I wanted to determine the spots that still held inshore papio this late in the season so I checked another spot I hadn’t fished all year. The spot was an area I had trolled oama in the past but was never really good near shore.
I wasn’t expecting much so I was really surprised when I hooked a 12″ (fork length) omilu on the second cast, just a few yards from shore. The omilu looked like it had been eating well over the course of the summer.
After this surprise fish I didn’t hook anything else as I worked my way down the shoreline. I worked my way back and caught a slightly longer omilu about 5 yds from where the first was caught. This one was considerably fatter too so there must be a reliable food source nearby.
I decided to save my remaining frozen oama for a survey of another spot and called it a day. It was great to know papio were still catchable so late in the season, so close to shore.
I think there is something definitely happening as the temperature of the water has risen this Summer. Thank you for sharing your observations. It will be interesting to see if other fisherman has experienced the same observation. Aloha, Kelly
Hey Kelly,
Yes, I would love to hear how the other fishers are doing on the papio now.
Please share a little, guys.
thanks,
scott
Wow! Those buggers look pretty fat too! I have noticed a boom in small papio in the last couple of years too. Hopefully many of them grow and provide some larger ones for kau kau (+brood stock) in the next few years 🙂
Regards,
Da odda Kelly
Da odda Kelly,
Wow, two Kelly comments in one post!
Yup, got chock 8 – 9 inch papio now. Quite a few 10 – 12 inch ones too. The warm water and abundance for rain really got the papio/ulua spawning. Wonder how bad/dry it’s gonna be when the El Nino effects end and the La Nina hits.
-scott