Fishing While the Kids were Racing

While the kids were racing El Toro sailboats on Saturday, I went fishing (they were too far from shore for us to see who was who anyways). Spinning setup (TFO Mangrove, Shimano FJ Stradic) throwing ika strips, I ended up catching three - two papio and a roi.

 

 I lost a Hammer Bomb slow sinking 0.75 ounce weight (cut off on the reef by something that was stripping line) and then a whole setup with a 1/12 ounce silver kastmaster (cut off by a barracuda) - lots of fun!!!

A Couple of Flies That Didn't Go Fishing

This past friday, I got the urge to tie up some flies - but it wasn't until late that I was able to sit down in front of the vise. These two 'fries' are the results. My intention was to use these to test out the long casting capability (would they hold up to the higher force). But when I go to the beach Saturday morning, I figured I'd work my down from using bait (to get rid of the skunk), to grubs and then the flies. While using bait, I did hook up to this roi (they get much bigger, but this is not a small one). These roi are tasty as they are grouper, but out on tropical reefs they can pick up ciguatera - better safe than sorry. But these are also invasive out here in Hawaii and they have been decimating the native fish. I ended up taking this guy and buried it next to some burrowing crab holes (dinner for them). The tide was pretty full, so I didn't get back out to test the flies. There's always next time!

Finally the Curse has been Lifted!!!!!!

I took Marlon fishing at Hickam Flats this morning. The weather conditions were average low tide and just a slight breeze. The sun was mostly out, but every now and then a cloud would roll in. We waded out to the edge of the flat and started casting. After a few casts, this papio hit and the curse that has been around my neck for the past several months has finally been broken!!!! Marlon followed this up with bringing in a roi. He got a big strike on the line - a good sized papio, but he had asked me to crimp the barb on his hook and the fish managed to get off just as Marlon got it to his feet. And then he landed a hinalea. I picked up this kona moano pretty close to where I was standing - I drug my line three times through the spot and each time I saw a different fish go for the ika on the hook - a big humu was first, followed by a papio - then this guy was the unlucky one. And then the fish that really made the statement my curse was gone and replaced with lots of fishing mojo - this guy was pulling against the drag for quite awhile and gave a great fight!!! So much fun today and so glad to have the curse lifted!!!! All fish were released (we were going to eat the roi and the big papio, but the make shift stringer I made broke - better for all I guess).

After

I prefer them fried crisp and served with freshly cooked rice :)

Look Who I Went Fishing With!!!

One of my former employees from Diego Garcia was in town! Dante was one of the first guys to show me where the good fishing spots were and most notably, he showed me how to prepare bonefish (of which I made lots of fish lumpia). Check out the posts from 2011 to 2012 and he should be in a few of the pictures. So what to do with a person who you've gone fishing with before??? Take him fishing of course!!! I picked up Dante from b=his hotel and we were on the flats within 30 minutes, right around the bottom of the low tide. I hooked up with a decent sized roi (peacock grouper) on one of my first casts. Dante got a good sized papio (talakitok in tagalog) for his first. From there we both caught other fish - saddle wrasses, a snapper, a hawkfish (first one I caught out here I think - chubby guy!!!), papio and Dante caught the Hawaiian State Fish - humuhumunukunukuapua'a While fishing for oama I caught one of the smallest fish I've caught on a hook (size 20 limerick) - another Sergeant Major. When the kids get out here, it'll be fun to raise a few of these in an aquarium. I also got a picture of an oama - I had a great time fishing with an old friend!

A Really Good Day of Catching - 5 July

I used bait again - started fishing two hours before the low tide and it was four days after the full moon. Whatever factor influenced it, this day was awesome for fishing. I didn't catch any ginormous trevally that smashed my gear just by looking at it, but I did catch the most fish I've caught since I got back, and nearly every species I've seen to date (minus three). I ended up with six papio, two moanas (one was a giant), two nehu (coronetfish - one was giant sized), two species of humuhumunukunukuapuaa, a few saddle wrasses and one large lizardfish (checkout the teeth on this guy). On lightweight gear, all these fish were fun to catch. It's going to be tough to top this day...

Catching on July 4th

I tried fishing a different spot on the 4th. On the opposite side of the flat, there is a ledge that goes on for quite a while that opens up into the bay fronting the runway. Using bait again, I ended up catching six papio, a few snapper, a saddle wrasse and I even had a roi grab my bait and snag my hook onto the ledge (yes I watched the whole thing happen). This is definitely a good place to take folks who would rather not deal with more open water conditions - because of the bay, this place seems to be more mellow (but less variety of fish).

Bait Fueled Saturday

Bait definitely works better than lures. I caught a coronet fish, a roi (peacock grouper), a papio and a snapper (no picture). This coronet fish was actually putting up a fight - it was swimming backwards and thrashing it's head. The roi was real small... These fish are labeled as invasive so the thought of killing it crossed my mine - but then my values kicked in (don't kill unless you're going to eat it). Also - the fear of contracting ciguatera is limiting my reef fish intake. So this guy lives... It has been a while since I've caught a papio - my rig was close enough for me to see this guy take, so there wasn't much of a fight (better for the fish - swim off strong and live to fight another day). I'd fish with bait more, but I can't get the dead squid smell washed off. But it sure is fun! Also of note - these guys were taken on a low tide (note for me so I can be more efficient with my time - "don't go at the peak of high tide dumbo").