So far have been doing a bit of fishing in Hawaii, but near as much as I would like. Have caught a few Papio and Aholehole, but have not been able to catch any O’io yet. The fishing over here is very different from what I’m used to. Artificial is very limited and I have not been able to find any Gulp, in fact the soft plastic grubs tend to be small and used with a size 12 to 16 hook. Most of the inshore fish tend to be reef fish with very small mouths. Now there are spots that the locals will fish for Uhu and Ulua that can get pretty large. So far I have yet to see anyone catching many fish and a lot of the locals are of the opinion that Oahu is about fished out.
Two of the techniques used for artificials here are called whipping and spinning, they are both similiar, but whipping is a bottom and spinning is surface. For the whipping they use surf rods and tie a egg sinker bead and swivel then about a 5 foot leader with a size 12 hook and a minnow strip. They cast this out on the sand bottom as far as possible and then retrieve it as fast as they can whipping it as they reel it in. The speed at which they retrieve lures is much faster than I would tend to fish top-water back home.
The kayak fishing takes a lot more planning than what I’m used to. The Trade Winds have picked up early this year, so have not made it out in the kayak yet. If the winds are over 15kts you don’t head out, the weather is really critical here. If your not careful and get caught by the wind and currents you will not be able to make it back to shore. So I might need to head over the Big Island and find a kayak over there, just so I get a chance to fish some Blue Water.
Sorry to hear about the rough weather. We missed you at the HOW tournament this year.
“The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad.” </font id=“size2”> Hobie Adventure Kayak </font id=“size2”> Hobie Pro Angler Kayak </font id=“size2”> SC Chapter- Heroes on the Water http://www.HeroesOnTheWater.org </font id=“size2”> www.kayakfishsc.com </font id=“size2”>
I have been there a couple of times and love it. Last time I was there I explored more fishing options. I fished two days for bones on the triangle flats near the airport.
The main problem with Hawaii is that the people over there eat eerything that they reel in, everything. There is no such idea as catch and release. They also have a big problem, even though it is illegal, with netting. I believe you can have nets that are so many, about 25 ft long, but I ran across a few nets on the edge of the flats that were over 150ft long and all kinds of fish were trapped, including a nice 10lb bone we set free with a knife to the net.
There are couple of lakes you can fish on Oahu for Peacock bass and the othere freshies they have, and you will need a kayak, as they do not allow gas motors. If you catch a few peacocks you may not want to come back and fish for reds.
There is, or was, a show out there called Fish Hawaii, and it highlighted kayak fishmen heading way out to get some serious fish. They also do a lot of jet ski fishing.
Enjoy your time over there. I would move there in a minute if I could.
Far better it is to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs even though checkered with failure, than to take ranks with those poor spirits who never enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
