Dedicated shore fisher Matthew shares his observations of the way Winter has transitioned into Spring, updating the general report posted last month.
Matthew:
It’s been getting slower and slower recently for the vast majority of people. Personally, this winter was among the best that I’ve ever enjoyed, and the bite was consistently great. However, spring has come and the fish appear to have left for “greener pastures”. A lot of people whom I know have switched to fishing on completely different sides of the island, which has rewarded them handsomely. However, being limited to fishing only Oahu’s south shore has really shown me how vulnerable my chances are. It’s been getting increasingly difficult to find any fish on the flats and on the reefs.
Often, when I do catch an Oio, it’s only a small one (three or four pounds), not the larger ones that many Oio fishermen pursue (five pounds or larger). The Papio bite wasn’t ever really good to begin with, but it was passable. Come spring, it has completely died. Even during the first hour of sunrise and the last hour of sunset, there appears to be no sign of the Papio that would regularly navigate our waters. Normally, this would be attributed to cooling water temperatures and the lack of bait fish near shore, but this year appears to be significantly worse than those of the past.
The people I know that have been shore jigging have been striking out equally as much. The bubble and fly method has also not been successful for the people that I know. However, people on boats have been having great luck recently (maybe that’s where the fish went?) with many fish such as Uku, Ulua, and Pelagics.
So, unless you can shell out the money for a boat, stay put on shore and grind out the next few weeks or months. I suspect that as the water temperatures rise, the baitfish come in, and summer arrives, the fish will also come around. Please also erase Kona winds forever (nobody likes them).
For now, people that have been dabbling in UL (ultralight) fishing have been relatively successful, as well as the freshwater game. If you want to grind out the flats game (I probably will), you’re more than welcome to, but don’t expect much. The same goes for whipping for Papio and other inshore predators. Until the water heats up and the baitfish arrive, I’d expect things to remain much the same. If you’re a ulua fisherman (sliding or baitcasting), now’s that time of the year where all the big ones come up. Quite a few large Ulua have been landed in the past month, and perhaps there’s a 100+ pounder waiting out there somewhere.
Good luck, stay safe, and just have fun!
things have slowed for us fly fishers too. i’ve been lucky to still find a few fish here and there, but have had to work harder for them. I’m sure i’m due for a long cold streak soon, but for now i’ll keep shooting til i miss! keep the faith, this too shall pass.
Hi Jason,
It’s so interesting to me how the slowdown around late January through March affects the shore all the way out to the boats. It’s not simply the water temp getting cool, and not just that the primary prey being unavailable since your target (oio) still has crustaceans on the flats.
Maybe nature really has it scheduled for certain predator species to take a break so the prey can recover?
I’m wondering if the fish we’re after go somewhere else during this slow period, or just feed less until their season starts up again?
-scott
not sure but i believe fish feed less often when water temps are cooler, perhaps due slowing of their metabolism. also oio spawn during the winter which usually happens in deep water far away from the flats. summer usually sees a pick-up since the fish are fattening up for spawning season. can’t really comment on species targeted by boat or yak.
Great point about the spawning season and how it affects the predator species. I previously was thinking the preds aren’t around as much when the water temps drop but this Winter and Spring haven’t been much cooler than last Fall, so water temp wasn’t the cause of the slow down. Maybe a lot of species time their spawning for the Winter and Spring so the spawners can then fatten up in the Summer as you mention, and their offspring also feed when food is abundant in the Summer too?
i believe that applies for oio, at least. i recall reading that ulua/papio spawn in the summer, but i might be wrong. someone can fact check that for me 🙂
i do agree it hasn’t felt as cold as it usually is for this time of year. it’s still winter and we’re already hitting high 80s in some places. that said, in east honolulu at least, the water still feels very cold in the early AM, which in my experience is not a good thing for oio. maybe it’s the still (relatively) low overnight temperatures.
I think ulua spawn in the spring, that’s why more are caught near shore during that time? Papio must spawn before August since we often see the pesky 3inch kind in the oama pile?
Could be that a lot of species spawn in the Spring but some spawn during the “off times” to not be caught in in the hustle and bustle.
not sure. my only experience with ulua was when i briefly dabbled in slide-bait fishing nearly two decades ago. summer were the hot months then, at least at certain south shore spots that shall remain unnamed. i am not nor was i ever that knowledgeable in this type of fishing. i caught one ulua and quit, concluding i was more of a light-tackle guy who got bored sitting around. but i digress…
i personally find small papios on the flats nearly year-round, but they seem more common during the warmer months. especially omilu.
Yeah it seems that the ulua are commonly found in 150ft or more and need a reason to go in shallow to feed. Omilu are caught deeper than 100ft also so they too need a reason to go inside of the surf break to look for food.
More food in the summer makes it worthwhile for them but I do think they wanna spawn in the shallows too to give their offspring some place to hide.