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?

Small kine omilu action

May 28, 2014 By Scott 4 Comments

Pete’s first omilu

Took Justin and Pete from Berkeley, CA out while the reef was low enough to wade to the breakers. Pete, whose main sport is cycling, got the hang of avoiding snags and did a number on the fish. He went from losing hinaleas in the pot holes yesterday to catching a mix bag of omilu, various types of hinalea and a humu.

Justin’s first ever omilu

Justin tried his homemade Thai fish sauce flavored bait and brought in omilu and hinalea, and ended the day with a mystery fish that broke him off just as we were about to leave.

The omilus bit best as the tide started to come into the reef, even though it was after 9am. I like these fish that allow us to sleep in a bit.

Pete and Justin w/the state fish

Sorry for the bad PhotoShopping. Didn’t want to upset the regulars by revealing the location. All the fish were released.

Tomorrow we plan to hunt the oio on the flats.

Fishing the Diamond Head – Waikiki Fisheries Management Area on a blustery day

May 27, 2014 By Scott 3 Comments

Potholing the FMA

Justin from Berkeley CA was researching spots to fish for his upcoming South Shore visit and stumbled upon the posts about the Diamond Head – Waikiki FMA. He contacted me and along with his friend Pete, we fished the area of the FMA that’s wadeable on the minus tide.

The 15 – 20 mph trade winds made it hard to cast against the wind so we “pot holed” the cracks and crevices in the reef and cast with the wind onto the shallow reef.

The reef fish bit furiously but quite a few immediately holed up in the rocks and avoided being yanked out. Maybe we broke some jaws today.

Chop and slop

Justin won “the fish that got away” honors for the black tip reef shark that bit a long Makata Lure strip but the shark rubbed the hook off on a rock. Sounds like a fish story but I saw the 5 foot shark swimming towards us. I guess the folks at Makata Lures have to update the packaging to say “Papio, moi, kaku and shark”.

Since Justin and Pete didn’t strike me as poachers from the mainland, or guys that would expose the hot spots on the internet, we’ll be going to another spot tomorrow for a little omilu action.

Different conditions, different bait, different results

May 10, 2014 By Scott 2 Comments

Yesterday I went back to the flats to try a new cut bait, aku belly. I was told that the smell of aku belly draws the predator fish like papio and kaku in, so I geared up with 20lb test fluorocarbon and a bigger bait casting rod/reel. The wind was light and the skies were clearer which allowed me to see the hinalea and moana flitting around but also provided the predator fish a good view of me and my offerings.

I didn’t get any hits after about 15 mins so I dropped the aku belly bait in front of the hinalea and they sniffed and retreated. I then put on a piece of my go to secret bait and they immediately swarmed that. I guess aku belly isn’t high on the list of delicacies for reef fish.

I swapped between the few secret baits I had and aku belly. Caught a 7 inch omilu on the secret bait before I ran out of it.

It was a slow bite on a beautifully calm, clear day. There were 2 fly fisherpeople working the shallows. Then a small skiff came in and its fly fishing occupants got out and joined the sight fishing activity. I was told that a few small oio were sighted but they didn’t want to eat feathers and fur.

Take away: Aku belly isn’t the best bait to drag the flats unless the larger predators are in. Clear conditions cause the fish to be very wary. Or maybe it was because I didn’t use the orange weight?

South Shore Inshore Sweep on the orange weight!

May 7, 2014 By Scott 4 Comments

calm, overcast conditions

The flats were calm with light Kona winds and overcast skies. Tide was too low for the surfboard so I walked it.

Great day to try the weights painted orange to resemble the eggs of sand turtles.

After 45 mins of inactivity I gave the orange weight 5 more casts before changing back to the regular red color, and boom, an almost legal omilu hit.

Then two legal moanas bit near the reef dropoff.

The bite slowed so I tried the gold kastmaster and all I got was a very confident lizardfish.

Back to the orange weight and cut bait and an oio was on! Papio, oio and goatfish, is that close to an Oahu inshore sweep?

Not sure if the orange color helped but it didn’t seem to hurt.

Decided to catch, photograph and release (CPR) so the fish were alive and moving when I took their pics.

South Shore oio on the flats

May 3, 2014 By Scott 4 Comments

I’m new at fishing the flats for oio. I’ve caught them, though rarely, off sandy beaches and in deep reef channels but am new to stalking them on the south shore flats. The first time I did this, my friend hooked one in a sandy channel as we waded a minus tide but I got blanked. The second time the tide was filling in nicely but I think the sun was too high and the oio had come and gone. Third time’s the charm.

Yesterday, it was overcast and just finished raining in the early afternoon, and the tide had already risen to half a foot. That translated to about 2 feet on the flats. I waded out, casting, while dragging my board. Caught a small omilu on my 3rd cast but figured the slapping sound the board was making would scare the oio so I straddled and cast. 2 casts later I hooked a screamer. I felt kind of foolish sitting on my board in 2 feet of water holding the rod as high as I could so I eventually got off and tried to keep the line off the reef. I was expecting to feel the line rub against the reef followed by me yelling as I got cut off, but I guess the flats don’t have protruding coral heads. The fish made runs of 50 yds or more against the smooth drag of the Calcutta 200 TE bait caster and eventually tired.

Since I had lost the previous 3 oio to coral heads and my friend wanted to make fish cake, I bagged it. I did feel a little bad about killing the fly fisher’s catch and release quarry.

I rested my arms a bit and floated out to a sandy channel and 2 casts later I was on another oio. Before I could decide whether to keep this one it unhooked. Another small omilu and the bite was over even though my fish finder was metering fish on the flats and in the channels. Maybe the tide got too high and the oio made it inside to the shoreline?

I have some theories regarding why the fish bit when and where they did, and even have a secret rig to try out, so I guess I have to go back and gather more data! Click here to see how the experimental rig worked out.

Unscented Lures: Kastmaster, the flashy casting lure

April 30, 2014 By Scott 10 Comments

modified kastmasters

Kastmasters are an old school favorite in Hawaii. As the name implies, the lure’s streamlined profile casts really well, even into the wind. Its shiny, machined surface is beveled to cause it to flash as it swims enticingly. If you pause and let it fall, it flutters to the bottom like a dying fish.

The stock treble hook it comes with is notoriously weak and prone to snagging the reef so a suggested modification would be to replace that hook with a single “siwash” hook. I use Gamakatsu “open eye” siwash hooks that have an eye that can be slipped over a split ring and then crimped tight. I’ve heard that the kastmaster sinks with the printed side up so I position the siwash hook such that the point is facing up not down. In theory this minimizes snags.

If you want to add further modifications, you can purchase the kastmaster with the trailer attachment, and add a stick on eye to the front of the lure. I can’t tell you if those mods increase my catch rate but they don’t seem to hurt.

I get way more bites dragging cut bait than on the kastmaster but if something hits the kastmaster usually it’s a good one. I try to start with the kastmaster and if I do get a hit on the kastmaster often that’ll be the only hit in that area until I switch to bait.

moana on 3/8oz gold kastmaster

Use the kastmaster when you’re fishing near the water’s surface, to impart the right action. If you’re fishing too shallow, say shallower than 4 feet of water, you may end up getting snagged a lot. The blue/silver version attracts papio, kaku and awa awa, and the gold and rainbow trout version attracts moana and other reef fish. Use the smallest size you can cast since the prey you’re imitating is often pretty small. The 3/8 oz size will get more hits than the 1/2 oz size, and anything larger will lessen the number of hits but may attract a monster fish.

Click here to see how effective the gold kastmaster was on the He’eia Fishpond kaku.

For a summary of other bait and lures you could use, click here.

Live bait: Sand turtles – not really a turtle

April 28, 2014 By Scott 13 Comments

sand turtles

Sand turtles are called sand crabs or sand fleas on the Mainland. Reptile lovers can rest easy, they are a crustacean that burrow in the sand near the water’s edge. They are often caught on sloping beaches with fine sand, but are even present on grainy, pebbly beaches as those in the picture were.

They seem to always be present until you try to catch them. My theory is that they don’t like the heat of day, so early in the morning or in the late afternoon, on a low tide, may be best.

The most comprehensive writeup regarding capture, preservation and use as bait refers to the Florida version but all that’s mentioned applies to our sand turtles too. Click here for that guide.

ika tied to a beach vine

Traditionally fisherpeople in HI would use string or cord they found on the beach and attach some kind of bait on one end, and tie the other end to a stick. If left to be pushed around with the incoming water, eventually a swarm of sand turtles could be dug up nearby. A more streamlined version is to simply zip tie the bait to a stick and stake the stick in the water, with the bait buried. A piece of ika, chosen for its strong scent and toughness, is a popular bait. Click here for an even easier way to catch sand turtles.

The sand turtles molt like other crabs and shrimp, and the fish can tell the soft shell versions from the regular versions. Fish also love the females that are carrying orange eggs. If you’re lucky enough to have either soft shell or egg laden sand turtles, use those first.

On the mainland, the fish that eat the sand turtles just gulp them down so the hook point can run through the top of the shell, but here on our reefs we have a lot of nibblers that will try to suck out the good stuff and leave you with an empty shell.

The best way to hook the sand turtle is to turn it over and place the point of the hook through the “digger” or slender triangular piece that starts from the turtle’s back and points forward. That will prevent the turtle from burying itself. Drive the point through the top of the shell and then bring it back through the top so the point of the hook ends up facing downward.

You can dunk the sand turtle or slow drag it along a sandy bottom. Moi, oio, goat fish and papio love them, as well as the other reef denizens you may not want to catch.

For a summary of other bait and lures you could use, click here.

Ocean Expo 2014

April 7, 2014 By Scott 1 Comment

Ocean Expo 2014

I checked out the Ocean Expo on its first day and missed the GT Masters tourney weigh in on Sunday. Heard the winning ulua weighed 43.1 lbs. Not 100 lbs like last year but still a legit tournament winnah.

Saw a couple friends manning booths, made some new friends and learned a lot about the local fishing and fishery management. It’s definitely worth attending to get a better understanding of what the various conservation groups are doing to improve our local fishery. Not to mention the ono seafood grinds and special deals on clothing and gear.

Officer Vance of DLNR

I talked with DLNR Officer Vance and he said, despite rumors to the contrary, the DLNR do follow up on reports of fishing violations. For example, someone sent the DLNR pictures of a guy illegally throw netting, and included the license plate of the offender’s truck. Officer Vance was able to locate the offender’s house and searched the home and found a set of illegal nets. The nets were confiscated, the offender lost his court case and was fined hundreds of dollars. Officer Vance stressed that we keep calling in the reports of offenses and if there is a pattern, the DLNR will stake out the area and wait for the crimes to be committed. While there is a shortage of DLNR enforcement officers they do look into every reported tip. You can reach DLNR at 643-DLNR (643-3567).

Poll closed – The Gulp lure eating offender is revealed

April 2, 2014 By Scott Leave a Comment

The people have voted, and were correct. The fish responsible for destroying my Gulp lures were the humuhumunukunukuāpua’as. They couldn’t get their relatively small mouth around the large weedless hook I was using so they whittled down the back of the lures like a pack of piranhas.

I’m not sure why there were so many of them at this one spot but needless to say, I moved to another spot to fish!

Thanks for participating in our first poll.

What’s the best bait or lure to use for nearshore fishing in Hawaii?

April 2, 2014 By Scott 28 Comments

modified kastmasters

I was a lure fishing purist. I even dabbled with tying flies and customizing Kastmaster lures. It seemed more sporting to fool a fish to bite something man-made, and lures were a lot easier to acquire than bait. But I got skunked way too many times and reluctantly tried dead bait, and then live bait. Lure fishing in HI has its place but bait, particularly live bait, is KING.

Bait and lures can be broken down into the following categories:

Live bait – oama (juvenile goatfish), halalu (juvenile big eyed scad mackeral), nehu (Hawaiian anchovy), o’pae (shrimp), sand turtles (mole crabs), etc
Dead/cut bait – oama, tako (octopus), ika (squid), “California” shrimp, aku belly, etc
Scented lures – Berkley Gulp, Berkley Powerbait, etc
Unscented lures – plastic grubs/strips, flies, feather jigs, metal spoons, metal jigs, swimming plugs, etc

There’s too much detail to cover in one post so I’ll summarize the categories and cover them in future posts.

Live Bait

The best live bait for the larger nearshore fish, by far, is live oama. Oama school up in the shallow, sandy areas in the late summer because the predator fish are hunting them mercilessly. Halalu season overlaps with oama season, so the summer and early fall is the best period to nearshore fish. If you can catch nehu, `opae and sand turtles and fish them near where you caught them you’ll have much better odds than using dead bait or lures.

Click here to read about the basics of oama fishing.

Click here to read about keeping your oama alive as long as possible.

Click here to read about catching sand turtles.

Click here to read about catching regular `opae.

Click here to read about catching the larger `opae lolo.

Dead Bait

papio caught with frozen oama

Animals release chemicals when they die and thus, smell differently than alive. Freezing bait changes their chemical makeup further. So a defrosted bait definitely smells different to a fish than a live bait. If properly handled and frozen, oama and tako are effective defrosted bait but are much better used freshly dead. Aku belly is much better used fresh. Ika and shrimp should be cut up in their proper presentation size, salted and then frozen to prevent them from getting too mushy.

Scented Lures

There are a number of lures that are impregnated with scent to smell like the bait they are imitating. Berkley’s Gulp lures are the best known and come in many shapes. I’ve tried them with moderate results. Fish in HI that are attracted by smell, like humus, hinaleas, rock fish seem to like these lures. Others may have had better results but the best fish I’ve caught with them were moana. Because they are actually made from a fish food substance, the lure action isn’t as pliable as the better soft plastics.

Unscented Lures

Bait fish and crustaceans in Hawaii are very quick moving because the warm water keeps their metabolism up. Fast moving, jerky lures often do well imitating these creatures. The very popular plastic bubble pulling a plastic strip/grub or fly is very effective when popped erratically because the popping makes the predators think they’re missing out on a feeding frenzy. Metal spoons like Kastmasters and Krocadiles, cast well and can be jigged deep. The new metal jigs with assist hooks can be cast out and retrieved in deeper water, or fished vertically from a boat or kayak. Lipped and non-lipped swimming plugs imitate bait fish and are great whipping and trolling lures.

Click here to read about modifying Kastmasters.

Click here to read about my favorite unscented lures of 2016.

Click here to read how well the Japanese Domestic Model (JDM) sub-surface lure has worked, right out of the gate.

Click here if you were wondering if JDM whipping lures were worth the higher price.

Click here to check out the Store to purchase JDM whipping lures, jigs and flies (if they aren’t sold out).