Find the bait, then find the elusive white papio school?

July 28, 2017 By Scott 3 Comments

Frank and I have been chasing reports of schools of white papio marauding bait in the deep channels but we’ve always been a paddle or two behind. Bolo-ing on the last mid-morning search, we decided to try the evening bite. Conditions were challenging, with gusts over 20 mph and rain threatening.

Not much was showing on my portable fish finder’s screen so we pushed through the wind to get to the spot we were told held the whites. Fish appeared to be a few feet above the bottom on the protected side of the papa but nothing wanted to take our live oama offering. As we waited for the 5pm witching hour to wake the fish, the steady wind blew me closer to shore. There were pockets of fish hovering near the bottom that I assumed were white papio waiting for the evening frenzy.

Suddenly fish began to show up on the “sidefinder” view of the fish finder, indicating fish near the surface directly in front of my kayak. My Huminbird Fishin Buddy’s display is almost toy-like but I’ve come to learn that when fish are spotted near the surface like that, they are bait fish spread out on the surface over a sandy bottom. I paddled my kayak’s bow like a hammerhead shark surveying side to side until I could also mark fish below me. Suspended fish are either bait schools thick in the water colum or white papio stacked up under the bait fish.

When I took this photo, the surface bait fish weren’t showing up in the sidefinder view on the left of the screen, but the composite view of what I had passed over indicated bait fish thick under me. Despite all this bait, nothing took the live oama I was deep trolling behind me.

Remembering I had brought a jigging rod in hopes that we’d be sitting over a school of whites, I clipped on a 3/4 oz, 2 inch compact tungsten jig and dropped it down but wasn’t surprised when nothing took it. Out of boredom, I cast it out and jigged it back as I watched the fish finder’s screen. Something was pulling back! It felt like a fish but the Shimano Type J rod and Tranx 400 easily controlled it.

When I brought it in view I thought it was a 4 foot gray shark but it turned out to be a 12 inch white with 3 other whites following it. Guess I had been watching too much Shark Week.

Stoked that the compact little jig had worked on the school of whites, I tried to whistle Frank to get his attention but the wind blew the sound inland, not out to him.

Paddling into the headwind as efficiently as possible, the trolling rig went off! I was stunned to land a 12.75 inch omilu on the oama a few feet from where the white had bit. I left the bait out of the water this time and finally made it out to Frank. By the time we made it back in, the whites and the bait fish were gone! Nothing showed on the fish finder and nothing hit our bait. Ugh… I really had hoped Frank and I would finally experience a white papio frenzy.

We headed back to our launch spot and stopped at the spot Frank lost a screamer. The fish finder’s screen was blank so we spread out and slowly paddled in. I took a blind strike near the reef edge and had to put the rod in the holder 3 times and paddle back into the channel before landing a 14 inch white.

What was interesting about these 3 fish were their stomach contents. The 12 inch white was stuffed with small opae despite being around the bait school. The 12.75 inch omilu was full of inch and a half nehu, which looked very similar in length and profile to the tungsten jig. The 14 inch white had a small mantis shrimp and a flat, whitish piece of cartilage stretching its stomach. All were well fed and none appeared to have any oama in their bellies. No wonder our oama baits have been ignored.

Ever the team player, Frank was happy for the catches and new understanding gained but agreed we need to improve communication on the water. He suggested looking into 2-way radios like the offshore kayak guys use. Do you guys have any recommendations?

Gear shake out

July 12, 2016 By Scott 2 Comments

Finally, after a month of gusty days, the wind slowed enough to kayak fish. During that time off the water I had repurposed two reels I hadn’t been using, purchased a light, sensitive jig rod, and assembled some eye catching micro jigs from Japan. With so many things to try out I left the frozen oama at home.

(L to R) Calcutta 200TE, Calcutta 300TE w/Trevala rod

I started by whipping the black/chrome Waxwing Baby with an upgraded Calcutta 200TE. The level wind reel was great for fishing bait but too slow for retrieving Waxwings, so it hadn’t seen use in months. I came across a 200TE main gear upgrade sold on a Japanese Domestic Model (JDM) website that increased the line retrieval from 25 inches to 32 inches per crank. The downside of that retrieval increase is a proportional decrease in torque and drag (level wind reel have drag washers on the gear stack and are affected by gear ratio). Sure enough the Waxwing was zig zagging like it does on the high speed Shimano Curado 300EJ, but on the discontinued Calcutta 200TE that sports a stronger frame and better centrifugal brakes. I did feel one bump and a miss.

I put the whipping rod down and picked up the new lightweight jig setup: A Shimano Trevala S rod so thin and light that it made the compact Calcutta 300TE reel look big. The 300TE, one size up from the 200TE, was gathering dust in a box since I stopped using it as a small trolling reel. I added a longer power handle to replace the two-knobbed paddle handle and could immediately feel the increase in cranking efficiency.

(top to bottom) Live Deception, After Burner Japanese jig, Jigpara Japanese jig

I lobbed the shiny, nehu looking Jigpara jig (bottom lure in the photo) from Japan and lifted and fluttered it back. Not a single bump. Odd. So much activity on the fish finder and so little interest in the lures. In the distance, 2 guys on a boat were whooping it up like they landed an ulua, so that made me fish harder.

Switching back to the WW whipping setup, I cast onto the shallow reef top, hoping I wouldn’t backlash and get my lure stuck. A long fish lunged for the WW and missed the hooks. On the next cast, the lure was sucked down and a fish swam through the shallow crevices in the reef. I was relieved to see omilu blue instead of aha gray. The omilu ran line out against the drag and I had to tighten it further. The drag really was diminished by the higher gear ratio, and didn’t feel as smooth as it normally did. Because I was “practicing” tagging papio, I had planned to take a photo while the fish was still in the water, measure the fish against the markings on my kayak, and let it go. The fish wasn’t aware of my good intentions and literally spit the lure at me. It missed me by about a foot to the right. The freed omilu, which I got a good look at, was at least 2lbs, maybe even 3lb.

Nothing else was on that reef top so I paddled out a bit and cast over another reef edge. A pretty big aha grey hounded across the water like it’s nickname “poor man’s marlin” and also spit the hook. I was relieved my lure was still attached and I didn’t have to release that toothy demon. To give the jigs an equal chance, I switched back to the jig setup, changed to the Live Deception jig and bounced it off the shallow bottom. Still no interest. Back to the Waxwing and I got another hit and drop of either an aha or kaku.

It was about time to see if the white papio were gonna swarm at dusk like they did the last time they hit every micro jig dropped in the water. The fish finder picked up breezing fish gathering close to shore, but they didn’t take the Waxwing or the Live Deception jig. Maybe it was too early? I waited for the sun to drop lower and then “poof” they were gone. No fish on the fish finder. I paddled around not believing that they would suddenly pick up and leave but appeared to be what they did. The whites must’ve gotten bigger and headed somewhere else to attack bait.

Look at what 3 fish did to this lure! (zoom in)

Maybe I had missed other fish and didn’t realize it?

No fish landed but I was glad my confidence in the Waxwing was restored. It had recently been outfished by surface poppers and heavy jigs, but proved once again that in shallow spots holding bait, there is no equal to a well-retrieved Waxwing. And the Calcutta 200TE with higher gear ratio was fast enough to make the Waxwing look enticing.

The Trevala S light jig rod could cast jigs well despite it’s short 6’3″ length due to its soft tip. I guess I’ll have to see how well it holds up to a fish some other time.

Note: Charley’s is running a jig combo special, which includes the Trevala S jig rod and the Shimano Curado 300EJ reel I used on that Big Island jigging trip of a lifetime. Trust me, it’s a deal you don’t want to miss out on.

The New Moon Curse?

June 6, 2016 By Scott 6 Comments

Kelly and I SUP’d / kayaked fished the day before the New Moon. My fish finder marked fish and we caught a few legal omilu and whites on frozen oama, with Kelly getting cut off on coral by a larger fish. Nothing hit my micro jig. All the papio were released intentionally or unintentionally, in preparation of the start of Papio Tagging this summer. The bite was the best around the top of the tide so we went back the following day to dial things in.

The wind and swell were down a bit from the day before, and nothing seemed to be stirring in the depths. The same places that showed fish on the fish finder the day before were barren. Even the turtles were absent. I scouted the deep areas and the reef edges, and Kelly crossed over the flats into deep water and back. Halfway through our outing Kelly got a strong hit that took a third of his line. He had paddled over the reef edge, into the deep side, and was perfectly positioned to fight the fish in obstacle-free water. But it came unbuttoned.

That fish gave us hope but all we got was a series of short bites on our frozen oama and I landed a 9″ white. Kelly paddled back to the launch point and I dawdled behind, hoping an evening bite would magically materialize. In the 20ft to 15 ft sandy/muddy gap in the reef, the fish finder began to show some mid-sized fish. Another 9″ white was hooked and released, and the next oama got hit as I let out line. The frenzy was on but Kelly was already out of the water.

He texted “goodbye” and I was free to try out the small but heavy jigs. I paddled out to deeper, clearer water to give the jigs their best chance. The fish finder transducer was suction cupped to the side of the kayak at an angle so the depths read deeper than they actually were. I’m guessing it was 30 – 40 ft even though the fish finder said 56ft. The fish were marking from the bottom to halfway up and really thick.

Exploded view of Live Deception jig and assist hooks before being slid onto Power Clip

I cast a 1oz Live Deception jig that had a rear treble hook, with added assist hooks connected via a Tactical Angler Power Clip. I had snagged my trolling line and as the lure sank it hooked up! Another 9″ white came up but the Live Deception lure was gone! Meanwhile the oama didn’t get touched so I reeled that in and stowed the rod.

Exploded view of micro jig and assist hooks before being slid onto Power Clip

I kept the assist hooks and slid on a 30 gm micro jig. It got hit halfway down the sink also! And same thing, 9″ white caught on assist hook but the micro jig was gone. What the heck? This happened when I had caught a kahala deep jigging an 80 gm Shimano Flat Fall. I had thought a fish hit the Flat Fall hook and another hit the independent assist hook, and the Flat Fall-hooked fish pried itself off the clip. Now I began to realize that the kahala and small whites were flipping the heavy jigs off the clip with their head shakes.

this white threw off the Live Deception jig

this white threw off the 1st micro jig

this guy threw off the 2nd and last micro jig

this one threw off the 2nd and last micro jig

I had one 30 gm micro jig left and slid it down the power clip next to the assist hooks. Cast out, let it sink, hookup, repeat. Couldn’t be any easier. Reel in a 9″ white and no jig left on the clip. I guess the clip wasn’t intended to have heavy lures and separate assist hooks. 3 casts, 3 whites, 3 jigs lost. I was out of jigs so I got a chance to see how surface lures would work on these sub-surface whites.

The normally effective Waxwing Baby couldn’t raise them and neither could the Yozuri Hydro Popper, which slayed the 1lb – 3lb whites off the boat the previous week. I had been disappointed that the Waxwing and micro jigs did not work at all when the Poppers raised all those fish from the depths and was beginning to think poppers were all we needed. But on this weird evening following very little activity during the day, when the small whites were swarming halfway down the water column, the only thing they wanted were sinking jigs. I guess every lure has its day.

Friends who fished further out on their boat, and others who fly fished the flats said this day was unusually slow, yet the next day had more action. I had heard that the New Moon, like the Full Moon, was a slow day to fish. One theory, my wise fishing kupuna told me, is that fish travel on those two moon phases so they’re less interested in eating. It’s like the predators and prey have a truce so they can complete their migration. How productive has the New Moon been for you?

Jigging and popping for pelagics and ulua

May 17, 2016 By Scott 11 Comments

(top) Shimano Trevala with Daiwa Lexa HD400XS
(bottom) Shimano Terez with Shimano Tranx 500

Erik and his dad, Ed, invited me out on their 16 ft center console catamaran to troll to the nearest buoy, hit some deep and shallow jigging spots and finish up with some evening ulua plugging. I brought the Shimano Trevala jigging rod and Daiwa Lexa HD400XS reel to jig and the Shimano Terez Waxwing rod and Shimano Tranx reel to plug. Both setups were untested because I hadn’t been able to target large enough fish in the past. We definitely exceeded the nearshore range on this trip but hopefully you guys will find this report interesting from the tackle and technique perspective.

80g blue sardine flat fall

The wind was light and seas fairly calm so it was relatively smooth sailing to the buoy. Unfortunately nothing wanted our trolled lures or dropped jigs so we headed back in to their 200 ft plus jigging spot. They had caught big kahala and pelagics at this spot before so we rigged up with the heavier jigs. Ed went big with a 280 gram Shimano Butterfly Flat Side jig, Erik went with the 130 gram Shimano Butterfly Flat Fall jig, and I went with the smallest Flat Fall in the 80 gram size. 80 grams are equivalent to 2.8 ounces, so my jig wasn’t exactly small either. The Trevala medium heavy action jig rod has a soft tip with a lot of backbone and the Daiwa Lexa HD400XS brings in 43 inches of line per crank with a max of 25lb of drag. I slipped on a belt gimble and an extra pair of assist hooks to the front of the flat fall, and was hoping for something larger than a hage to test my gear.

The guys let me fish the starboard (right) side of the bow, which had a lot of open space and allowed me to cast right handed. On the second drop, about 20 ft off the bottom, I got hit. The fish pulled a bit of line and then I could feel frenetic tail beats. The soft tip of the Trevala rod made it a fun fight and soon we saw a tuna-shaped fish swimming in circles. Kawakawa for Erik’s grandma! The guys were stoked that I was able to get my first flat fall fish and we resumed jigging and cranking with anticipation.

After a couple of drops we weren’t seeing anything on the fish finder so we were about to move. I burned the flat fall back in and got hammered about a third of the way up. This fish took drag and kept the rod bent. I wasn’t sure-footed enough to stand and fight the fish so I sat side-saddle on the bow’s platform (I don’t know the proper boating terms) and tried to short pump it up. It felt like a decent sized jack and made some powerful runs straight down, but the Lexa’s smooth drag eventually tired it out. Erik got some great underwater shots of the fish and then deftly lifted it over the side of the boat. My first kahala ever.

The strange thing was my flat fall jig was missing and the kahala was hooked on one of the assist hooks I had clipped on to the Tactical Anglers Power Clip. (zoom in to the top photo of the Flat Fall jig attached to the Trevala rod to see how the lure had been attached). The clip was slightly bent. It’s pretty hard to slip off a lure to remove it, so I was stumped as to how the jig was pulled off and the kahala was still hooked. One optimistic theory is that another kahala had hit the jig on its rear assist hooks and the kahala I landed tried to take the jig away and was caught on the top assist hooks. They pulled against each other and somehow the flat fall was pulled off the power clip.

We didn’t measure or weigh the kahala but Erik estimated it to be at least 10lbs. Because of its reputation as a worm-filled ciquatoxic fish, it was released to battle the next angler. I replaced the clip but made a critical mistake that you’ll read about a little later.

Ed scaled down to the 130 gm blue sardine flat fall and resumed his speed jigging with big rod sweeps. Something heavy stopped his jig about 1/3 from the bottom and repeatedly yanked the rod down but didn’t run too far before the hook slipped. The guys think it was a fairly big kahala that successfully shook the hook off.

The action slowed so we moved to a shallow water spot (50 ft deep) that produced ulua on the poppers for the guys before. Ed went up on the stern’s deck (I really need to learn the proper boating terms) and started throwing a 150gm Pelagic Warrior Gladiator blue/green Lumo popper with his Okuma Makaira heavy jigging rod and Shimano Saragosa 10000 spinning reel, spooled with 100lb braid and a 150lb fluoro leader. They’ve learned from past battles that a strong, abrasion resistant leader and main line that can handle a very tight drag are requirements against the scutes and tail of ulua and coral reef caves. Ed heaved the heavy popper and noisily gurgled it back to the boat, and Erik and I jigged with micro jigs but there were no takers at this spot.

Erik moved us to another shallow reef and Ed woke an ulua from its slumber. The beast came out of the water to intercept Ed’s popper and tumbled tail first. The fight was on and Ed was able to stop the fish after its initial run, but then it made it to the reef below and ran through the rocky valleys until it could expose the braid to the sharp rocks. CRAAACK! The line popped like a gunshot and Erik caught his dad as he fell backward. While we were disappointed, we were pumped to witness such raw power.

The spot we were in didn’t leave much leeway to safely fight large ulua but appeared to hold fish. Erik decided to risk his favorite 125 gram Spartan blue Lumo GTFC popper on a Shimano Tallus Bluewater Series extra heavy rod and Saragosa 10000 spinning reel packed with 80lb braid and a 150 lb fluoro leader. He set his drag tight and launched the lure as far as he could. Sweeping the rod explosively, he created a bubble trail that called up another ulua. The ulua turned and headed back for his cave. Erik cupped the reel spool, crouched and leaned back hard against the rod and hoped against hope that his line would withstand the razor-sharp live coral below. CRAAACK! Just like that two favorite poppers donated to the depths below. The guys felt bad that they left lures in the fishes’ mouths and hoped the hooks would soon be worked free.

We moved to a deeper reef that provided a little more cushion and Erik resumed plugging while Ed and I micro jigged. I had a 30 gram blue and silver Jigging World jig clipped on to a 60lb flouro leader and 65 lb braid. After seeing Ed and Erik get rocked, I set my drag pretty tight, to where I could barely pull line off the reel. Something slammed my jig as I did a fast lift-crank-drop and burned line back to the bottom. I was shocked to feel such power and speed and called out to the guys. It surged a second time and then the line went slack. Rocked on the bottom? No… The leader’s end was in loose curls. Not quite like how it would look if the knot unraveled but why else would it be curly? I’m thinking that when I tied on the power clip after replacing the bent one, I didn’t use pliers to pull the 60lb fluoro leader tight. Rookie mistake made while rushing to get back in the action. The surge that popped the line was strongest I’ve felt in years.

What a versatile, action packed trip. I am so grateful for Erik and Ed’s hospitality and generosity. And I have to admit, after seeing the ferocity of the ulua strikes on the poppers, I wasn’t ready to throw a big Waxwing at ’em and risk getting pulled off the deck.