Hunting “Moose” Oama

It’s the middle of October and the oama are still hanging around the safety of the shoreline.  Mixed in are legitimate Moose-sized oama, practically junior weke.  I found some 5 inch oama grubbing around in the shallow sand patches and was able to land a few without tearing off so I went hunting for the really big ones.

The 6 inch plus oama with the bright yellow tails were in deeper water, at times out of range of my straight pole.  When they smelled my bait they’d charge it like a pack of ulua chasing a popper.  Once hooked, the fluorocarbon 4 lb leader would make a hissing noise as the moose oama raced back and forth trying to pop the hook.  I let the soft pole fully flex and tried to slowly work them up to the surface, then slid them out of the water and into my net.  I lost a few but not nearly as many as I did when I  tried horsing them up while they were still green.  Read how I had even tried using a rod and reel to land them.

now that’s a moose

Hunting and landing these moose was the most fun I’ve had catching oama.  Oama this size don’t often take a bait but they do tend to want to eat their last meal of the day an hour before sun down.  They eat heartily in captivity and are hardy when trolled.  The bigger papio like them and the bait stealers think twice about trying to pull them off the hooks.  Every time I catch them I’m grateful because they could decide tomorrow to leave the safety of the shallows.