Hail Mary kagami ulua! Catch and clean, sort of.

It had been 6 weeks since I last fished, flipping the kayak and bolo-ing. The wind finally dropped, swell wasn’t hitting my Windward spot directly, but it was the day after the full moon. Big moon and glassy water usually translate to slow fishing but I needed to get out for sanity sake.

As expected, only small opakapaka hit the damashi dropped deep, and nothing bit my 1 yr old frozen opelu. I had gone out to 375ft deep, the furthest I’ve ever gone, and turned around and tried to hit some “contours” on the way in. An underwater canyon seemed to be creating a rip current on the surface, and sure enough the 10 inch FL paka pups bit the damashi on the way down. One barfed up a slender tako leg, but nothing bigger hit.

Giving up on the pelagic fish search, I entered the shallow ridge area that always holds reef fish. I considered bringing in the weighted opelu that hadn’t been touched in 3 hours, so I wouldn’t snag the reef but suddenly the bait reel started screaming and line was coming off fast! I had been jigging at the time and tried to get the jig in to stow the jig rod, but decided to leave the the jig halfway off the bottom and grabbed the bait rod before the fish rocked me. Had to hold the jig rod in the kayak with my leg since it wasn’t tethered down.

The fish made another sustained run faster than uku and ulua run, and I was hoping it was a pelagic that found its way into the shallows. Eventually it slowed and some moderate head shakes were felt, so I began thinking it was a big papio. When it surfaced I was shocked to see a kagami ulua (African pompano), my first ever on Oahu. The hook was pulling its lip open and I was unprepared to land it, since I had been thinking I was gonna release a “regular” papio. Please see the short video of the fight and landing below.

I bled it, put it in my fish bag filled with 10lbs of Arctic Ice, and decided to go in since it started raining. At home I surrounded it with 2 bags of cubed ice.

The next day, when I cleaned the 13lb 11oz fish, I found it to be drained of blood and empty in the stomach, and much firmer than any jack I’ve ever cut. But the flesh was a milky, opaque color and asked friends if this was to be expected. The guys who had caught kagami before said the flesh should be more translucent (see-through) so it was possible the fish was so internally heated that it “cooked” a little because I hadn’t immediately cooled it in an icy brine.

That bummed me out, since Shea, the young Big Island kayaker who has guest posted in the past, said that kagami made the best sashimi he’s ever eaten. I tasted a scrap piece and it was firm, non-fishy with a hint of oiliness. Hmm… Following the advice of the brain trust, I wrapped the filets in paper towel and stored them in air tight containers in the fridge. Coach Haru said the meat is so firm, it’s best to wait 4 to 5 days for the muscle tissue to break down and “relax”.

On day 3, I thinly sliced off a few sample pieces and found it still very firm to cut but a little softer on the tongue, and very clean tasting. I gave to friends with the instructions to not eat until day 4 but a lot of them couldn’t wait. They said they found it to be clean and crisp tasting with no fishy aftertaste.

I’m still unsure why the flesh was uniformly opaque but there weren’t signs of spoilage or visible damage. And I feel very blessed that one beautiful, unusual fish, changed the fortunes of my trip.