Dedicated shore fisher Matthew shares his observations of the way Winter has transitioned into Spring, updating the general report posted last month.

Matthew:

It’s been getting slower and slower recently for the vast majority of people. Personally, this winter was among the best that I’ve ever enjoyed, and the bite was consistently great. However, spring has come and the fish appear to have left for “greener pastures”. A lot of people whom I know have switched to fishing on completely different sides of the island, which has rewarded them handsomely. However, being limited to fishing only Oahu’s south shore has really shown me how vulnerable my chances are. It’s been getting increasingly difficult to find any fish on the flats and on the reefs.

Often, when I do catch an Oio, it’s only a small one (three or four pounds), not the larger ones that many Oio fishermen pursue (five pounds or larger). The Papio bite wasn’t ever really good to begin with, but it was passable. Come spring, it has completely died. Even during the first hour of sunrise and the last hour of sunset, there appears to be no sign of the Papio that would regularly navigate our waters. Normally, this would be attributed to cooling water temperatures and the lack of bait fish near shore, but this year appears to be significantly worse than those of the past. 

The people I know that have been shore jigging have been striking out equally as much. The bubble and fly method has also not been successful for the people that I know. However, people on boats have been having great luck recently (maybe that’s where the fish went?) with many fish such as Uku, Ulua, and Pelagics. 

So, unless you can shell out the money for a boat, stay put on shore and grind out the next few weeks or months. I suspect that as the water temperatures rise, the baitfish come in, and summer arrives, the fish will also come around. Please also erase Kona winds forever (nobody likes them).

For now, people that have been dabbling in UL (ultralight) fishing have been relatively successful, as well as the freshwater game. If you want to grind out the flats game (I probably will), you’re more than welcome to, but don’t expect much. The same goes for whipping for Papio and other inshore predators. Until the water heats up and the baitfish arrive, I’d expect things to remain much the same. If you’re a ulua fisherman (sliding or baitcasting), now’s that time of the year where all the big ones come up. Quite a few large Ulua have been landed in the past month, and perhaps there’s a 100+ pounder waiting out there somewhere. 

Good luck, stay safe, and just have fun!