vmc 4x inline hook

Half a year ago I was given a St Croix Mojo Salt conventional boat rod to test. Here’s why I upgraded to that rod over the G Loomis Bucara I had been using. Since then I’ve been in a slump and the biggest fish I landed was a 6lb mahi mahi. Well, that finally changed.

Frank and I hit our Eastside spot and looked for bait at 9am. Only thing I saw was a promising large mark 75ft down in 170ft of water that didn’t bite. On the advice of someone who found bait a couple weeks ago, we spread out and traveled a mile up current but didn’t encounter much on our fish finders. Then Frank radio’d that he was on a fish and a good amount of time later said he had landed his first ulua and biggest fish ever!

You can see the black tunsten weight on the right side of the aha’s head

Stoked for him and realizing my unweighted frozen opelu hadn’t been touched at all, I put on a 1.5 oz sliding tungsten weight to get the bait down a bit and make it swim more naturally. A few mins later the ratchet went off but I saw a blue bone needlefish (aha) jumping in the distance. I really hate those things. As I unhooked it, I noticed it bent the wire stinger leader a little and nicked the fluorocarbon leader. I didn’t expect anything noteworthy to bite so I just used the dinged up rig and put a twice refrozen opelu out.

A few mins later the ratchet went off again, in spurts and the line seemed like it was going straight down even though I was in only 80ft of water. I could feel the fish running through underwater caves but miraculously the fish came out and headed towards deeper water. Since Frank had just caught an ulua, I assumed the strong surging fish was a big ulua and was worried it would reef me soon but it stayed on and was brutishly strong.

I tried short pumping it up to break its spirit but it still pulled line off and headed back down to the bottom. I kept my feet on the foot pedals to steer with my Bixpy motor, but had to counter balance when the fish pulled from the side of the kayak. I tightened the drag on my Avet SX Raptor two-speed as much as I dared, and dropped into low gear. The reel still needed to give up line if the fish suddenly made a dash in a different direction.

I knew this was the biggest fish I ever fought and really wanted to see how big it was but my back and biceps were burning. After more than 30 mins I painfully got back all my braid and just the 30ft or so of fluorocarbon shock leader and 6ft of leader were out. I could see curly cues of the fluorocarbon scraped by the reef. Smaller ulua usually give up and get the bends in the last 50ft but this one fought me all the way to color.

I could see it was a silvery jack, and hoped it was a really big kagami ulua but no, it was a thick white ulua or GT. It was really hard to carefully slide it onto my lap without damaging its gills or jaw and I was too tired to lift it up when Frank came by to video with my GoPro.

I put it back in the water, holding its tail, and it kicked off and swam down strongly.

Thanks for documenting the catch Frank!

This is the gear that withstood the punishing runs of the estimated 50lb plus ulua. All but the Knot 2 Kinky titanium leader and the St Croix Mojo Salt rods are sold in the Store.

Sufix 832 Advanced Super Line Braid – Neon Lime – 50lb – 300yd. We believe this is the best braid you can buy in the US. I recently upgraded from 30lb to 50lb because Shea on the Big Island said I need to be ready for bigger fish. Good thing I did!
VMC Black Stainless Steel Heavy-Duty Ball Bearing Swivel With Welded Rings rated 110lb. Super small and black so the fish don’t seem to notice them.
Sufix Invisiline Fluorocarbon Leader – 40lb. Man, this fluorocarbon leader held up against repeated runs through the reef.
VMC 4X Inline Single Hook – Coastal Black – Size 3/0. Used as the trailing hook to catch fish that slash at the bait.
Knot 2 Kinky titanium leader – 35lb. Stealthy and bite resistant.
St Croix Mojo Salt Conventional boat rod. Could easily raise the ulua when I needed to. Deceptively light for such a strong rod. Nice looking rod built to handle the rigors of kayak fishing in Hawaii.
Avet SX Raptor 2-speed. Handled the constant pressure of the ulua without heating up the drag and gearing. Low gear made it easy to turn the fish and keep it coming up, foot by foot. Such a small profile yet so strong.
Bixpy Jet Motor. The motor and battery are so light and small, together they weigh less than 10lbs! It allows me to go out 3 miles easily and cover more than 8 miles on a paddle kayak. Easy to install and great customer support from Bixpy.

Our experienced deep water kayak fishing buddy Robert, who shared his catch reports and tips on this website, had offered to show Frank and me how to catch catch and troll live opelu. Our schedules and good weather didn’t line up for months but we finally got the green light.

Frank and I got out earlier than Robert, and we used our fish finders to look for bait schools but all I could bring up were reef dwelling rubbish fish. We were very relieved when Robert joined us and we meekly followed him to deeper water as he searched for the tell tale opelu marks.

Frank on the far left, Robert on the right

Robert pulled up in an area that has held opelu before and started paddling around in concentric circles. It took a while for Frank and me to catch up to him, given that we’re both old enough to be Robert’s dad! We eventually drifted over the thick bait ball, but these opelu were deep and Frank and my deep water damashi skills are lacking. Robert ended up putting five 12 inch opelu in his live well, while Frank and I just got tired arms pulling up weights that were dropped 300ft down.

After all that travel time, interrupted by rain squalls so heavy we couldn’t see land, we only had about 15 mins to troll the live opelu in the deep before we had to make the long paddle back to shore. Robert gave us each a healthy, hard earned opelu. My VHF radio was on the blink from being soaked in the rain so I stayed near Robert, and Frank gave us some space. With his live opelu out, Robert tried to add more to the live well and I kept within talking distance.

My rod tip dipped a few times as something was playing with the bait, and then the ratchet screamed! The drag was fairly loose and yet it was hard to get the rod out of the rocket launcher in front of me. The speed in which the line was being pulled was unlike anything else I had hooked before, including a small mahi. The fish dove first and then swam away from us. I had a 40lb Seaguar Blue Label fluoro leader on a front and rear hook rig, and since the fish was staying on, I assumed it was a shibi (ahi under 100lb) rather than a razor toothed ono. My main line was 30lb Sufix 832 braid, which Robert felt was a little light, but after catching way too many sharks, I knew it could handle this fish that felt faster but lighter.

I eventually got it within eyesight and we saw a silverly long shape. Ono? When it broached upside down on the surface I could see how lucky I was. The VMC 4X size 4/0 inline single hook I use as the rear hook of a double hook setup was firmly locked in the left corner of the ono’s jaw. That was keeping the line away from the teeth. Robert had stayed with me for the whole fight and was now encouraging me to bring it within range of my kage. Since I had only kage’d an uku and a mahi before, I pulled the spent fish really close, and the kage Frank had made for me found its mark.

Robert passed me his telescopic, floating Promar gaff, and I used that to pull the fish carefully onto my lap.

Click on this to see the rear hook (2) in the corner of the mouth and the front hook (1) dangling free. The grippy **BUFF® Elite gloves** prevented the fish from sliding overboard and my buttery smooth, hi-speed gold **Shimano Trinidad 14** did the job once again.

The ono was still alive but not putting up too much of a fuss. To be safe, I knocked it out with a Promar wooden bat, and yet it was still hard to keep from sliding off the kayak. Robert suggested tail wrapping it before putting it in the 36 inch Hobie fish bag behind me. That was the scariest thing of the whole deal, sitting side saddle with my legs in the bloody water, trying not to capsize the kayak. Felt much safer with Robert and Frank there if things went badly. At this point we were in 700ft of water!!!

With the fish secured, the guys trolled their live opelu in but nothing else obliged. At our landing spot we helped each other get our kayak carts positioned and made our way to the shower. I lagged behind, struggling with my lousy 20 yr old cart, one of the first ones ever sold, and the guys saw that and assisted me. I’m seriously thinking about getting the Wilderness System Heavy Duty Kayak Cart Robert reviewed.

Another kayak guy left his hose connected for us, and gave me his left over ice since he hadn’t caught much. Frank did the same with his ice, so I didn’t have to buy ice on the way home. I just bring reusable Arctic Ice blocks, not cubed ice because I don’t expect to catch anything big!

First fish I was able to measure with the Rapala Retractable Ruler!

The ono measured 48 inches in fork length and my fish bag was only 36 inches long, so that last 12 inches was never chilled. I rushed to clean it as quick as possible and put the chunks on ice in a cooler.

Click to see the **VMC 4X Inline hook size 4/0** locked into the corner of the mouth, and how the cleanly cut pieces of opelu fit back together

In its stomach I found 3 quarter pieces of the opelu bait so cleanly cut I could put them back together like a puzzle. Only the head was missing. How did the ono get hooked on the back hook, yet cut and eat the 3 pieces without cutting the line between the front and back hook? As Robert said, “it was meant to be”. I’m thinking maybe the fish bit the tail piece off and got hooked, and the rest of the bait was still attached to the head hook. It then ate pieces leading up to the front hook and stopped before cutting off that hook. That could be why my rod tip dipped a few times before it bent over.

However it happened I was super blessed to have been given Rober’ts live opelu and then have an ono not sever my fluoro leader. Thank you Jesus! Getting all that help on land from the guys and then being able to reach my wife before she drove home from work, so she could buy more bags of ice, it was like the guy at the shower said, “It takes a village to catch and process a good fish like that“.

We aren’t able to sell Promar products but fully endorse the nets, gaffs and bats we use as well as the great Promar-Ahi USA folks themselves. We’d love to sell the Buff Elite paddling and fishing glove but can’t because we’re not a “brick and mortar” store. Despite that I don’t kayak without that glove and will be buying a backup pair soon.

We do sell the VMC 4X inline hooks and I’ve found them to be strong, effective as a rear hook on bait or a lure, and very reasonably priced. I’ve never had one open up, even when landing big sharks. The guys and I are testing the Rapala Retractable Ruler, and so far, I’ve found it to be easy to deploy, shows up great in photos, and cleans up easily. We have one more in stock and if there’s demand, we’ll order more. Using Sufix 832 braid really should be a no-brainer. Since I’ve switched from the popular brand to Sufix 832 I haven’t had a problem with backlashes or break offs. The 30lb Sufix has proven to be strong enough to land 6 ft sharks, and a 49 inch 25 lb ono. 🙂

Finally hooked a fish that stress tested my tackle, and me

It took a village to catch my first kayak ono