My Thanksgiving turkey has scales on it

I was on a 4 trip bolo streak where I started each day by looking for opelu and ended with paddling in because the winds got too strong for me. The last trip started off with a lot of small fish caught on damashi (moana, malu, baby uku, lizardfish, hagi) but no opelu. When I switched to bottom fishing, my fresh halalu baits were bitten in the center and pulled off the two hooks but the fish weren’t big enough to swallow the bait and find a hook. These weren’t the typical hagi or aha bites. Instead they looked like a snapper type fish that just ate the good, soft parts of the fish.

There were a couple days before Thanksgiving with a few hrs of light wind according to the wind models, so I picked the only day I had free and was gonna head straight for the uku grounds. Before I got there the winds were already blowing 10 – 12 mph so I stopped at a shallow spot on my GPS that always had bait but I’ve never caught anything there. The current was running west and the winds were blowing east, so it was choppy but I was being held in place. Down went a fresh opelu I had bought the day before and soon I felt the tell tale taps of what I hoped was an uku. It took more than 30 seconds before the fish got hooked and then it took off. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t fought a fish in so long, but the fish felt strong! The carbon fiber drag washers in my gold Trinidad 14 gave line in a controlled manner and after a minute and a half I netted my Thanksgiving uku. Just like that my bolo ended.

I tried to add to my Thankgiving haul but I missed what felt like 2 more uku and had the rest of my baits mauled by hagi and other pests. The wind was white capping the water at this point so I went in.

The 20.5″ uku was bled a little when I caught it, put on Arctic Ice blocks in my Hobie fish bag, then transferred to a cooler when I got home and covered with cubed ice overnight per recommendation from boating friends who catch uku by the boat load. I’m hoping to get enough meat off it to be sashimi and a little poke for a family Thanksgiving meal.

This Thanksgiving, I thank God to be able to live in the greatest country in the world, in the State of Hawaii with the nicest people and the best weather. I hope your Thanksgiving is spent with loved ones and yummy food.