Recently became a Phenix Rod dealer to pair with the Avet reels we sell and realized not many, including myself, have used a Phenix Rod. Ordered two 7ft casting rods to try off the kayak: Black Diamond 30lb – 80lb Extra Heavy and Black Diamond East Coast 30lb to 80lb Heavy. The East Coast version is thinner and a little softer in the tip, with lighter components. The original Black Diamond series was made for West Coast style stand-up fishing, and built to fight big fish and take a beating.
The St Croix Mojo Salt 30lb to 50lb is actually thicker and bulkier than the two 30lb to 80lb Phenix rods due to the tighter and stronger carbon fiber build that Phenix employs.
I put the diminuative Avet SX Raptor on the lighter Black Diamond East Coast and it felt very easy to handle.
The winds lightened this past week and I was finally able to explore a Windward ledge that has always intriqued me. I stumbled upon some big opelu inside the ledge and took one out to 270ft with no bites. One the way back into the shallow ledge I dropped the GoFish cam down and later confirmed it was a barren sandy area with just a few hagi too small to eat the opelu.
At the shallow ledge I traded out the big opelu for a slightly smaller one, and it got picked up by a strong fish with a lot of head shakes. To max out the ability of the Phenix rod and 2-speed SX Raptor, I put it in low gear and grinded away, hardly lifting the rod at all. 4 minutes later I was surprised to see an omilu over 10lbs trying hard to shake the hook. It was admired for its beauty and released. There is a video at the bottom of this post showing all the action, but don’t skip ahead!
Working my way back to the grounds I normally fish, I ran into more daytime opelu schools and caught 3 of them on my 3-hook damashi. That almost never happens to me. I put them out with a sliding weight and each got taken by something that pulled for a while and then held onto the rocks, and when I pulled the hooks out, the leader came out with no nicks at all. I have been suspecting a tako does this at this spot because when roi hole up in the reef my line gets nicked up. Whatever it was, it grabbed the 3 opelu and I was out of live bait.
I had fresh opelu from the Kalihi fish market, and sent one down. It got taken as I paddled away, and since I was so shallow, I assumed I hooked another papio. I was pleasantly surprised to see a kawakawa circle. I kage’d it to bring it onboard, and subdued it with Bert’s Brainer.
Since kawakawa always travel in schools, I put another fresh opelu down and it got taken immediately by a stronger pulling fish. Assuming it was a much larger tuna, I battled the hard surging fish, wondering what would have such strong head shakes. The fish had run through the rocks when it first grabbed the bait, and had pushed the sliding weight all the way up to the FG knot joining the braid to the leader. I couldn’t slide the weight back down and was worried I’d break the FG knot by trying, so I handlined the fish in. I was surprised and disappointed to see a small ulua gasping at the surface.
After releasing the ulua I pulled on the weight and sure enough the FG knot parted so I called it a day and went in.
The Black Diamond East Coast rod and SX Raptor were a delight to fish with yet, in low gear, brought all the fish in within 5 mins each. It was very easy to pull the rod out of the rod holder even when the fish were running, because the “slick butt” didn’t get hung up at all. What a powerful, effective combination.
Here’s the video of the action:
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