7th grader Matthew generously shares his Fish and Dive Expo experience with us. His mother was his in-the-field photographer.

Matthew:

 

 

 

 

 

The Hawaii Fish and Dive expo… Rumored to be the biggest fishing event in the Hawaiian Islands every two years. I heard some people even flew in from other islands to come to it. Starting off the bat, getting there and watching the fish in the man made pond is always frustrating, but is also fun to watch all of your dream fish swimming side by side. After you finally get in, there is usually a mad rush for the Campania Lures booth. Especially this year because they were selling a very realistic looking oama soft bait, and were only selling ten each day of the expo. The price on the oama lure was 15 dollars each, and you only got one bait per package. A little pricey, but I thought I would try and get it anyways. As soon as I went through the gate, I sprinted to the Campania booth… But instead ended up at the bathrooms. Oops, wrong isle. By the time I ran back to the right isle, there was a hefty line, and by the time I got to the front, it was sold out. I still bought some other goodies from the Campanis booth including some new colors. They had made a new color just for the expo called “El Richie”.

The J.Hara booth had some good deals too, including a closeout sale of Maria’s “Ma-Worms” which is an interesting looking grub. They were selling it for an absurd price of 10 packs for $1! They charged me $10 instead of $1, but that was still fine since even if they sold it for $1 each, the normal price per pack was $5. They were also selling Maria hard lures (Jig-like things, crankbaits, and jerkbaits similar to Yo-Zuri ones) for only $2 each! I bought two that looked a lot like an oama. They also had a good deal for a long net for $8.99.

 

 

I also checked out the Hanapa’a booth, and they had discounted rod holders, J-Line, and reels including the Daiwa Saltist I had heard about from my friend. I checked out some other booths that sold some Ulua Poppers, stickbaits, and jigs, including discounted micro-jigs in sardine color, so I bought one for $4.99.

 

 

I also checked some other booths out, but nothing really appealed too much to me, so I checked out the Tag-It booth. I met Uncle Clay, talked to him a little bit, and then left to wander a little bit more.

I then checked out Uncle Kevin at the Hobie and (I think?) Bloody Yaks booth. He had his giant kayak on display! It looked to be around 25 feet long, bigger than the average small boat. Overall, this year’s expo was better than 2016’s one. This was clearly an event that you can’t miss once it comes up especially when compared to the only other “fishing” expo, the Ocean Expo.

 

 

 

Fish Status:
Oama are definitely thinning out, with almost all of the traditional spots barren. There are a few spots which I will not name that I have seen new, “dumb” oama that just came in, so this may be the last “wave” before they all leave, so get your Oama now and stock up. Halalu are pretty much gone by now, with only the late season spots holding some, like Haleiwa, Waimea, and Kahe Power Plant. Campbell may have some, but I hear it’s mainly blind casting over there. Kewalo has been barren of Akule for a good 4 months now, and may come back soon. Sardines are all gone now, with maybe a pile scattered here and there, but not much any more. There may be some in deeper water that you can catch off damashi and kayak. Iao and Nehu are still in abundance, but are getting quite larger, which is attracting larger predators, but also means that they may leave the safety of the shallows soon. Another strange abundance I have been seeing is Mullet (not sure if they are Uoa’uoa or Ama’ama) all ranging from three inches to six or so inches. Sometimes there is even a large ball of mullet I see. It may be worth a shot to try snag one then toss it out past the school. Bait season is ending, so Papio and Omilu are starting to head back into deeper water, so try and get them soon.