When I started fishing as a kid, the rare papio I caught were very small; less than today’s 10 inch fork length minimum.  Most were omilu but some were small white papio incidentally caught oama fishing.  I didn’t realize the two species were so different, and a lot of newbies may not either.

Look at the pictures above.  The omilu (bluefin trevally) on the right have their eyes set further back than the white papio (giant trevally) on the left.  That’s because they hunt looking ahead, targeting fast moving creatures on the reef in relatively clear water during the day. They have a narrower profile and dart into reef crevasses to ambush their prey, which consists mainly of small fish, but does include some crabs and shrimp.

The white papio’s eyes are larger than the omilu’s because they hunt in low light and off color water, especially at night.  Their eyes are set forward because they often root around for shrimp and crabs on the bottom when they are juveniles, and tako and eels when they are larger and slower moving.  The white’s mouth opens larger than an omilu in order to swallow such a big piece of food.

Many believe that white papio tastes milder than omilu because their diet includes crustaceans and other non-fish critters whereas the adult omilu mainly eats fish.

Whites are proportionally thicker than omilu, and grow much larger.  The state record for white ulua (GT) is almost 200 lbs whereas the omilu record is 28 lbs.

The fish feel different on the line too.  Omilu generally run faster than whites because they are slimmer and quicker, and dart into the reef holes if given a chance.  Whites pull steadier and often last longer because they use their thickly muscled bodies to resist being pulled.

How should you target each species?

Omilu: They hunt early in the morning in low light and throughout the day as the tide fills in, but take a siesta when the sun is very bright.   When the sun goes down, they settle back into their deep reef safe zones to sleep.   They have a weakness for oama but also hit quick moving lures.  Generally more discriminating than whites, they also appear to be smarter.  Besides dunking around the bait fish piles, whipping near clear, turbulent water can be very productive.  Omilu hit aggressively if they feel safe enough to do so.

White Papio:  The bigger ones (ulua) prefer to feed in the cover of night so live and dead baits slid down or dunked work well.  During the day, white papio hunt in slower moving, off color water like bays, stream mouths and harbor channels. Big ulua hunker down in deeper water caves during the day but can be agitated to bite by the gurgle of a large popper.  If big whites are together they can be very competitive feeders, fighting off each other to get to the lure first.