deep trolling oama
The trades finally died down, blocked by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fernanda. The moon was small the night before, and Frank and I launched at the bottom of a big tidal swing. It was overcast, with thunderstorms threatening nearby. I was concerned the water might be too flat, but there was enough chop to make the predators feel comfortable. A very reliable source had found the school of white papio hitting bait that morning, and gave us the location.
All that raised our expectations even though we tried hard not to count our screamers before they hatched.
We paddled straight for the area where the whites had bitten that morning, and the fish finder didn’t mark much bait or larger fish along the way. After about 30 mins of circling the spot, something pulled drag but by the time I cleared the line it jumped off. I saw the splash in the corner of my eye, and so did Frank, maybe a poorly hooked, small awa awa? That was the last good strike we registered.
For the next 3.5 hrs we checked all the likely and unlikely spots and got some weak strikes that pulled at our baits but didn’t stick. On the way in, the area that was reported to have the white papio school had a lot of bait fish near the surface. That bait wasn’t there when we first came through.
So what caused this bolo on a day that seemed to have everything lined up for epic fishing? The whites may have attacked the bait fish early in the morning and dispersed them, or chased them inside where we didn’t check. That I can understand. But what happened to the omilu, awa awa and aha that are normally around the reef channels during the daytime hours? Did the big King tide cause too much tidal current so they hunkered down in a calmer area? We’re beginning to realize the big tidal swings don’t bode well for our deep channel fishing. Or did the fish feel the low pressure of the thunderstorms nearby?
Sorry about your bolo, I know the feeling all too well. We discussed a bit offline, but I forgot to mention another potential “theory” (we fishermen have a lot of these haha)… As a flats guy, I know that once the tide floods in finding holding spots can be more difficult as the fish tend to disperse more. Then as the tide recedes, thats when we often find them concentrated into pockets and channels, if they haven’t left the flat altogether. Maybe the giant tide gave the fish more opportunity to explore inshore hunting grounds usually inaccessible? Who knows? It’s just one of many “theories”, haha!
I like your theory a lot. I think the whites and the bait fish they were chasing moved in further than we fished. When we found the bait fish later, the whites were taking their siesta somewhere else.