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!

Saturday's Catching

I hit the flats a little later on Saturday. The low tide was supposed to be at 10 am so I took my time getting out of bed. The wind was up so I opted to go fishing with shrimp. What I was really working on was keeping the shrimp legs and using them to try catching o'ama (young of the year Yellow Stripe Goatfish). I started off with this bluefin trevally. Then I saw a bunch of guys show up to fish for the o'ama, so I put the spin gear away and set out to try my hand at catching these small fish. Small hook, shrimp legs as bait and BAM! These sergeant majors wouldn't leave me alone!!! I did finally catch a few oama, but they are even more thrashy than their older counterparts. I wasn't able to get a picture - once I had the camera ready the fish had found their way back to the water.

Saturday Fishing during the Super Low Tide

Late posts... not having internet at my studio is a little complex. Before I went to the Frame Shop to finish the gyotaku I made for Jimmy (check out the other blog I maintain for finished pictures - www.tellnolies-gtotaku.blogspot.com), I hit the flats and got in some fishing. I caught three papio - one was a good two pounder (but it got off the hook at my feet - ah the trials of using crushed barb hooks). And while I'm on the topic of getting off the hook - I also caught my first Blue Goatfish (moana kali), and I dropped it back in the water before I could get a picture of it. I caught more triggerfish than I've caught before in any one session - one of the bigger ones destroyed my size 8 gamakatsu octopus circle hook. I caught maybe five more than the three in the pictures - just stopped taking pictures to get fishing again. I found that if you release the triggers, but just keep your fingers on the 'triggers', the fish feel safe and don't really swim away. Once you let go, they bolt. I caught a rock. It had an 'ina' (rock boring urchin) on it and a patch of developing coral (I placed it back gently in the water) I decided to try out an old DOA shrimp lure that I had to see if the bonefish would take. No bonefish (what's new?), but I did see a bunch of other details on the flat. This is what digs most of the holes - a pistol shrimp. I figured they were out here (it being subtropical here), but had never seen one before. And if it isn't a pistol shrimp, it might be a small species of lobster. I'll have to look into this more. The sergeant majors were out and about. And here are some closeups of the rockstars of the flats - pincushion urchins. These guys keep the flat from getting choked out by colonial algae. But they keep a hold of rocks on their upper bodies and if you aren't keeping an eye out for they, you could easily step on one. Fun day!

Life on the Flats on a Dropping Tide

I went fishing Sunday morning out at Hickam Flats. Lots to see if you looked for the small things. Life is tough on all of the Earth's inhabitants. If you're in the food chain, someone is always trying to make a meal out of you - and in between dodging predators, you have to make improvements to your abode, find a mate, eat your own food and survive to rigors of the environment around you. During the spring tides, huge sections of this flat go dry for three hours at a time. During this low water periods, you can see a lot of life that usually hides under a lot of water. These crabs were dead when I saw them (not sure why). On the walk out to the edge of the flat, I saw a Hawaiian Feather Duster. This guy was coming out of the ground - normally they have tube structures they live in (this one is mostly likely still in a tube, but formed it in a hole left by something else). These mangrove roots provide a great place for juvenile fish to grow. If you look at the image closely, you'll see small Sergeant Majors and Convict Tangs (Manini). I ended up fyfishing first. I had a school of papio chasing one of the rabbit fur flies I tied up, but they didn't hit the fly - they only chased it as fast as I could strip it. Here is a picture of a used Abel Super 8 reel I recently picked up (great deal on this capable reel). As the tide turned and started to fill in again, I decided to switch to spinning gear. After a whole lot of casting and zero catching, I decided to move in to shallower water and see if the bonefish, goatfish and papio had moved in to the murky water zone. I'm glad I did - this lone papio hit a 1/12 ounce silver kastmaster and prevented a skunking. I definitely catch more using bait - but this time was more about seeing than catching.

Fishing Report 10/12/2014

We spent Sunday playing catch up on some projects we had laying around the trailer. I'll make another post on the gyotaku-ing in a little bit (as the pictures are on La's phone) - but for now, here are some of the fish we caught in the late afternoon draining tide. Marlon caught: a spot tail pinfish, a sergeant major, another spot tail pinfish, a blenny and a stone crab - yup, a stone crab!!! I got hooked up with a spot tail pinfish, a couple of blenny, a sergeant major and a mango snapper (mangrove snapper, at least that's what I think it is). I think if I get a job down here, we might setup a large saltwater tank to grow out some of these nice little fish from the jetties. Tons of fun fishing with ultralight gear!!!

Fishing Report 9/15/2014

Caught three new (to us) species today. Pinfish Sergeant Major - this was a significant event for us as we have spotted these fish but not been able to catch one for the entire duration that we have been fishing at the jetties. BAM!!! Juvenile Grouper - really small guy. He's got big shoes to fill as the King of the Reef. I wasn't expecting this at all (I thought it was another black sea bass). We also caught a bunch of the blennies and Marlon caught something that looked like a juvenile Pompano - but it came off the hook as he almost got it to hand. Lastly - the mullet are starting to stack up for their annual run. The river is getting thick with them and I even saw a bunch of splashing going on as a predator fish (likely a Jack Crevalle) was taking shots at various schools. La took a walk on the beach and reported the birds were diving in pretty close to shore - I'm going to have some fun very shortly (on the fly and on topwater poppers) - oh boy!!!!

Biggest Sergeant Major

Here is one of the biggest Sergeant Major fish I've caught.

Small Fish Fun

I went after the smallest fish I could find today. Armed with the Tenkara Ito and using squid chunks on a tiny hook, I caught a wrasse, a Sergeant Major and several darts.

Just as much fun as hooking into the big ones!

"Never Give Up!!!"

One of my fishing partners Steve-O.

After getting the cold shoulder from the Bluefin Trevallies running the inside track, I suggested he try using bait.

He switched and brought in some pugnacious Sergeant Majors.

Every one of these guys would fight to the point where they were lifted from the water. At this point one would think they their goose was cooked and it's all over. But no - these guys are just beginning the fight!!!

No other fish I regularly catch does this - the picture is the fish poo bomb - while the unsuspecting angler is removing the hook to throw this fish back (I've never eaten one, but I imagine it would have a strong "fishy" taste, not in high demand as sashimi), it is crapping all over your hands.

I'd say this fish gets the last laugh.

So there it is - if you slow down enough to take the time to look at the details no matter what is in front of you, even something as "unsporting" or "un-glamorous" as catching small fish can be the most entertaining thing you've done all day.

But in this case, for me it was the second most entertaining thing I did - read on...

Small Stuff

Two triggerfish, a Hawkfish and a Sergeant Major.

Small fish with light tackle can be just as fun as big fish with bigger gear.

It's all in the state of mind you find yourself in - appreciation of what is in front of you.

But besides the open mind, sometimes there are obvious reasons why small fish can be more fun - specifics in the next post but to give you a hint.... poo poo