This past week’ there was a forecast for light wind and rain, and then slightly stronger wind and no rain the following day. I picked the light wind and rain since fish have usually bitten well on the dark rainy days. Didn’t work out that way. I felt queasy from the chaotic rolling swells and the fishing was slow except for certain periods of the tide. Here’s the short recap.

I wore a light rain jacket all day under my PFD and since it was mostly dark and overcast, I didn’t overheat. Starting off on the bottom of a big rising tide, I expected the fish to chew like they did on the previous trip but that didn’t happen. I caught a nice 2lb yellow spot papio early, and then didn’t get anything good as I went deeper.

At 180ft, on a friend’s mark, I saw a small bait ball near the bottom and actually brought up a big opelu. Opelu has been scarce over the last few trips because they are spawning and not balled up in the shallows. I put the opelu out with a sliding 2.5 oz tungsten weight, and dropped the damashi down again. Something, probably a big papio, broke me off. Then the opelu got hit and I fought the fish for more than 5 second before the 2 hooks pulled. It ran smoothly like a pelagic, but that might be wishful thinking. I couldn’t catch anymore opelu, and had been feeling lousy in the rolling chop, so I started hitting the shallower damashi spots to find calmer water.

In about 150ft, at a spot I had caught a small uku previously on live opelu, I hooked something that pulled line and busted me off on 20lb damashi. I dropped a jig down but they didn’t want to hit anything bigger, so I kept working shallower. The normal productive spots weren’t holding and I was getting a little concerned with only the yellowspot in the bag. Inside 100ft I brought up an invasive toau (blacktail snapper) and a lai (leatherback), which I kept for a friend. I don’t like handling lai because of its venomous spines but carefully clipped them off after I had brained it. Friends tell me big lai makes good sashimi, and toau is good fried.

A small uku paired with a baby nunu came up next so I moved further inside.

Still didn’t have the fish I was hoping for, but then got lucky/blessed as I returned to the mark the yellowspot was at in the morning.

Two moana kali came up on the damashi followed by a slightly larger one. Whew, finally got enough kau kau for friends. Sorry for the rain on the camera lens.

I checked some other areas on the way in, and they were all void of good fish. Pretty slow day but got enough to share and didn’t fully get sick!

My friend Jon from the Big Island was back so he was able to compare yellow spot papio to omilu sashimi, and steam another moana kali after I took a fillet of each fish off for my dad to enjoy.

One batch of the yellowspot sashimi was garnished with a thin coat of sesame oil and alae salt, then dipped in Chinese mustard and shoyu. The other batch was left plain. Jon found the yellowspot sashimi to be softer than omilu, non-fishy, and delicious. It reminded him of the California yellowtail we both chased in our years up in SoCal.

The moana kali was steamed and then topped with shoyu, oyster sauce, peanut oil and garlic. He found it moist with soft, flaky meat.

What my dad got was simpler in presentation and taste but to his liking. 🙂

I’m waiting on photos from my friends’ fish prep, hint, hint.