging cuz they figured it would either be awhile before the fish was landed, or the line would pop soon. The travel rod seemed up to the task but I was worried about my uni-to-uni knot joining the braid to the 15 fluoro main line that I tied months ago. I really hoped I tied that knot well! The fact that I hadn’t eaten real food in almost 3 days also wore on my mind.

At around the 8 minute mark the uni-to-uni splice was on the reel and I had about 75 yds of 15lb fluoro left. The big fish saw the boat and tried to make it down to its home but only took about 30 yds of line. That was the last big run it made. The rest of the way it planed its body and resisted getting pulled into view. We still didn’t know what was on but thought it was some kind of big jack. I had only caught one kahala before, a little more than 10lbs, and just caught my first actual ulua, but strongly felt that this fish was an ulua not a kahala. The one kahala I fought didn’t seem to have the leverage of a wide body that this fish did.

When it was finally at deep color, it looked brown and long like a kahala. Ugh… I was disappointed but still wanted to see how large it was. Then as I pulled it closer, the body shortened and color darkened. Black ulua? It looked huge, even larger than I had imagined. I had always said that I’d photograph and release a large ulua but the Capt had plans for smoked ulua to share with the ohana, so he told Braiden to gaff ’em. Capt Wes had given us smoked ulua and was super ono so I knew the fish would feed a lot of people. The Live Deception’s treble hook was hooked on the outside of the fish’s head and so was the assist hook. This caused the lure to bend but also prevented the fish from chewing through the 25lb leader I had just tied on. Lucky-Lucky. The leader and main line didn’t have any nicks at all. I removed the 2 oz Live Deception to ensure I wouldn’t lose it to a fish or a snag. It was going into “the museum”. I didn’t have any other 2oz lures so I put on a 1 oz Live Deception.

Upon closer examination, Capt Wes said that the fish was a dark, white ulua or GT. Oxymoron, I know, but I guess they can get dark if they live in the black lava tube caves. I would not have believed that my tackle and lack of big fish catching success would’ve allowed me to land that. All credit goes to the Capt who put us on the fish and maneuvered the boat. Near the end of the fight he backed down to help me gain line, deftly keeping the line away from the props.

I told the guys to use my bait casting setup cuz I was done for a while! My left arm felt useless. Neil declined and promptly brought up a monsta hage on his spinning setup. He said he was doing his best to keep the rubbish fish away from the rest of us. What a nice guy! Actually, what he didn’t know was that I rubbed hage-attractant on the Coltsniper before I gave it to him and it appeared to be working. He brought up a good sized moana next that jumped off the hook. I actually saw it break the surface! He still refused to use my bait casting rig so I dropped the 1 oz jig down, did one lift and a fish was on! I had never fished with Neil before and he was beginning to think I could catch fish at will. If you have read my blog you know that was far from the truth. In fact, a fishing buddy Kelly has never seen me land a decent fish. Here’s a classic outing.

zoom in to see the treble near its tail

So I asked Neil to fight the fish on my line and he said “no, no need” (translation: I don’t need your pity, I can catch my own fish). I told him I’m just gonna put the rod in the rod holder and let the fish come undone so he took the rod and skillfully battled the fish. Turns out the omilu was foul-hooked. Neil said “you knew was foul-hooked you buggah, that’s why you nevah like fight ’em!”. He was beginning to think I could catch fish at will and tell how they were hooked!

The Capt had seen enough and took his turn with my bait caster. He had used large conventional trolling reels with right hand cranks, and smaller spinning reels with left hand cranks, and had to adjust to cranking such a small, light reel with his right hand. On the first drop he got used to the action of the rod, the quick free spool release and the level winding of the Curado. On the second drop he hit the bottom, jigged once and was on! The pole bent in its parabolic arc and line peeled off the spool. Another big fish, surely an ulua. Capt Wes took his time and played the fish like he catches ulua every day, which he probably could do if he wanted to. After a patient battle he landed a beautiful omilu ulua, about 15lb. Capt Wes was very impressed with the gear and the way the 15lb flouro held up to such a strong, heavy fish with sharp scutes.

Neil and Braiden switched to damashi to target the tasty kau kau fish. I wanted to see what else the Live Deception lure could catch and dropped down again. Neil started catching legal yellow spot papio, which are tastier than omilus and whites. Braiden started off eradicating a few taape. I felt what I thought was the jig getting fouled on itself and brought up a deep water lizardfish. Uh oh, maybe Neil rubbed some lizardfish-attractant on the jig when I wasn’t looking. The boys started bringing up nabeta (razor wrasse), which were the best eating fish caught on the trip. I hadn’t eaten nabeta before but grew up hearing how it just melts in your mouth when you fry ’em scales and all. Then I actually foul hooked a nabeta on the Live Deception! Man that lure really does deceive everything!

The jigging action slowed down for me, probably because we were in shallower water where there were less predators. A moana came up on their damashi and I dropped it down as live bait. I was hoping for big papio and maybe even the uku that has eluded me on Oahu. Nothing hit that lively moana on the next few drifts and the boys continued to catch yellow spot papio, nabeta and taape.

Too lazy to rig up with damashi, I dropped the 1 oz Live Deception down again and felt it get picked up right off the bottom. Felt like a couple lb omilu so I asked if Braiden wanted to play with the bait caster. He took the small reel in his large hands and worked the fish up to the boat. UKU!!!! My first uku I ever hooked, and on a jig at that. And I handed it off!!! Aww shucks.

With that it was time to pack it up and head for the barn. What a boat trip of a lifetime. My equipment held up, the 1 oz and 2 oz Live Deceptions were on fire, and I was bathed in Big Island hospitality by Capt Wes, Braiden and Neil. I brought back the Kagami ulua, uku and a few nabeta to Oahu for my family and friends to try. Will write more later… this has gotten too long as it is!

Almost forgot. This is how small the reel was. Too bad I didn’t take a picture of it next to the 30lb ulua. It wasn’t even fully loaded with line. Lucky-luck indeed.

Note: I purchase my Live Deception jigs at POP and Charley’s. POP has the most variety, both in sizes and in colors. Charley’s has the best prices in general, and besides the Live Deceptions, they’ve brought in a new assortment of very small micro jigs from Japan. Charley’s is also running a jigging combo special: the Curado 300EJ I used on the Big Island paired with the Shimano Trevala S jig rod which would’ve had more sensitivity and backbone than the travel rod I used. That combo at the price Charley’s is running now, will be the perfect setup to start shallow water jigging.

The New Moon Curse?

June 6, 2016 By Scott 6 Comments

Kelly and I SUP’d / kayaked fished the day before the New Moon. My fish finder marked fish and we caught a few legal omilu and whites on frozen oama, with Kelly getting cut off on coral by a larger fish. Nothing hit my micro jig. All the papio were released intentionally or unintentionally, in preparation of the start of Papio Tagging this summer. The bite was the best around the top of the tide so we went back the following day to dial things in.

The wind and swell were down a bit from the day before, and nothing seemed to be stirring in the depths. The same places that showed fish on the fish finder the day before were barren. Even the turtles were absent. I scouted the deep areas and the reef edges, and Kelly crossed over the flats into deep water and back. Halfway through our outing Kelly got a strong hit that took a third of his line. He had paddled over the reef edge, into the deep side, and was perfectly positioned to fight the fish in obstacle-free water. But it came unbuttoned.

That fish gave us hope but all we got was a series of short bites on our frozen oama and I landed a 9″ white. Kelly paddled back to the launch point and I dawdled behind, hoping an evening bite would magically materialize. In the 20ft to 15 ft sandy/muddy gap in the reef, the fish finder began to show some mid-sized fish. Another 9″ white was hooked and released, and the next oama got hit as I let out line. The frenzy was on but Kelly was already out of the water.

He texted “goodbye” and I was free to try out the small but heavy jigs. I paddled out to deeper, clearer water to give the jigs their best chance. The fish finder transducer was suction cupped to the side of the kayak at an angle so the depths read deeper than they actually were. I’m guessing it was 30 – 40 ft even though the fish finder said 56ft. The fish were marking from the bottom to halfway up and really thick.

Exploded view of Live Deception jig and assist hooks before being slid onto Power Clip

I cast a 1oz Live Deception jig that had a rear treble hook, with added assist hooks connected via a Tactical Angler Power Clip. I had snagged my trolling line and as the lure sank it hooked up! Another 9″ white came up but the Live Deception lure was gone! Meanwhile the oama didn’t get touched so I reeled that in and stowed the rod.

Exploded view of micro jig and assist hooks before being slid onto Power Clip

I kept the assist hooks and slid on a 30 gm micro jig. It got hit halfway down the sink also! And same thing, 9″ white caught on assist hook but the micro jig was gone. What the heck? This happened when I had caught a kahala deep jigging an 80 gm Shimano Flat Fall. I had thought a fish hit the Flat Fall hook and another hit the independent assist hook, and the Flat Fall-hooked fish pried itself off the clip. Now I began to realize that the kahala and small whites were flipping the heavy jigs off the clip with their head shakes.

this white threw off the Live Deception jig

this white threw off the 1st micro jig

this guy threw off the 2nd and last micro jig

this one threw off the 2nd and last micro jig

I had one 30 gm micro jig left and slid it down the power clip next to the assist hooks. Cast out, let it sink, hookup, repeat. Couldn’t be any easier. Reel in a 9″ white and no jig left on the clip. I guess the clip wasn’t intended to have heavy lures and separate assist hooks. 3 casts, 3 whites, 3 jigs lost. I was out of jigs so I got a chance to see how surface lures would work on these sub-surface whites.

The normally effective Waxwing Baby couldn’t raise them and neither could the Yozuri Hydro Popper, which slayed the 1lb – 3lb whites off the boat the previous week. I had been disappointed that the Waxwing and micro jigs did not work at all when the Poppers raised all those fish from the depths and was beginning to think poppers were all we needed. But on this weird evening following very little activity during the day, when the small whites were swarming halfway down the water column, the only thing they wanted were sinking jigs. I guess every lure has its day.

Friends who fished further out on their boat, and others who fly fished the flats said this day was unusually slow, yet the next day had more action. I had heard that the New Moon, like the Full Moon, was a slow day to fish. One theory, my wise fishing kupuna told me, is that fish travel on those two moon phases so they’re less interested in eating. It’s like the predators and prey have a truce so they can complete their migration. How productive has the New Moon been for you?

Jigging and popping for pelagics and ulua

May 17, 2016 By Scott 11 Comments

(top) Shimano Trevala with Daiwa Lexa HD400XS
(bottom) Shimano Terez with Shimano Tranx 500

Erik and his dad, Ed, invited me out on their 16 ft center console catamaran to troll to the nearest buoy, hit some deep and shallow jigging spots and finish up with some evening ulua plugging. I brought the Shimano Trevala jigging rod and Daiwa Lexa HD400XS reel to jig and the Shimano Terez Waxwing rod and Shimano Tranx reel to plug. Both setups were untested because I hadn’t been able to target large enough fish in the past. We definitely exceeded the nearshore range on this trip but hopefully you guys will find this report interesting from the tackle and technique perspective.

80g blue sardine flat fall

The wind was light and seas fairly calm so it was relatively smooth sailing to the buoy. Unfortunately nothing wanted our trolled lures or dropped jigs so we headed back in to their 200 ft plus jigging spot. They had caught big kahala and pelagics at this spot before so we rigged up with the heavier jigs. Ed went big with a 280 gram Shimano Butterfly Flat Side jig, Erik went with the 130 gram Shimano Butterfly Flat Fall jig, and I went with the smallest Flat Fall in the 80 gram size. 80 grams are equivalent to 2.8 ounces, so my jig wasn’t exactly small either. The Trevala medium heavy action jig rod has a soft tip with a lot of backbone and the Daiwa Lexa HD400XS brings in 43 inches of line per crank with a max of 25lb of drag. I slipped on a belt gimble and an extra pair of assist hooks to the front of the flat fall, and was hoping for something larger than a hage to test my gear.

The guys let me fish the starboard (right) side of the bow, which had a lot of open space and allowed me to cast right handed. On the second drop, about 20 ft off the bottom, I got hit. The fish pulled a bit of line and then I could feel frenetic tail beats. The soft tip of the Trevala rod made it a fun fight and soon we saw a tuna-shaped fish swimming in circles. Kawakawa for Erik’s grandma! The guys were stoked that I was able to get my first flat fall fish and we resumed jigging and cranking with anticipation.

After a couple of drops we weren’t seeing anything on the fish finder so we were about to move. I burned the flat fall back in and got hammered about a third of the way up. This fish took drag and kept the rod bent. I wasn’t sure-footed enough to stand and fight the fish so I sat side-saddle on the bow’s platform (I don’t know the proper boating terms) and tried to short pump it up. It felt like a decent sized jack and made some powerful runs straight down, but the Lexa’s smooth drag eventually tired it out. Erik got some great underwater shots of the fish and then deftly lifted it over the side of the boat. My first kahala ever.

The strange thing was my flat fall jig was missing and the kahala was hooked on one of the assist hooks I had clipped on to the Tactical Anglers Power Clip. (zoom in to the top photo of the Flat Fall jig attached to the Trevala rod to see how the lure had been attached). The clip was slightly bent. It’s pretty hard to slip off a lure to remove it, so I was stumped as to how the jig was pulled off and the kahala was still hooked. One optimistic theory is that another kahala had hit the jig on its rear assist hooks and the kahala I landed tried to take the jig away and was caught on the top assist hooks. They pulled against each other and somehow the flat fall was pulled off the power clip.

We didn’t measure or weigh the kahala but Erik estimated it to be at least 10lbs. Because of its reputation as a worm-filled ciquatoxic fish, it was released to battle the next angler. I replaced the clip but made a critical mistake that you’ll read about a little later.

Ed scaled down to the 130 gm blue sardine flat fall and resumed his speed jigging with big rod sweeps. Something heavy stopped his jig about 1/3 from the bottom and repeatedly yanked the rod down but didn’t run too far before the hook slipped. The guys think it was a fairly big kahala that successfully shook the hook off.

The action slowed so we moved to a shallow water spot (50 ft deep) that produced ulua on the poppers for the guys before. Ed went up on the stern’s deck (I really need to learn the proper boating terms) and started throwing a 150gm Pelagic Warrior Gladiator blue/green Lumo popper with his Okuma Makaira heavy jigging rod and Shimano Saragosa 10000 spinning reel, spooled with 100lb braid and a 150lb fluoro leader. They’ve learned from past battles that a strong, abrasion resistant leader and main line that can handle a very tight drag are requirements against the scutes and tail of ulua and coral reef caves. Ed heaved the heavy popper and noisily gurgled it back to the boat, and Erik and I jigged with micro jigs but there were no takers at this spot.

Erik moved us to another shallow reef and Ed woke an ulua from its slumber. The beast came out of the water to intercept Ed’s popper and tumbled tail first. The fight was on and Ed was able to stop the fish after its initial run, but then it made it to the reef below and ran through the rocky valleys until it could expose the braid to the sharp rocks. CRAAACK! The line popped like a gunshot and Erik caught his dad as he fell backward. While we were disappointed, we were pumped to witness such raw power.

The spot we were in didn’t leave much leeway to safely fight large ulua but appeared to hold fish. Erik decided to risk his favorite 125 gram Spartan blue Lumo GTFC popper on a Shimano Tallus Bluewater Series extra heavy rod and Saragosa 10000 spinning reel packed with 80lb braid and a 150 lb fluoro leader. He set his drag tight and launched the lure as far as he could. Sweeping the rod explosively, he created a bubble trail that called up another ulua. The ulua turned and headed back for his cave. Erik cupped the reel spool, crouched and leaned back hard against the rod and hoped against hope that his line would withstand the razor-sharp live coral below. CRAAACK! Just like that two favorite poppers donated to the depths below. The guys felt bad that they left lures in the fishes’ mouths and hoped the hooks would soon be worked free.

We moved to a deeper reef that provided a little more cushion and Erik resumed plugging while Ed and I micro jigged. I had a 30 gram blue and silver Jigging World jig clipped on to a 60lb flouro leader and 65 lb braid. After seeing Ed and Erik get rocked, I set my drag pretty tight, to where I could barely pull line off the reel. Something slammed my jig as I did a fast lift-crank-drop and burned line back to the bottom. I was shocked to feel such power and speed and called out to the guys. It surged a second time and then the line went slack. Rocked on the bottom? No… The leader’s end was in loose curls. Not quite like how it would look if the knot unraveled but why else would it be curly? I’m thinking that when I tied on the power clip after replacing the bent one, I didn’t use pliers to pull the 60lb fluoro leader tight. Rookie mistake made while rushing to get back in the action. The surge that popped the line was strongest I’ve felt in years.

What a versatile, action packed trip. I am so grateful for Erik and Ed’s hospitality and generosity. And I have to admit, after seeing the ferocity of the ulua strikes on the poppers, I wasn’t ready to throw a big Waxwing at ’em and risk getting pulled off the deck.