Early season lychee and mango have been picked and eaten.  Some old time fishermen believe that the seasonal triggers that cause those fruits to blossom and ripen are the same that trigger oama to come into the shallows.  We sure could use early season oama because it has been really slow inshore and even nearshore on our kayaks.

I haven’t caught a decent fish since February, and favorable wind days have been scarce.  But just recently, the bite seems to have picked up.  The guys are beginning to get white papio and omilu just outside the reef on their watercraft, or from land at hard to access places, so maybe the bait fish have arrived.

Erik and Kekoa got these throwing Yuzuri Hydro Poppers off Erik’s tin boat.  Multiple white ulua hit and cut off or shook off.  With that many whites and omilu staging just off the reef edge, there must have been a source of bait nearby.

Maybe the bait was this?  Early season papio tend to be larger than later season papio, so the early season fisher is rewarded with smaller crowds and bigger fish.  Go get ‘um!!!