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The stuff I use and why I use ’em – Fishing Tackle

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(Updated April 2019)

Since starting the blog portion of this site in 2014, I’ve stumbled upon equipment to make my fishing easier, more productive and more enjoyable.  I can’t share our fishing spots with you but I can share the equipment I especially like.

The gear categories are fishing tackle, fishing attire, and kayak fishing equipment.

My style and preference may be very different from yours so please take that into account.  Where I deviate the most is using bait casting gear instead of spinning gear.  I’ve mentioned why I like to use bait casters here.

Some of my gear may be discontinued but you should be able to find a newer, hopefully better version of the product.  If you have a product you think is better, please share it with us.  I’m always looking for continuous improvement.

I’ll update this list as I think of other products to add or replace, and write separate product reviews for the really deserving ones.

Fishing Tackle

Rods: I primarily use bait casting gear and like my rods to be as light in weight and as sensitive as possible.  I try to be careful with my rods so I’ve been able to use graphite / carbon fiber rods which are lighter and more responsive than fiberglass. The lightness really makes a difference when I’m whipping or jigging for hours at a time.  For whipping, I try to find G. Loomis demo rods on eBay, and use Shimano Trevala rods for jigging.  I also have a Shimano Game Type-J jig rod that is a super light, strong delight to jig with all day.

Reels: Again, I primarily use bait casting reels.  I used other brands in the 90s to kayak fish and they corroded quickly so I switched to early model Shimano Calcuttas and have used Shimanos since. The Shimano bait casters rated for salt water are easy to cast, corrosion resistant and fairly easy to maintain.  If I need to have the reel professionally repaired, Shimano’s flat rate repairs have been very reasonable.  Reel parts are also available online at a great price with expedited shipping.  I’m able to do most of my reel maintenance myself now, after bungling my initial repairs.  Besides the Calcuttas, I use Shimano Curados, Tranxs and a Trinidad (conventional).

Line – Backing or Main: Sufix 832 braid. I’ve tried the other popular brands with less than desirable results.  I’ve found Sufix 832 to be round (8 strands), smooth and cast very well.  It doesn’t bind into itself they way the other brands did, and if I do get a rare backlash I can easily pull out the snag without too much drama. I’ve heard great things about Jerry Brown braid and want to try that soon.

Line – Top Shot: I’m able to put Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon on my bait casting reels. I’ve tried to put it on a spinning reel and it spun itself off.  Invizx, being castable fluorocarbon, is nearly invisible in the water and very abrasion resistant. It takes a lot of rubbing on the reef to get cut off by a fish but it also makes it hard to break off snags.  I use Invizx on my trolling reel and inshore casting reel.  Invizx only goes up to 25lb so I don’t use it on my plugging setup.

Line – Leader: Seaguar Blue Label fluorocarbon leader. I like that Blue Label is supple and easy to tie knots, and doesn’t seem to kink like some other brands.  I use 40lb Blue Label in place of wire leader when kaku are around and don’t think I’ve been cut off yet.

Hooks: When I lived in California, I’d go on party boat trips once or twice a year.  The guys would tell me that if you’re gonna spend the money for these trips you don’t want to lose a fish because your hook was too weak or too dull.  The “designer” hooks cost a little more but you know they are sticky sharp and won’t break on a fish.  I use a Gamakatsu Live Bait hook as the front hook on my double trolling rig because the short shank doesn’t extend out too far and make the bait look funny, and an Owner Flyliner hook on the rear hook because the longer shank will extend out of the fish and be easier to unhook. I pinch the barbs down because I often tag and release and it’ll be easier to pull out of my flesh. I replace my lure trebles with Owner Inline Singles for the front hooks and Owner 4X trebles for the rear hooks.  The designer hooks have a corrosion resistant coating and when they begin to rust I toss them.  Usually I lose them before that happens.  I started using the big VMC Tournament Circle hooks to fish big baits from my kayak’s rod holder.  They are strong and sharp and not as expensive as the Owner and Gamakatsu circle hooks.

Update April 2019: I now use VMC hooks in place of the designer brands wherever I can because they perform almost as well and are often close to half the price of the designer hooks.  My hookup ratio hasn’t seemed to suffer. Here’s an team review of the VMC 6X circle hooks and 4X treble hooks.

Lure Clips: Tactical Angler Power Clips.  These clips make it easy to slide in and out lures very quickly and the wide bend allows the lures to swing more freely than if tied directly to your leader. Haven’t lost a fish due to clip failure yet.

Weights.  I do use a special weight to whip and troll.  It’s my secret weapon.  Maybe I’ll reveal it later.

Swivels.  I don’t have a specific brand but I do try to use ball bearing swivels.  The bait casting reel doesn’t introduce line twist like a spinner does so I don’t have problems with tangles.

Lures – Whipping. I’m of the belief that the bait fish in Hawaii are small and shifty. Most of the plugs available domestically are larger than I prefer, or don’t cast well in the wind.  Friends and I have been using 1/2 to 3/4 ounce, 4 to 5 inch JDM lures that match our hatch, cast well and most float.  They are hard to obtain at a reasonable price but I’ll write more about them later.

Lures – Jigging.  Since the Japanese invented the Slow Pitch jigging technique it stands to reason that the JDM jigs are the best.  The jigs available locally work too, and I’ve had some amazing results with the Live Deception jig by Ahi USA.  I love jigging but don’t get to jig very often. Friends and I are still trying to get better at the sport.  All but the Live Deception, 4th from the top, are from Japan, but some were sold in the local tackle shops.

Landing Net: Promar ProFloat landing net.  It floats, it has tangle free mesh, an elastic lanyard and it’s cheap.  What more can you ask for?  It’s available in the tackle shops in town.

Gear Lanyards: I use various tethers on my tackle bag and kayak.  I really like the T-Reign Retractable Tether because it doesn’t leave loose cords around to get tangled in.  So far, after a few years of use, they haven’t corroded.  I use Boomerang Snips too and after years of use, if the retractable spring stops working I glue an attachment point and use the T-Reign tether to hold it to my bag. (see photo)

Waterproof Tackle Bag – Patagonia Stormfront Sling.  This bag is expensive, and the price has gone up twice since I purchased it 2  yrs ago.  But the main compartment really is waterproof and makes for worry-free wade and boat fishing, and easy cleanup. Patagonia honors their lifetime warranty. A zipper tab broke and they gave me a brand new sling bag after 2 yrs of use.  This time around I won’t be carrying bait for oama and stinking it up.

Fishing pliers: Rapala aluminum pliers.  All my previous “carbon steel” needle nose pliers have eventually rusted out and left corrosion stains in their sheaths.  These aluminum pliers shouldn’t rust but they are shorter than the ones they are replacing.  Hope they’re long enough to keep my fingers away from sharp teeth.

Big Island Bottomfishing Trip 2017

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Continuing the tradition started last year, the Pacific Islands Fisheries Group (PIFG) guys, Neil and Erik, traveled to the Big Island to boat fish the day before the Tokunaga Challenge weigh-in.  We stayed with Neil’s childhood friend Jeremy, who chauffeured us around like celebrities. The moon was a lot bigger than last year’s half moon conditions, and there was a 5.3 earthquake the day before.  We were eager to see how that would affect our jigging prospects.

Capt Wes was fishing a tournament in Kona that day so Capt Braiden, last year’s first mate, took us out on the 19 ft Glasspar he recently purchased.  The wide beamed boat easily handled the five us and provided a stable platform to bottomfish.  We started at the jigging spots that were productive last year, and came up empty.  Capt Braiden, who doesn’t normally shallow bottom fish, worked the sounder and GPS to find other likely spots.  Jeremy fished cut shrimp, Neil and I jigged, and Erik switched between jigs and damashi with flies.  Jeremy hooked something solid and carefully brought a big, thick yellow spot papio to the net.  That gave us hope, but the lure bite didn’t materialize.

Slowly the guys switched over to shrimp on damashi and went through the initiation of hage and lizardfish.  Erik hooked something big on the bottom hook of his light damashi setup and gingerly worked it up but it eventually bent the hook and swam free.  Capt Braiden tirelessly worked the various reefs and drop offs. The tide was halfway through its rise and Neil got a small nibble that felt different from a hage, and heavier than a lizardfish. Nabeta!  It was on the small size but very welcome since nabeta were the best eating of the first we had caught last year.  Soon the guys were bringing up singles and doubles of  larger nabeta as Capt Braiden carefully plotted his drifts.

Neil continued his nabeta pioneering by landing a black fish that we later realized was a nabeta, followed up with a second black nabeta.  Turns out black colored nabeta are of the same species we were catching, but a very uncommon catch.  The two black nabeta were smaller than their lighter colored siblings, but pulled harder.

Live Deception green mackerel, left most. Flat Fall 80 gm, 4th from left.

I stubbornly kept jigging, using slow falling, fast falling, larger bodied and very small bodied jigs, eventually trying 9 different lures.  Earlier something small was on, shook its head pretty actively and came off. Then a larger fish took drag repeatedly but slipped off the debarbed hooks when I paused to try to find the “on” button of Erik’s Go Pro camera strapped to my chest.

My jigging muscles were tired after hours of non-productive lifting and cranking.  I felt bad that I wasn’t contributing to the nabeta pile so I bummed a homemade 2-hook dropper rig from Neil and baited up with shrimp.  Once I hit bottom I felt a strong tug and cranked what I thought was a whopper of a nabeta to the surface. Turned out to be hage and so was the next fish I brought up.  The guys said I had to go through the hage initiation and thankfully the third fish I brought up was a nabeta.  At this point we had run out of shrimp and were chunking lizardfish for bait, and I added a couple more nabeta. The others were much more effectively adding to the community catch.

Out of cut bait and an hr left to fish, we worked our way back towards our launch spot. Capt Braiden stopped in the general area where we caught the ulua last year.  He must’ve dialed it in perfectly because the first drop of the 2 oz  Ahi USA Live Deception in Green Mackeral (last year’s magic lure) got walloped a few lifts off the bottom.  It felt awesome to have something bend the rod and pull drag.  I babied it a bit since it would be my first jig fish of the day if landed, and it took me around the stern.  It came up very shiny and Neil expertly netted it. Kagami papio/ulua, the first jig fish I caught last year too!  This one was smaller than last year’s and the guys decided it was too beautiful to kill.  We tagged the 20.5 inch (FL) kagami and set it free.  Erik blended my chest cam’s footage and his stick cam to create this beautiful video.

The guys were pumped and Jeremy dropped down a frozen oama Braiden’s wife had caught the year before.  It got inhaled and he calmly battled a stronger fish than the kagami I had just released.  After a series of powerful runs a larger, slightly less shiny fish surfaced.  21.5 inch (FL) white papio/ulua.  That one was headed to Capt Wes’ smoker.

We drifted out to deeper water and my 2 oz Live Deception took longer to hit bottom.  The “scope” of the line was greater than I preferred because my lifts couldn’t make the lure fall as intended but the jig got picked up and the fish made an initial run.  Thinking it was another papio, I was waiting for a strong dive as I tried to smoothly bring it to the surface, but the fish was whipped. It turned out to be a weke ula, maybe a couple of pounds.  Erik had been telling me to eat the weke ula raw instead of steaming it, since it’s a little firm and crunchy when cooked, so I kept it.

Nothing hit my Live Deception on the next drop and since we were in deeper water  I put on an 80 gram (2.8 oz) Shimano Flat Fall.  It got picked up and I felt tugs as I reeled it in. Hage on both assist hooks!  How’d it fit such large hooks in its small mouth?  That was a sign that it was time to head for the barn.

We suspect the slow jig bite was due to the full moon the night before.  The predators may have fed at night and were resting up for the next night bite. Big ups to Capt Braiden for putting us on the most productive nabeta harvest we’ve ever experienced and over some big papios.  Much Mahalo to Jeremy for the Big Island Hospitality.

Jeremy, Neil, Scott and Capt Braiden

Here’s the crew. We couldn’t all be in the same photo because someone had to take the picture!  Neil plans to donate one of the black nabeta to the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, and eat the other to compare to the normal colored nabeta.

 

Jeremy, Neil, Erik and Scott

 

 

Semi-nearshore shallow water jigging

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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.

Live Deception, Waxwing Baby, Waxwing Boy, Flat Fall 80g, Flat Fall 80g

1 oz Mackeral Live Deception on left. 2.8oz Black Anchovy and Blue Sardine Flat Fall on right

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.

 

erik's moanoHe 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.

 

 

 

Erik's ydot

notice how the boat’s stern isn’t lining up with the horizon? we’re swinging back and forth!

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.

kawakawa

kawakawa

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.

yellow dot and taape

6lb yellow dot papio and taape

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.