Pete, from NorCal, was back in town. The nearshore fishing conditions weren’t looking good, with a big moon and lots of trade wind. A tune up wading trip with cut bait yielded a few undersized omilus so we were off to the Windward side armed with Waxwing Babys, the 2.68″ 1/2 oz size.
We didn’t expect much since the full moon was last night, and the first Windward spot we tried was lacking in visible bait fish and predators. I was using the black/chrome Waxwing, which imitates baby mullet well. Pete was armed with a blue sardine Waxwing, which is my go-to color when I fish the inshore reef. I missed a small kaku, then we both went 15 mins without a follow. We were working our way back to the car when my lure felt like it ran into a floating log. I felt one twitch and the line was cut. That must’ve been a decent kaku, and in its mouth went $15. I put on a rainbow trout pattern Waxwing that, to me, mimicked an oama.
A smaller kaku hit and missed the hook, and a lizardfish followed that up. Time to hit the next spot.
The next spot had a few schools of bait fish on the flats but nothing crashing on them. Pete lined up to fish a dredged boat channel and I moved off to fish deeper water. A minute later I heard his new Stradic CI4+ 2500 drag sing for the first time. His parabolic 9ft light weight rod was bending under pressure as Pete brought the fish in.
I didn’t measure it, but it looked like a 12″ fork length omilu – very unexpected given the challenging conditions. We admired the fish for a few seconds and let it swim free.
Pete fan cast the area and I worked the shallows for kaku. He soon hooked another omilu, this time about 10″, and all I got was a stop and a miss. The rainbow trout wasn’t doing the job and I didn’t have a blue sardine so I grudgingly put on the battle-scarred black/chrome Baby that was featured in the Lawai’a Waxwing article. I had been sparing it since it had survived so many fish strikes but I really had nothing else to use. Besides, I’ve never lost 2 Waxwings to bite offs in one day.
I managed just one weak strike and was heading back to Pete when I saw this brownish/blackish head appear 5 feet away from me. It wolfed the Waxwing and poof, there went the lure that should’ve been preserved in a fishing museum. RIP little black/chrome Waxwing Baby.
Pete had another fish pull line and come unbuttoned, then it was time to go. Interestingly, he didn’t hook any kaku and I didn’t hook any omilu. I’d gladly trade the lure stealing kaku for an omilu. Think I’ll try the blue sardine pattern the next time!