Paepae o He’eia fishpond at minus tide (zoom in to see the fisher folk on the wall)

Some friends and I had the privilege of fishing the Paeapae o He’eia fishpond on their first predator eradication day of the summer. The purpose of these predator eradication days is to provide some education about the ocean and the working fish pond, and lessen the predatory pressure the herbivore fish feel from the kaku, papio, toau and tilapia.  So you can spend a day fishing and picnicking with friends and family, and feel good that you’re helping the pond!

The good folks at the pond welcomed us, provided an orientation tour for those who were interested and made sure we knew what we needed to know to stay safe.

Soon we were off and fishing.  Right away, small kaku were brought up on bait by others but it took our group 3 hours to catch our first one.  We had to wait for the tide to rush in through the “makaha” gates in order to get the kaku wildly feeding on the bait fish.

The kaku bit our flashy gold and silver/blue kastmasters and preferred the smaller 3/8 oz size to the 1/2 oz size but the 1/2 oz size did yield the largest fish.  It was a challenging day in a very relaxing setting surrounded by happy families who out fished us with their Snoopy rods.

don’t be too impressed…

Looks like a great catch but if you zoom in, you’ll notice that the Sprite can is a diminutive 7.5 ouncer!  Our job was to eradicate predators so out they went.

To learn more about the Paepae o He’eia Fishpond and their charter to preserve the Hawaii fishpond culture and heritage, please visit them here.