Mark had shared his simple yet effective system for keeping oama alive, and is back visiting his family’s home on the upper east side of Kauai. He was surprised to find so much oama this late in the year and the omilu were still biting for him.

Mark: I wasn’t able to get over to Kauai during the peak season but have been reading HNF (Hawaii Nearshore Fishing) to keep track of the oama season. Finally got to Kauai and was very surprised to see sizable schools of oama in very shallow water. Been whipping live and dead oama from shore using ultralight gear with maybe 8 – 10 pound test (mono-wish I had some braided) so I was pretty lucky to land the omilu.  I was using just a single hook, wish I had some red ones, but tackle seems to be scarce on this side of the island.

The area on the east side I’m whipping is 2 to 5 feet but pretty choppy.  Bite has  been at low/incoming tide in the morning.   It’s been wild.  One or more omilu each day I’ve fished, and I just kept this one to eat.

The oama have been so thick I was catching them between casts.  The best catch was on a fat live oama I snagged right off the reef.  I have to give HNF credit. I have switched up my technique this trip adjusting to some of your stories.  Really enjoy all the posts when I can’t be on the island.

Mark