will this be the last of the season? (11″ pliers)
I was fearing the worst after the last two failed attempts to catch a keeper papio on a trolled oama. Thinking the season was over, I took a couple mid-sized oama, and 4 emaciated ones that failed to gain weight in captivity. Figured I may as well set them free if nothing was biting. As the ultimate test I trolled my most productive spot.
The bite definitely wasn’t red hot, but I did land a hard fighting 14 inch omilu in front of the surf zone and had another strong strike come off. I was down to the emaciated oama whose bodies were narrower than their heads. 2 trumpet fish and two small papio liked the looks of those appetizers and got hooked.
papio sushi
My friend Dean, a former sushi chef, turned the papio into this beautiful sushi platter. The brown maki sushi in the middle row are a papio poke mixture, and the light colored maki sushi were made from the papio filet. It’s amazing what some people can do with a fresh caught fish.
Guess the season isn’t over yet. I plan to take the remaining jumbo oama out for a swim at another spot I’ve been letting rest. Click here to see how I did.
I caught a 3 foot trumpet fish the other day…I threw it back, but later when I got home, I read they are actually decent to eat?! Just wondering if you ever tried it?! Mahalo again for your great blogs!
That’s a big trumpetfish Sharon, it must’ve fought pretty good huh? Sounds like you and the boys are getting into the bigger fish. The little ones I caught were less than 2 feet long.
I ate one a long time ago, and I think I just cut it in chunks. It had white meat and was a pretty bony but tasted like other predator fish like needlefish, I think.
It was CRAZY! I screamed like a girl when I got t on shore! 😉
I slept on the beach that night, woke up to a rainbow, jumped up and caught it on my second cast with a lure I had never even got a strike on before. I was just messing around and I was still half asleep! LOL! Wish I wouldn’t have thrown it back, would like to try it at least once..
Looking forward to this weekends adventures! Happy Aloha Friday!
What a perfect setting to catch your big fish. You must’ve been wondering if you were dreaming. Let me know of your next great catch. What lure did you use?