If you weren’t sure how the shore fishing has been this winter, Matthew breaks it down for you.
Matthew:
Winter is usually the worst time of the year for shorefishing; this year was no exception. Throughout the months of November, December, and now early January, the only thing that was consistent was the scarcity of Papio. I must have gone something like 0 for 20 in terms of Papio in fishing trips. I did manage to catch two nice sized Awa’awa as a nice bycatch, but the Papio were no where to be found. While the Papio have not been in, the Awa’awa have been making an appearance and my friends as well as I have been hooking a few recently.
Many different spots at different times were tried, but all proved to be equally as bad. Some of my friends and I would sometimes even go many trips without a single bite. In December I went seven trips in a row (3-4hr whipping sessions) without a single tug or boil. Many of the Papio I have seen caught on social media have been caught with some sort of bait, most caught dunking. However, for most of the time I use strictly lures so that is not an option for me. If you have the chance to, I would probably say go for dunking with Tako, Ika, or leftover baitfish.
I tried a few different types of fishing to try to catch any fish at all, and it worked to a certain degree. I tried shore jigging in deep water, bass fishing in streams, Oio fishing, and ultralight whipping. The bass fishing worked the best and I ended up with a nice 14” smallmouth that turned out to be my new PB. For mainland fishermen, a 14 inch bass is considered big here since our streams are shallow and narrow. While fishing with topwater lures for bass may not be the most effective way to catch them, it surely is the most exciting. Seeing a bass inhale your topwater lure while jumping in the air is pretty exciting to most sport fishermen.
Shore jigging has been popular in the winter because of the low numbers of fish in the shallows. Even though the shallows have been dead, Uku, Goatfish (Moana, Moana Kali, Weke nono, etc…), Kawakawa, and Shibi have been showing up at some shore jigging spots recently. Jigging is a very effective way to fish during the winter but it is also very taxing. A shore jigger should expect to lose many jigs in a month, sometimes even losing up to eight per trip. When you consider the average price of a jig, which is around nine or ten dollars, the losses start adding up very quickly. A lot of the times, when you break your line after getting stuck, you lose some of your braid mainline as well. This means you have to respool your reel more frequently, and braid is not cheap. While it is taxing financially, the reward can be very high, especially when you catch prized fish such as Uku or Moana Kali (although I haven’t yet).
The temperature has also been noticeably colder in the past month, both in the air and in the water. Sometimes when I’m out there early for dawn patrol, I start to question if it’s really a good idea, especially if it’s raining and a little gusty. The water temperature has also been more cold, which may possibly be the reason the Papio are nowhere to be found.
In summary, the low numbers of success in catching Papio may suggest that it is a good time to fish for other species and other types of water. Perhaps you should take up Jigging, Bass fishing, Ultralight fishing, or Oio fishing, unless you’re as stubborn as I am, and want to continue pressing to catch a Papio. Good luck to you all, and stay safe???
I use a 10g -30g swimming jig ( like jigpara standard)in shallow reef. I keep triple hook on rear end. I cast it far as I can, as soon as the jig hit water, reeling fast. Every 5 to 7times reel, stop it for the moment, then reel fast again. I do make jig skipping on surface to act like poppers. Sideway jerking to make side way action. most of fish attack swimming jig from behind so I have rear hooks. when at south point or bamboo ledge I use long 40g-120g long jig have a single or 2 hooks on the top. Because long jig falls to the bottom slower, when the jig hit the bottom, bottom end of the jig hits the bottom first. when keep mention of the line little bit. that way when reached to the bottom, long jig is vertical to the bottom. And hooks are up so chance of snagging is less. As soon as feel the jig hit the bottom, I reel fast without jerking for 10ft, then start jig. Because I don’t want to fish to go down to rocks. I love to use lures top and jigs. Most of time fish don’t swallow jigs or plugs. I can release fish with wounded. and it’s game between me and fish.
Im love lure fishing .
Konichi was nihonjin desu ka?
Hai sodesu
Those are some good tips. I never thought of retrieving jigs on the surface in shallower water. Thanks for the advice.
Jigpara standard swims good. for boil, I cast it and skip the jig on surface to imitate a popper. keep a rod straight up, reeling with whipping the tip of rod can make jig to skip surface. it makes splash like poppers. I caught Papio, Kaku from shore, Aku, Kawakawa. Mahi and Ono like fall, about a foot below surface fast stop and go action attract them.
Getting ready to gear up, what capacity reels and size of rods are best to use? Mahalo
Hey Paul, what kind of fishing are you doing? From shore fishing for papio, my main setup is a 5000FD twin power and a 9’6” major craft n-one.