Inshore fishing is still slow. I haven’t seen much bait fish (mullet, iao, oama, aholehole) this season and haven’t seen preds busting on schools near shore. It’s still a little early for oama but the other bait fish should have been in by spring time. I looked back at the July posts last year and fishing was slow this time too and picked up in August but not like the warm El Nino years where a lot of oama came in and stayed into the beginning of winter.
There’s also been a lot of people shore fishing since the shutdown started, so that must translate to fish caught and spooked. The guys that are catching are going at dawn and dusk, in spots that haven’t been pounded yet. And if they’re fishing the daylight hours, they’re using small, realistic baits.
How has the fishing been for you? Drop a comment to let us know. Mahalo!
Been picking them up here and there. But like you said, dawn and dusk. Hopefully it picks up in the coming months.
Hi Dino,
Really interested to hear how your whipping gear has been working out for you (performance shirt, shorts, lucky underwear, rod, reel, tackle bag, gloves, fish attracting cologne etc).
thanks,
scott
Hi Scott Maui report,fishing been very slow. Reports of little or no oaamas coming in . Exception is on the South shore caught enough to go dunking. Other location south side big school oaamas,no bite. Omilus and papios non existent. Early on northshore had a nice run of omilus,papio but that have stopped.
Thanks for the Maui report Craig. This no-bait, slow fishing phenomena is all over the state it seems. Maybe in a month things will turn on?
-scott
Maui report. Finally northshore having consistent oaamas. Been three days so far biting really good. Haven’t been going south or central side because biting good up here. Papio slow up here hopefully get better. Friends says hope second school is better than the first. Last I knew Southside off and on.
Hi Craig,
Really interesting how the oama turns on the same time on the different islands. Oahu oama turned on last week and papio being caught near shore too. Finally. But I don’t think the oama last much longer than end of September so you better get ’em while you can!
Thanks for the report,
scott
Oaamas still going strong, north, south,and central. Report big schools all over. Papio report picking up little bit. Looks like September gonna be a good month. Pass majority small,some big ones. So far this year caught 1 papio,1 Lai.?
Craig, I want to hear that you ended the season with the most papio you’ve ever caught. Fly line your live oama near the oama school and hang on!
-scott
Been slow for me. Couple small papios here and there. But, been going for halalu recently and the bites been decent.
Hi Jeremy,
Any halalu tips you wanna share with us, to add to what Duane has shared in the past?
thanks,
scott
Not much that I could add to Duane’s info since I’m still trying to figure out what works, LOL. But finding the right lure for the size of fish you are catching helps tremendously. I had a hard time catching before because I think my “bait” was too big for the size of fish in the area. When I finally found a small lure that they like, my catch rate went up drastically. Other key things are depth of your lure when it goes through the school. If you cast too far past the school, by the time your lure is in the zone, it might be too deep and you won’t get any bites.
What bait/lure did you go down in size to, and how big was it? Halalu fishing is very challenging for the newbies like me!
Really small. 1/2″ “lure” and gold hook. Was really surprised that it worked, but on a recent outing when the bite was super slow for a lot of guys, my setup was catching consistently. Long 2# leader helped as well.
Wow that’s really stealthy! And no way I can tie and fish a long 2lb leader. No wonder I can’t catch ’em! 😛
Just gotta try. My leader was 10′-14′ but becomes difficult to fish if it’s windy and if the guy next to you is too close. I’m still new to halalu fishing, so it’s still nerve wracking to have someone stand soo close to me when I’m trying to cast.
When I tried the first time, with the guys, at one of the spots you fish, was windy and the line was getting blown up against structure and I was snapping off on my cast! I was even breaking 2lb test when I was tying and testing knots. I’ll stick to 25lb fluoro leader. :-0
Hey Scott,
Bones been around, but not quite as easy to find or hook as years past. I’ve had to sometimes explore areas of the flat I don’t regularly fish to find them, usually farther away from the easy access spots that get hammered by fishermen, swimmers, tako and throw-net guys. I also blind cast a lot and usually hook an omilu or 2 per trip during the summer months, but have only hooked one all summer so far. I have not seen any oama yet (at the places I frequent).. I am one of those who believes the theory of a pandemic-related uptick in fishing and general ocean activity.
Thanks Jason, your comprehensive observations are always helpful to the inshore guys. I was test fishing a new lure again yesterday (finally caught a small omilu) and saw a lot more people with dogs in the water, dunking poles near parking lots, etc than I’d normally see during the weekday. Guess that means we gotta go further out to get to the wary fish.
-scott
Ah yes, I forgot to mention the dog people… they are extremely common at one spot I frequent, especially during low tide – I think you know the one… I love dogs myself, but unfortunately the fish don’t lol
I think I was at that spot yesterday!
Been slow recently. I definitely agree. The usual lures haven’t been working for me (grubs, kastmasters, hard lures) so been using fly and bubble to get almost double the distance I was casting with the other lures. It seems like all my strikes at a certain spot are very far out, which the distance is only attainable with a bubble… Another spot I fish it seems like all the strikes are right at my feet. Fly and bubble has been a winner for me recently, been hooking a bunch of nice ones that I couldn’t land. But, like you said, there’s plenty trips with hardly any action. I’ve only been getting action dawn and dusk, or this one spot where the tide matters more than time, I’ve been picking up some nice whiteys with flies also… But for the more “normal” spots its slow.
Thanks for the confirmation of the no-bait, slow fishing situation. What’s your prediction for the rest of the season Matt?
-scott
If the Oama don’t come in this month or next month, I don’t really see much hope for the shallows. Probably have to go to spots that don’t depend on baitfish, where the predators eat stuff like Hinalea and reef fish.