Big man o’ war, jumping kaku and $20 JDM lure lost

June 9, 2018 By Scott 2 Comments

Went back to the Windward side hoping to get a bigger fish on the 13 Fishing Concept Z reel. Last week I got stung badly by a Portuguese Man o’ War so I wore wading socks that extended a few inches above my tabis but still left a 9 inch uncovered area between the socks and the bottom of my trunks. At the first spot, I saw this huge Man of War getting blown towards me. Freaked me out but this time I remembered to walk in front of the float, not behind it, since the stinging tentacles can extend pretty far. I whipped the area cautiously for no bites but probably didn’t do it justice since I was constantly scanning the water for more Man o’ War.

Left the area and went to the spot I missed the kaku the last time. Sure enough I got a hit on the JDM sub-surface lure right away. I felt the fish on and in a split second it went airborne with the lure in its mouth but shook it mid-flight. Here’s the short video of the little kaku acrobat.

I worked the area and moved down a ways, and when I returned I hooked that same fish or his brother. I bumbled turning on the GoPro so I didn’t capture that action. And when I released the kaku that got tangled up in the leader, I ended up dunking the Concept Z reel for a couple of seconds. Ugh…

After draining the water, I made a cautious cast and backlashed because the wet casting brakes were slipping. Adjusted from 3 brakes “on” to 5 brakes “on” (6 brakes are the max) and the reel casted great again. Missed what felt like a papio bite and then my casts shortened as the brakes dried. Readjusted the brakes back to their original setting but I must’ve had loose line on my spool ‘cuz I snapped off my lure at the FG knot on a cast. I had tied this sloppy FG knot on the water the last time and must not have cinched it down well.

My $20 limited edition JDM sub-surface lure couldn’t have gone far but I didn’t see it land and couldn’t find it even though it floats. Took that as a sign to quit while I was unstung. This is the second JDM lure I’ve left floating in jellyfish infested waters, although Portuguese Man Of War technically aren’t jellyfish. If you find it, I hope it brings you luck.

I hadn’t opened up the Concept Z reel before so I was a little leery about losing flying parts. The reel was actually a little simpler than bait casters I have serviced although there was a little spring loaded clicker pin under the star drag that fell off on disassembly. The innards looked wet but free of grit, salt and corrosion. The materials used looked impressively corrosion resistant and I verified that the stack of drag washers was made out of carbon fiber to produce an astounding 22 lb of drag. Applied some Corrosion Block oil and Daiwa Blue Grease and reassembled it. Reassuring to know that the Concept Z reel can be easily self-serviced.

Ruined or improved my sub-surface lure?

April 16, 2017 By Scott 3 Comments

The superb casting sub-surface lure Masa recommended got punctured by a long tooth kaku a few weeks back. When I fished it the next time, it slowly sank instead of floating. I opened up the puncture, let the water drain out, sprayed some Salt Away to keep the sliding weight mechanism from rusting, and sealed the wound with epoxy glue.

To add to the wounded look I painted it with a white nail polish base and colored it in with a red marker. It floated, just barely, in an empty oama tub. The lure did look like a freshly scraped up bait fish so I started with it when Frank and I hit his whipping test grounds.

The lure cast further than the original lure. Within the first couple of casts a kaku hit it, missed and came back to finish it off. Hmm, maybe the mods made the lure more attractive? I walked the kaku in to tag, and Frank asked me if I wanted 2 fish to tag. His sub-surface lure got hit right after mine did! The fish that hit my wounded sardine taped out at 18.75 inches, the largest kaku I’ve tagged so far. Frank’s was just 1/4 inch shorter. The bigger kaku must be coming in now to feed on bait fish we have yet to locate.

The released kaku took their friends with them so we walked out to the dropoff as the tide rose to its top third. Nothing wanted our lures except for the two roi that thought my lure was dying. I killed the first but the second slipped off the hook before I could net it.

We walked back to the kaku spot and Frank hooked another one casting toward the shore.

This one measured 17 inches, a little smaller than his first but still pretty big to be so close to shore this time of year. In just a few whipping trips, Frank has gone from a neophyte whipper to one who can consistently catch the hard to hook kaku. Time for us go after some harder fighting fish.

And it sure seems that the doctored up lure I was throwing has been improved. Masa is still not letting me puncture and weigh down his lures though.

No bait fish, a few kaku on the Eastside

March 29, 2017 By Scott 2 Comments

Bait fish and predators have been noticeably absent at my south shore lure testing spots. A trip to the Eastside testing grounds was long overdue. The tide was halfway up its steep climb and there were no bait fish in sight. I started with a lure I used in off color conditions and didn’t get a sniff.

I put on the lure Masa had been recommending and once again it cast superbly with the wind and into the wind. Still no follows though, after an hr of whipping both lures.

Suddenly a fish wrestled with the lure on the surface. The best casting lure could catch fish too.

Kaku, the target species! It resisted a little but soon let itself be slid on the surface of the water. I scooped it with the Promar floating landing net and walked it to shore. I love this net because the netting is so deep and the material is tangle free.

It measured 17.5 inches fork length and I tagged it, revived it and set it free. The center hook had caught the edge of one of the kaku’s eyes but didn’t penetrate the eye socket. If the fish is recaptured it would be interesting to see how well that injury heals.

I missed another kaku on the way back to my car and drove to another spot where I had always seen bait schools. No bait schools around but a large kaku surprised me by taking drag and coming off the hook. That happened on the next cast also so I loosened the drag, missed a couple smaller kaku that I could see and the flurry ended. Masa’s recommended lure definitely represented well. Imagine how good it’s gonna be when the bait fish return.