Semi-nearshore shallow water jigging

I know the blog’s focus is Nearshore Fishing, so I’m gonna ask for a little leeway on this post.

A new fishing friend and new Lawai’a feature writer, Erik, very generously offered to take me out for a quick bottom fishing / shallow water jigging expedition yesterday.  It had been 15 yrs since I’d been on a boat so we picked a very light wind day to launch.  My fishing window was short so we had to run, drop, jig and gun.  The cross-directional swell bounced the 14 ft aluminum boat enough for me to get a little green around the gills but the fishing action managed to keep my mind off the shifting horizon.

Erik was fishing a pinkish, silvery 30 g (1.05 oz) Japanese micro jig he purchased from Charley’s Fishing Supply, and I started with an 80g (2.8 oz) blue sardine Shimano Flat Fall (furthest right in the photo).  Erik expertly put us on the spots, fishing the reef’s edge from 70ft deep, drifting inward toward shallower water, without aid of a fish finder or GPS.

 

He started feeling hits on his micro jig and brought up the brownish hage, and moana. I hadn’t felt a thing on my flat fall.  I kept trying to emulate the way Erik would pop his rod tip repeatedly when the lure reached the bottom, then lift and crank the lure back to the surface in an exaggerated pumping motion. When Erik saw that I was getting disillusioned, he pointed out that there were new scratches on my lure and that something had taken a swipe at the flat fall but missed the two assist hooks.  That must’ve happened as the lure free fell, and it gave me hope.

Then Erik’s rod bent over in an upside down “U” and line peeled off the spool.  Something larger than a hage had taken his jig midway up the water column and was surging for the bottom at an alarming rate.  Erik’s spinning rig consisted of a short, fairly light action Star spinning rod and Shimano Sahara 4000 reel, packed with 15lb braid and a 30lb fluoro leader.  He tightened his drag, cupped the spool and the fish surged again.  A veteran of many light tackle battles with large fish, Erik kept the combatant out of the rocks and enjoyed the scrap, wondering what could be pulling downward so intently.

After a few shorter runs we saw color. Electric blue fins, silvery body? Big omilu?  On closer examination Erik exclaimed “yellow dot papio!”, formally known as the Island Jack.  His previous fish had been released but not this one.

 

 

 

Yellow dot papio are one of the tastiest papios. The 6lb beauty was destined for a starring role as sashimi and ceviche.

I was stoked to witness the fight but began to suspect my flat fall was too large for the area we were fishing.  On my next drop, it felt like my jig was being sucked down, and then it felt stuck.  Erik swung the boat up current and the “stuck” kept being pulled along, then suddenly popped free.  What the heck?  It happened again on the following drop and the jig didn’t have any new scratches.  Erik said it could be a tako grabbing on and eventually pulling free.  As much as I like tako poke, I wanted to catch something on the flat fall with teeth, fins and scales!  On the next drop I temporarily got stuck in a solid rock, and when Erik moved the boat to free my jig, I reeled up and hunted around for a smaller lure.

I was given Ahi Live Deception jigs as a promotion to try in our local waters, and happened to have a 1 oz Green Mackeral pattern in my tackle box.  (See top photo).  It was the only small jig I had.  The lure feels like a slender, flexible slab of lead and is laser printed with an actual fish photo. It looks very lifelike but lacks the fancy bevels and curves that the flat fall sports. I hadn’t read anything about its swimming action, nor seen any underwater videos about it.  How good could it be? But on the second drop I got a hit.  Yay, an actual fish caught on the small treble hook! A smallish, but legal moana.  I was feeling more and more queasy, so I tossed it back without a picture.

On the next drop something yanked, then let itself be retrieved a bit… then took a little line.  The skunk was definitely off my back, and this fish felt bigger. I was using the Shimano recommended shallow water jigging setup: Shimano Trevala F medium action rod and Curado 300EJ bait casting reel and while I could feel the twists and turns of the fish, I easily coaxed it to the surface. Turned out to be a small kawakawa, my first ever.  Erik held it for me and I snapped a quick pic with my phone’s camera. I could barely see through the glare, and focusing on Erik and the fish while the horizon gyrated back and forth was pushing me closer to urk-dom.

Two fish back-to-back on the unheralded Live Deception.  Erik brought up another brownish hage on his micro jig and I caught an orangey weke I had never seen before, followed by a small taape.  The taape was kept to rid the reef of invasives and was destined to become Erik’s crab bait.  I was really impressed with the Live Deception’s effectiveness and hook up ratio.  The treble was working too well actually, as it was hard to unhook the fish. I bent down each barb and threw the jig over the side. Halfway down I felt a tug and then … nothing.  Something had taken the lure down its gullet and cut the line.  My new magic lure… gone.

While I put the flat fall back on my leader, Erik hooked what was probably the offending lure-swallower.  A kawelea, or Heller’s Baracuda.  Not as fearsome looking as the kaku or Great Barracuda and supposedly better eating.  Erik tossed it back since his yellow dot papio would keep his family fed for awhile.  I threw my flat fall over the side and finally, felt something hit it.  A kawelea was hooked on the rear assist hook and was released also.  I looked at my watch and it was time to ride the swells in.

Not bad for only 2 hrs of bottom fishing without GPS or a fish finder.  Erik’s micro jig and my Live Deception lure were probably closer to the size of bait the fish were feeding on, explaining why the larger flat fall wasn’t getting much attention except for those mystery dead-weight snags.  If not for Erik’s expert small skiff skills, I would’ve started another 15 yr boat-ban, but instead look forward to mining the bottom for more critters.