Hunting oio on a narrow reef shelf

April 1, 2015 By Scott 8 Comments

Decided to give the most recent spot a rest. On a friend’s recommendation, I explored a narrow strip of reef that falls into a deeper channel. The terrain was the common crushed rock and tufts of seaweed found on the inner reefs of Oahu.

The bite on the shallow reef during the rising tide was slow so I made my way to the outer edge. I picked up an obake weke halfway out, which I thought was a good sign that oio would be around. Sadly, nothing else bit as I waded deeper and deeper.

I was using a 7ft 11inch casting rod and a heavier 3/4 oz weight. With the help of the wind, I could cast much further than normal. I walked out to hip-high water, and tried to hit a reef section in the channel. I let the bait sit and eventually felt very light taps. It felt like something was pecking away at the bait and I forced myself to wait it out. After about 25 seconds the fish took the bait and pulled line off the reel. Oio! But because of the rocky terrain the fish ran under a rock outcropping and I could feel the line rub. My drag was sticky too, and the line pulled in spurts.

look how well it blends in

The fish dragged all my fluorocarbon top shot through the rock hangup and I was into my braid backing. I turned the fish but it was still hung up on the rock so I waded out to chest high water and was able to free the line. The oio came in easily at this point because it was fighting the increased drag of a stuck line.

I walked it back to shore to take some pics and release it.

my tabis are size 9

Nothing else of consequence bit after that. In the past, catching a 4.5 lb oio measuring almost 22 inches at a new spot would’ve been great accomplishment. But after this week’s 6 pounder, it was kind of anti-climactic. And fighting the 6 pounder with a locked down drag must’ve warped the drag washers. I’ll have to rebuild the drag system before the next screamah hits.

Whipping vs. Dunking on the flats, Rd 3

March 30, 2015 By Scott 5 Comments

I had the pleasure of fishing with Kris and his friends, Nick and Eddie today. They showed me a new spot on the flats, and when the oio and papio started to bite, they graciously called me over. The three of them were dunking with long rods and relatively light spinning reels. I was stubbornly using my bait casting whipping setup.

personal best so far

They could easily out cast me and were getting some strong strikes. They had already caught some oio and good sized papio (omilu, white and barred) while I was struggling to reach the productive area. I finally found a mound to stand on where I could use the wind to get my bait out further. Poaching Eddie’s grounds, I got a solid pickup and screaming run. I was deep into my braid backing before I tightened the drag and stopped the fish. The fish was pulled within 10 yds of me before taking off again. 2 powerful runs later and it was done.

oio on light bait casting gear

Looks like Chester will be getting his oio for taegu after all. The fish was just short of 26 inches (head to tail) and 6 lbs.

Like I did with my previous oio, I had cast and let the bait sit for a while before getting the strike. So I was really dunking with a short rod and a light weight. Dunking with the right equipment was far more productive for the guys today so I will concede defeat. In all 3 outings, the dunking method out fished the whipping method. Click here to see how rounds 1 and 2 went.

The boys humbly declined having their fish photos published.

Whipping for oio on the flats

March 23, 2015 By Scott 9 Comments

Fishing the afternoon rise alone, I didn’t have a dunking friend to compare results against. I wanted to see if I could get an oio to bite my cut bait in the general area that the dunkers had out fished me last week. My Calcutta 200 TE was spooled with a 15 lb fluorocarbon top shot, up from the 12lb I used last week, so I could use more drag to turn the silver speedsters.

making circles around me

As I walked out on the just rising tide, I was startled to see about 4 tailing oio at the deeper end of the flat. They didn’t spook when I cast to them but they didn’t take my bait either. Eventually losing track of the tailers, I cast into the edge of the channel where I had hooked and lost last week’s fish. Just like last time, I felt a light nibble and then a take. This time the fish sped up and took about 75 yds of line, then slowed down under the tight drag and let itself be pulled back. It made a series of spirited runs but was under control unlike the fish I lost last week.

pooped

In a few minutes the fish was spent and had given up. The oio looked to be about 4 lbs and more than 22 inches. While I was deciding whether to keep him so Chester could make taegu ala Bruddah Bill’s recipe, see below, managed to shake off the hook and slowly make his escape. Oh well, a bigger fish would be a better use of Chester’s time.

A few small omilus and an obake weke bit before the water got deeper and a lot murkier. I called it a day knowing the drag bait technique does work on the flats oio and my inshore bait caster setup can easily over power a 4 lb oio. Whatever took out 160 yds without stopping last week was much larger and stronger than today’s fish. I’m beginning to think it was a shark since it didn’t spurt like most oios do.

I need to do another head to head with a dunker to see which technique is more effective on flats oio. Stay tuned.

The recipe below was featured in Lawai’a magazine.

Whipping vs. Dunking on the flats, which is better?

March 18, 2015 By Scott 6 Comments

I whip/drag cut bait because I love to feel the initial take and don’t like waiting around for a fish to pick up my chunk of bait. But most noteworthy flats catches are accomplished by guys wading out and dunking bait in the sand pockets with larger gear than my whipping setup. Landing a big oio with fly gear is also noteworthy, but beyond my skill set.

The last two days I fished with friends who dunked while I dragged bait. Here’s how we did.

Yesterday I ran into Kris and his wife Ai at the spot he caught his big oios last week. He kindly took me out on a guided trip and we fished the rising morning tide. They cast into prime spots and held their poles while I dragged bait with my regular setup (7.5 ft inshore casting rod, Calcutta 200 TE baitcaster with 12 lb flouro mainline, no leader).

snagged omilu

My smaller hook, lighter line and moving bait got more strikes, even snagging a small omilu in the top of his head!

rock fishing

The bite really turned on when the water rose and turned murky. The small omilus and occasional weke were hitting every bait. I tried a live crab to get something larger to take, but the crab clung so tight to the bottom I was bringing up rocks!

Kris and Ai were bringing in their share of small omilus and weke on their dunking gear when Kris hooked the fish of the day.

Kris and Ai

The 15 inch omilu was Kris’ largest papio to date, and he was stoked, especially after catching his personal best oios at this spot the week before. Ai loves to eat papio but after seeing how beautiful they are alive, she couldn’t bear to kill it. Kris was stunned but set it free.

On this day, my lighter, more active whipping method caught more fish but Kris’ dunking method caught the largest fish. Ai was a hybrid, initially dunking and then switching to whipping when the bite really turned on. All caught fish were released.

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Today I took Chester to Kris’ spot. Chester hadn’t gone oio fishing for a long time and really wanted to make taegu and lomi lomi oio. He loaded up with a 40 lb leader and 30 lb main line to increase his chances of bringing in the oio that bit his dunked bait. He planned to just take one fish, and brought out a cooler on a bodyboard to ensure the flesh would be well preserved. Chester started where the flats drop off into a sand channel and I dragged bait over the crushed rock and ogo grounds inside of his spot. I eventually got a small nibble as my cast bait settled to the bottom. It was a lighter tap than a small omilu would make, and felt like a bait stealer. The fish initially ran a few feet and took a bit of drag. Then it realized it was hooked and steadily swum off, in a calm manner like it had someplace to go, but wasn’t in a hurry. I was told by Kris to let the oio run, and my drag was set under breaking strength for 12lb test so I just enjoyed the pull. When I looked down the 100 yds of fluorocarbon top shot was gone and I was into the 100 yds of 30 lb power pro. With 160 yds out I had, at most, 40 yds left and tightened the drag. The fish continued to swim steadily, unconcerned that it was tethered to me, and 10 yds later the hook pulled and got stuck in a rock. Arrgggghhhh! I made the walk of shame over to free my hook. The hook was fine but my line was a little frayed.

Chester’s first oio

I walked back to tell Chester what he missed, and I’m not sure he really believed me. We went back to fish the spot I lost the oio, and slowly worked our way towards shore as the tide rose. The whipping bite was a lot slower than yesterday, and over an hr period I just got a couple small omilus and an obake weke. Chester had his bait stolen a few times and was lapsing into a coma when he felt a weak tug followed by a short spurt. He was thinking that a small omilu had taken his big bait and then the rod doubled over and his drag screamed out. Chester kept the drag relatively tight and tried to muscle the fish in as fast as possible. 5 mins of hard runs passed and he had the fish on the surface. With shaking hands he grabbed the oio and threw it into the cooler. He estimated it was close to 5 lbs and would provide enough flesh to make both taegu and lomi lomi oio.

Chester’s 2nd oio

He said he’d keep his word and would not take another oio, even if it was larger than this one. As he caught his breath I scrambled to try to get my second shot at an oio. Sadly, the bite slowed even more so we made our way back to shore. 2/3 of the way in, Chester was soaking his bait, watching me play with the small omilus. Chester’s rod doubled over without warning and the drag rang out. Because he was able to muscle it in within a couple mins we assumed this fish was smaller than the first. At color we couldn’t believe our eyes; it was even larger than the first fish. After a few pictures of his second largest oio ever, estimated at more than 6 lbs, he said he’d be letting it go. I held it behind its head to revive it in the water. It felt like holding on to a thick carp. I know the pictures look like they’re of the same fish, but if you look closely the second fish is much thicker.

Chester’s gloved hands holding my skinny fish

Mission accomplished so we headed in. On the way I hooked a 14 inch omilu as a consolation prize. Legal, but skinny, I let it go.

Today was so much different from yesterday. The bite was a lot slower and there were oio bites whereas yesterday we were in the middle of an omilu frenzy. Fewer omilus allow the big oio a chance to wolf down a bait. I wonder what caused this to happen?

In these conditions Chester’s dunking method trounced my whipping method. He only caught 3 fish but 2 were impressive oios. While I was lucky enough to hook one oio on my moving bait, I was under gunned with 12lb line. I’ll be moving up to 15 lb test in the hopes of proving I can subdue a monsta oio on inshore whipping gear.

Stay tuned for the next whipping vs. dunking challenge.

Hunting oio with new fishing friends

March 11, 2015 By Scott 5 Comments

Kris’ oio

I received a hot tip from Kris, whom I met through this blog. We’ve been sharing fishing reports and have been planning to meet and fish. He caught 3 oio on the flats yesterday and provided this photo as proof. He released all 3.

That report couldn’t have come at a better time since I was planning to fish the flats with Joel and Dean. Joel writes “Spyda’s Blog“, which artistically chronicles his recent shore casting outings and classic past trips. I had met Joel and Dean through this blog also. We waded out at the bottom of the zero foot tide with hopes of some screamers.

moana

Midway to the break we got our first baby omilu strike. As we got near the leading edge of the white wash, the bite really turned on. Unfortunately Joel had to depart for a previously planned meeting and left us to the frenzy. The reef residents were ambushing our baits before the baby omilus could get to them. Dean missed a big strike that pulled drag, and I brought in a legal moana followed by a 9 inch moana kali.

baby moana kali

I hadn’t caught a moana kali on the reef flat before and was very surprised. Hopefully there’s a healthy population of these, with some reaching steamable size. A smaller moana rounded out my goatfish run.

Dean fished a deep sand channel with a plug and I fished a deep drop off with `opae lolo. I got a strong hit on one of the lolos but the fish managed to rip the body off the hook. I went back to my cut bait to save the precious `opae lolo bait.

The air temp was in the low 70s and we were freezing under cloudy skies. As we headed in to thaw out, Dean hooked a strong obake weke that took a while to be worked in. We left the fish biting and didn’t get the screamer we were hoping for. Later, Joel informed us that he spooked a large oio in 18 inches of water as he headed in.

All the more reason to plan another trip.

(Today’s fish were released unharmed. Sorry for the lack of better pictures, it was hard to turn on my camera phone with numb fingers and I wasn’t close enough to Joel and Dean.)

Catching `opae lolo for bait

March 5, 2015 By Scott 2 Comments

captive `opae lolo

I had grown up hearing the name ” `opae lolo ” and just assumed it was the name for the especially large brackish water `opae. I didn’t realize it was a completely different looking shrimp. Heard many a story of people catching papio, oio and goat fish on `opae lolo but since I wasn’t a live bait guy back then, I didn’t pay too much attention.

Chester and I were torching (hunting the shallows at night) for aquarium fish a few weeks ago when we came across a long, slender shrimp sitting on the sand in a foot of water. Not sure what it was, I ended up netting 4 and bringing them home. My google search for “hawaiian shrimp” didn’t bring up anything that looked like the shrimp I had, so I purchased John Hoover’s “Hawaii’s Sea Creatures” book. Lo and behold, we had stumbled upon the coveted ‘opae lolo.

The ‘opae lolo seem to lack pinchers, and are near the bottom of the food chain with sand turtles. They bury themselves during the day as their only defense. I came to these conclusions because I had put an `opae lolo in a tub with a mantis shrimp and instantly the mantis shrimp had the `opae lolo in its clutches. I had never seen that mantis shrimp move for any food very quickly, prior to that, and thought the crustacean cousins would be safe together since the mantis shrimp don’t seem to be able to catch the regular `opae. Even the regular `opae ganged up and pulled down an `opae lolo twice their size. Dang, two less `opae lolo for bait. But proof that everything wants to eat them.

I torched a couple more times, during low tides with different moon phases, and saw less `opae lolo. I’m still trying to dial in the best conditions to catch them, but was able to get a few more, sitting mostly motionless on the sand. Friends have said they’ve seen the lolos swimming erratically around near the surface, in calm water. Maybe that’s how they got the name “lolo” (crazy). They appear to be attracted to light.

My lolos are in predator free tubs waiting to be used as bait.

Windward sand turtles

February 23, 2015 By Scott 3 Comments

sand turtle bait

The last time I tried to catch sand turtles I came up empty. Today, I was fishing the Windward side and had plopped my cut bait at the water’s edge while zipping up my tackle sling bag. When I reeled up my bait there were two sand turtles attached to it. I quickly bagged the sand turtles (mole crabs) and dropped the weight and bait back on the wet sand.

2 sand turtles battling

As the water ebbed and flowed up the sloping beach, I noticed moving lumps under the sand. Sure enough more sand turtles were attached to the bait. Catching sand turtles couldn’t be easier than this.

obake weke

Too bad catching fish with the sand turtles wasn’t as easy. I got a few weak nibbles on them, but caught a mess of small omilus and this obake weke on the cut bait.

I brought a few of the sand turtles home and put them in a tub with live opae. Even though the opae are smaller than the turtles, they grabbed at the turtles’ legs and tried to pull them backwards so the turtles couldn’t burrow in the sand. I guess it’s a shrimp eat crab world.

I rescued the sand turtles and put them in their own bucket free of sand turtle hungry critters.

Click here to read an old post on catching and using sand turtles for bait.

New fishing spots, near and far

February 6, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

I had been meaning to try two new wade fishing spots that looked pretty fishy. One was all the way up in Lai’e and the other was just a couples miles east of a Maunalua Bay spot I fish.

The conditions were good last week to fish the Lai’e spot and I made the 1 hr trek out there. I could only reach the reef patches near shore because the shoreline sloped downward and I was quickly in waist deep water. I ended up with at least twenty 5-inch omilus and a couple small white papio. I was really hoping for something that would pull drag but I just couldn’t reach them with gear I had.

obake weke

Today, the West wind was blowing at 15 mph plus. Not great conditions but the Maunalua Bay spot isn’t too far away so I decided to field test a longer, beefier casting rod. I wasn’t expecting too much out of this popular location but I ended up with a mixed bag of small omilus, a small moana, a thick humuhumu, a kaku that shook the hook and a mid-sized obake weke that had me hoping it was an oio.

All the fish caught at Lai’e and Maunalua Bay were released.

Wading a shallow reef shelf is much easier than reaching a scattered, patchy reef from shore.

I needed to increase the weight I was throwing to load the beefier 8 ft rod, and was getting about the same distance I was getting with my lighter weight/7.5 ft rod setup. More field testing needed.

It’s always fun to fish new spots with new gear. And sometimes you don’t have to travel far to catch fish.

Good day to whip the Windward side

January 23, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

not bad for a Kona wind, big WNW swell day

safe from the big WNW swell and Kona winds/rain

Today’s South Shore forecast called for a head high WNW swell wrapping around, combined with Kona (South) winds and a constant drizzle. Sounded like the perfect day to try the Windward side. Sure enough, once I got past Kaneohe most of the rain cleared and the sun poked out a bit. The waves were small and the Kona winds were light. I was hoping for a spot with a patchy reef near shore, with parking safely off the busy Kamehameha Hwy.

It took half an hour of driving back and forth before I settled on a spot after Kahana Bay and before Hau’ula. The tide was about 0.25 feet and rising which made it too deep to wade out. The sandy shoreline with a few small reef spots looked good but only yielded the occasional 5 inch omilu, something I could get back on the South Shore. It takes a lot of luck to stumble upon a spot and actually catch decent fish the first time out. After 1.5 hrs and a bag of cut bait, I realized that I lucked out with the weather but not with the fish.

I got the last bag of cut bait out of the car. I was too lazy to wash off and drive to another spot so I walked the shore line in the opposite direction I had previously fished. This stretch had more wave action and the sand was more muddy and gravelly. Turns out a stream dumped into the ocean there, so it was like fishing a river mouth. In the muddiest section I got a strike that felt like a bigger omilu, and was surprised to land a 4 inch white papio. I almost never catch white papio whipping so I thought this was a fluke but for the next 10 casts or so, I hooked or missed a white papio. On the 11th cast I caught a small toau in the muddy, churny water.

scrappy white papio

The whites are thicker than omilus for their length and put up a more stubborn battle. I kept hoping that a larger white was in with the small ones, but the biggest I landed was about 6 inches. I was soon out of bait but had learned something new. If you find a stretch of beach where the waves reach higher up the shore, exposing coarser sand and receding into muddy water, fish may be hunting prey in the churn.

All in all, a pretty fun catch and release day considering how unfishable the South Shore was.

Hunting oio on the evening zero foot tide

January 14, 2015 By Scott Leave a Comment

voggy skies, skinny water

The oio weren’t tailing in the shallow reef mounds the last two times out so I tried another spot this evening. This beach has a flatter terrain with a few sandy channels inside of the break. Light Kona winds made for a voggy, glassy surface. The 5 inch omilus were pestering my cut bait on the invasive ogo patches so I cast into a small sand break between the mounds and dragged the weighted bait back.

I felt some light pecking unlike the rapid jerks the omilus make, and something squirted off with a few yards of line. Then the fish realized it was hooked and took off on a smooth 75 yd run. Ahh, finally an oio after so many trips. I had been worried my medium casting rod and level wind reel setup might not be able to handle a big fish since the little omilus put a bend in the tip, but the G Loomis Greenwater rod’s backbone kicked in, and the Shimano Calcutta 200 TE (eBay!) smoothly released the 12 lb fluorocarbon. Resting the rod butt on my holiday-built belly, I took in line when the oio stopped running, and let it take line when it wanted to. The fish let itself be pulled to within 5 yds of me, and then it took off on a 50 yd run. There weren’t any sharp rock piles to get cut off on so I enjoyed the short battle.

4lb oio, I think

In a few minutes I had it close and it was bigger than expected despite coming in rather quickly. I didn’t know of anyone who’d be ready to scrape an oio and make fishcake / lomi oio so I took some clumsy photos and released it. It’s hard to tell how large it was from this picture, but the fish was almost 20 inches (head to fork). I’d guess it was close to 4 lbs because it was fairly thick.

oio imposter

Knowing the oio were around, I put on the top half of a mantis shrimp. I had cut the shrimp in half, lengthwise, because I didn’t want to risk getting stabbed by a lively shrimp. I cast further out into the same channel and despite the previous commotion, I felt something trying to kill the mantis shrimp piece. Expecting the line to peel out again, instead the line pulled in spurts and a medium sized obake weke came up.

I went back to cut bait and finished the day with more of the pesky 5 inch omilus.

All the fish were released unharmed.

Oio seen tailing on the flats

December 30, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

shallow oio feeding grounds

The tides haven’t been good to troll my remaining oamas and the north winds have made the water pretty chilly. Instead, I’ve been wading the flats on low, evening tides in search of oio. I’ve actually seen them feeding with their tails out of the water (tailing) but haven’t been close enough to take a suitable picture with my camera phone. The oio look to be 5 – 8 lbs. I’ve tried casting my cut shrimp setup near them but haven’t gotten any to take.

A helpful guy I met on the beach told me of his secret bait. He had three strong hits when I was out wading and ran out of bait. I gave him some shrimp but the picky oios snubbed that bait. I’ll try to acquire his secret bait and give that a try next time. It was great to see so many oio consistently feeding over the last few outings. The lay net ban on the South Shore has definitely helped restore the oio fishery.

about to be freed

On that conservation note, I returned the large weke I caught 2 weeks ago. It hadn’t eaten anything in captivity, including live opae, but was still very healthy as it swam to freedom. Too bad I couldn’t train him to tell me where the oio were hiding.

Bait vs Lures, Round 3

December 12, 2014 By Scott 3 Comments

The tide was low and the wind was up so I wade fished a spot I normally board fish. I started with cut bait and when the small papios started biting on every cast I switched to a Makata strip. No bites on the strip so I switched back to bait. The action was much better than I had expected. Besides the countless 5 inch omilus, I caught a large mongoose fish and had some heavier fish unbutton. About an hr before sun down I hooked something that looked and felt like a small oio. When I brought it closer I was realized it was a 14 inch plus white weke.

giant oama

I had never caught a full grown white weke before, and it was weird to handle a fish that looked like an oama, just giant-sized. I wonder if the white weke and obake weke are always on the shallow reef or if it’s the season for them now. They’re fun to catch but I was really hoping for an oio that would smoke my reel.

weke of all sizes

Hopefully the adult weke plays nicely with the 5″ to 8″ oamas.

Summary: On the shallow, bouldery reef, cut bait trounced the strip lure once again.

Bait vs Lures, Round 2

November 26, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

25 MPH, North – North East winds on the flats made it difficult to cast at times and the tide was rising in the overcast evening. Made for some chilly wading. The 4 inch omilus were bothering the baits again so I just stuck with

cut baitt
Makata strip lure (clear ice)

Like the last time I fished the flats, the little omilus followed the strip lure but didn’t take the hook. On the cut bait I caught about 8 omilus, and besides a lizard fish, no other reef fish. Maybe the omilus were faster than the expected hinalea and humus?

As the sun was setting, in 8 inches of water, I hooked a fish that swam in straight lines, unlike an omilu. Turned out to be a 9 inch obake weke, about the size that Pete caught two trips ago. Funny that I’ve never caught them before and now two were landed on the last 3 trips. Maybe they’re part of the big “recruitment” bloom of reef fish?

obake weke swimming against the water jet

I released all the omilus but kept the obake weke. Here he is in quarantine waiting to meet his oama cousins and the bigger weke caught a month ago.

Summary: In tough conditions with pesky baby omilu, cut bait trounced lures once again.

Bait vs Lures, Round 1

November 21, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

gold kastmaster with trailer

I fished the flats on an evening dropping tide and decided to embark on a small test to see what would be more effective, cut bait or lures. It wasn’t a scientifically controlled test by any means, and would have to run multiple times.

I was using a bait casting rig that let me fish the lures and bait slowly, near the bottom. A spinning setup would’ve worked also.

The three bait choices were:

cut bait
Makata strip lure (clear ice)
Kastmaster (3/8 oz gold with trailer), untipped and tipped with cut bait

The trade winds were strong and the fish activity was low. Unlike the previous trip to this spot where various reef fish were caught, only the small 4 – 6 inch omilus were chasing the baits. All the omilus were caught on the cut bait and a surprise 14 inch kaku was also hooked in the shallows on that setup. That kaku made two runs right at me and I had to jump out of its way!

The Makata strip lure was chased by the omilus but they just nipped at the tail of the strip and didn’t get hooked. The Kastmaster also got bumped but perhaps the single siwash hook I was using was too big for their little mouths. The cut bait on a smaller hook fit in the mouths of the fish easier.

Summary: On this day where the bite was slow, cut bait reigned supreme. If the fish were feeding voraciously, lures may have done better.

Fun flats whipping in less than ideal conditions

November 15, 2014 By Scott 6 Comments

Pete from NorCal was back and looking to go another round on the flats. Here’s how we did the last time we went hunting for late season oama. The tides were less than ideal during this week and the best option was to fish the wade-able low tide this evening and cast cut bait and Makata strips. The tide was falling, unfortunately, not rising.

obake weke on the shallow flats

Whipping from shore hasn’t yielded anything substantial recently and we only had a couple hours to fish, so we had low expectations. To make things even more challenging, Pete was using a freshwater spinning setup without much line. The cut bait was getting all the small papio bites so we stuck with that and worked our way out towards the surf break. Pete hooked something that fought like a small oio and had to tighten the rear drag on his small spinner to bring it in. It was the first obake weke I had ever seen in that area and it put up a very respectable fight. If we had quit then, it would have been a successful outing.

We had 20 more minutes to fish so we made it to a sandy channel in the shallow rubble and then every cast resulted in a strike. The 4 inch papio were swarming our baits, then I hooked a beefy Christmas wrasse that took line, followed by an almost legal omilu. Pete landed a grunting humuhumu.

Pete caught the target fish!

On his next retrieve, Pete’s reel started screaming. The fish pulled line in long bursts like an oio which really surprised me given the commotion caused by the previous fish landed. Oio are notoriously easily spooked. I expected Pete to get spooled on the light setup but he patiently worked the fish in, lost some line, and regained some. Finally we could see what it was, a 2 lb oio, the premier flats fish. I later felt Pete’s drag and it was set pretty tight from the battle with the obake weke. Pete masterfully manhandled his first ever oio with trout gear!

end of a successful day

He turned my camera phone on me to as I made my last cast.

All things considered, our short outing was very successful. All fish were released unharmed.

So many fish on the flats at low tide!

October 23, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

My friend Chester had the week off so I took a break from trolling oamas and dusted off the whipping rod. I hadn’t cast a rod in more than 3 months and it felt good to hear the bearings of the Calcutta TE 200 spin. I kept things simple and planned to fish cut bait.

I started by casting just the weight to wet the line and hooked a sand barracuda with no bait! When I put on some cut bait I started getting pestered by 4 inch omilus so I replaced the bait with a Makata strip lure. The presentation looked odd, with a big orange head and a long strip body, so I had low expectations. On the first cast I hooked something heavier and stronger, and was working it in when it unbuttoned. I’m guessing it was a bigger papio since I saw some cruising the shallows.

look how long the Makata lure is

A couple casts later I brought in a feisty 8 inch oama. I was super surprised that a oama that size would chase down a 3 inch lure and get hooked in its mouth. If the 6 inch plus oama caught the other week were “moose oama”, I don’t know if I should call this a mega oama or a mini weke. It’s the first oama or weke I’ve ever caught on a lure. I brought it home alive to either be a pet or live bait for a monster papio.

big hook for small mouth

Chester dragged cut bait for big oio on the outer reaches of the flat and I caught and released a few more 4 inch omilus inside. Then we saw some dark colored 5 to 8 lb oios cruising the sandy areas. We tried lobbing cut bait and lures in front of them but couldn’t make an enticing enough presentation.

All in all a great morning of large fish seen and unexpected fish hooked.

Best conditions to score papio

August 12, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

best day so far

After trolling oamas aimlessly for a month and a half, I noticed a pattern as to when and where I get most of my strikes. These conditions apply to dunking and whipping also.

First third of the rising tide
Cool, moving water; not still, sun warmed water
In front of the surf break (I’m not going past the surf break)
Bouldery terrain with a mix of sand and dark rocks
Edge of channel and bouldery reef

And for those trolling oama:

4 to 6 foot fluorocarbon leader
front hook through nostrils, rear hook past the ventral (anal) fin
30 to 75 feet away from you
liveliest oama (but wounded or freshly dead still work if that’s all you have)

Please keep in mind I haven’t caught anything big this season but I am getting a lot of strikes when the above conditions come together.

It’s not worth fishing during heavy storms

August 8, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

I’m writing this as the downgraded Tropical Storm Iselle passes by Oahu. There are a lot of valid reasons to avoid fishing during bad weather. Strong winds, heavy rain, rogue waves, polluted runoff…

And in my recent experience the fish stop biting before the bad weather hits. They feel the drop in atmospheric pressure and hunker down until the system passes. Even the oamas in my tubs are doing that. During this present storm they ate a little and then settled on the bottom of the tub.

So its best to sit out the bad weather, let the brown water clear, and then resume fishing. The fish will have ended their hibernation and be eating to make up for lost time.

Kaku at the He’eia Fishpond

June 14, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

Paepae o He’eia fishpond at minus tide (zoom in to see the fisher folk on the wall)

Some friends and I had the privilege of fishing the Paeapae o He’eia fishpond on their first predator eradication day of the summer. The purpose of these predator eradication days is to provide some education about the ocean and the working fish pond, and lessen the predatory pressure the herbivore fish feel from the kaku, papio, toau and tilapia. So you can spend a day fishing and picnicking with friends and family, and feel good that you’re helping the pond!

The good folks at the pond welcomed us, provided an orientation tour for those who were interested and made sure we knew what we needed to know to stay safe.

Soon we were off and fishing. Right away, small kaku were brought up on bait by others but it took our group 3 hours to catch our first one. We had to wait for the tide to rush in through the “makaha” gates in order to get the kaku wildly feeding on the bait fish.

The kaku bit our flashy gold and silver/blue kastmasters and preferred the smaller 3/8 oz size to the 1/2 oz size but the 1/2 oz size did yield the largest fish. It was a challenging day in a very relaxing setting surrounded by happy families who out fished us with their Snoopy rods.

don’t be too impressed…

Looks like a great catch but if you zoom in, you’ll notice that the Sprite can is a diminutive 7.5 ouncer! Our job was to eradicate predators so out they went.

To learn more about the Paepae o He’eia Fishpond and their charter to preserve the Hawaii fishpond culture and heritage, please visit them here.

Kinda flat on the Flats

May 29, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

The plan was to have the visiting fishermen, Justin and Pete, feel the raw power of an oio racing across the flats. Unfortunately the oio had other plans.

There were a number of waders, dunkers and bait casters targeting the oio, and some of them got their intended quarry but we just got a few random reef fish.

Highlights were an omilu on Justin’s first cast, and a Hawaiian knifefish for me, which is some kind of small nabeta. Justin had another story of the one that got away; this time I wasn’t around to witness because I was off fishing unproductive water.

We fished a new area of the flats and I wasn’t able to find the productive channels the oio frequent.

Lesson learned: Fish the flats on a rising tide before the inside section heats up from the morning sun. Once that happens, fish the deeper channels closer to the break.

some sort of nabeta?