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Whipping Lure Recommendations by Junior Angler

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Matthew: Over the past few years, I have been experimenting with lures, from bottom dragging lures to subsurface, to topwater. I found that topwater is generally better from around 6 am to 9 am and 4pm to 7pm. Subsurface lures still work well during those hours, but I feel that due to the low light the fish can see a topwater lure better because there’s less glare in their eyes. During those midday hours is when those subsurface lures work the best. Here is a list of some of the lures I like, although some I can only provide limited information about. I only use lures I have good faith in.

Editor: 3/8 oz gold Kastmaster was the Moana killer from the surfboard

Kastmasters: Kastmasters are good because like the name suggests, they cast very far. They also catch fish. I use Kastmasters in just about any type of water, whereas other lures are limited to certain conditions, tides, and water clarity. I cast them out as far as I can and burn it in pretty fast. You can also jig it like a jig or run it on the surface like a topwater lure, but I find it best to burn it fast. ¼ or ⅜ size is my favorite, anything over ½ is too big for my style.

Editor: This Sammy came from Japan in coloration not seen in the US market.

Lucky Craft Sammy: I like the Sammy as one of my favorite topwater lures because of the great walking action it has. However, it is a little too chubby to be the best lure, and due to the chubbiness, the Kaku often hit it and miss the hooks. However, it has some of the best walking action out there. Great lure to learn how to “walk the dog”.

Editor: Stainless steel Japanese trolling hook installed.

Shimano Waxwing Baby: The Waxwing is good because of its small profile (2.68 inch) and the great motion. The lure has “wings” that make it move from side to side, but I don’t rip it because in my opinion if it swings too aggressively it scares away the fish. The double hooks it’s supposed to be used with make it pretty snag proof, but 75% of the time the fish will miss it. I’ve been experimenting with treble hooks on the Waxwing and the hookup ratio has increased, but the snag ratio has also increased. Uncle Scott recommends using the stronger, shorter, stainless steel double hook used for small aku squid skirts that the tackle shops sell. They are expensive but the hookup ratio greatly improves.

Duel Hardcore Heavy Shot: I like the Heavy Shot because it punches through the wind even better than a kastmaster and has a good sinking and swimming action. It is classified as a Heavy Swimmer. Only bad part about this lure is that it sinks pretty fast, so I don’t use it on the flats too often.

Ima Komomo Counter: I really like the Komomo because like a lot of other lipless minnows, it has a wide, more natural side to side action than traditional lipped minnows, and is also heavy yet floats, so it punches through the wind very well. All the color patterns on Ima are pretty fit for Hawaii if you don’t chose the Akakin (reddish orange) color.

Shimano Coltsniper 80F Twitch: The Coltsniper is a solid lure, like the Kastmaster, functioning in all types of water. The pink-silver color draws in the fish and on a choppy day, helps them zone in on the bobbing lure. I fish it by dipping its head, which drives the Kaku insane.

Daiwa Shoreline Shiner Vertice Z: The Vertice is a floating that dives to about a foot, with a very lifelike side to side wiggle that gets Papio to commit unlike other lures. When fished fast however, Kaku sometimes aim ahead and cut the line. Best to use a slow to medium speed retrieve for maximum wobble. It casts very well into the wind due to its weight transfer system and streamlined body, and comes in a variety of realistic colors. The slim profile matches mullet, oama, and all of the baitfish in our waters.

Shimano Flash Boost: This new product by Shimano has an interesting new feature – a vibrating metallic foil plate in the middle. When it shakes, it creates a huge flash that is supposed to increase the catch rate. It also has more realistic scales. It is 99mm and floats. True to its name, Shallow Assassin, it dives shallow and has a wobbling action similar to the Vertice Z. It does not come with a split ring, so I’ve found for certain lures I have to add the split ring to make the action right.

Note that my experience is limited to shoreline fishing no deeper than 15 feet deep, and only a few spots. All of these lures will work but each shines in its own conditions. I throw them on a Medium-Light spinning rod and a Medium baitcasting rod. I throw the heavier lures on the baitcaster for more distance and less tangles.

Holoholo: Using inexpensive level wind bait caster for shore whipping

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Matthew explains in very relateable terms how level wind bait casters have become a joy to fish, once he got past the learning curve.

Matthew: Yes, I use a baitcaster for whipping, but not the kind you would use for Oio or Ulua. Uncle Scott had done a review on level-wind baitcasters in 2017, but I thought it would be good to revisit the topic, especially with the success I’ve had with them recently.

The kind of baitcaster that Scott, a few others, and I use in Hawaii are the bass reels that are made on the mainland. He uses the Tranx 400 along with a few other baitcasters like the Concept Z. I, however, am not willing to pay the large amount of money it takes to get one of those better reels, so here I am with my Abu Garcia Blackmax. It still is a very good reel, but it has more tangles than the rest of the reels also.

I use my Blackmax for whipping for Kaku, Papio, and whatever else will bite the lures I am throwing. I find it really shines in sub-surface lures, but I find it really lacks in popper and walk-the-dog lure fishing. It is hard to reel up the slack fast enough to continuously fish a popper the right way, and in walk-the-dog lures, I have a hard time walking any lure at all.

I originally started with spinners, until I saw a guy fishing the shoreline with those bass reels I had seen on mainland bass fishing videos. It kind of started curiosity about baitcasters. I researched more about baitcasters, until I finally realized that Uncle Scott used baitcasters also. I purchased the cheapest reel I could find, the Abu Garcia Blackmax, which I bought for 48 dollars. At the time, I thought that was really expensive, but it wasn’t until later I started getting into better spinning reels, like the Ultegra, and that isn’t even close to the top of the line.


I spooled some line on it and tried to figure out how to even release the line into free spool mode. It took me a while to figure that out. When I finally did that, I couldn’t figure out why the line was bunching up on one side of the reel until I realized there was a hole I had to place the line through first. Duh. I finally got comfortable with the small five meter casts, and then I tried to bomb it as far as I could. Big mistake. At the time I couldn’t figure out why it kept tangling each time I casted. So, I tossed the rod and reel in the storage closet until I finally met up with Uncle Scott. He showed me some quick tips and how to fish it better. From then on, I fished it a lot more, and eventually got proficient at it.

One thing I find good about the baitcaster is if there is no wind, then you can cast it a lot farther than a spinner would. If there is a tailwind, like in one spot I fish, then you can cast farther than I would have ever imagined a cast can go. However, if there is a frontal wind, baitcast fishing sucks. You will get wind knots if you have braid, and almost certainly get tangled a few times. Another plus about baitcasters is the conveniency of casting. I can cast with only one hand if I really want to, even if it casts a little less than a two handed cast, it still is good if you need to rest your other hand for a short while before reeling it in. Baitcasters in general are just lighter than spinners too.

If you were to purchase a baitcaster, I would suggest that you ask Scott or any other guy you know that fishes a baitcaster. Look for the gear ratio, which if you read it right, it can tell you how many inches per crank it retrieves. I am currently looking for a high speed baitcaster. Another thing you want to look for in baitcasters is the line capacity. Most of the reels on the mainland only have 100 or so yards, because bass don’t run at all. You want to have a baitcaster fit for Hawaii’s hard running gamefish, so 200+ yards in case you run into a big Papio. If you have any questions for me, shoot me a question through my email, matthewikeda808@gmail.com.

Holoholo: Japan tackle shopping and fishing recap by Matthew

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Frequent guest poster Matthew was able to travel with his family to Japan during Spring Break and enjoy the food, tackle deals and fishing opportunities. Thanks for sharing your experience with us Matt, makes me want to go to Japan now!

Matthew: Warning: this is going to be a long one, so if you don’t have time, stop right here.

Over spring break I had a lot of fun. The day after I got out of school, I went fishing at my secret spot and got two Kaku and a Papio on some JDM’s (Japan Domestic Model products). I left for Japan, hoping to find more JDM’s and some fish.

We arrived in Osaka, stayed one night, then rode a local train to Kyoto, where we saw the monkey park and some other attractions. I found a Tackle Berry store, where I got some new used lures, even some JDM’s, some such as the Ima P-CE, and a lot others I will not name. However, the highlight of that store was a used Daiwa Sealine 250, which I got for only eight bucks. Must be a fake right? Nope, tried it when I got home and everything works fine, except for a few scratches and it being an old model.

In Tokyo, the food was so good, and one ramen place had the best ramen I’ve ever tasted. We visited Ichigaya Fishing Center, which has carp ponds. You have to pay to fish there, but it is worth it as you can catch up to twenty in an hour. I enjoyed fighting the carp on an ultra light handpole and a barbless hook. I was happy for my family, which all landed a fish. My mom and sister even landed one!

We visited the Joshuya in Shibuya, where I found the new Duel Hardcore shallow runner, which may be a limited edition, so get it while you still can. At a good price it should be 11-12 dollars in US conversion. For a general Yen price move the decimal two to the left. The shallow runner works very well, and is better than most lipped minnows, as it is not lipped, and has sort of like a built in lip, like all other Japanese lures. It is 90 millimeters and is floating, and has a knocker. Be careful not to get the mid diver, which looks exactly like it. It runs less than a foot below water when used correctly.

I also got a Pugachev’s Cobra, which is a lure that Uncle Thad likes so much. Now that I’ve tried it myself, I can see why. But for 90 millimeters it is highly priced at 19 dollars or up, some even going for 24 dollars on Amazon and Ebay. It walks very well, with a wide side to side motion. I also got a few more lures, but I have been warned to not mention their names. One works very well, with a slim nose and a nice surface action, moving around very erratically. We went to Shinjuku the next day, where we tried a fish foot spa. Some of you may have seen the video of me in the foot spa on my instagram – @shorefishing_oahu_style, but if you haven’t, then go check it out, it’s kind of funny. We went to the Tackle Berry there, where I found a used conventional for only ten dollars. Seems like Tackle Berry has good deals on used items. On research, I found out it was last made in the mid to late 1960s and was an Abu Garcia reel.

I picked up a lure that Uncle Thad had recommended, called the Daiwa Switch Hitter. It is 105 millimeters and has a neat S moving pattern 2 inches under the surface, which should drive the Kaku mad. I was lucky to find it marked off 30% of its original price, 17 dollars.

We went to a tonkatsu place next, where the chicken and pork tonkatsu was so soft, it melted in my mouth. I really liked that place.

The last fishing store we stopped at was Sansui, which is very confusing. They have two different “parts” that are broken up into four different stores, all within 1000 feet of each other. It was a huge challenge to find the saltwater part, and although it is a great place, I would advise you to not come here unless you know exactly which store you are going to, and which kind of fishing you are looking for. I purchased a Ima Komomo, which also was 90 millimeters and a diving bait with a knocker.

After five days in Tokyo, we left for Hakone, by Lake Ashi. We arrived there when it was already cold, but I couldn’t resist but to throw some lures. We ended up catching 11 smelt, but no bass or trout. After, we ate a traditional Kaiseki meal, with nine courses, which made me think my belly was going to burst. We stayed in a traditional Ryokan, with even a real Onsen. An Onsen is a lava-fed spring pool with minerals that are supposed to help with relaxation and skin issues. Only bad thing is that you have to get naked to go in there. With strangers. It was packed too, which was not good for privacy. Overall, I enjoyed the Ryokan though. The next morning, the lake was so glassy, that I couldn’t resist throwing topwater even though it was only 30 degrees fahrenheit. I somehow got a bite on my switch hitter, but it missed and was too lazy to come back for it in the cold weather.

We left Odawara Station for Osaka shortly after. When we got there, we checked into our hotel, which was very nice and in a good location. The food in Osaka was very good, unlike the fishing. I had the best crab ever at a street vendor selling king crab, Kani as they call it.

We left at five in the morning for a place in Misaki, for fishing. It was supposed to be good, but I ended up not getting a bite for four hours, and just watched my bobber move with the waves. My mom bought live Halalu, or Aji as they call it, to try lure in the Hiramasa (Japanese yellowtail). I had one do a heart-stopping circle around it before watching it leave. Again. Back to bobber fishing. Waited for another hour and a half, until, finally, I saw my bobber twitch. I broke out of my trance and watched it more carefully. Sure enough, it started moving fast across the surface. I set the hook hard, and a screamer was on. What could it be? Finally done with the junk fish, I thought to myself, and for sure a new species. No. No. No. No. No. It seems like bad luck follows me everywhere. After 30 well-fought seconds, I pulled up a fully inflated… Puffer. A puffer. Not those same pests you catch all the time in Hawaii, these can sell for hundreds of dollars per fish. But still, I was happy to finally catch a fish, but sad that it was a puffer. I was so discouraged by that, so that we left shortly after giving the Tora Fugu to a local fisherman, who was enormously grateful.

We left for Hawaii the next day, thinking about the crummy fishing, but also about how good the food was. I didn’t have a single meal that tasted bad or even mediocre in Japan. Now, time to test the JDMs. I tried my luck with the Kaku and got very lucky. I quickly got three kaku within only 45 minutes.

Next, I wanted to try bass fishing. I went to a stream and casted my topwater lure. Almost instantly, a nice size smallie demolished my bait and put up a very nice fight. I later caught a smaller one that I trapped in a pond before taking pictures.

Overall, it was a very good break and I hope to get more action on my JDM’s, and more good food like in Japan.

Matt (who is too tired to complete another long bait report)

I will do a brief bait report.

Sardines: Few, rare at this time of season

Halalu: Two piles I know of

Oama: Starting to come in, seven spots I know of

Iao: Plenty, almost everywhere

Nehu: Same as Iao

Fred Hall Show 2019 – Part II

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Axel Valdez of Hotel Buena Vista

Last year, Steve of Promar / Ahi USA introduced me to Axel Valdez, co-owner of the renown Hotel Buena Vista on the East Cape of Baja Mexico. Steve highly recommended the family owned hotel for their hospitality and fish catching prowess.

Felipe Valdez of Felipe Valdez Sport Fishing

This year, I was able to meet Axel’s brother Felipe, who recently launched his independent guide service, Felipe Valdez Sport Fishing. Felipe puts together customized trips that could include surf fishing for roosterfish, panga (wooden motorized skiff) fishing for nearshore and bottom fish, and cruiser fishing for pelagics. He could even take a kayak out on a cruiser and put us right on the fish, equipped with live bait. East Cape trips are very affordable compared to farther destinations, and because the Hotel Buena Vista is rustic, clients don’t have to pay 5 star prices. Since their warm water species are similar to our jacks, grouper, mahi, tuna and marlin, we could use our own gear and techniques to try to land them. Makes for an easy destination fishing trip from Hawaii. Our crew is trying to see if we can put together a trip for next year’s prime season!

I sought out Ali Hussainy of the Bloody Decks website and the Local Knowledge fishing show. Bloody Decks started as a fishing forum, I believe, and is now the world’s largest saltwater fishing website. If you haven’t watched their tv show Local Knowledge on YouTube, the focus is to compare and contrast SoCal fishing with Florida fishing. Makes for some interesting background on the two fisheries and some serious smack talking. I told Ali I manage a tiny Hawaii based fishing website and would welcome any advice he had on how to grow it! Traded him a box of Hawaiian Host Caramacs and a couple NOH Poke Mixes for the original Bloody Decks t-shirt. Unfortunately they were out of the Local Knowledge shirts.

Stumbled upon the Anetik booth, maker of the world’s only UV protectant leg sleeves, as far as I know. I had read about them in a kayak fishing review when I was looking for leg protection from Man Of War stings. The “Shade Socks“, as they’re called, provide UPF 30+ coverage on feet and legs, in an ultra breathable way, and have a rubber grip at the top of the sock to keep it in place.

Pete walked me through the fashionable lineup of fishing shirts, polos, hoodies and face masks in their breathable UPF 30+ material. The show pricing was so good, I got the shade socks ( no need to put sunscreen on our legs now!), performance shirt and shade mask and will be testing them on the kayak soon.

I like the contoured fit of the shade mask. Won’t catch a lot of wind when kayak fishing. Turns out Anetik’s products are sold on Oahu and the Neighbor Islands. Check out their Hawaii retailers here.

In the outdoor perimeter of the Long Beach Convention Center, there were wading pools filled with hatchery rainbow trout kids could catch and take home, and trained dogs leaping off a ramp to catch a ball before landing into a pool of cold water.

This little pooch was just getting acclimated with the chill.

Ended the trip with a stop at an REI (Recreation Equipment Inc) store, to bring home reusable canvas bags for the wife. She loves these because they wash and dry without distorting as they shrink. For $5.99 they are a pretty good deal to be used as grocery bags and gift satchels.

Fred Hall Show 2019 – Part I

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Being able to talk with the major fishing brands in one setting was too hard to pass up. The crew who provide reviews for this website couldn’t make the trip so I went solo and opted to use Lyft to get around.

I hit up the vendors on the first two days of the show, Wednesday and Thursday, while they were still fresh. Last year, when Erik and I hit the show on the weekend, the guys in the booths were swamped and glassy eyed.

A lot of the guys we met last year weren’t there this year, but I did meet some new folks and learned a lot about the products we use and hope to use. The show focuses on Southern California fishing and Alaskan / Mexican destination fishing lodges, but I was able to see a bunch of products and services that would interest us back home in Hawaii.

I had been tracking the Bixpy electric “jet” motor that mounts to a kayak’s rudder for a while. The jet motor has such a compact footprint on the rudder and the lithium ion battery is so small and light, that someone could paddle around without running the motor and not be negatively impacted.

My concern was how long the jet motor and lithium battery would last in the salt since together they cost $1000. The Bixpy rep said the motor should be able to run maintenance free for a few years, and then would be easily repairable at the factory. The lithium battery, however, would need to be replaced after about 3 years of normal use, and a replacement battery would cost about $500. That’s still cheaper than the $1800 plus Torqueedo kayak motor.

Since one of my favorite sales guys, Rick Carr, was repping Minn Kota electric motors at the show, I stopped by to understand how much it would cost to mount a salt water trolling motor on my new Ocean Kayak Trident Ultra 4.3. Rick recommended the Minn Kota Riptide Transom Mount 45lb thrust with “Digital Maximizer” that efficiently conserves battery power. List price is about $320, and it would be mounted off the right side of the kayak, behind my seat, and I’d control it with an extended tiller. Sounds like I know what I’m talking about huh? I’m not a boat/motor guy so it took a while for me to understand the terminology. This would be the least expensive way to add a motor to my yak but the downside would be the added weight of an SLA battery and the weight/size of the electric motor hanging off the side of the kayak.

Steve and Peter Oropeza working hard and having fun in the Promar booth

Steve Oropeza, of Promar / Ahi USA, helped me get situated with the locations of the 500 plus exhibitors, and told me that Chase Baits and Hookup Baits were two of the hot lure makers this year.

Chase Baits makes very realistic swimming soft plastic squids that look like they would be effective to fish vertically. The squids were about the size of our Hawaiian cuttlefish and could be killer in low light but I opted not to get any since I still have a few lures I haven’t tested from last year!

At first glance the Hookup Baits just looked like beefed up freshwater tube baits with better hardware. But the owner Chad explained how the lures were properly weighted with Owner jig hooks to swim optimally and the durable plastic bodies were infused with fish attracting scent. Their photos of the saltwater bass, yellowtail, and tuna with Hookup Baits hanging out of their mouths spoke to the effectiveness of the easy-to-fish lure. The lures could be cast and retrieved like you’d retrieve a weighted soft plastic, or fished off the bottom in a hopping manner. The silhouettes really replicated the bait fish they were imitating. I picked up some 3/8 oz jig head versions to whip with, and some 1 oz jig head versions to fish vertically.

A friend wanted me to pick up a Nomad Design DTX Minnow in the 6.5 inch, 3.75 oz size to troll fast and deep for pelagics. They are the hot offshore brand of lures from Australia that are encased in hard plastic, wired throughout the body, and rigged with heavy duty inline single BKK hooks. I can’t troll a lure faster than 3 mph so I decided to try the Nomad Design Maverick, in the 5.5 inch, 1.5 oz size. The Maverick is a very versatile lure that floats, and can be popped, walked or retrieved so it swims underwater in a gurgling S-shaped pattern. I’m thinking I can put the Maverick out as I paddle around, and retrieve it on the surface when I get to a fishy spot.

Stay tuned for Part II covering a Mexican destination bucket list trip, UV protection leggings for kayak fishing, dogs jumping into frigid water on command and more!

Holoholo: Heeia Fishpond La Holoholo – January 2019

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Our middle school Holoholo writer Matthew provided this catch report/safety tip/bait report to let us know we can still catch fish in January.

Matthew:
Heeia fishpond was having a fundraiser La Holoholo in January, So I signed up for it. When I got there and walked out, the first half of the pond was totally murky, with only 2 inch visibility. I was super worried, but when I got further out, the water turned clear (because of the water flow in the makahas).

I got there, with not a single bite for the first two hours, but then when the tide changed, I saw a big school of very small nehu. I put the smallest kastmaster I had, and casted outside of the pond. I got a few bumps, then looked and realized a school of Omilu was on the lure. I had a big one on, but it fell off immediately. As soon as the lure came off, a small one picked it up and I was on. It fought hard for just a little 11 incher, and I netted it after a short and feisty fight.

I kept casting it and landed a kaku on the inside of the pond, maybe around 15 inches. I then landed a kaku on the outside, around 13 inches, and tagged it. I started dunking in the inside. I then continued to whip on the outside, but got no more bites for around an hour. Then I got a blind omilu strike out of nowhere, but since I was not expecting it, I didn’t land it. I kept covering ground, and eventually got a 19 inch kaku on the outside that bent the only treble of the tiny hook I hooked it on. I changed the hooks then kept fishing.

I came back to see my dunking line all slack and leading towards the rocks. I knew it was an eel, so I locked down the drag completely and boosted it in. It was a ticked off “green head puhi”, and a fat one too, around 3.5 to 4 feet long and maybe 10 pounds. I got a pic of it, and cut the line. There was a large portion trailing out of the mouth, and I felt bad, so I reached closer to cut it. A VERY fatal mistake. The surprised eel lashed out and bit me two times. It hurt pretty bad, and I was mad so I kicked the eel very hard into the water, and then washed my hand off with saltwater. In case of an eel bite, their teeth do not inject toxin, but they have lots of bacteria on it. It is best to put pressure on the wound after washing it off and removing any teeth if they fall off. You should then put hydrogen peroxide on it and bandage it up. Keep putting ointment on it, and if it gets infected go see a doctor. The easiest way to prevent it is not to put your hands near an eel’s mouth, as this is a dumb injury. The day wasn’t worth it, but in total I tagged four more fish, bringing my total up to 53 total tagged fish. I hope to reach 80 by the end of 2019.

Bait Report
Most bait schools are gone, although there is one halalu school I still know of that’s hanging around. Early/late oama are coming in, and are very small. Wait a month or so, then they will be catching size. Small nehu are showing up everywhere and it may be a good idea to pull out the small kastmasters. The spring hatch of aholehole is happening, and a lot of those are around. Shoreline fishing is very slow with large lures, and I am catching all my fish on smaller lures now. On one trip, I got no bites at all on the big lures that killed it during the summer, but they jumped all over my small kastmaster. Yet another option again is to try smallie fishing. I like to fish for them two days after a big rain. You should also try new techniques, and I may try fly fishing during this off season. I’ve tried it before and it’s very hard, but the fight is insane. Go gettum during these hard times guys…

Holoholo: Heeia Fishpond – Trial 7

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7th Grade Matthew’s mature, insightful writing style continues to impress.  This time he blesses us with a recap of his most recent Heei’a Fishpond Holoholo Day outing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew:
Note: I have fished this place six times before and this will be my seventh time trying it. In the past I have caught Moi, Kaku, Toau, and Papio over here. There seems to be an abundance of Toau and Kaku mostly though, all feeding on Ama’ama or Nehu. In the past I have had both good days and bad days, and found that the tide is a key factor.

I had signed up for a Heeia Holoholo day, because I thought that the old heeia story posted by Scott in 2015 was long outdated and needed another story to give more info on the pond. I got to the fishpond at 8:15am, where before the introduction I caught some opae with a net and put them in our bucket. We did a little introduction to everyone fishing at the event, then headed off to go fishing. I immediately got my stuff and fast walked the ½ mile to the fourth makaha. I set up, got my oama on, sight casted a kaku, and, screamer! Of course, it snapped the line after. I set up another oama rig and went to the third makaha. There I saw a school of around 10 kaku and a few good sized omilu cruised by once in a while. What were they there for? I soon saw my answer as I spotted some large nehu school in the deep section of the area. They all did not bite my oama at all, but that was about to change soon.

The current stopped and all of a sudden, the kaku started eating everything I threw at them, even lures. In that brief 20 minute period, I tagged 9 kaku and missed many more. The person next to me landed a few papio, and a few kaku in that time also. Then, like a magic switch, the fish all of a sudden stopped biting. I could still see them there, but none were even looking at my lures or oama. I eventually gave up, and this is where the opae came in handy. I used the opae and caught a nenue, kupipi, and many toau on the opae. It seemed like the less desirable fish were still willing to bite, at least. My friends that I invited, Jesse and Jayden, were having fun with the toau and kupipi also, who were also disappointed that the Kaku bite had shut down. We fished for the remainder of the time for toau, and then sadly, our day ended very quickly. We headed back and made a few casts along the way, but nothing came out of this last ditch effort for a Papio. We said our goodbyes to Jesse and Jayden, as well as the Assistant Executive Director, Kelii. This was a good day with many Kaku, and hopefully one of them will get captured.

Overall Fish Status: Oama are still here, but get them before they get big and move past the reef. It is best to find a new and “dumb” pile instead of the larger, smart ones. Sardines are still around, but are much less preferred than the oama, unless you are fishing around a sardine pile, which then live sardines would work. Halalu are around, but many spots have been netted, so keep your halalu spots as quiet as possible. Larger fish are coming to hit the piles, and even pelagics in some select spots. Akule appear to be hanging around in a few spots also. Nehu and Iao are littered around the shoreline, so if you see a small pile, it may be a good idea to cast right past the pile and see if a predator is waiting.

Akule and Halalu fishing etiquette

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If you know anything about whipping for akule and halalu from shore, you know it’s an activity potentially prone to tangles and conflicts.  Unless you’re good enough to avoid tangles or you don’t mind conflict, you stay away from this type of close quarter fishing like I do.

But, we are very fortunate to have a 30 year akule and halalu fishing veteran on hand to share some etiquette tips on how to greatly reduce group aggravation and increase your enjoyment. He chases these fish all over Oahu and even travels to Kona when the Oahu bite is slow, and would like to keep anonymous for now.

Mr X:

The main thing is that everyone needs to respect the other fishers. If it’s crowded, look around and watch how people are fishing. Don’t squeeze in and create an uncomfortable or unsafe situation. I’ve waited 3 hours before, just to get a spot to open up. Practicing casting is key, if you can cast straight with an overhead motion then you’ll be able to fish closer to the next guy without creating an unsafe situation. Beginners should ask a lot of questions. Normally you can tell who’s been fishing halalu for a while…. ask questions and you’ll get better faster.

  • Amount of side to side space – If you can’t cast straight all the time, give yourself more space between the other fishers.
  • Don’t stand higher up or in back of someone and cast over them, you’ll snag their lines on your retrieve.
  • It’s safer to use a long leader and keep hook in water during entire cast. If you have a short leader, make sure you have plenty of space  from the next fisherman.
  • Reserving spot – if you aren’t there don’t expect your spot to be held long.
  • Don’t cross lines on cast, fish in your “lane”. Try to practice before you fish. Casting straight allows more fishermen to fish and reduces tangles.
  • If you need to cast over another line, be conscious of others. Watch where they are casting. Try to rotate casting so you’re casting outside of others as they retrieve their lines in. Think of it as a rotation, as one person reels in, you can cast over that spot. If two people cast simultaneously at the same spot they will increase the chance of a tangle.
  • Use enough drag to bring your fish in relatively straight.
  • Just remember that everyone has the right to fish, be patient with beginners, but also if you start tangling other lines often, stop and think about why. If you need practice, go to a spot away from the crowd and practice casting.

Holoholo: Junior angler’s halalu season so far

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I met Issey 2 weeks ago, as he was relishing his last few weeks of summer before starting the 8th grade. He had been fishing for 2 years and was already a very accomplished, yet humble halalu whipper in that short period of time. I asked Issey to describe his second halalu season so far.

Issey:
It was a nice sunny, bright day with days counting down till school starts. I heard rumors about the sardines and halalu in one of my places so I decided to check it out with a buddy.

In the distance, I saw people fishing but I wasn’t too sure if they were just whipping for big game or sardines/halalu. I waded my way towards the anglers and the anglers were catching plenty sardines and halalu.

I quickly set up my pole with a strip and walked out to the pile. I had plenty of bites but somehow they broke off while reeling them in. Slowly getting stressed, I managed to pick up the trick and after that I caught plenty. I ended up with 18 sardines and 13 halalu which I think is pretty good with strips.

 

 

 

I went everyday after that successful day. Eventually I noticed that big fish were whacking the pile so I threw out a dunk and managed to catch my first hammerhead shark. Also had a nice screamer free-lining a halalu. However, it broke off soon after it screamed.

Please follow my IG – @issey.abae

Halau Season 2: Trips 2 & 3

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The halalu bite was so good the previous day, and the crowd was so excited that I figured I’d better hit the school again before the area was overrun on the weekend. No one could join me so I made my first ever solo halalu expedition.  I badly needed to improve my spinning gear casting technique without much of an audience. Since the previous day’s 6 hook damashi snagged too many sardines, and my gear, I cut the damashi set down to 3 hooks. Much easier to cast and unhook.

The pile was closer to shore, in about 4 ft of water and a few guys were casting from the beach side of the pile.  I started by whipping the larger CHL Purple Obake Minnow that we fished last year, to minimize sardine bites, on a 6 ft 3lb fluoro leader.  I didn’t get any sardines on it but had to fish hard just to catch 3 halalu.  Issey, an 8th grade friend of Matt’s, was whipping with a handmade fly and long leader, doing the side jigging thing.  When he connected, he’d reel his long leader in, and then grab the last 5 ft with his hand to slide the halalu onto the beach.  Issey is a very accomplished halalu slayer, and was catching way more than I was but the bite wasn’t as good as the previous day so I put on the 3 hook damashi.  I mostly hooked sardines on the small flies, but began to get more halalu as it got closer to evening.  In 2.5 hrs I got 9 halalu.  Most of the other guys had given up because of the slow bite.

The next day was Friday, and the crew of young anglers plus a buddy Jon I met through this website a couple years ago, were gonna fish the school hard before the weekend.  Jon was the first one there and spent a lot of time finding and following the school until it settled in relatively deep water.  The middle school crew of Matt and Hunter were next to Jon when I arrived, and there were two other adult halalu regulars off to the side.   I slid in between Matt and Hunter since Hunter was live lining, and started with the 3 hook damashi but only the sardines wanted to bite.  Those 3 hooks were prone to snagging someone in the strong winds and Jon told me to use a whipping rig with long leader to be more stealthy so I went back to the CHL Purple Obake Minnow rig.  The school moved to deeper water so we had to make a 50 yd cast with the wind.  Issey joined his middle school buddies and the pau hana regulars showed up.  At times 9 guys were trying to hit the pile.  With the strong winds, crossed lines and tangles ensued.

Jon was quietly sand bagging!

Jon was using various colored strips with a long rod, long leader and what looked like a 1 oz egg sinker.  He was the high liner by far and quietly stuffed his live bait bucket til it maxed out.  Matt hoped he’d get at least 25 halalu and that’s exactly how many he had when he had to leave early.  Hunter ended up with more sardines than halalu because he started with a damashi and spent a lot of time live lining baits.  Issey had 30 halalu despite his late start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just got 12 halalu but got bumped on just about every cast when I could reach the school with my 6’6″ rod.  I did get a small kine screamer on the light halalu rig that turned out to be a lai.  Issey carefully leadered it for me and Hunter took it home for grinds.

It was fun fishing with friends, but tough to fish in the windy, crowded conditions.  I think I’m gonna wait until I hear the school is closer and spread out!

 

Halalu – Season 2

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Last year was my indoctrination into halalu fishing, casting long leaders of 3lb fluoro in cramped quarters. I gave up after 3 trips, and on my best day, only caught 5 halalu.  Search for “halalu” on this website and you can relive my struggles.

Last month, the early season halalu came into an area that wasn’t being fished too hard so Matthew, starting 7th grade this year, insisted I try halalu fishing again.  The idea of fumbling around without too many people watching appealed to me.  Since the halalu were still small, and mixed in with sardines, Matt suggested using the smallest damashi set possible and casting past the school, then slow jigging through it.  I wiped down my corroded 6’6″ Daiwa spinning rod from the 80s and put on my dad’s old Stradic 1000 FH. It still had the 4lb mono I spooled on last year and assumed it was still good.

When I found Matt at the beach, he was fishing with guys whipping strips, jigging halalu flies and even bait fishing with long poles.  Not exactly uncrowded but the school spread out enough where we could have our own lane to fish. He made room for me and I cast my 6 hook damashi rig just past the dark pile and lifted, dropped and cranked my way through.  I felt the frantic pulses of life on the line and reeled in my first…sardine.  I kept it, not knowing if I’d catch anything else, and cast out again.  Second cast, another sardine hit but shook off.  Man, damashi fishing can be really effective with those 6 fish skin flies flitting around like tasty little critters.

I eventually got lucky and hooked something that pulled much harder but it ripped off the hook. Matt told me I have to fish a really light drag and that if I jig more aggressively, the sardines would be less inclined to bite.  Following his advice I hooked another strong pulling halalu that I eventually grabbed and tossed into my floating bait bucket.  The other 5 hooks snagged my equipment or tangled so I had to learn damashi hook management in order to stay in the game.

The bite really turned on as more people joined the perimeter. Word of biting halalu travels fast!  One nice guy was using homemade flies and didn’t want to keep the halalu since they were too small for his wife to eat, so he was putting the fish in Matt’s bucket.  Being a respectful kid has its privileges.

The school moved closer to shore as the tide rose, and the ratio of halalu to sardine increased as I jigged more erratically.  Everyone was saying this was the best the school has bitten this season and I felt so blessed to have a successful season opener.  Matt and I had to leave, and after fishing less than 1.5 hrs, I set my personal best despite spending a lot of time shaking off sardines and unhooking the damashi hooks off my gear.   14 halalu and some wounded sardines. Not a haul but much better than the 1 halalu an hour pace I had last year with Thad, Frank and Erik.

Much thanks goes to Matt for turning my halalu luck around. Matt wrote about the first time I fished with him, when he damashi’d up a bunch of sardines and halalu, and turned a sardine into an omilu.  Here’s that guest post.

Stay tuned for more halalu catch reports and “Halalu Fishing for Dummies” tips.

Goodbye Toby

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Zooey netted this Toby puffer when I took her and her husband Ben torching in late January. We caught some big oama but Toby kept bothering them, probably nipping their fins at night.  It was too early in the year to use the oama for bait so I released the oama and kept Toby.  Here’s how the torching trip went, complete with short videos.

 

 

 

Well, Toby stopped eating frozen shrimp and I had to feed him/her crushed pipihi (salt water snails) and mussels I gathered on the rocks.  Toby doubled in size on this high protein diet but was occupying a tub I needed for oama. Since I couldn’t trust him/her with oama I released Toby yesterday.  Can’t really tell how much bigger it is in the photo, unfortunately.

The pipihi have been a nice surprise, staying above water level during the day, and eating algae in the tubs at night.  Much more productive than Toby ever was.

Guest Post: Throw in the blind, make any kine – results in 100lb plus ulua towing the small boat

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Erik knows how big ulua pull and what they look like. The one he lost was much bigger than this.

This post is from my fishing buddy Erik who has taken me out on both his 14 ft aluminum skiff and 16 ft Livingston, and taught me how to jig three years ago and is currently teaching me how to call up the papio with poppers.  He is a very talented videographer with a huge following on Instagram (@fishoahu).

The one that Got Away.

If you’ve been fishing long enough then you have at least one story about the “one that got away.” It’s usually that “one” fish that makes us buy more/better equipment, wake up earlier, study more tides/times and keep us up at night pondering “what-if situations.” Here’s the story of my most memorable “one that got away.”

This fishing outing started early at 5:30am from my grandma’s beach house on my trusty tinboat with my friend Kekoa (who helped me land my shibi in another post). The plan was to scout the early summer papio (smaller Giant Trevally) bite. I had onboard my medium-light 8’ ugly stik rod paired to a 4000 shimano twinpower XD loaded with PE 1.5 braid FG-knotted to 25lb leader line and finished with a studio ocean mark, ocean snap swivel that I planned to throw a new bass lure that was shaped like a mouse. I got it at Bass Pro Shop while on vacation in Orlando so named it Mickey Mouse Lure since we went to Disney World for 5 days while up there. It’s actually the Live Target Field Mouse. Kekoa was using his Penn plugging rod and 6K Shimano Saragosa that he planned to throw on his yo-zuri hydro popper.

We started off fishing at a spot that was really good for us last year and lures hit the water around 6am. Kekoa was gurgling the hydro popper and I was figuring out my mouse lure while we drove into the lighter winds and drifted while casting and retrieving. After the first ½ hour without seeing a single thing in the area we ventured just outside of it and kept doing that at different depths until we covered a good majority of the general place to determine there was nothing but a couple tiny papio’s that would follow the lures to the boat. I called the spot off and headed to another spot that had been productive for me in the past. I was noticing the wind was picking up and now it was past 7:30 and we had nothing to show for our fishing trip. Our spirits weren’t dampened as we were talking fishing and enjoying being out there but our expectations were lowering as the sun was well above the horizon. Before we got to the next spot I noticed the wind had definitely picked up and was causing us to drift so fast that we could only get a few casts in before we had to motor back up to take another drift.

On a normal day I would never have started the drift where I did but I told Kekoa:
“the wind blowing us too fast so I going start here”
to which he responded:
“I don’t care, that’s how we caught the shibi by throwing in the blind.”
I laughed and said:
“you know us, make any-kine.”

Well . . . Call it fate, intuition or luck but once Kekoa started the retrieve on his first cast . . . BOOM! Shoom. Splish. whack! I watched as many as 5 papios were breaching the surface of the water in hot pursuit of his lure. I quickly aimed my mouse-lure toward the side and beyond where Kekoa was now hooked-up and I burned the lure over the top of the water as fast as I could watching its short body and long tail skim across the surface. In no time the school was on my lure chasing it down. The papio were in such rare form because they don’t usually breach until they hit the lure and this morning they were breaching while chasing the lure in a way that reminded me of dolphins breaching while swimming in a school, only faster and angrier.

Kekoa landed one around 4lbs and I landed one about 2-3lbs, we snapped pictures/videos, released one, kept one and headed back up for another drift. Same thing again, Kekoa got on first and I hooked up next. Kekoa got his in the boat and then felt what I thought was the dreaded first run of a shark that got my fish. Ugh! Kekoa asked if he should stop fishing to help and I told him “no, keep going.” I held on in anticipation of getting my line cut and Kekoa was able to land another papio. As I was holding on I was noticing the run wasn’t really feeling like a shark. I could also feel that the hook was secure in whatever was on. The unknown fish was taking line in quick-runs and was now towing the dinghy 50 feet away from where we were. This ended Kekoa’s bite and also piqued his interest as to what I had on. The fish slowed and was taking us around a reef so I maneuvered the boat to keep my line straight and away from getting cut on the reef. I made the decision to chase this fish down and try to tire it out and Kekoa was happy to oblige. I looked down at my Nixon supertide watch and the fight-time started an estimated 15 minutes prior. At this point the fish didn’t seem to mind being hooked too much as it moved slowly around wherever it wanted. I kept steady pressure as I maneuvered the boat to keep line taut. 30 minutes into the fight and we notice the fish is heading out to open ocean. At this point I know that there is a BIG fish at the end of my little pole.

Without giving away too much about where I’m fishing just know that I’m inside of Kaneohe Bay. To get out of Kaneohe bay with a normal sized boat you’d have to go out 1 of 2 channels (sampan or chinamans hat) because in between those two channels is almost 2 miles of shallow reef and our famous sandbar. Luckily my tinboat has a shallow draft so 95% of the time I’m able to get over reefs/sandbar without a problem.

45 minutes into the fight and now Kekoa has to take over driving because once we go over the reef area/sandbar, the waves/swell are not held back by it. Kekoa takes the tiller and I move toward the middle of the boat carefully. During this point water is slightly murky from the churned up sand of the wind and waves but visibility to 15 feet is ok and good in about 5-10 feet. We’ve been staying on top of the fish this entire time with hopes that it is easier to turn its head on its way up. The beast stays away from the boat and is now on top of the reef. Kekoa motors to it slowly and just as we approach it ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! Holy hell. The fish takes off and sends my spool in reverse peeling line at an extraordinary rate. Whatever it is I think did NOT like the look of the boat and was getting irritated at the lip pinch. I know now that the hook is very secure and max out my drag at 24lbs because the fish is taking us straight to where waves are breaking. Kekoa has gotten a good feel of how the boat moves, throttle sensitivity and shifting between drive and neutral. We chase the fish and when we’re almost to it, it takes off again at crazy speeds but now into the waves. I instruct Kekoa to let the wave pass and then thread the needle between waves to chase the fish again once it’s on the other side of the break. He completes the mission flawlessly and the fish is still playing with us. The fish goes back through the waves again! Ok, bet! Kekoa again performs well navigating us over the humps and dealing with a little white water. And now I can see Kekoa is getting close to the fish as my line nears the boat in 10-15 feet of water.

I stand up in anticipation of getting a glimpse of the monster when time stops. My eyes and mind were working in hyper-drive trying to understand what is was. No short-thick pectoral fins sticking out like shark, no dorsal fin like shark. Oh wow. Just WOW. It was a sight I’m not sure I can ever unsee. The seconds of time that replay in my mind that haunted me for a week after. The ulua was as long as my arms outstretched. It was almost half the size of the of the 14 foot dinghy I was standing in. The top of the fish was wide and looked about a foot thick. I watched in awe as it let me witness it’s trademark ulua sway (just like when we release them from the boat) right before it said bye-bye and took yet another disheartening run. Kekoa was unable to see the size of the fish but saw the silver color of it. We chased the fish and Kekoa’s quick learning kept us safe and on top of it for another hour as it took us through more waves and into 30-40 feet of water and on an approximately ¾ mile journey until I made the decision to lock the drag and break it off. After seeing the size of it and knowing it had that much energy to keep running at that rate, I felt helpless against it. Thoughts of getting to shore away from the waves, if my gear would hold up, how long would I have to wait to see if it even remotely tires were just a few thoughts going through my mind.

I felt a sense of ease when I broke my line off as I knew that it was still out there. Over 2 hours of fighting, over an hour of max drag, staying on top of the fish and still it was pulling us wherever it wanted. I was saddened but content. Kekoa and I talked about the battle and I told him:
“you must be a good luck charm because I also got my biggest shibi with you on this boat.”
Kekoa was the one to laugh now and said:
“Yeah, and we did the same thing. Just throw in the blind.”
I then smiled and quickly blurted out:
“That’s how we do! Throw in the blind. Make any-kine.”
That gave us a good laugh as we kept repeating it and saying that was now our motto. The drive back to the beach house to wash up was now one of amazement and joy and much less about heartbreak or disappointment.
I hope I get another chance to battle with that beast.

Product Review: Sufix 832, the best braid you can use?

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The guys and I have been using braid on our reels to get maximum line capacity, and maximum casting distance.  Braid lasts longer than mono but is more expensive.  We had tried different brands before trying Sufix 832 Advanced Superline.

Thad:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returning from a 7 year fishing hiatus due to new daddy duties, I was surprised to learn that braid had become the prevalent line used by most fishers. Hearing about the benefits of braid made it a no–brainer to switch. This meant having to upgrade much of my old gear to “braid friendly” versions. Keep in mind I’m still a relative newbie to braided lines so this review is limited to first hand use of a few brands.

With so many braid choices on the market, I decided to start with one I had heard of and that a coworker swears by – PowerPro. It took a little getting used to the characteristics of braid and I had to learn some new knots to replace ones I used with mono, but I loved being able to cast my light lures with lines rated at such heavy breaking strengths. Further research of the pros and cons of PowerPro made me want to test other braids and see the differences for myself.

I wanted to start with the affordable brands available in the US market and not dive right into the ultra-expensive JDM ones. In addition to PowerPro, I purchased Spiderwire Stealth, Daiwa J-Braid, and Sufix 832. I spooled them on to different braid friendly whipping reels to test on the flats and off a marina dock. Both the PowerPro and Spiderwire are 4-strand braids while the Daiwa J-Braid and Sufix 832 are 8-strand.

I prefer the casting smoothness and suppleness of the 8-strand braids. I feel like my casts are longer and I hear less humming of the line going through the guides on both the cast and retrieve. I also haven’t experienced any wind knots – something I had occasional issues with when using the 4-strand PowerPro and Spiderwire.

One noticeable disadvantage of braid compared to monofilament is its abrasion resistance. For this reason, monofilament is still my line of choice when dunking certain rocky spots. But for whipping lures, I won’t (can’t) go back to mono. Between the two 8-strand lines I tested, I’ve noticed much less fraying on the Sufix 832. Repeated casting of the braids cause the lines to show signs of fuzziness or minor fraying where I hold the line with my finger when casting. I cut that section off and re-tie my leader when I notice this. Anytime I feel line rubbing the reef or underwater structure, I always inspect it carefully to find the damaged area for removal. Honestly, there have been a few times where I could not find a frayed section on the Sufix 832 even after feeling a line rub.

Line diameter on the Sufix 832 is also noticeably thinner versus the J-Braid. A friend who was using Daiwa J-Braid asked me what line I was using so I recommended Sufix 832. He later told me he bought some Sufix 832 but didn’t buy a big enough spool to fill his reel because he didn’t know it was so much thinner than Daiwa J-Braid. The thinner Sufix 832 meant he could fit more line on his reel.

From what I’ve seen, some JDM braids are at a whole nother level of strength and performance – if you’re willing to pay the big premium in pricing. Are those braids so much superior to my current favorite Sufix 832? I guess that would depend on your fishing style and how big your wallet is. For my style of fishing and budget, Sufix 832 is more than enough. The advantages I gained over monofilament in terms of casting distance, breaking strength, line diameter, and longevity of the line, far outweigh its higher cost and decreased abrasion resistance.

Scott:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Sufix® 832® Advanced Superline® is the strongest, most durable small diameter braid on the market”, or so says the marketing claim.  “832” is called such because it incorporates 8 fibers woven 32 times per inch.  8 fibers make a “rounder” braided line than the 4 fibers that a lot of the competition use.  All of that sounded great when I made the switch from PowerPro a few years ago, but I mainly wanted a braided line that wouldn’t cause backlashes when casting my bait casters.

I had some really bad backlashes prior to switching to Sufix 832 that required scissors to cut out the tangle.  Often I ended up with so little line left that my casting distance was greatly diminished.  Sufix 832 was a smoother, slicker line, and I had far less backlashes. The few backlashes I did get could be easily pulled out, and the subsequent cast was backlash-free.  This was enough to get me stoked on Sufix 832 and loaded it on all my reels.  I’ve never had Sufix break on me, even when fighting sharks that weighed more than twice the lb test rating.  I now realize that more yards of Sufix 832 went on my reels than PowerPro because the diameter of Sufix is smaller.  Smaller diameter braid translates to longer casts and less resistance when dropping a jig or weighted bait down, even more reason to switch to Sufix 832.

In this video, I had freshly spooled Sufix 832 Coastal Camo on a 13 Fishing Concept Z reel and not only was it packed loosely, I cast it dry which increased the chance of backlashes.  The backlash happened immediately and my lure flew off, but the tangle was really easy to pick apart.  I packed the line tight and had no problems after.  Charley’s Fishing Supply just started carrying Sufix 832 in bulk spools. It’s the best braid I’ve used so far.

Wet Sufix 832 pinched with my left thumb and forefinger to provide tension still eventually cuts into my thumb but the waxy coating delays slicing a lot more than less coated lines did.

Hunting the white papio school via kayak and SUP

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After Capt Erik took me around the bay and showed me the possible places the schooling whites could be holding, Frank and I tried to find them via our paddle-powered watercraft.  Unlike the recent boat trips, we launched in the afternoon on a big incoming tide to allow for enough time to get into position before the witching hour started.  The wind decreased from 10 mph down to almost no wind so we were able to cover more ground than usual.

My Garmin 44 CV fish finder/chart plotter marked bigger blobs halfway down the water column in the wide sandy channels, and there were bait balls around but the fish didn’t want to eat for the first 2.5 hrs.  Finally, at 5pm, Frank got got a hit on his frozen oama trolled near the papa’s edge and brought up a legal omilu (he didn’t measure his fish).  He followed that up with a bigger and stronger omilu and it looked like the early eaters were beginning to bite.

I surveyed our favorite papa and marked a lot of bait and what looked like suspended larger fish.  Frank got another hit on his trolled oama but the aha managed to skitter off.  At about 6pm I had something ambush the Waxwing Jr I was retrieving on the reef edge but miss the double hook.  Witching hour was beginning to start.

I tried to emulate Capt Erik’s popping style with a JDM popper that throws a lot of water with just a small tug, but was introducing slack on the spool and backlashing my Shimano Curado 300 EJ. To tighten the line I cast the floating popper and paddled 40 yds away, then carefully pinched the line and popped it back. I could get a good deep gurgle with a side sweep of the rod and didn’t have to worry about backlashing my cast.  On my 3rd attempt at this I got boiled on and hooked a fish!  It was a legitimate 14 inch white papio that I decided to take home so my parents could compare it the menpachi papio they just had.  I wasn’t able to get a good shot on the water shot so this will have to do.

Frank’s fish with his foot in the background. Looks like he needs a larger fish bag so he doesn’t have to bend the fish to get them in!

Just as I was bagging the white, Frank radio’d that he caught a white on his JDM sub-surface lure! That was his first papio whipping with his Shimano Stradic 4000 XHFK and he was stoked!  It was 6:30 at this point and the sun was getting closer to hiding behind the mountains.  We kept at it, and I got another boil on the popper that skittered off the hook like an aha.  I turned my kayak to drift in and was in 6ft of water when I had my last boil. Looked like a small white that couldn’t quite get the hooks in its mouth.  The witching hour was on but we needed to be on land cleaning and racking our watercraft so we bid the biting fish adieu.

Sundown was about 7:15pm on this day and the whites didn’t really start getting active until after 6:30.  So the witching hour probably starts 45 mins before sundown and continues until dark.

After eating the white papio, my dad said he prefers that to the menpachi papio, “although some people may like the darker meat menpachi papio”.  I hadn’t kept a papio in months so maybe he was just appreciating both?

 

 

Product Review: 13 Fishing Omen Travel Rod and Concept Z reel

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I had seen the 13 Fishing brand of rods and reels in tackle catalogs and mainland kayak fishing forums but never really considered using them in Hawaii because they were primarily geared for the fresh water market.  JD, our Hawaii Rapala/Sufix/VMC sales rep was working the 13 Fishing booth at the Fred Hall Show in March and surprised me with a 3 piece Omen travel rod to use with their innovative Concept Z salt water rated bait casting reel.  The “Z” stands for “Zero” ball bearings in the reel; instead it uses “space age polymer bushings” that don’t rust since there are no metal components involved. The non-ball bearing bushings purportedly increased casting distance., which seemed counter intuitive. The physical size of the reel was smaller than the bait casting reels I had been using inshore yet boasted a max drag of 22 lbs. Definitely had to give this reel a try.

Inshore, I mainly use 1/2 oz lures, which are challenging to throw on a bait caster in 15 mph winds.  I was really surprised that the Z reel could cast further on a shorter rod than what I experience with my  slightly longer, softer 1-piece rod. And I was hardly backlashing, even when casting into the wind.  Once I realized I could cast without backlashes, I swapped the 17 lb mono out for 20 lb Sufix 832.  That further increased casting distance. The stiffer tip on the travel rod “walked the dog” easier, and the 3-piece rod felt like a solid 1-piece.

When I did need to adjust the casting brakes, I really liked the way the “Beetle Wing” side plate popped away from the reel frame and swung open but stayed attached to the reel to eliminate dropping it in the water.  The brake settings were on a dial unlike the more common pin setup where you have to pull out or push in the pins.  Definitely easier and safer to adjust when fishing.

The form factor was really light and comfortable to hold and retrieve, and the cranking power felt pretty good for such a small reel.  I was in a Spring season slump when I started testing the gear, and made a lot of great casts but wasn’t hooking fish.  Finally I hooked a 19 inch kaku that was so over powered by the reel it came in green.  Here’s how that day went.

Then I dunked the reel while releasing a fish and took it apart at home. There was a lot of blue reel grease on the moving parts and quite a bit of drag grease on the carbon fiber drag washers, which I assumed was spread when the reel was submerged, then sprayed externally with Corrosion Block.  I cleaned most of the grease off and reapplied a light coating.  When I fished the reel again, the drag was a little sticky and the gears didn’t feel as smooth as they did before my cleanup.  So I opened the reel up again, applied more gear and drag grease and the reel performed great again.

After fishing the 13 Fishing combo for 3 months I found it to be a joy to fish inshore, launching light lures at kaku and small papio.  I was able to land this 3lb white papio before it could get sharked, but the reel’s smaller gearing and short handle crank made it a little more exciting than I preferred.  The reel is definitely not a winch but is a blast on smaller game.

Instead of breaking the 3-piece rod down I just leave it assembled but when I get a chance to travel and fish I’ll definitely be taking it.  I think the Z reel casts so well because it needs less inertia at startup, so it doesn’t make the spool spin excessively fast, thus experiences much fewer backlashes.  Been just 3/4 effort casting to get the same distance I would get with my larger inshore bait casting reels.

No corrosion but I did need to clean off the drag washer residue on the main gear. Didn’t look like materials prone to corrosion were used.

The reel is really easy to open up and maintain.  I don’t think corrosion will be an issue in the long run, but it does appear to need to be liberally greased to perform optimally.

At $200 MSRP, the Concept Z reel is a great first bait caster to start with since it’s so forgiving to cast and maintain but is also a joy for the seasoned fisher to use due to the small form factor and ergonomics.  Paired with a light rod you can cast all day and not get tired.

Brian’s Fishing Supply has started to carry the Concept Z reel, please call ahead to see if he still has some in stock.   If that’s not convenient you can always purchase it online at Tacklewarehouse.com.  And no, I don’t get any commission if you purchase the reel. 🙂

 

 

Early morning top water papio frenzy!

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Capt Erik (referred to as “Erik” when I’m not on his boat!) had been experiencing some great outings in the bay, getting the schooling white papio (GTs) and awa awa to frenzy on his poppers.  In fact, he hooked a 100 lb plus ulua on a Micky Mouse popper he bought from Bass Pro Shops near Disney World!  That true story of the epic 2 hr battle will be reported here if you guys ask him nicely.  🙂

He knew I was struggling to get a decent fish to test the 13 Fishing Concept Z reel so he invited me out on his 14’ aluminum Lowe boat with Yamaha 9.9hp tiller motor, and picked a not-so-early morning start time because he was well aware of my aversion to early mornings.  We reached the first spot at 8:30am and he hooked a big white papio on his 4th cast.  The fish was too strong to be horsed in and got sharked, and Capt Erik ended up feeling the long runs of the shark. After a couple mins the lure popped free and as he cranked it back in, and it got hit!  A smaller white was quickly brought in and released unscathed.  The bite ended and we went looking all over the place. We even trolled but couldn’t find the school until Capt Erik called up another white from the depths a few hrs later with his popper.  At the end I got a couple sub-7 inch whites in the shallows as consolation bites.

Capt Erik felt sorry for my lack of production so he invited me out again a few days later, for a true dawn patrol trip.  This would be testing the theory that the school bites better in the early morning independent of tidal movement since the tide was flat.  I woke at 3:30am, which is closer to when I normally go to sleep than when I wake up, and we were fishing at 5:45.  He got bit on the 4th cast of his small 7/8 oz Yozuri Hydro Popper again, and tagged a 14.5″ white papio with PIFG tag #A5646.

 

 

We both were silently thinking that the bite would stop after that, but the school stayed and I managed to call a 17 inch white up with a JDM popper that I can pop just by line retrieval, not rod sweeps.  I tagged that with #A5652.

 

 

We moved to the area that had been most productive for Capt Erik in the past, and once again he got them to frenzy on his Hydro Popper.  He kept his white papio in the water to keep the school close, and I cast a heavy 1.5 oz JDM sinking swimmer I had never used before.  It was the larger version of this 1 oz sinking swimmer that a big omilu hit.

It got boiled on, and the fish took line on a hard drag on the Tranx 400.  No head shakes, it felt like a really good fish and I was imagining it to be a non-jumping big awa awa, or even a shibi! But soon enough it got sharked too and my brand new JDM lure was gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capt Erik hooked up again and got the papio in the boat before it could get sharked. It looked like a white papio but the eyes were larger and the body was narrower. Menpachi papio! I had never seen one before.  The fish were frenzying and my line on my big pole was cut. I looked at the Z reel and told it this was its chance to prove itself.  The JDM popper got boiled on 3 times and I was on!  I couldn’t horse the fish in with the small reel, and was pretty sure it was gonna get sharked but with the Captain’s encouragement I got it boatside and he netted it. 17 inch whitey. The little Z reel with 22lb max drag did the job. Stay tuned for the in-depth review.  We had 3 papio flopping around in the boat, released the 2 whites and I asked Capt Erik if I could take the menpachi papio home for my parents.

The bite stopped so we trolled around and ended up further out, over a deep reef.  Capt Erik was able to get a big boil on his GT Ice Cream plug but it didn’t stick.  Our 4 hrs of early morning fishing were up and it was time to race in.  I begrudgingly have to say that the schooling predators bite better at sun up than mid morning, and they seem to shut off just a couple of hours into the day.

The 14.5 inch menpachi papio had a semi-digested fish in its stomach and was riddled with worms the size of “orzo” pasta throughout its stomach cavity.  I’ll spare you guys that view.  The flesh was reddish, unlike omilu and papio, and I presented it to my dad worm-free. He fried and broiled it and said it tasted a little better than the more common papio.  Maybe it was oilier?  Thanks Capt Erik for ensuring I’d be able to test the Z reel against hard pulling fish by calling the school right to me, and sharing the rare menpachi papio with my family.

 

What’s the difference between white papio and omilu?

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When I started fishing as a kid, the rare papio I caught were very small; less than today’s 10 inch fork length minimum.  Most were omilu but some were small white papio incidentally caught oama fishing.  I didn’t realize the two species were so different, and a lot of newbies may not either.

Look at the pictures above.  The omilu (bluefin trevally) on the right have their eyes set further back than the white papio (giant trevally) on the left.  That’s because they hunt looking ahead, targeting fast moving creatures on the reef in relatively clear water during the day. They have a narrower profile and dart into reef crevasses to ambush their prey, which consists mainly of small fish, but does include some crabs and shrimp.

The white papio’s eyes are larger than the omilu’s because they hunt in low light and off color water, especially at night.  Their eyes are set forward because they often root around for shrimp and crabs on the bottom when they are juveniles, and tako and eels when they are larger and slower moving.  The white’s mouth opens larger than an omilu in order to swallow such a big piece of food.

Many believe that white papio tastes milder than omilu because their diet includes crustaceans and other non-fish critters whereas the adult omilu mainly eats fish.

Whites are proportionally thicker than omilu, and grow much larger.  The state record for white ulua (GT) is almost 200 lbs whereas the omilu record is 28 lbs.

The fish feel different on the line too.  Omilu generally run faster than whites because they are slimmer and quicker, and dart into the reef holes if given a chance.  Whites pull steadier and often last longer because they use their thickly muscled bodies to resist being pulled.

How should you target each species?

Omilu: They hunt early in the morning in low light and throughout the day as the tide fills in, but take a siesta when the sun is very bright.   When the sun goes down, they settle back into their deep reef safe zones to sleep.   They have a weakness for oama but also hit quick moving lures.  Generally more discriminating than whites, they also appear to be smarter.  Besides dunking around the bait fish piles, whipping near clear, turbulent water can be very productive.  Omilu hit aggressively if they feel safe enough to do so.

White Papio:  The bigger ones (ulua) prefer to feed in the cover of night so live and dead baits slid down or dunked work well.  During the day, white papio hunt in slower moving, off color water like bays, stream mouths and harbor channels. Big ulua hunker down in deeper water caves during the day but can be agitated to bite by the gurgle of a large popper.  If big whites are together they can be very competitive feeders, fighting off each other to get to the lure first.

 

 

Big man o’ war, jumping kaku and $20 JDM lure lost

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Went back to the Windward side hoping to get a bigger fish on the 13 Fishing Concept Z reel.  Last week I got stung badly by a Portuguese Man o’ War so I wore wading socks that extended a few inches above my tabis but still left a 9 inch uncovered area between the socks and the bottom of my trunks.  At the first spot, I saw this huge Man of War getting blown towards me.  Freaked me out but this time I remembered to walk in front of the float, not behind it, since the stinging tentacles can extend pretty far.  I whipped the area cautiously for no bites but probably didn’t do it justice since I was constantly scanning the water for more Man o’ War.

Left the area and went to the spot I missed the kaku the last time.  Sure enough I got a hit on the JDM sub-surface lure right away. I felt the fish on and in a split second it went airborne with the lure in its mouth but shook it mid-flight. Here’s the short video of the little kaku acrobat.

I worked the area and moved down a ways, and when I returned I hooked that same fish or his brother.  I bumbled turning on the GoPro so I didn’t capture that action. And when I released the kaku that got tangled up in the leader, I ended up dunking the Concept Z reel for a couple of seconds. Ugh…

After draining the water, I made a cautious cast and backlashed because the wet casting brakes were slipping.  Adjusted from 3 brakes “on” to 5 brakes “on” (6 brakes are the max) and the reel casted great again.  Missed what felt like a papio bite and then my casts shortened as the brakes dried.  Readjusted the brakes back to their original setting but I must’ve had loose line on my spool ‘cuz I snapped off my lure at the FG knot on a cast. I had tied this sloppy FG knot on the water the last time and must not have cinched it down well.

My $20 limited edition JDM sub-surface lure couldn’t have gone far but I didn’t see it land and couldn’t find it even though it floats.  Took that as a sign to quit while I was unstung.  This is the second JDM lure I’ve left floating in jellyfish infested waters, although Portuguese Man Of War technically aren’t jellyfish.  If you find it, I hope it brings you luck.

I hadn’t opened up the Concept Z reel before so I was a little leery about losing flying parts.  The reel was actually a little simpler than bait casters I have serviced although there was a little spring loaded clicker pin under the star drag that fell off on disassembly.  The innards looked wet but free of grit, salt and corrosion.  The materials used looked impressively corrosion resistant and I verified that the stack of drag washers was made out of carbon fiber to produce an astounding 22 lb of drag.  Applied some Corrosion Block oil and Daiwa Blue Grease and reassembled it.  Reassuring to know that the Concept Z reel can be easily self-serviced.

 

 

The price to pay for fishing the Windward side

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Feeling good about ending my bolo, I ventured to the Windward side for some shallow water kaku action.  The tide hadn’t filled in at my dependable spot so I decided to wade around an area we’ve kayak fished in the past.  There were a lot of 7 inch mullet near shore, much more than I see on the South Shore, so I was hopeful that an ambushing kaku would be nearby.

In 2.5 feet of water I spotted the purple-blue float of a Portuguese Man of War.  The trade winds blow these stinging menaces into the Windward beach shallows, which is why there are so many sand turtles on the Windward side. The sand turtles love to eat the Man of War tentacles!

 

I walked about 12 ft downwind of the Man of War float and crossed its path.  ZAPPP!! It felt like my lower legs received an electrical shock.  I rubbed the areas in disbelief but couldn’t see much of a wound.  Wasn’t sure if the pain would get worse so I headed into shore to text the guys.  Thad, our resident wade fisher, turns out to be our resident jellyfish stingee also. He said the pain subsides very quickly so I drove to another spot but the kaku weren’t home.

By then, the tide had filled in a little at my dependable spot so I waded out into less than knee deep water.  My first cast resulted in a huge eruption of water. Now that’s the kind of greeting I like! I turned on the GoPro and recorded 3 more boils in the next 2 mins and 45 seconds. Sadly none stuck.  I did see another Man Of War float and kept one eye peeled for more.

On my slow walk of shame in I changed to a longer, heavier JDM sub-surface lure with 3 treble hooks, hoping to hook the sneaky kaku that hit the middle of the lure.  I hooked something that had a lot of resistance but couldn’t pull that hard.  It turned out to be a 6 inch omilu that attacked the 4.5 inch lure and was hooked in the mouth and the side.  The side wound was just below the skin and he swam off fine.  Omilu always seem to get foul hooked on the sharp trebles which is partly why I take those off if I’m not targeting kaku.

The next day my Man Of War sting got itchy and the following day was even worse.  Cortizone 10 Plus kept the itch bearable.

At Day 4 it wasn’t itchy anymore but looked really bad!  A friend said he welts up like that too and wears support stockings to prevent the sting from reaching his flesh!  That might look a little funny but less odd than walking around for a month with this scar.

I’ve ordered “calf compression sleeves” from Amazon Prime for less than $10 that don’t look like old lady stockings and am hoping they will prevent further leg stings. Will let you know how they perform.

Windward side has more bait and predators but more chance of getting stung too.  Is that price worth paying for a better shot at fish?