There were some calm wind days this week so I decided to yak fish a spot I hadn’t since last season. I had missed the early start on the first day because my oama had a major die off in one of the tubs and I had to scramble to try to save the remaining live ones. Took some of them out to troll mid-morning at the top third of the tide. The moon was already more than half full and water clarity was ok at the deep drop off.
Floating debris signaled the slack peak tide. The fish finder detected a lot of bait fish near the surface. The head-hooked live oama were pulled off or the barely hooked predators shook off quickly. Two bigger fish cut me off on the edge of the sharp reef. Very slow bite with live oama, figured the mid-morning start was to blame. The only thing I hooked, at the end of the session, was this table boss.
Figuring the evening bite would be much better, Frank and I hit the same spot two days later at about 3pm. This time the tide was dropping from the high tide and water clarity was poor. Bait fish were detected all around, near the drop off and well into the deep channels but nothing hit the dead oama that had died in my tubs. We paddled away from the shoreline drop off to find cleaner water, and clarity improved but there weren’t a lot of bait holding near the papa edges. Frank did have a strike that pulled on his dead oama a few times, eventually pulling it off without getting hooked. Looked like a small omilu that hits from the tail-side and yanks. I didn’t get a single strike.
Was the oama too stink from partially decomposing in the tubs? Did the fish only want live oama? Was the moon too big, just 4 days before the full moon? Was the falling tide bad even though it coincided with darkening sky? Maybe there’s too much bait so close by that the fish don’t need to check out a hooked bait? What conditions do you guys like to fish?
It sure seems like Screamer Season is over for us. The big strikes that surprised us at the start of the “season” are a distant memory.
Interesting results. I’ll add my usual two cents once gain.. like most people, we seldom see much action around a slack tide. I’ve had mixed results on falling tides but I think this can be spot-dependent. I’ve noticed some areas seem to bite better on a falling tide, others only on a rising. Growing up, you alway hear that a big moon is supposed to be junk for day time fishing, but I’ve heard of people having some of the best trips of their lives on a big moon day. I myself have caught the occasional fish on these kinds of days, but my most productive trips still seem to be around a new moon. It’s important to note that you get spring tides around a new moon, so it’s hard to say if that or the moon is the bigger factor, but I guess that might depend again on the particular spot. Although I do pay a lot of attention to this stuff (maybe even more than the average fisherman), I won’t let a big moon or junk tide stop me from fishing. As some folks I know would say, “you’ll never know unless you go!” At least you had some action. I think I recognize the spot. That side of the island in general got some pretty mean coral surrounding the flats.
Great perspective Jason. We’ve fished the big moon, junk tide periods cuz “you’ll never know unless you go” and sometimes have caught with good bait, but in general it’s been slower than the small moon, rising tide periods. You’re also right that some spots work better on the falling tide.
Added info just in from Erik: the whole area has slowed down for papio in the last couple of days so challenging conditions plus less fish increases the chance of bolo.
We’re now looking for a different area to target. Seasons change, fish move, we gotta be nimble I guess.
Yup, another good point. Even for oio, it seems some spots can suddenly go cold for unknown reasons, while others just down the coast can be firing. I’ve found this true of the various spots where I regularly fish. Sometimes the fish just aren’t there.
biggest factor = LUCK … haha
… so where da oama pile stay now???
Heard but haven’t seen that another wave of oama came in.
Mine mostly all died in my tubs so I’m on an oama hiatus.
The ones in usable shape are in the freezer.
Better lucky than good, and even the sun shines on a dog’s ass some days, haha