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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Holoholo: Aim, load, cast, repeat.

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Matthew Ikeda started guest posting for us as a 6th grader. He’s our most prolific poster with close to 50 posts so far, and as his shore fishing knowledge has grown, so has ours. Congratulations Matt, on your many high school accomplishments and may God continue to bless and guide you as you go off to college.

Matt: The sun was well below the horizon, and I had gone three hours casting my lure without even a tug. It was so dark that I had no clue where my cast was going, and only muscle memory told me how to work my lure. I thought about packing up – after going through many “whitewash” trips, you sort of know the feeling when you’re not going to catch a fish. But something told me to stay. After all, this was one of my last chances to catch an Ulua before leaving for college. Catching a shore-based Ulua on a lure had been my goal since I started fishing at nine years old. I was now almost nineteen. 

I thought about the real likelihood of an Ulua being around. This summer was one of the slowest I had experienced, with many back-to-back whitewash trips. June, July, and August are generally the best months for fishing in the year, but something was different this year. However, all of my doubts soon vanished. 

A few casts later, I heard an explosion of water and felt my rod almost getting yanked out of my hands. I immediately snapped to attention, jerking my rod to set the hook and planted my feet to brace against the fish’s first run. I knew this was the Ulua I was looking for. 

The fish ran wildly, reminding me of just how powerful Ulua were. Then it stopped. To my dismay, I felt the dreaded feeling of my leader rubbing on the reef. The fish was stuck and not budging. My heart sank. It would really suck to lose my Ulua this way.

Using my headlamp, I could see the rock my line was wrapped around. I opened my bail and frantically ran further into the surf. After taking a couple of waves to the face, I was able to free the line. I immediately started boosting the fish, and after a few smaller runs, I could see the chrome outline of an Ulua in the water. I knew I was close but I knew I couldn’t rush the fish, not wanting to pull the hooks loose. 

I kept steady pressure as the Ulua stubbornly resisted, using its full body to ride the strong current. But it had reached its limit, and I could see just how exhausted the fish was. It gave a few strong kicks before finally coming to the surface just a few feet away. I grabbed the Ulua by the tail and quickly retreated to a safe area. I was stoked. 

Looking at the Ulua on the rocks, I couldn’t help but think how amazing of a fish it was. This was a fish that had tormented me over the hundreds of hours I spent learning how to catch it, requiring tens of thousands of casts and many, many fishing trips over the years. I had hooked a few in the past, but every one found a way to get loose. But now it was all over. 

However, the action was not over. A couple of days later I was lucky enough to land a Pao pao Ulua while sight fishing on the flats, a true rarity and a fish that I never thought I would even get a shot at catching.

Shortly after, I landed a nice 8.5# white Papio and then another Ulua to cap off the most insane two weeks of fishing I’ve ever experienced – a great way to wrap up my time in Hawaii. 

As the first to learn fishing in my family, it was never easy. This Ulua is just one fish that represents a lifelong journey of learning, failing, and trying new things. While fishing has been difficult, I’ve never been alone. I started writing for Scott when I was in sixth grade, and I’ve always been grateful for the people I’ve met and advice I’ve received through this site. Thank you to everyone who has supported my passion for fishing over the years. It’s hard to capture in words how much fishing has meant to me, but I’ll always remember the good times we’ve shared together. Until we meet again🤙.

“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”

Holoholo: May – August shore line report

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Merik Chun returns to share how this summer’s bait fish, whipping, shore casting and throw netting season has been. We’re very blessed to get his insight from all the hours he spent on the water.

Merik:

Potentially the most rewarding time of the year for any fisherman. The summer months. This usually ranges from mid-April into May, and can last all the way till August, and as of recently maybe even September. 

Throughout these last few months the primary focus was shore fishing. To be specific bait casting and even throwing net (ʻupena). There was definitely a presence of fish, but knowing how to catch them is always the tough part. 

11 inch Moi on Tako light baitcasting

The first form of baitfish to show up this year were the nehu, followed by small schools of halalu and sardines. This attracted predators such as papio, kaku, and moi. This summer the main baitfish which I had focused my attention toward was the halalu and sardine piles. I usually target these baitfish by whipping for them, using a light game rod, with a smaller size reel. Using a California style rig with at least 2 arm spans of 2# mono to a small hook with an aqua strip, with the right stroke it was possible to catch these small baitfish. While the halalu in particular are good eating fried whole, I usually just caught enough to free line in hopes of Papio or other predators. The best time of the day I’ve noticed was right as the sun was going down, and that’s where the action came. I managed to get lucky with a few small papios, the occasionally kaku snip, and even an out of season moi, all on live sardine/halalu. 

3.5lb Mu on Tako baitcasting

This summer has also proven to be productive in the shore cast category, which was primarily baitcasting with the occasional slide bait. Baitcasting is a popular way to catch a large majority of Hawaii’s nearshore fish, using a long casting rod, and a reel (conventional/spinner) usually spooled with monofilament line. From the beaches to the rocky shores, bait casting has proven to be productive. I managed to get lucky with everything from Oio’s to mu’s and even another out of season moi! While baitcasting, I usually like to fish around the tide changes around 2 hours before and 2 hours after the slack tide. This is when I’ve noticed fish feeding actively consistently, but it’s also a variable which is heavily dependent on location and time of year. 

Another focus for myself this year was throwing net (ʻupena kiloi) which is the art of using a cast net to target fish along the shoreline. In Hawaii, there is a legal size requirement for the eye of the net which is 2”. This ensures that smaller fish are able to swim through which would be too small to take home. Knowing the size requirements of your net and the fish you’re after is a must. For the most part, the fish population in the areas I usually try are quite normal. Schools of kala and manini grazing on the reef was a sign of a healthy reef, but were not my main targets. One thing I’ve noticed this year was an influx of uhu and pananu close to the shoreline. This is a fish I haven’t seen much of in the past. Everything from blue and brown pananu, to even red whiptail uhu’s were plentiful in numbers in an area where I haven’t seen them before. They proved difficult to throw on always sitting right out side of throwing range. Though every once in a while when they climb up the reef or a flush of whitewater covers them, I’d get lucky. This was a good sign that the parrotfish population was present in what seemed to be sustainable numbers. 

When it comes to throwing artificial lures, I hadn’t gone on as many trips as I would have liked. I would go on the occasional flats trip bringing along a light-game setup with the hopes of hooking into an oio, while really the main goal was to find some fresh bait! Ironically although I wouldn’t have much luck in the bait department, I happened to consistently get lucky with oio strikes. It’s always the case when you go out with a goal in mind, and it happens that you get lucky in some other way shape or form. Whenever I walk the flats with the hopes of targeting an oio, I end up finding tako. I guess that’s why the Hawaiians never speak about what they’re targeting and just keeping it simple by saying that they going go “holoholo”. I was quite surprised that I was hooking into so many oio as during the summer months they usually are a bit harder to come across. In the few trips I had gone on, I managed to get lucky with a handful of strikes, and a few solid fish landed. A fantastic sign that the oio are still actively feeding and are around. 

Before the summer months came around, I told myself that I was going to try go on more plugging trips. That never really came to fruition as I only managed to get out and try three times. Although I never landed any fish, I did get action two out of the three trips. These trips were dawn patrol trips which I’d get out to the spot at around 5:00 in the morning before the sun peeks over the mountain. I would work a stretch of grounds where I have gotten action in the past, until around 8:00 where I’d feel like the action had shut down. The first of the three trips came in early June, where the grounds looked fishy, only to find myself cast after cast with no action. I had seen one small omilu in the 5# range and casted at it only to have it ignore my lure and swim off.

14 inch White Papio on Live Sardine (Freeline)

The next two trips came around Mid-August and these trips are where I had noticed an influx in fish activity. As soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, I’d find myself watching omilu in the 10+ pound range following the lure up to my feet. Then no more than five casts later, Hanapaʻa! The strike came following the sweep of my stickbait, and was strong enough to pull me off my feet. I had a hard time keeping the rod up as it stripped line from my reel, but out of all my strikes this was the first where I felt like I had a chance. But to my disappointment with the dense reef structure and intricate ledges it managed to get pinned down and spit the hook.

After the action from that day, I decided to try again two days later. Same plan with similar conditions, get to the spot crack of dawn, and play the rising tide. This time the action came later in the morning around 7am. It’s a type of excitement that you must experience first hand in order to truly appreciate. Being able to witness an ulua chase after your lure. In this case I was able to watch the fish swimming chasing my lure only to take a single swipe at it and miss the hooks completely. Immediately next cast in the same area, I had another black Ulua follow my lure up to the ledge only to turn last second. These two fish were just above rat size around 20-25 pound range, but the excitement was there nonetheless. A few casts later, a pair of proper Omilu around the 15# range followed my lure up to my feet, only to lose interest in my figure eight’s. This amount of action in Mid-August was no surprise. During this time about a week prior, oama schools began appearing at some spots in the area. The past few of years the oama have been making a late summer appearance in around Mid-August to early September, which would  make sense on why the omilu seemed to be more plentiful at this time. Soon enough oama and papio action is going to be a part of a Winter report. 

The action during these summer months never ceases to amaze. From slinging lead to casting lures, there is always something to do. This year’s summer had been filled with action in every shoreline department. Main thing is that you just get out there and try. Just remember, it’s an amazing gift to be around the ocean, and any catch is simply a bonus.  With the winter months ahead and oama still around there is a good chance that the action will continue. Just gotta get out there and go fishing! 

Holoholo: Plugging Report Summer 2024

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Thad, our JDM product expert, breaks down how his papio/ulua season has played out.

Thad: The plugging season at the spots we frequent on Oahu began a little later this summer than in the past couple of years.  My fishing buddies Dino, Travis and I devoted a few sessions here and there from early April with the hopes that we would catch the start of the season but to no avail.  On a whim, Travis wanted to try plugging a brand new spot in early June and convinced me to skip the flats fishing that day and I’m glad I listened.

We walked out near the edge of the reef and began casting our lures at the crack of dawn.  It was still mostly dark with just a slight glow of the sun on the horizon when on my second cast, something came up from the deep to attack the new popper I had ordered from Japan.  As it tried and missed three times, I could barely make out the splashing in the dark even though it was only 20 yards from me, but I could hear it.  As the lure reached the tip of my rod in an area about shin deep, I kept the popper in the water and swept my rod back and forth to keep it moving with hopes the fish was still around.  The ulua came up onto the reef shelf and while swimming sideways in the thin water, grabbed the lure and took off for the deep!  It may have been the most exciting eat I’ve ever experienced.  Unfortunately, after a hard 5 minute fight, the ulua popped off and got away.  Based on the strength of the fish, it was a good sized one and definitely the largest I hooked this year. 

I checked my lure and hooks and everything looked ok so I cast it back out and proceeded to show Travis the retrieve style I was using for the first hit when I got another one.  This one felt smaller and I quickly brought in a 4lb white papio.  After a few pics, the fish was released.  I ended the short morning session with another catch and release 4lb white papio before we called it a day.  Overall, it was an exciting start to the 2024 season. 

The next weekend, Dino and I decided to try a spot on the opposite side of the island from the previous week.  I lucked out again and within the first few casts, I felt a tug as the lure was nearing the rocks I was standing on.  I set the hooks several times – harder than I did when I lost the first ulua.  This fish felt heavy but wasn’t running nearly as hard.  As it neared me in the whitewash, I pointed my headlamp towards the area of the fish and I could see that it was a small ulua foul hooked on its side.  No wonder it felt heavy.  I was able to tag my first ulua of the season with a PIFG tag and safely release it to grow some more.

The next two weekends in late June were spent traveling in Japan with my family and friends.  I didn’t do any fishing there and constantly imagined all the ulua swimming around our Oahu shores just waiting to be caught.  I returned home on a Saturday in early July, determined to get back out the next morning.  My friends and I don’t normally fish the same spots very often and enjoy rotating them or testing new ones so that Sunday, Dino and I decided to try another spot, different from the ones I recently went to.  As usual, we met early in the morning before sunrise and started our walk to the spot.  It was a dark moon that weekend with small surf and light winds. Excited to be home and fishing again in near perfect conditions, I told Dino I had a very strong feeling one of us would be hooking up.

We were throwing our lures for about half an hour and the sun was just beginning to glow on the horizon when I felt a strong tug in the distance on my second sweep of the cast.  To ensure a good hookset, I yanked hard several times.  This fish also felt like a good one on the initial strike but I was using a slightly heavier set up than before so I boosted the fish in quickly – so much so that at one point I told Dino I didn’t need help landing it because it might be a papio.  When the fish in front of me, I shined my headlamp at it and to my surprise, it was a decent sized ulua.  I yelled to Dino that I needed his help after all so he quickly got to the water’s edge, grabbed the ulua’s tail and brought it up on the rocks.  What a great feeling to start the season 2 for 3.  Unfortunately I forgot my PIFG tags so after taking a few pics, the fish was released tagless.

The rest of July and August was filled with more missed ulua strikes and papio landed without any slow down in the action.  It seems the late start to the ulua bite this summer means the action will continue later around Oahu as well.            

Holoholo: Urban fishing Honolulu 2024

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I had been asking my friend and Christian brother, Wayne, to share a little about his quick after-work fishing trips in town. Humbly he complied.

Wayne:

According to Wikipedia,
Urban fishing is a type of recreational fishing that takes place in urban areas such as inner cities.

In Honolulu, the main body of water that has public access is the Ala Wai canal.
    
I’ve been fishing the Ala Wai for about 20 plus years. I started fishing there after work or when waiting for my daughter while she took violin lessons close by. Prior to fishing the Ala Wai, I used to fish along the Eastside shoreline using a bubble float setup which is common in Hawaii to use for  “Whipping”.

I had found a magazine at a bookstore in Kahala mall called Shallow Water Fishing. Also known as inshore fishing. The articles in this magazine featured fishing mostly in places like Florida and Texas.

I started reading these articles and started incorporating what they used for lures and adapted them to my fishing style. I started using jigheads with different types of plastics.
Paddle tails, straight tails, curly tails, shrimp etc.

I started using braid as my main line with a fluorocarbon leader
My current set up is a spinning reel 2500 size.
7 feet med power extra fast spinning rod.
10 lb braid with 15 lb fluorocarbon leader.
I usually tie a 1/8 oz jighead and use different types of plastic baits.
I’ve been using this setup for a while now.

I like this set up because it’s fast and easy to set up and get to fishing the Ala Wai.
Especially if you don’t have much time.
I like to go after work.


Sometimes I don’t catch anything, but I get to watch the sun go down, meet interesting people and also I am intrigued by the different birds that inhabit the Ala Wai.

Till next time…….
Happy fishing and God bless,

Wayne

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

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

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

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

100mm long, 28grams. Sinking.

Zetz F-Lead lipped swimming minnow.

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

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

Xesta After Burner Fully Armed shore jigs

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

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

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

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

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

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

Red Octopus Beak

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

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

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

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

Silent Chaser EWG Round Head

Tested as jig hook for oio whipping on the flats.

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

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

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

Beastly Cat

Tested as rear live bait hook for offshore fishing.

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

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

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

Raptor Z treble hooks

Tested as replacement hooks for plugs and poppers.

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

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

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

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

Sea Ranger+ assist hooks

Tested as assist hooks on micro jigs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Holoholo: Shoreline Catch Report 7/1/24

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Matthew Ikeda is back with a much needed shoreline catch report and bait update!

I hope you all are doing well. It’s been a while since my last write-up in August. With a busy senior year, I haven’t had as much time to fish as I’d like, but I always keep some time to go fishing. With that being said, let’s get to the catch report. 

The O’io bite was on fire for the back end of 2023, all the way into January and February. The winter bite wasn’t slow at all, and I was picking up 2-3 O’io per trip pretty regularly. Unfortunately that all changed around April, when the O’io seemed to vacate the flats. At times, I faced multiple whitewash trips in a row, something that I hadn’t seen since I was first learning how to catch O’io. Several of my best spots had suddenly turned dry, and I couldn’t find the reason no matter how hard I tried. One of the only successful trips I had from April-June was one I ventured all the way out to the breakers, attempting to sneak up on the O’io in the choppy whitewash. I caught 4 that day. I don’t normally fish that close to the breakers, but I figured that I should try since nothing else was working. Perhaps the O’io playing hard-to-get is a result of increased pressure, or some seasonal change that I don’t understand. All I know is that the O’io bite has been much slower than last year at the same time. 

Interestingly enough, my best catch of 2024 so far came on a day I probably shouldn’t have been fishing. On that day, I brought my friends and a couple of dunking rods to the beach, hoping to get them on an O’io or two. I also brought a “just in case” rod rigged with a grub and jighead in the event that I had some sight fishing opportunities. Before I had even set up the first dunking pole, I saw a huge O’io swimming in the shallows. I quickly grabbed the “just in case” pole and ran into the water, stalking the fish from a distance. I hadn’t sightfished in a while and I realized that it was my first real chance at a nice fish in months. Luckily, it was a windy day so the splash was muffled when my lure hit the water. The O’io pretty much rushed over to the lure and swallowed it. I was on. 

After a pretty tense 10 minute fight, I was able to see that it was pretty darn good for a “welcome back” fish. I never carry a scale on me, but judging from the size, it was probably a double digit fish. I landed the O’io, took a few pictures with my friends, and sent it back on its way. After a few long months of low to no action, I caught a near PB O’io on a trip where I hadn’t even planned to fish. It was high noon, the tide wasn’t great, and I hadn’t even bothered to retie my FG knot from a few trips back. Sometimes  fish just seem to have their ways of doing things. 

As for everything else, I’ve been doing a bunch of stream bass fishing over the last few months. It’s been a great way to cool down after tennis practice and school, and the bass always seem willing to bite. If you’d like to try sometime, make sure you prepare some sort of defense against mosquitoes. I usually just wear long sleeves and long pants. 

I’m hoping that it will be a great summer of fishing as I look to transition into more Papio fishing and maybe even plugging (I really want to get my first shore Ulua before college). It doesn’t seem like the Oama and Halalu are quite in yet, and the Iao seem to be absent from the shorelines. It looks like it will be a late season, just like the last few years. Hopefully that means the Oama and Halalu will stay all the way through October. Wishing you all good luck, have fun, and please stay safe out there!

New gear from Rapala – VMC – 13 Fishing!

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Who doesn’t love receiving new fishing gear in the mail?

13 Fishing, the innovative young company that produces affordable, paradigm breaking products for the open minded fisherman, joined the Rapala family of companies last year. That meant I could get dealer pricing on their second generation Concept Z SLD bearing-less bait casting reel with an external sliding braking system. Since 2018, I had been fishing the original Concept Z reel inshore for small game and loved how easy it was to throw light lures, so I wanted to try the improved version with external brake adjustments and stronger gearing. Figured it would be a great reel for friends new to level wind bait casting to try out.

Rapala ships to Hawaii via UPS 2-day so shipping cost is really expensive. To spread the cost around I added a Rapala Fish Pro 6 inch Fillet Knife since I didn’t have a thin, flexible blade to cut sashimi. I had struggled to slice the weke nono from the last trip with my thicker, stiff blade since the the weke nono flesh is soft.

To round out the order I added VMC Octopus Live Bait hooks to try as red damashi hooks, and a set of 13 Fishing’s soft plastic ice fishing lures to mimic plankton. I exclusively use Completely Hooked Lures Minnows in the 1.5 inch size and they catch just about everything on the damashi, but wanted to see what the 13 Fishing critters infused with amino acids and proteins would attract.

Check back to hear how the new toys perform.

6/26/24: Here’s how the new gear performed the first time out.

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

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Jig and BKK assist streamers glow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why is it so hard to get a quality rod in Hawaii?

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If you’ve gone to your local tackle shop with a certain rod in mind, chances are you didn’t find it in stock. Maybe you had to settle for what they had, or had them order a rod for you, and then the rod broke during normal use. So you took the broken rod back to the shop you bought it from, only to be told that you have to contact the manufacturer to have it replaced under warranty. Then you find out you have to pay shipping to send the broken rod to the mainland, which could cost more than $25.

There’s so many issues to unpack here.

I get it, our local shops don’t have a lot of space to display rods, and shipping the rods here from the mainland costs a lot of money. They have to bring in the types of rods that would sell the easiest, which often means lower priced rods.

What if you wanna try a premium rod but don’t see it in the stores? Have you been able to order the rod online and was the final price reasonable?

A few friends have snapped rods at a rate that seemed higher than years’ past. Maybe quality control has gone down in certain brands? Kayak anglers put a lot of stress on their gear, but a friend broke 2 St Croix Rift jig rods in two successive trips and didn’t appear to do anything out of the norm.

Holoholo guest poster Matthew broke a Major Craft N-One whipping rod on a tilapia!

Major Craft Crostage

And another friend broke a Major Craft Crostage whipping rod after buying it in a local shop and testing the spline at home!

These rod issues are a pet peeve of mine. I’ve been on a mission to vet rod brands and bring in quality rods to sell to the local crew. I started with St Croix (the St Croix Rift rods that snapped were not purchased from me!), but the company became so unresponsive that I could never fill an order. So I moved onto Phenix Rods and really liked the two kayak live bait rods I have been testing, but Phenix was bought out by a larger company and they moved operations from Southern California to TX. Shipping to Hawaii nearly doubled and they were initially bogged down in the transition but have been responsive to requests again.

So I tried United Composites, the well respected, Made In The USA, rod blank company out of Huntington Beach, CA and they miraculously accepted me as a dealer. They are well known for making very strong, sensitive, light rods for specific needs, and would be a good source if you plug for big fish, shore cast for ulua, troll for pelagics or live bait fish. There’s a 7ft boat rod that looks like it would work well as a kayak or jet ski live bait rod that I will be trying soon!

My rep at Phenix Rods moved from Phenix to Ocean’s Legacy, which is an Australian brand and makes durable rods for the Aussie land based and boat based plugger and jigger. Their rods aren’t as thin and light as the Japanese rods, but they are less expensive and handle stress better. Ocean’s Legacy ships their products out of Texas for the US market and there’s a few reasonably priced jigging rods I’m hoping to test soon.

No wonder the local shops can’t bring in a variety of brands. So few of the quality rod makers are filling orders. I sure hope I can secure a dependable source of very good rods at reasonable prices that fit our unique needs in Hawaii.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

View details on Phenix website.

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

View details on Phenix website.

Megalodan Jigging rods

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

View details on Phenix website.

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

View details on Phenix website.

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

Mahalo!

2023 Wrap-up – Shoreline to Boat (Oahu)

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2023 was better overall than 2022 but fell a bit short of expectations. A weak El Nino did warm up the water in the late Spring but faded, and it was a windier than normal year. Overall water temps didn’t get that high and there were less fishable offshore days than the previous years. Thanks to the Holoholo writers for summarizing their season.

Shoreline:

Oama:

Some spots were very good and consistent, holding oama through September. Other spots that normally hold large schools were dry. The oama came in late July and left by October, which is the typical timeframe. Overall, an 8 out of 10. Papio weren’t hitting the piles much though.

Halalu:

It was a very good halalu season on Oahu. The regular spots held fish for a long time despite getting pounded. Papio were seen and some caught near the halalu piles.

Oio Flats Jigging:

Matthew:

The O’io fishing this year has been great in general. Unlike previous years, I chose to completely forego the summer Papio run and instead focus on only flats fishing for O’io. It got a little tough this year with the presence of many new anglers on the flats, but spot rotation is something that I’ve found extremely valuable. Rotating between four or five spots has kept each one fresh for the next time I fish it. I never fish the same spot twice in a row. With the increase in pressure, I’ve hardly seen any fish in the shallows, instead being forced to go to deeper water in search of those smart fish. 

This summer showed a really impressive number of O’io, but most of them were smaller fish (under 4 pounds). This winter has been very cold and while the numbers of O’io have decreased exponentially, the quality of fish has also increased exponentially. Recently I’ve been fishing for most of the trip without a nibble but depending on that one 5lb+ fish to come around. I haven’t had much numbers, but nearly all of my fish in the past month have been over 5 pounds. For example, I went through the entirety of August, September, and October without catching a single Oio over 5 pounds, although I was catching more numbers in smaller fish. I’ve also shifted my strategy from “stay in one area you’re really confident in” to “cover as much ground as you possibly can” recently. They’re still out there, you just gotta hope for the best sometimes. Good luck🤙

Fly Fishing:

Jason: The year overall was a fairly productive one, with all of our usual flats producing bonefish, along with the occasional 10-12” omilu (a trophy on our flats).  By October, the action started to taper off, but this is perfectly normal for those of us hunting roundjaw o’io on the flats (versus the deeper water sharp jaw variety). Looking back at my catch logs for myself and friends (aka our group text string) I’d say our numbers were pretty much right around our averages, however we did focus a bit more on the windward side of the island this year than years past.  This is partly due to the Navy’s closure of a popular flat, which remains closed as of this writing, and partly because exploring new waters is part of the fun in fishing!  

Plugging/Whipping:

Thad: I dedicated more time during the summer of 2023 to throwing plugs instead of bubble/fly, so my papio catches were down.  Did that mean I caught more of the bigger predators like the elusive ulua than in the past?  Nope.  But my fishing partner Dino had a year to remember with his back-to-back big ulua on consecutive days.  I did have in increase in big strikes so the opportunities were there but I suffered from the rubbah hook/bent hook curse so I caught less fish overall.  The plugging action picks up around the summer months but the timing is a little different every year.  The 2023 action seemed to start a little earlier than the year before.  Whipping the flats for oio was more productive for me this year as we’ve been able to dial in some new spots.  People say the winter months are better for oio but to me they seem to bite equally year-round.  Hopefully the oio action will continue through 2024 and I’ll be able to make the summer plugging strikes stick.

Dino:

2023 has been a really weird year as far as fishing goes. It was really up and down for me. I accomplished what I feel I will never be able to accomplish again. I hit uluas on back to back days in July.  A white ulua in the 35 ish pound range and an omilu in the 22 pound range. Lost another one at landing some time after. The oio action on the flats has been hit or miss. Some days it’s good. Some days it’s dead as can be.

The Summer was good and the plugging really slowed in the Winter so I’ve been doing flats fishing for oio which has been a little bit of hit and miss for me. Picking one up here and there.

Hoping that 2024 can bring some good action for the bigger shoreline game. Gathering and prepping the plugging gear as we speak.

Nearshore:

Kayak Fishers (West and Northsides of Oahu): Largest shibi (yellowfin tuna under 100lb) of the season were caught in the Spring, along with mahi. Summer to early Fall were consistent for shibi and mahi. Aku popped up in the early Fall. Ono were caught in early late Fall. Bite has slowed in Winter but there are still pelagics to be caught if you’re in the right place with a lively opelu. Uku seems to be available year round.

Scott: (Windward side kayak) Slow ’til March when aku schools moved in shallow. Then the wind blew ’til October. When the weather finally allowed offshore kayaking, the small shibi and small mahi were in shallow but that only lasted a few weeks, water temp was 79 degrees. In December the temp dropped to 74 degrees and the pelagics were scarce. Currently, nehu bait balls are getting pounded by small kawakawa and opelu from below, and birds from above. North swell often shutting down exposed spots.

Dive:

Kayak diving

Pono: Didn’t get a ton of diving in this year due to having a busier than normal schedule and a windier than normal summer (my usual dive season). However, the few outings that I were able to go on were very productive! I had a lot of fun down-sizing my speargun, kayak diving, and trying new recipes. Diving deeper has shown me that Oahu still get fish if you know where to look! I think there were more nearshore pelagics in the Fall compared to other times of the year, we were seeing shibi and kawakawa on reef dives.

Boat:

Erik: 2023 brought two new boats into our fishing experiences, a 21’ Force and a 17’ Boston Whaler.  The year started steady and progressively got better with October being our best month.  We are blessed to have landed Ahis in both boats this year and have caught enough fish to share with friends and family.

Offshore fishing is still good but the wind and high surf have been limiting factors.

We look forward to more fishing adventures in 2024 and hope to see more of our fishing family out in the ocean.

Holoholo: Urban JDM lure testing – Papio, broken rod and Tilapia

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On summer break before his Senior year of high school, Matthew Ikeda accepted my plea to test some of the oldie but goodie JDM whipping lures and give his feedback on an Anetik shirt. I had previously posted about the lures we had tested that day here.

Matthew:

A little while ago, Scott messaged me wanting to find a test spot for some JDM lures. We played around with a few options at first, but not wanting to show any landmarks, we chose a secret-not-so-secret spot that we were sure wouldn’t upset anyone. When Scott picked me up, he gave me an Anetik hoodie to try for the day. The sun was high and scorching by the time we arrived at the spot, so the semi-porous fiber of the shirt felt pretty good. I decided to start off with a Duo Tide Minnow Slim SSR, which was around four inches and in a pearl color. It casted well, despite there being a crosswind and its lack of an internal weight transfer system. In the murky water, the pearl color really stood out and because of its enticing side-to-side action, I felt confident using it. 

This spot is extremely dependent on the tide, so I was wondering if the tide was right for the Papio that sometimes run through. I began getting bites from Kaku early on, but there was no sign of the target species. The tide was rising fast, so I was depending on the influx of water to bring the fish into the canal. I got my wish 20 minutes later, when I felt a violent take that nearly ripped the rod out of my hands. I set the hook and let the fish take its first run. With the headshakes, power, and quick movements of the fish, I was pretty sure that I had just hooked a nice Papio. As I brought it closer in, I could see that I was correct. It was a good-sized white Papio (GT), larger than any I had hooked at this spot before. I babied the fight on the way in, unsure of how secure the hooks were, but the Papio eventually got tired. I grabbed the line and pulled it over the wall, landing the fish. Scott took some pictures, recorded a short video, and it was released back into the nasty water.

We fished pretty unsuccessfully for the rest of the time, as the bite went completely dead. We were just wrapping up when I got another bite. I set the hook and my rod crumbled. Shocked, I reeled the fish in with half of a rod, and I was pretty disappointed to see that the fish was just a snagged tilapia. It really sucked because the rod was my go-to O’io rod for the longest time, and there was a lot of sentimental value to it. To break a favorite rod on such a trash fish sucks, but that’s fishing I guess. In all, it was a good trip but the broken rod kind of killed the vibes. 

Reviews:

The Anetik Remix Tech long-sleeved shirt had great ventilation and felt soft. I never felt like I was sweating despite the midday sun. It fits my body well and is better at adapting to slightly different sizes than some other brands. It comes with a hoodie and drawstrings if you need to tighten it. One thing that the Anetik shirt does lack is a face covering. Nearly all of my fishing shirts come with a face covering (attached to the shirt) that I can cover my face with. If you need to cover your face while wearing the Anetik hoodie, you will need to buy a separate face buff, either from Anetik or another brand. However, Anetik shirts have some of the softest material I’ve felt while also fitting me perfectly, making it worth the hassle. The sizes tend to be small, so you may need to buy one size larger than usual. For example, I am normally a “large” but I needed an “extra large”. Rating: 9/10, just find a buff to go with it.

The Duo Tide Minnow Slim SSR is an intriguing lure. It has a thin profile that matches a lot of our young baitfish. Some other common lures like Rapala X-Raps have fatter midsections, which I’m not too fond of. It casts well despite not having an internal weight transfer system and moves well in the water without needing too much attention. It dives around 1-2 feet deep. Lighter lures like these are good, but are best suited for harbors, canals, and calm areas without wind and choppy surfaces. In other terms, I wouldn’t use it anywhere with waves and lots of water movement. Lures like these would probably struggle to cast directly against the wind, due to the lack of the weight transfer system. However, when used in the right areas, or casted downwind, it should be very successful. Rating: 8/10, need to use it in a calm area.

Threw 4 Domestic lures and 4 JDMs in the water to see how they swam, and 4 got chased! Check out the videos.

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To wrap up the testing of the old whipping lures I had from 2019, I stood on the side of a harbor, mid-day, to video how they cast and swim. The wind at my back was blowing hard at times, so casting them out with my small bait caster wasn’t an issue. This was only the second time casting lures since 2019 so I was a little clumsy; on the kayak I have just been bottom fishing or live baiting. There were sardines on the side of the harbor where I was standing, and small aha (needlefish) were patroling outside of that school.

It was interesting to me that the aha ignored most of the lures but chased certain ones, and 2 white papios (juvenile GT) chased 1 particular lure that has worked well in the bay off the kayak.

Please let me know if you find these types of tackle tests helpful.

JDM Lures with video timestamps

IMA Popkey 0:00 Slant faced top water lure that walked and rolled fairly convincingly. 120mm and cylindrical, so a slightly larger bait fish profile. Got intercepted.

Maria Chase SW 1:04 Floating shallow diver with realistic tight rolling action. Casts well and got chased.

Palms GIG 100s 2:07 Only 100mm (4 inches) yet 30g (1 oz) so it’s a small, narrow, heavy stickbait. Didn’t get bit but will be deadly for bigger papio and small pelagics in deeper water.

Zetz F-Lead 90 3:02 Only 90mm (3.5 inches) yet 26g (almost 1 oz) so it matches the size of the small bait and sinks down quickly to their depth. This was the only lure to get chased by white papio (juvenile GT), and was chased twice! It’s killer in the bay for suspending papio off the kayak.

Domestic Lures with video timestamps

Shimano Waxwing Boy 0:00 Zig zag swimming action that may look too bold to mimic a bait fish. Slowing down the retrieve slows down the zig zag to a less aggressive pace. Casts well.

Vudu Mullet 3.5 inch 0:43 Very lifelike swimming action. An aha thought it was a dying bait when I just dropped it in the water, and would have inhaled it had I not lifted the lure out of the water reflexively. So the aha continued its path and attacked the sardines! The light weight and flexing body makes the 3.5″ lure difficult to cast, at least with my bait caster. A long spinning rod would have an easier time. There is a 4.5 inch Vudu Mullet that is heavy enough to cast well.

Rapala XRap Sub Walk 1:50 Has been hard to cast into the wind on previous outings. Rolls and wanders just under the surface.

Rapala XRap Twitching Minnow 2:40 Has been hard to cast into the wind on previous outings. Erratically rolls and flops on the retrieve.

JDM whipping lures are in the Store and more are coming!

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The halalu and oama fishing is the best we’ve seen in years and the predators know it. Now’s the time to fish the shoreline before the bite slows down.

We’ve restocked the Store with lures you can’t find domestically that hammered fish the last time the shore fishing was incredible, and we’re getting some Duo International lures in soon to sell at Intro pricing.

Duo Realis Pencil 130mm. 5-1/8 inch, 1-1/8 oz. Utilizes 2 steel bearings to balance the lure and call the fish in. Perfect for the bigger shoreline predators and strong enough to land mahi mahi!

Duo Spearhead Ryuki 110S. 4 3/8 inch, 3/4 oz slow sinking twitch bait with moving weight transfer system to cast far. Check out this video!

Anetik products restocked after 25% off sale

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Matt rocking the Anetik Remix Ice Hoody

Been running a 25% off Anetik Performance clothing sale so more people could try their amazing products, and a lot of styles/colors sold out. So the new replacements are now 20% off, and the originals still around are at the amazing 25% off price.

The guys and gals who used ’em for land based sports (golf, tennis, pickleball) will be reviewing them very soon, and so will an active fisherman in hot and humid Florida. Stay tuned to hear how the clothing out perfomed and strugged a bit under adverse conditions.

Check out the Anetik products in the Store here.

We tested those old Japanese Domestic Model (JDM) lures and caught a stud of a fish!

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I recruited Holoholo writer Matthew Ikeda, who has been red hot catching oio (bonefish) on the flats with a jighead and grub, to help test the old, used JDM lures I had banished to Second String status. Those lures were described in this post.

Matt suggested we fish at a not-so-secret urban canal in Honolulu in case landmarks were exposed. He was using spinning gear (8″3″ Major Craft rod, Shimano Twin Power 3000 reel) designed to cast 1/2 ounce lures and I dusted off my 7’3″ 13 Fishing travel rod and 13 Fishing Concept Z bait casting reel. I hadn’t whipped since 2019 so I needed a few practice casts to get going.

The wooden Lucky Craft Sammy and wooden Tiemco Red Pepper were duds. They just didn’t float as crisply as their plastic versions we’ve fished before. They’re X’d out in the photo above. The plastic Tiemco Red Pepper and Daiwa TD Salt Pencil seemed to bob up and down ok but the fish weren’t interested in top water lures so we’ll have to try them again later. They are marked with a “?”.

Matt was able to walk-the-dog with the Tackle House M Quiet in a wide, sweeping way, but the fish didn’t want that presentation either. The Maria Chase SW (Salt Water) wobbled erratically and looked good with my steady retrieve and I missed a couple short kaku bites I think. You can see the action of those two lures in the video below.

The lure presentation that stood out was the Duo Tide Minnow Slim SSR (Super Shallow Runner) under Matt’s control. That lure, circa 2015, has a fixed center weight unlike it’s rolling weight successor but still casted well and swam with a really tight roll.

This wasn’t photoshopped at all, it really is levitating. Zoom in – no cut and paste seams!

Sure enough it got slammed by a white papio (juvenile GT) you would think was too big to be in the canal. Maybe what they say about those fish being mutants is true – this fish seemed to float in the air when Matt lowered it to be unhooked.

Matt will be writing up his perspective of the day and that guest post will include the capture and release video. Stay tuned for that, and another round of whipping lure testing in easily accessible spots.

Holoholo: DOUBLE – Double Digit Oio!

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Matthew Ikeda, our young, on-the-water intrepid reporter, shares the details of his back-to-back fishes of a lifetime catch.

Matthew: I was in bed when Sean from Nervous Waters Fly Shop asked me if I wanted to tag along with him and Frank to their spot, which I was only vaguely familiar with. I had just got my wisdom teeth removed hours before, so I was in a lot of pain and bleeding quite a bit. While I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able in a day’s time, being able to watch fly fishing masters at work was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss. I accepted the offer and arranged to meet them at the spot. 

That morning, I was still bleeding a little bit but most of the pain had subsided, so I figured I was okay, plus I figured the adrenaline of sight fishing would help numb the rest. I met them at the spot and we walked out into the water. I had brought both my fly rod and a spinner rod, but I decided to start off with the spinner as I got used to the spot. We split up pretty far from each other at first. I decided to take a long loop around, wasting 15 minutes just to get in position to cast with the wind into a spot that looked good. I saw a few fish initially, but they didn’t want anything to do with the neon orange grub I was using. I switched to a darker grub that looked more natural, and immediately the fish started to show more interest. I started to feel pretty good about my chances. 

Twenty minutes later, I was on my phone changing the music when I saw the outline of a big fish passing just 15 feet in front of me. I quickly put my phone in my bag and flipped an underhand cast in front of it. To my surprise, the O’io rushed the lure, ate, and immediately took off at breakneck speed. Within seconds, half of my line was gone and the fish had almost made it to the ledge, which would make my loss certain if the fish reached it. I started backpedaling and tightened the drag a little, trying to slow the fish in any way. Eventually, it did slow down and I was able to regain some line. But I had a long fight ahead of me.

Because I chose to carry two rods on me, I had to bring the smallest spinning rod I owned (so it fit in my backpack). I’ve used the same rod to catch Halalu before. The rod, a 7’10” light action, is perfect for sight casting accuracy, but that combined with the 12 pound test I chose to run made for a challenging fight. Over the next 40 minutes, the O’io ran in circles, taking line before I would eventually regain it, like a never ending game of tug of war. But the fish eventually got tired and I was able to grab it by the tail, and that’s when I realized how big it was. “Double digits” immediately came to mind as we took some pictures. Sean had a boga grip so we hooked it up, and I was stoked when the scale read right at 10 pounds. We took a couple more pictures before I released it. I took some time to relax and take it all in while Sean and Frank went back to fishing, completely satisfied with the day. 

Sean and Frank had started to walk into the wind, and were pretty far away so I decided to follow them. I decided to look in the shallows for some tailing O’io, because I had never hooked a “tailer” before. I saw one pretty quickly and casted at it… but was disappointed when the lure landed right on top of the fish and spooked it, causing a big explosion. I continued on, trying to catch up to the guys. The water started to get very skinny and even though I knew O’io could get up that shallow, I questioned whether it was reasonable. 

I was watching Sean, who appeared to be taking a shot at a fish when I spotted a big tail around 30 yards out. It was at a bad angle, directly into the wind, but I decided to stalk the fish. Luckily, some clouds had come in, so I hoped that they would help mask my presence. As I creeped up closer and closer I realized that this was another big fish. Its back was nearly out of the water and it seemed really occupied with digging at a specific patch of seaweed. I made my first cast at it, which was terrible and landed nowhere near, but luckily it didn’t spook the fish. I reeled in the lure quickly, made the adjustment, and casted. This time it was a beautiful line-drive cast, flying just two feet above the water before landing at the perfect distance in front of the fish. I dragged the lure along the bottom, making puffs of sand in an attempt to divert the fish’s attention. The fish jerked and moved suddenly, and then, wagging its tail, it swam over to my lure. I kept dragging the lure, so sure that the fish would spook, just like all the other skinny water tailers I had casted at in the past. But this time there was a small tug, and then a tap-tap-tap. I set the hook hard, and there was a big explosion as the fish took off even faster than the last. Luckily I was all the way on the inside, so the fish would have to spool me if it wanted to get over the ledge. For a little while, I thought it might just do that. But it stopped and started to come back in, much faster than the previous O’io. Within 10 minutes, I had it doing circles right around me. I walked into even shallower water as I tried to beach the fish. The tactic worked and the O’io tired fast, allowing me to grab it. I was shocked. It was another very big O’io and the stoke was high once again. 

Frank took pictures of me holding the fish up as he called Sean to get the weight. This time, the fish tipped the boga at 10.5 pounds, making it another double digit O’io to make the day even more special. We took a pretty cool release video and the fish was on its way. Again, I stayed back to rest because I couldn’t really believe what had happened. Sean caught a good sized O’io on the fly, and Frank sightfished two puffers and an eagle ray, so we all ended up catching. We talked story on the way back and then parted ways. 

The high didn’t last forever, and when I got home my calves and forearms were cramped and my pain from my wisdom removal reappeared. But the memories of that day will definitely last forever, and it was well worth it to get out there. Catching two double digit O’io on the same day is something I’ll probably never do again. I’d be happy if I caught one a year. It was a crazy day for sure and I suppose the lesson is that you just have to get out there and take some chances. Sometimes, you might just get lucky. My thanks to Sean and Frank for inviting me to tag along. I learned a lot from watching the true masters of the art, and I am very lucky to have that chance. Stay safe, have fun, and good luck out there!

Dug up some of the shallow running lures acquired back when whipping was on fire

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From 2017 to 2019 I was fishing shallow water with friends and was looking for lures that floated, dove a few feet at most, and casted well with a 7.5ft bait casting rod. I bought a bunch online from Japan, was given a few, and eventually settled on 3 confidence lures not shown here. The Waxwing was one of the 3; the other two were so deadly I blurred their appearance in blog photos!

When I looked for my old lures, I found a box full of lures that didn’t make the First Team. A couple of these were fished and caught fish, while the others stayed in that box because they were too much like other lures I was fishing, or were experimental lures given to me that I never fished. Here’s a breakdown of what they are.

The Lucky Craft Sammy (top left) is one of the easiest walk-the-dog lures but this one is made out of wood and the original owner preferred the hard plastic Sammys. I’ve never fished it. The Tackle House M Quiet (upper right) is a top water lure meant to fish calm, quiet water and I did catch a kaku on it but it was light for me to cast with a bait caster.

The IMA Popkey (2nd from top, on left) with its slanted face can be walked, waked or splashed but I never got around to fishing it because the fish I was targeting in very shallow water liked very slim lures.

The Tiemco Red Pepper (left side, 2nd down) is an original wooden bodied lures, and the Tiemco Red Pepper (right side, 3rd down) is plastic bodied and customized with reflective material by the original owner. I hadn’t fished either but have fished plastic bodied Red Peppers and have gotten the most violent strikes on them if I let them bob up and down and sit in the water.

The Daiwa TD Salt Pencil F (lower right) is the reknown Daiwa Salt Pencil in a very small, light size, so it really was hard to cast far but was very deadly when pulled so the water gurgled through the cut out gills, then paused.

The Duo Tide Minnow Slim, and Maria Chase SW in the bottom right aren’t back weighted so I assumed I’d have a hard time casting such light lures with a bait caster, thus I didn’t bother to put hooks on them but I had purchased them used from eBay Japan because they were the OGs of JDM lipped lures. They are fished by straight retrieving them and pausing. Their tight wobble and small size is what gets them bit.

These are 5 inch or bigger floating lures, geared to attract larger fish so I ended up not fishing them from shore. The Daiwa SP Minnow (top) has ball bearings that roll back on the cast, so it casts well. The well known Yozuri SP Minnow (2nd from top) is a lousy caster but has a very aggressive swimming action. It’s probably better used as a trolling lure for papio. Both the Jackall Bowstick and River2Sea WideGlide have wide walk-the-dog actions and big fish potential.

Have you guys fished any of these, and how were they? Any comments on their potential? Since I still have the First Team lures somewhere, I wonder if I’ll ever fish these?