I fished the early solunar activity period today to see if that would improve my catch rate.  The high activity period was between 6:18 am and 8:18 am.  I started fishing at about 7:20 am which is really early for me.

bottom Waxwing w/stronger, shorter hook (changed the Green Shad’s hook after the photo was taken)

I had on a Green Shad patterned 1/2 oz Waxwing. I was hoping the Green Shad looked close enough to an off-white oama with a greenish topside.  I had replaced the stock hook with a shorter, stronger one since I was having too many fish fall off the stock hook.   I slathered some Uni Butter attractant, which is made from uni (sea urchin) and cast it out into the murky water lapping on the beach.

white papio – first cast

Hookup on the first cast!  A 5 inch white papio nailed it.  Maybe there’s some truth to the solunar activity period thing after all!  Or maybe it’s just better to fish the early morning rather than mid day.

hungry white

I worked my way down the beach and found another murky cove.  The small whites followed the Waxwing in, bumping the side of the lure.  On my next cast I sped up my retrieve and caught another one.  Since the only hook is at the tail, it’s recommended to retrieve quickly so the fish miss the front of the lure and grab the tail.

The early morning, with no wind and overcast skies was looking very fishy.  As I left the murky, muddy water and fished the shallow reef, I spotted a 4 lb oio tailing a few feet off the beach.  I worked the Waxwing past it but the oio moved off.  It didn’t spook like it would if any other lure or bait ripped past him, but probably realized I was tied to the lure and swam a little deeper to feed.

1st kaku on waxwing

Nothing wanted to bite in the clearer water so I made my way back to the murky cove.  The whites chased the Waxwing onto the sand, and I eventually caught another one.  The Green Shad pattern slathered with Uni Butter scent seemed to be working.  On the next cast I hooked something a little bigger and it turned out to be a small kaku.  Cool, I was hoping the Waxwing would fool the kaku also.  So far, the tackle test was working.

On the next retrieve all of a sudden there was no weight on the line.  Arrghh!  Another kaku must’ve hit the line about the knot.  There went $15.  I put on a gold kastmaster and worked the same area that I was getting follows and bites… nada.  I put on a Rainbow Trout patterned Waxwing and got a few more follows.  The solunar activity period had passed and the sun was higher.  I decided to quit while only down one Waxwing.

Takeaway:  The early morning high solunar activity period was pretty fishy.  The Waxwings in a sort of oama pattern, slathered in Uni Butter did attract small white papio and kaku, and the replacement hook held much better than the stock hooks.

weke on cut bait

The last time I fished the Waxwings out near the surf break I didn’t get a single hit, and when I started dragging cut bait I immediately caught small omilus and this weke that imitated a small oio.  Maybe the omilus are less easily fooled by lures?  In hindsight I wasn’t retrieving as fast as I did today.