Every year, there are a few months when the bite comes to a grinding halt. The slowdown is normally exacerbated by cold fronts dropping the water temps quickly, but this year, the water has stayed relatively warm at about 75 – 77 degrees and yet it’s been super duper slow since mid-January for the shore guys out to the boat guys.
We’ve had stretches of very calm water which actually slowed the bite even more. The less desirables, above, although tasty, bit because nothing else would.
Inshore
The papio at heavily fished spots probably won’t be in until the end of May at the earliest. According to the late Jim Rizzuto’s Fishing Forecast, it’s also a slow period for moi and ulua but the aholehole bite should be good. Papio and ulua should improve in April. Kaku is a wildcard, according to Mr Rizzuto.
Best bet: The guys fishing for oio with bait and lures (flies and small weighted jigs) have been doing well lately. Get in the water and get it to where they are feeding, for your best shot at the silver bullets.
Kayak
Bait has been hard to locate and catch, and if you’ve been lucky enough to have live bait, they generally went unmolested. Even the bottom fishing has been slow. Mr Rizutto’s forecast says that uku is normally slow until April, but Mahi normally return in March and some were actually caught this week. Kawakawa should be around now, though we haven’t heard of much.
Best bet: Fish the best conditions (low visibility, good current, some chop on the water) with the liveliest, freshest baits and drop down to where the fish are holding.
Boat
Winter/Spring trolling season hasn’t been too good. Some billfish and aku have been caught but not in great numbers, and the mahi and ono haven’t really shown in consistent numbers yet. Just this past week, there’ve been reports of large shibi/small ahi off the west and south side of Oahu, but the bite has been on and off. The Deep 7 snappers are biting but nabeta has been slow. Sailfish and kawakawa should bite through April according to Mr Rizzuto.
Best bet: Plan to round out the day by bottom fishing with the best baits and conditions possible. Things hopefully pick up in March.
This article just saved my self-esteem. Those three pictures you have red Xs through are the exact fish I’ve caught recently! HA! Great site, thanks for the awesome, one-of-a-kind content!
Hi Joe,
Glad the report was helpful in a misery-loves-company kind of way! What kind of fishing do you do where you’re catching those less than desirables?
Shore, kayak, boat? Hopefully things turn around in April.
thanks,
scott
Hi Scott,
Just started kayak fishing out here on Maui. My buddies have been doing it for years and I finally picked up their old Hobie Mirage Sport kayak. I’ve been watching Shea on YouTube, trying to emulate what he does within my budget, and taking your advice on this blog. I’ve been doing weekly solo missions on the West Side of Maui surrounding Olowalu. Been staying about a mile from shore and have gotten a couple baraccuda, some triggerfish, roi, and a wahunui, on squid, dead opelus, and yuzuri diving lures. Today I went further out near Lahaina and finally had the reel screaming on a big fish taking a dead opelu that I bought frozen at a local fish market. Long story short, it was the best fight I’ve ever had but it got off at the kayak. My best from hours on the youtube was that it was an ono! Getting closer to that tasty fish, your blog helps!
Cheers,
Joe
You’re making very quick progress Joe. Keep safe if you’re fishing solo. Go in calm conditions, be aware of what the weather is gonna do, wear your pfd, have a vhf radio on you, and an epirb would be ideal.
Keep buying opelu until you can catch your own. That bait will get bit by very large fish, sharks included, so be prepared.
Keep me posted of your progress, thanks!
-scott
Hi Scott,
Thanks for your feedback. I do try to keep safety #1. I read multiple weather reports, ask seasoned kayakers, wear a pfd, and use a radio. Still deciding whether a epirb is the best investment or if a second waterproof cell phone would actually be more useful. It seems like it is easy to make sure that cell phones are working before and during a trip, and they can also be used as GPS locating devices (as far as I know).
I finally caught an eater fish last week–a moana kali–on a 100 gram jigspara jig that I bought for the Maui Jigging Tournament coming up this weekend. My father in law cooked it in a white wine lemon sauce, in a cast iron pan with a lid, on the bbq. That fish was delicious!
Mahalo for the support!
Congrats on the moana kali. Beautiful fish that’s delicious steamed.
As far as the safety communication devices go, you can call family with your cell phone if you’re able to dial. You can call the Coast Guard with your VHF radio if you can call out on channel 16. But if your cell and radio are soaked and you can’t easily call out, you can activate the antenna on your epirb and just push the button to notify the Coast Guard. The epirb is waterproof and will send your GPS location. Hopefully you never have to resort to that.
I echo Joe! Social media can give you the impression everyone is catching but you. Looking forward to the warmer, more productive months. tight lines!
Could be just around the corner Jed. I saw thousands of oama last week and there’s reports of mahi coming in now. Crossing my fingers this is the beginning of the season!
-scott
Hi Jed and Scott,
Yes, here on a Maui they are catching Mahis from the jig boats, I hear. I could go out on a charter, but something about one-on-one from the kayak has drawn me in, very addicting! Tight lines!
-Joe
Yup, nothing like being completely responsible for your success and failure on a kayak. So close to nature too, you’ll see things that you won’t see from a charter boat.
-scott