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Pampered, captive oama

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In case you were wondering how I’ve been able to fish live oama in the Winter, there are a few oama around in some select places, and I’ve been keeping them alive in my tubs at home.  They don’t have to worry about getting mauled by predators and I try to feed them 3 times a day.  Their tub gets scrubbed once a week, and they’re treated for parasites upon entry so they don’t infect their tank mates.

They normally do well for the first month, then after that, maybe 1/4 begin to slowly lose weight.  I try to use the skinny ones before they get too weak since the papio don’t seem to like them when they’re all head and no body.

Not too bad a life and my deal with them is that if I take them out fishing and end up not using them, I set them free.

Oama spill on the freeway and other oama mishaps

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Catching, raising and transporting live oama isn’t without risk.  I was headed to my kayak fishing spot this week, with 9 captive oama in a 5 gallon bucket.  The morning commute was just beginning to slow down when the guy in front of me suddenly changed lanes to avoid rear ending the car in front of him. I hit the brakes pretty hard and the oama bucket slid forward.  I could hear the water sloshing on the rear cargo mat and oamas flopping around.  Arrgh, I didn’t secure the bucket from sliding.

hard to tell but a lot of these oama were skinny from captivity

hard to tell but a lot of these oama were skinny from captivity

I got off the freeway and retrieved the scattered oama but the oama-scented water had made its way into the rear passenger cabin and down the cargo deck.  There was no water left in the bucket so I had to listen to the oamas’ tail beating until it mercifully stopped.  Even in death the oamas stayed in a tight schooling pattern, mostly pointing in the same direction.

I sprayed down the cargo area at home to dilute the salt water that pooled in the floor boards and sprayed the undercarriage.  Hopefully this prevents future rust and oama steenk issues.  The dead oamas were salted and frozen to be used when I run out of live ones.  It really sucked to have to abort my kayak fishing plans that way.

The area where I raise my oamas in plastic tubs had become really smelly a few months ago.  That area always smells like slightly stagnant fish water but this was getting progressively worse. It smelled like a rat died nearby and I sniffed around but couldn’t find the source. Weeks later, I pulled off some buckets I had stacked and found a rotten oama infested with maggots.  Did I not notice the oama when I had emptied the fresh caught oama into my tubs? Or did the oama jump out of a tub like they very rarely do, and I unwittingly stacked buckets on top of it?  The smell in the bucket was so infused that I couldn’t even remove it with clorox.

Incidents like these and the recurring cost of feeding oama with frozen Mysis shrimp makes me wonder if it’s worth raising those cuddly, whiskered fish.

 

 

Shallow water “heavy” jigs to tackle test off kayak

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Green Mackeral Live Deception 1oz, Black/Chrome Waxwing Baby, Blue Sardine Waxwing Boy, Black Anchovy Flat Fall 80g, Blue Sardine Flat Fall 80g

Since I’ve recently been spending time floating in my kayak waiting for something to eat my live oama, I figured I may as well try some shallow water “heavy” jigs.  My weighted live oama makes it down to the bottom if I’m not moving. But if I paddle, to fight current or slow troll, the oama is pulled near the water’s surface.  A jig would more effectively fish the 40 – 50 ft depths.

I’ve never fished heavy jigs in Hawaii, and only speed retrieved “yo yo iron” for yellowtail in California. Just a few weeks ago, I was given two types of heavy jigs to tackle test.

Ahi’s Live Deception jig is meant to be fished like a “knife” jig, I believe. It’s made out of flexible lead and is laser printed with actual photos of fish so it looks as realistic as possible.  The one pictured on the left is a 1 oz Green Mackeral, and it’s about the same length as the smallest Waxwing Baby next to it. It looks cylindrical in the photo but it’s actually beveled, with a narrow keel on the bottom. I’m not sure what kind of action it presents in the water, but the sales guy said that it could be bent so it would death spiral when dropped down.  Might work on the nehu and sardine schools yeah?

Shimano’s Butterfly Flat Fall jig has been out for a few years, and like the Shimano Waxwing, I’m getting on the bandwagon a little late.  The flat fall jig is a new twist on Shimano’s butterfly jigs, that were meant to be speed retrieved and slashed back to the boat.  Due to the flat fall’s wider, keeled surface area, it falls much slower than the butterfly jigs, in an exaggerated gliding zig zag pattern.  Practitioners of “slow pitch” jigging recommend a controlled fall, feeling for strikes, and then retrieving it a half crank up at a time, with a smooth tempo.  Slow pitch jigging is supposed to be the Tai Chi of jigging, where it is relaxing and non-taxing. Leave it to the Japanese to improve on deep jigging and make it a zen-like pursuit.  I’ve placed the two flat fall jigs to the right of  the Waxwing Boy for size comparison.  Those 80g / 2.82oz jigs are the smallest, lightest flat falls.

The flat falls have already been very successful on the Mainland and here in Hawaii anglers have landed shibi, mahi, uku, ulua and kahala on them.  I don’t know if the 40 – 50ft water I’ve been kayak fishing is deep enough but I’ll soon find out.

 

Wondering why the papio action has been slow this winter?

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pack of whites

The action has definitely been a lot slower than in the summer – fall period of 2015.  The most popular reason is that there isn’t much baitfish for the papio to hunt inshore.  So where did all those papio go, and when are they coming back?

Quite a bit of “science” has been gathered by the Ulua and Papio Tagging Project conducted by the Dept of Aquatic Resources (DAR) a few years back.

Based on tag recapture data, the project team was able to determine catch rates across the months of the year, across tidal phases and the phases of the day.  They were also able to track where some of the papio migrated to, and which direction they traveled.  Recapture growth rates showed that the summer bait fish abundance is the time of year the papio bulk up.

Some of that info was consistent with what I had heard before. But there were some pearls of wisdom that surprised me.  Smaller papio fed relatively unaffected by the moon phases but larger ulua definitely followed certain moon phase patterns.  And more papio were caught on the last 1/3 of the rising tide than the middle 1/3.  The first 1/3 of the rising tide was best, as we’ve been hearing.

The DAR Ulua – Papio Tagging Project has ended but there’s some rumblings that another group will be launching an Ulua – Papio Tagging Project in the next few months.  As catch and recapture data accumulates with the new tagging project, even better science will be “discovered”. Hopefully we’ll be able to determine where all the 10″ – 16″ papio are basking in the winter.

 

Shimano Waxwing review is in latest Lawai’a magazine

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(page 1 of 4)

My Waxwing in-depth review is in the current Lawai’a magazine.  It’s a lot more cohesive than the miscellaneous Waxwing fishing reports I’ve been posting.  Included are some tips to fish the lure more effectively.

Also included in the magazine is a write-up on the Nitta Innovations bait harness, designed for easily rigging dead ballyhoo, akule and opelu to troll.

You can purchase Lawai’a at these fine retail outlets.

There’s still some papio around…

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…but most are the smaller variety (10″ – 12″ fork length) and they’re much pickier than they were a month ago.  They want live natural baits, or you have to venture further out to find the less picky ones.  Find the source of food for them, throw a natural bait out, and they’ll still bite.

Check out the shoreline areas that received the benefit of last week’s rain.  Limu and crustacean colonies may have restarted, bringing the baitfish and predators back in.

Lemme know how you guys do!

What type of fishing line should I use?

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Back in the day, things were much simpler. There was only one type of fishing line commonly used in Hawaii:  monofilament, referred to as “suji” or “mono”.  Now we have braided synthetic line (ex. PowerPro), and fluorocarbon leader and fluorocarbon main line.

What’s the difference and what are the pros and cons?

  • Monofilament  is relatively inexpensive.  It stretches, which acts as a shock absorber when a fish jerks erratically, but also delays the hookset when a lot of line is out.   Mono is translucent but not transparent so fish with good eyesight can see it.
  • Braided line is much thinner than the same strength mono line.  30lb braid is the same diameter as 8lb mono and is treated with slick coating to cast even better than mono of the same diameter.  Braid hardly stretches which is great for feeling the nibble but not so good if your rod is really stiff and your drag is set too tight.  Braid is resistant to sun light and heat but is not as abrasion resistant as mono and fluorocarbon when used on our jagged reefs.  It’s costlier than mono but will last a long time.  Braided line consists of individual strands of man-made material “braided” into one line and dyed.  Because it’s dyed and not translucent, fish see it very easily.
  • Fluorocarbon line has the same refractive index as water.  So it’s virtually invisible underwater although you can easily see it out of the water.  It’s also more abrasion resistant than mono and braid, however, it retains the shape it was wound in more than the other two line types. Fluorocarbon comes in leader material and main line, and is the costliest of the 3 lines.  Fluorocarbon leader is stiffer and harder than Fluorocarbon main line because the main line is treated to be cast easily.

Comparative pricing

To give you a feel for relative costs, here’s the approximate pricing per yard of line

  • Maxima Ultragreen 15 lb mono – $0.06
  • PowerPro Green 15 lb braid – $0.09
  • Seaguar Blue Label 15 lb fluorocarbon leader – $0.40

How do fishers in Hawaii use these lines?

Since braid doesn’t take up much space on the spool, casts well and lasts a long time, people use it both as main line and as “backing” to be kept as a reserve in case a big fish hits.  Fluorocarbon leaders can be attached to this braid backing so the fish don’t see the line the hook is connected to.  You get the best of both worlds, nearly invisible line near the fish and strong, thin, castable line on the spool.

Fluorocarbon main line is used on bait casting reels and conventional reels but doesn’t lay tightly on spinning reels because of the line twist introduced.

If you’re on a budget you could still use braid as your backing, for months at a time, and splice on a “top shot” of mono so you’ll be casting the mono.  Splicing a short piece of fluorocarbon leader, when stealth is needed, shouldn’t break the bank. Then,  when your inexpensive mono top shot gets nicked up or coiled you can replace just the mono, keeping the braid backing as is.

Line Concerns

  • Mono – Sun, heat and chemical fumes age and weaken the line.  Store in a cool, clean area.
  • Braid – Because the line is strong and thin, it slices through human skin very easily.  Don’t wrap braid around your hand when tightening knots and breaking off snags.  Prone to wind knots and backlashes if not packed tightly on reel.
  • Fluorocarbon – This line is weakened by friction so moisten well before tying knots.  It also holds “memory” so avoid kinking or pinching line in tangles. Unlike mono or braid, “fluoro” main line sinks and may get caught up in the reef if you let your bait sit too long.

Recommended knots

Always moisten the line first when tying knots regardless of type of line. Out of simplicity I use the Uni knot with all types of line, and when I need to join two lines I use the Uni-to-Uni knot.  There are other recommended knots with slightly higher breaking strengths that are just a little harder to tie.

  • Mono – Any high breaking strength knot such as Uni, Palomar, Trilene, Improved Clinch, will do.
  • Braid – The coating on this line makes it slippery. Recommended knots to cinch down the tag end are Uni, Palomar, Trilene, Improved Clinch and Surgeon’s.  Make sure you cinch tight and leave a bit of tag end so the knot doesn’t undo itself.  The Uni-to-Uni knot is a good one to use when joining braid to another line.  The FG knot is a very popular knot to join braid to mono or fluorocarbon, but will require some practice to tie.
  • Fluorocarbon – This line is stiffer than mono and fairly slippery.  When you tie your knots you need to make sure you don’t have loops overlapping and cutting into each other more than necessary.  Take your time, moisten well, and slowly cinch.  A sloppily tied knot will cut into itself and snap off under pressure.  Recommended knots are Uni, Palomar, Trilene, Improved Clinch.  The Uni-to-Uni or FG knot are great knots to join fluorocarbon with other lines.

Did the papio season come to a dead stop, or just hit another pause?

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In talking with other lure whippers and oama dunkers, and from my own experience, the papio season has been red hot in the last few weeks.  Larger than normal papio were being caught inside the reef, some even reaching small ulua status.

With high hopes, I fished two previously productive oama whipping spots this week with Jason, who normally whips plastic grubs, Waxwings and other hard plugs.  The first spot’s calm inshore area was a strange tea color.   Just last week it was loaded with hungry whites.  The bite on the dead oamas was very slow and only kaku were hitting far inside of the break.  Jason ended up with a couple 15 – 20 inch kaku and I just had gouged and cut off baits to show.  Convinced the papio had to be around somewhere I inched closer and closer to the waves and got splashed up to my cap multiple times.  My waterproof bag proved to be not so waterproof when I had it opened to get more bait, and I ended up soaking my main reel and backup reel.

The following day, after taking apart both reels and lubing them  with anti-corrosion lube, we hit a spot that had been red hot last week.  The inshore protected areas were tinged brown like yesterday’s spot.  An 8 inch omilu hit my first dead oama so things were looking up.  But for the next hour or so, small papio nipped and pulled off the oama baits, a larger papio took drag and unbuttoned and we were inching closer and closer to the impact zone.   I was tripped up twice in surgy water, falling head first in waist deep water with my rod in my hand.  The first time I fell so suddenly my neck felt like I had whiplash and I had to massage out the tight muscles. I had never fallen wading to the break before; what the heck has been going on these last two days?  Guess I’ll be finding out how good the anti-corrosion lube is.

Where did all the larger oama-eating papio go?  Jason switched to plastic grubs and caught a few small omilu but even they were fairly scarce.  Did the season come to a sudden end or did something else cause the predators to stop chewing?

Thanks for the comments and contact messages!

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Fishers of all experience levels have been commenting on posts and contacting me through the Contact page.  It’s been great to hear that some of you have had similar slow and hot fishing bites, and awesome to hear of your Waxwing successes.  Email convos have inspired me to try new spots and techniques, which lead to the recent board trolling and oama whipping successes.

I appreciate the feedback, and rest assured, I won’t post your secrets on the blog unless you want me to.

 

thanks for reading and building the fishing network of fishing buddies,

scott

Waxwing Baby lures now at Charley’s Fishing Supply

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Charley’s Fishing Supply in Kakaako now has the smallest size Waxwing, called the “Baby”.

They have the 2.68″, 1/2oz lures in the Black/Chrome, Blue Sardine and Ghost Blue Shad colors.  I’ve had success with all three colors in the shallows around bait schools and the Blue Sardine worked well at the surf break. I hadn’t tried the other two colors at the surf break yet.

I like throwing the Black/Chrome Baby from shore partly because it works so well and partly because the silver paint shows the teeth marks of the fish I miss.  I just had a couple mins to cast on the way back from looking for oama yesterday and had two stops (lure felt like it hit a snag but nothing was snagged) and then a big kaku boiled on the Black/Chrome Baby before coming unhooked. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to hook it well.

When you get your Waxwings from Charley’s tell them you heard about them from this blog!  They brought that small size in per Lawai’a magazine and my request.  Great guys there…

Rain and hot inshore water put a damper on the fishing

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Is it just me or has the El Nino inspired hot, rainy weather shut down your fishing also?  With the ocean temps already a few degrees hotter than normal, and air temps hitting record highs, the inshore water has been jacuzzi hot by mid morning.

Well, I didn’t measure the temp so that may be an exaggeration.  But I finally trolled some oama on my surfboard last week and felt exhausted by the hot air and water.  Other surfers were hogging the shower just to cool off.  The larger predators avoided the over heated inner reef, and the 8 inch omilus that did bite the oamas were too weak to pull drag.

The rain runoff has caused an explosion of fine, hairy limu to pile up near shore also, making it impossible to retrieve the Waxwing without fouling that stuff.

Not sure how this extra hot summer/fall has affected your fishing but so far it’s been kind of a dud for me.

How has your 2015 oama season been going?

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Reprinted w/Lawai'a magazine's permission

Reprinted w/Lawai’a magazine’s permission – Oama Season 2014

My spots didn’t have oama until much later than last year, and the piles have been small.  They’ve also been more skittish and harder to catch. On the upside, with less oama around for the predators, every time I’ve fished for oama this year (just a handful of times so far) the omilus, kakus and even oio have been stalking and hitting them.

I’ve only used oama for bait twice so far, but both times the oama got whacked on the kayak, and friends have caught papio and kaku with oama next to the oama pile.

I’d love to hear how you guys are doing this oama season.  You can either add a comment to this post that everyone will see, or send me a note via the Contact Page.

 

thanks!

Lazy fish on a hot & sticky day

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Tropical Storm Guillermo passed to the north of us but made for a hot, sticky, drizzly morning.  The wind was relatively light  so I took the board out to the break where I hooked the oio on the Waxwing Boy last week.  Using the same lure, I hoped lightning would strike twice. Instead I didn’t have a follow or bite for 75 mins.  I eventually reached a deep channel and cast the Waxwing across to the west edge.  A 1 lb white papio hit the lure and flipped on the surface but didn’t hook up.  I was stunned after going so long without a hint of life, and watched as it hit two more times. Somehow it missed the rear double hook, focusing on the underneath belly of the lure.

Zoom in to the photos to see what it did to the previously unmarked lure.  It was smart enough not to try again and I couldn’t get anything else to hit the Boy.

Disheartened, I switched to the smaller Waxwing Baby and fished another hour and missed two weak strikes.  Meanwhile friends waded out a mile up the coast and caught a few papio on cut bait.  They said the bite was slow but fairly steady.

I blame the lethargic Waxwing bite on the drop in barometric pressure.  Just like we feel lazy when the weather turns unbearable warm and humid, so do the fish.  A still bait can coax the lazy predators into slowly feeding but they don’t have the energy to chase an aggressive lure.

Off day or were the fish lackadaisical?

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Fished with Kris at two of our on shore Waxwing testing grounds. The tide was at a good height and we could see a lot of bait in the water at the first sandy/muddy beach we fished.  Kris caught 3 small white papio on the Waxwing Baby and 5 on the bubble and grub. I couldn’t buy a solid bite.  The most action I got were some follows and weak bumps on my Waxwing Baby.  When your fishing partner is having an outstanding day and you can’t even hook a single fish, it messes with your confidence!  I asked Kris how he was retrieving and he said he was retrieving slower because the water was so murky.  Even with that valuable info I couldn’t adjust my retrieve to entice the fish.

We moved on to another sandy/muddy beach that could handle a higher tide and the water level looked perfect as well.  With a slightly slower speed I got some boils and hooked a very small kaku.  Man did it feel good to land that fish.  I think Kris purposely introduced wind knots in his spinning reel to give me time to catch a few fish and get my confidence back.  I had a few more boils and chases, and hooked another kaku but overall the action was slow.

Was it just an off day for me? I’m now thinking that the fish were lackadaisical due to the large moon messing with their feeding pattern.  White papio and kaku can easily locate prey under a bright moon, so maybe they were just full?  Kris’ slower retrieve and use of a small curl tail grub provided an easier meal for the fish.  I hadn’t fished the first testing ground with my high speed Curado 300EJ before, and I probably didn’t slow down enough to present the Waxwing properly.

The conditions and result made for a very valuable fishing log entry.

Official Waxwing review will commence

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How cool is this? Lawai’a magazine  provided me with some Waxwings so I could write an in-depth review about them!

POP Fishing and Marine, at Pier 38, had the full complement of sizes and patterns.  I chose from the Baby size (2.68″, 1/2 oz) and the Boy size (3.5″, 7/8 oz).  The finish on these lures is amazing.  Even up close they look lifelike.

Update 9/25/15: Charley’s Fishing Supply in Kakaako has the Baby size also in the Black/Chrome, Blue Sardine and Ghost Blue Shad.

Been hearing that the bait fish are finally beginning to show, and the papio have been more aggressive lately.  Let the review begin!

 

P.S.  If you’ve been using Waxwings I’d love to hear how they’ve worked for you.

Lawai’a issue #18 will be out on the news stands next week

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Lawai'a cover #18

Lawai’a cover #18

This latest issue is chock full of short, really interesting articles like

  • Outbluffum Lure underwater photos
  • how to build a portable cot shelter for overnight fishing
  • Ahi Assassins restaurant review
  • fly fishing Lake Wilson
  • 2014 National Spearfishing Championship
  • hybridization of fish species
  • Tsutomu lures
  • limu kohu

and my second article in a series of three, on my CA fishing days.    Sorry for the shameless plug.  And no, my last name isn’t spelled “Haraguhi”.  Somehow that was missed in the proofing!

You can purchase Lawai’a at these fine establishments starting next week.

The Waxwing Braid experiment is over

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Shimano recommends tying the Waxwing lure straight to red Powerpro.  The lure swims best with the thin, supple line but braid is difficult to manage on a bait caster.  Braid cuts through the wet fingers that attempt to pack line tight on the spool, and wind knots seem inevitable on windy days.  I tried to fish the 0.5 oz Baby Waxwing in the wind again, and created hangman loops in my line.  When I did manage to cast the Waxwing out a ways, nothing bit.

I cut the lure off and asked Kris to try it on his light spinning rig with 20lb Powerpro.  He was able to cast in the wind, and after a few practice retrieves he caught a small white papio.  I wanted to get a feel for casting the light Waxwing on a spinner so I made a few awkward casts.  No wind knots but I didn’t quite like the wobble a spinner makes as the rotor rotates to pick up line.  It’ll definitely take some getting used to, to go from the straight retrieving bait casting reel to the rotating spinning reel.

Small papio or baracuda boiled on the Waxwing as I reeled it in, and the boils and hits continued as Kris resumed fishing the Waxwing.  Waxwings tied directly to light braid are definitely easier to manage on a spinner than a bait caster.   But, before I invest in a spinning rod & reel just to throw small Waxwings, I’ll try a top shot of castable fluorocarbon on the Curado 300EJ.  The fluorocarbon won’t cast as well as braid but it won’t cut my fingers or dig deep on itself and produce wind knots as easily.

My Waxwing System has a glitch

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Braided line is so thin and slippery that it digs deep into a loose packed bait casting reel’s spool if you pull hard on the line.  To pack the line tight either your lure has to provide enough resistance, or you need to provide tension with your thumb and forefinger when you retrieve. However, I found out yesterday that pinching the line with wet fingers leads to line cuts.

So today, I had Flexi-Wrap tape over my thumb and forefinger and couldn’t feel how tight I was pinching the line.  That lead to a loose spool, which lead to a backlash when I cast into the wind.  I pulled hard on the backlash and caused the line to bury itself deep down in the spool. Next cast ended about 20 ft in the air.

Every other cast ended in a backlash.  And I pulled harder on the line to free it, only to cause deeper line buries.  If I were smart I would have stripped off all the loose line and packed it back tightly. I wasn’t smart and eventually quit.

The Waxwing System’s red Powerpro is very unforgiving when things go wrong.  It casts and retrieves well under calm conditions but is prone to backlashes when mismanaged.  So far I had two windy, backlash days and one calm, backlash-free day with the Waxwing System. I have to figure out how to cast properly in the wind, or go back to fluorocarbon when it’s windy.

Pfft… oama, who needs you?

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I went out looking for oama again and the school of about 8 scattered when I threw chum at it.  Waited for more to show up, and waited and waited.  Went home demoralized.

The conditions were still good with moderate wind and a steeply rising tide so I took the fishing board out in the afternoon for some exercise.  The Waxwing System performed well in the trade winds, much better than it did casting into the wind from shore.  Sitting at water level, the lure tracked well and I got a bump before I made it out to the break.

I always seem to do best fishing in front of where the surfers surf so I did just that and probably annoyed the SUPers.  Bam! My first real fish on the Wing!  The rear double hook held and the Curado 300EJ’s drag didn’t feel as strong as the Calcutta’s but did it’s job.  I finally caught a legitimate papio.  I couldn’t unlock my phone through the waterproof case so I couldn’t take an on the water shot.  The fish taped out at 15 inches, head to tail.

Paddling parallel to the break, I whipped some fishy water for a couple hits and misses and when I got back to the main surf break smaller omilus slammed the Wing. The Curado 300EJ’s fast retrieve definitely made the Wing more enticing.  My left thumb started to sting and it turns out that the Powerpro was slicing into my skin as I pinched the line to provide tension for the bait caster.  Ouch.  I’ve never used braid as my main line before.  Gonna have to change the way I fish the reel.

Maybe I don’t need oama after all. It’s much easier to throw a lure into the waves than to troll a live oama as close to the waves as possible.  Pfft, oama, who needs you?

Note: The omilu was skinny for its length because it wasn’t gorging on oama. It did have a small bait fish in its stomach.

Oama fishing basics (2015)

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Oama season traditionally runs from the beginning of July to the end of September.  Last year the oama came in early and schools kept coming all the way into November.  It’s been theorized by marine biologists that the common weke and red weke broadcast spawned earlier than normal due to last Spring’s warmer than normal sub-surface water temperatures and favorable currents brought the oama into the island chain.

Here’s what you need to know before they arrive.

oama gear

oama gear

What You Need

  • Short, straight pole. You could use a bamboo pole but I like the cheap, telescopic fiberglass poles with the eyelet at the tip.  4 to 5 feet is normally long enough.  Tie  2 – 4lb test Mono or fluorocarbon line to the eyelet.
  • Small hooks with the barb pinched down for easy release of oama and net snags.  Some fishers start with a number 20 J-shaped hook early in the season when the oama are small.  I like to use the larger number 17 hook, or a slightly larger Owner Mosquito hook.  Small hooks are harder to tie and harder to unhook.
  • The larger sized split shot.  One larger shot works better than two smaller shot since two shot tend to tangle easier.  Pinch the larger shot on about 4 inches above the hook.
  • Small landing net. Spend a little more on a net with nylon netting.  It would snag less than the common red cotton-blend type.
  • Footwear to walk on pebbly sand and slippery rocks.
  • Floating live bait bucket.  I like the yellow Frabill Flow Troll with the spring-loaded door.
  • Bait.  Opae, frozen shrimp, aku belly and oama flesh.  There are a few “secret” baits people use that I won’t reveal.  When the oama are biting well, frozen shrimp legs dragged on the bottom work surprisingly well.

Optional:

  • Hat
  • Polarized sunglasses
  • 5 gallon bucket and live bait aerator/pump if you’re planning to keep the oama alive
can you see the oama?

can you see the oama?

Where To Find Oama

  • There are some fairly well known spots on Oahu to catch Oama.  Ala Moana Beach, Wailupe, Heeia Pier, Ka’awa, Punalu’u, Haleiwa, etc.  You can drive by and check those spots from the car, looking for oama fishers.
  • The less visible, less fished spots will have to be checked by foot.  Generally oama will congregate in areas sheltered from wave action and at the shore end of a shallow protective reef shelf.  The areas will be open with good visibility so the oama can see their predators coming from far away.
  • Oama also seek protection in mangrove roots but aren’t usually in a feeding mood when they’re hunkered down.

How to Catch Oama

  • When oama are breezing from spot to spot, they aren’t interested in eating.  To get these breezers to start eating, you can palu with a mixture of sand and sardines/bloody fish scraps.
  • When you see the oama sniffing around on the sandy bottom with their barbels, they’re looking for food. This is the best time to catch them.  Drop your bait to the bottom.  When the oama swim to it and start nibbling, lift the bait up in a smooth upward toward the approaching oama.  If you don’t hook one, drop down and repeat the lifting movement every few seconds as the oama are headed for your bait.  Lift early, before the oama has tasted and rejected your bait.  This takes practice; watch how the oama pros do it.
  • When the oama aren’t actively eating but are mildly interested in your bait you can try dragging it sideways on the bottom.  This makes the bait look more like the critters they feed on and sometimes gets them to bite.
  • Oama tend to bite better when the tide is moving.  If the oama are really not feeding, wait until evening when they normally binge before looking for a place to sleep.

Handling of Oama

  • Pinch down the barb of your hook so the oama can be removed quickly.  This will cause you to lose quite a few but it’ll be less damaging to the fish.
  • If possible, tuck your landing net on your body somewhere so you can guide the caught oama into the net rather than holding the net with one hand and the rod with the other.  Unhook the oama in the net gently and place it in your floating bait bucket with as little trauma as possible.  Once in the bait bucket, the oama will calm down.  You can place quite a few in the bait bucket as long as there’s good water flow.
  • When pau fishing, transfer the oama in the floating bait bucket to your 5 gallon bucket that you filled with cool, clean sea water.  A little sand on the bottom of the bucket helps calm the fish down.  Turn on your portable aerator and make sure there’s good oxygenation.  If that aerator stops, the oama will suffocate in a few minutes.
  • If you’re not planning to use the oama right away, take an extra bucket or two of water home so you can do a water change.  The oama release ammonia which is toxic to them.
  • Keep the oama container shaded and covered so the oama are less traumatized.

Keeping the Oama Alive at Home

  • If you plan to use the oama the next day, they can remain in the 5 gallon bucket in a cool, shaded place. Make sure your pump will keep running over night, in fact, it’s worth investing in an electric pump which won’t cost much more than the battery powered ones.  You can buy those at a fish supply store.
  • Change the water daily.  Remove any dead or dying fish.  To get the most out of your sea water, treat the water with Ammo Lock, which neutralizes the ammonia the fish are releasing.  You can buy Ammo Lock in a fish supply store.
  • If you want to keep your oama longer than a day or two, get a large, black, circular plastic tub from a pet store or garden supply store.  The darker background will calm the oama and the circular shape prevents them from running into a corner.  Use an electric aerator that puts out a lot of bubbles, and if you really want to keep them happy, add a power head that circulates the water.  The electric aerator and power head should be less than $40 together.  The plastic tub could run you anywhere from $20 – $100 depending on the size and quality.
  • To keep the oama from fouling their water too quickly you can add Stress Zyme, which contains live, good bacteria that consumes the gunk produced by the fish.  This can be purchased in fish supply stores.
  • If you want to keep your oama alive a long time you’ll need to add a filter.  I use an external canister filter that extracts physical waste and adds water circulation.
  • It’s not easy raising wild, saltwater fish.  After many die-offs I can now keep most oama alive for a few weeks with some living for more than 3 months.

Using the Oama for Bait

  • Ideally you can fish the live oama with as little terminal tackle as possible, allowing it to swim naturally.  Some fishers walk out to reef dropoffs and “free line” their oama with just a hook.  Dunkers use a lead line and shorter leader tied to a small papio hook  Slow trollers, like me, hook the oama in the head with a second hook dangling near the last fin.
  • If you’re able to make a soft cast, you can lightly hook the oama behind the dorsal fin to cause the least amount of damage.  If you want to hook the oama as securely as possible, you can hook it from under the lower jaw, out through the top of the head, but in front of the brain so you don’t kill it.  Since I very slowly troll mine on my longboard or kayak, I hook mine through its nostrils so it can still gulp water.
  • Lively oama get bit better than sluggish oama, but even dead ones still work.
  • If your oamas die but are still in pretty good shape, you can freeze them for use later.  First lay them out and salt them with Hawaiian Salt or rock salt.  Let them sit that way for a few hours, in the fridge.  The salt will draw out water from the fish, which minimizes freezer burn.  If possible, vacuum seal the oama, then freeze.  The oama will look a little dehydrated from the salt but will plump up when you use them in water.