Frank and I first fished together in 2014 just as this website’s blog began. He is a very accomplished longboard surfer of Hawaii surfing aristocracy, and was my surfing and church mentor. Frank’s family had a small boat when he was growing up that they used to target reef fish but he was much more experienced with a surfboard than a fishing rod. In the spring of 2017 we made an effort to fish together more often, starting with some top water whipping. As expected, Frank quickly caught on to the art of retrieving surface lures and landed good size kaku. Here’s one of those kaku top water trip reports.
Then Frank modified his stand up paddle board (SUP) to sit and paddle kayak style. With that, he had a very light watercraft he could safely paddle around to troll and whip. We started in the protective bays to get used to fighting fish in the relatively cramped, seated position (I was on a kayak), and began to venture near the surf break. By the fall of 2017, we were going past the surf line, dragging live and dead oama. Frank was much less prone to capsizing on his SUP than I was on the yak, and he did especially well fishing just behind the waves. Here’s one of our productive days.
The inshore bite came to a screeching halt in the winter of 2017, so we carefully went deeper on vary calm days. At least a third of the time the wind came up and we had to paddle in for safety, but when we could fish the deep we began to see schools of bait on the fish finder, and we stumbled upon small uku and papio in the 40 – 60 ft depths. I wouldn’t have attempted to kayak fish past the reef if I didn’t have Frank as a very competent water safety/fishing partner. Hard to believe how far we progressed in just one year of fishing on the SUP/kayak!
This trip took place in the first week of December, 2017. I am a little uncomfortable with his words of appreciation but didn’t want to edit it all out!
Frank:
Planning and packing the night before my next fishing adventure and OJT (on the job training) with Scott was extra exciting. This will be my 2nd time on his Swing kayak and first time using Scott’s fish finder. Our main plan was to jig in deeper water and this will be my 1st time jigging. Scott instructed me to join a 25 lb floro leader line to the 30 lb Suffix Braid line that Scott gave me to fill my Penn 440 SS. He has choke top of the line fishing gear and he’s so generous. Scott showed me the Uni knot a long time ago while teaching me top water lure fishing. Of course I forgot so I had to use instructions with pictures. Tying the Uni knots took a while but it came out pretty good, I hoped. I made sure I packed the jigs Scott gave me. My first plan was to troll oama on the way out prior to meeting Scott in the deep for my OJT jigging session. So I had to pack pre-tied leader lines and hooks and stage the frozen bait to load the next morning. Fishing gear, rinse off water, fishing/change clothes and paddle was now in the car. After going through my new check list (for kayak fishing) it was time to sleep.
We met at our launch site about 8am and the ocean conditions were perfect, what a Blessing! After unloading and setting up the kayaks with fishing gear, Scott briefed me on how to read the fish finder and how to attach/remove the jigs on the Anglers Power Clips along with some jigging techniques. We made sure our safety gear was secured, walkie talkie radios loud and clear and cars were locked. We dragged the kayaks into the water and I said a pule before hopping on the kayak. As we started paddling that’s when I realized that I forgot the oama. I grabbed the Arctic Ice pack from the freezer for my fish bag but forgot the oama. I told Scott my plan to troll was canceled so I concentrated on the fish finder. It’s an amazing tool to measure depth and see fishes. It was cool to see the change from 30’ to 100’ and the scattered fishes at different depths.
We paddled to an area where there were a lot of fish so we started jigging. I picked a Live Deception jig and attached it to the clip, then double checked that it was secured. As I was dropping the jig down I was so thankful for the super calm day as the line was almost straight down. After hitting the bottom I started slow jigging while trying to follow Scott’s instructions. It took me a long time to get a good rhythm while untangling the line tangled around the rod tip during the lifting and dropping motion. After a few drops I paddled to another area that the fish finder (FF) was marking fish. After slow jigging for a while I changed jigs and tried jigging again using different jigging techniques. After a few more drops and tangled line on the rod tip I changed the jig again and tied my luck again but no takers. I think the fishes knew there was a rookie on the other end of this jig. I drifted apart from Scott so I reeled up the jig roughly half way up, put the pole in the pole holder, attached the safety clip to the reel and started paddling toward Scott. The water was so calm and clear that I spotted a long silver fish about 30’ to 50’ down just cruising. I thought it was pretty cool to be able see a good size fish swimming right under me.
After paddling for about 45 seconds the pole bent over and my first thought was I snagged the bottom. I realized that I reeled the jig up quite a bit before paddling so it couldn’t be a snag, and then the pole started reacting like a hookup. I grabbed the rod and reel from the pole holder and the fish took off taking line with ease. After two long runs I was thinking the fish was going to spool me so I tightened the drag a little. It stopped taking line but the fish was pulling me East. I finally had the chance to call Scott and tell him I had a good size fish on. He started paddling towards me while my good fun battle continued. Our give and take tug o’ war lasted a few minutes when the line went kinda slack so I reeled in as fast as I could remembering my last adventure fighting a good size heavy fish from a boat. That boat fight lasted over 50 minutes when the fish started swimming toward the boat and I didn’t know to take up the slack in that situation. The fish turned and I felt a tug on the line and I lost that battle.
In this battle I prayed I didn’t lose the fish as I reeled in fast until I felt the fish’s tug again then panic turned to joy again. Scott was close enough to watch his kayak being towed by a fish. He yelled with excitement and encouragement saying to take my time. But Scott also said on the walkie talkie that I should try land the fish ASAP because the possibility of sharks.
Editor’s note: I said that because my feet were in the water for balance to help land the fish and I didn’t want to become shark bait!
I didn’t”t want my first good size fish from a kayak taken as an easy meal so I picked up the pace. The fish was getting closer and it also started swimming in a counter clockwise direction around the kayak. It wasn’t close enough to see color but it did keep me busy reeling in while trying to keep the line clear of the bow and the stern of the yak as it kept circling in the same direction. My poIe was just long enough to clear both ends of the yak, another Blessing. I could reel in line only when the fish was on the port and starboard side of the yak. After uncountable circles around the yak I finally could see a sliver color. I told Scott it was a Mahi Mahi but it was an Ono. Scott soon paddled in closer to see the sleek silver fish still swimming around the yak. Scott’s excitement got me more excited. As the fish got closer we started talking about how we going land our very first Pelagic on kayaks. Scott got close enough to see that the jig was hooked to the left side fin which prevented its sharp teeth from cutting the 25 lb. leader line. Another Blessing and more excitement but we still needed a plan to land the Ono with a round gaff or a “bonker gaff” used to pull Alaskan halibut aboard boats and then bonk ’em. Problem was both were on Scott’s yak. The Ono was still circling the yak but was slowing down. We agreed that as the Ono circled around in between our yaks Scott would gaff with the bonker gaff. As the ono was coming along my port side Scott saw that the ono was making a U-turn around the transducer. His calm voice turned to frantic instructions to free the line from the transducer to prevent cutting. The wrap was loose so I freed it easily. The ono continued in the same direction but did the same U-turn. It was like an instant replay with the coach yelling from the side lines. Kinda funny now but nobody was laughing at that moment. Good thing the Ono was tired and swimming slow, the line was easily cleared from the transducer, another Blessing. The transducer was tilted out of the water and it was time to gaff this fish. Scott got into position (my starboard side) and was ready with the bonker gaff. The Ono made one lap around my yak and heading next to Scott but was little too deep to gaff so I reeled in more line as it made one more lap. It cleared my stern and was heading to Scott right below the surface. As it got within Scott’s reach he used one chopping motion to set the gaff but pulled up and immediately said he didn’t want to cut the line using that gaff. I reeled up to the leader and had the fish on the starboard side of the yak. Scott said he was going to hand me the bonker gaff as he paddled to my port side. After he gave me the gaff the fish swam in the same counter clockwise direction around to the port side. I grabbed the leader line, pulled the Ono along side the yak and inserted the gaff into the gill and lifted it on board. The Ono was barely moving and my coach said to make sure it was dead so I used the back side to the bonker to knock em out. Now we could celebrate, take a few pics and relax after a exciting battle. Our first pelagic! A Blessing from God! I didn’t even know what a pelagic was until my coach told me.
Our challenge wasn’t over yet. Our Ono was longer than my Seattle Sports fish bag which is 20” long and we were about a mile from shore. While we were deciding what to do to keep our Ono fresh, Scott was marking a lot of fish around him and his attention quickly focused on catching another pelagic. My mind was on sashimi, fried fish and fish soup. I looked at the fish and the fish bag lengths and figured half of the fish would fit in my bag. A thought came to mind. Scott had the exact same bag with the same Arctic Ice pack and was empty. If I put the other half of the Ono in Scott’s bag and butt the openings together, the Ono would have a better chance of staying cool. Scott let me use his fish bag and the Ono fit perfectly, still another Blessing.
I watched Scott fish while I rested and hydrated. After a few minutes I told Scott I was going to start my long paddle in. He was going to fish a little more then head in also. After a radio check I started my paddle in, still in awe of what an exciting adventure this trip turned out to be. An adventure filled with excitement, flashbacks, panic, joy and choke Blessings. And I got to share this special experience with a great friend and fishing sensei.
We finally made it to shore safely, our biggest Blessing. Within an hour we were at Scott’s house. The makeshift Seattle Sports fish bags and Arctic Ice packs kept our Ono surprisingly cool. After a weigh in at 11 lbs and a few more pics, the Ono was cleaned, cut, bagged and iced in a cooler. We were able to Bless our families, FWA (Fishing With Aloha) brothers Scott, Kelly, Erik and Thad, and a friend who fabricated Scott’s transducer holder with fresh Ono.
When I asked Frank to take a photo of the Xesta After Burner swimming jig he caught the ono on, he decided to wear it as a necklace.
This fishing trip definitely tops the list of all my fishing adventures since retiring and learning to fish more seriously under Scott’s tutelage. Mahalo to the FWA guys who humbly shared their many years of fishing knowledge and experiences which has helped me enjoy fishing, catch fish and see more our beautiful Aina (from the ocean). They even stretched me to write this article which is harder than tying knots. Mahalo & Aloha ke akua.
