March 11, 2017 Holoholo

I took the kids fishing at the Heeia Fishpond this past Saturday. I really like the presentation the staff members give - history of the fishpond, how the ancient practices have transformed into modern operations, and more on what we can learn from this unique structure that used to feed tens of thousands of Hawaiians. We all caught fish - snapper, flagtail, a puffer and my lizardfish-mangrove seed combo! There were a few papio caught, but I didn't see any kaku. And with the wall repaired, the crowd was able to spread out along the entire length - and made for easier fishing. We'll be back!!! I'll make a separate post with pictures from La's camera shortly.

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!

Better Luck with Bait on Sunday

I really don't like getting skunked, so I decided to break out the ika strips (cut squid) to make sure I didn't have a repeat of Saturday (even though I totally get it that flyfishing is tough and there will be days upon days when there will be no tug at the end of the line). I ended up catching a wrasse, a red goatfish (that got off the hook before I was able to take a picture), a papio, and a snapper while I was at the channel edge of the flat. For bait, this was actually a slow day. I figured I'd try my luck at the runway side of the flat. I ended up catching a small lizardfish and another snapper. I thought about taking the snapper home to make some prints, but I'm holding out for a bigger one. None of the triggerfish were in the mood to play tug. I've been reading about some heightened activity from predator fish hunting on the flats, it just didn't seem to be at this flat... I'll check the solunar tables and see when the next session will be.

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).

Killed It!

Two spots today - mediocre results at the first spot, a virtual slaughter house at the second. Hooked into schoolie bones, tons of snappers, several darts and several BFTs. Even caught a solitary bone on a bread fly - ridiculous fun!!! I saw a hunting pack of HUGE BFTs and a Black Trevally - by the time I tied on a gummy minnow - they had moved on. I'm going back tomorrow!!! BTW - every fish I caught was safely released - crimping down the barbs on the hook and minimal handling allowed for strong swim aways.

Second Spot - Second Chance

I picked up and went back to the spot I was casting at yesterday. I tied on a bread fly and on the first cast, I brought up this feisty big eyed trevally. I focused on getting my timing down on my double haul and also tried more to feel the rod loading. Some of my best and longest casting to date! I saw a few needlefish too, but they weren't interested in the bread fly or the green scud I later tied on (although darts, snapper and some small BFTs certainly were). Over six hours flyfishing today -

Mixed Plate Preparation

Flyfishing a nearby flat. TONS of parrotfish, but they weren't interested in the flies I cast. I might try to "spike" some flies tomorrow with some squid... I did catch this hodge-podge - two Two Barred Goatfish (chunky ones), a bunch of small snappers (I only kept one), a Dart and one of these really colorful wrasses. I saw a bunch of pinfish and some bonefish - but just like most of the fishing right now, the New Moon is in effect (the fish aren't biting...). Check the next post for what I am doing with these fish.

Small Fry Flyfishing

I found a new flyfishing spot today - it was full of fish grazing on the flats during low tide. I caught a lot of small fish - goatfish, young Bluefin Trevally, hawkfish, darts, young bonefish and a snapper. I saw some vibrant blue parrotfish and some of the bright green wrasses, but they wanted nothing to do with the flies. The next few posts will have more pictures of the fish I caught. One bad note about the fishing trip - one of the fish I hooked into broke my new rod. Good thing Orvis has a 25 year repair warranty!

Snapper Breaks the Drought

Thursday afternoon I took my boss fishing - I set him up with a popper and an Ulua Bar. I went flyfishing. I saw a few trevally and a lot of mullet (I have to find the right fly for those fish...). Eventually I got a Moi (threadfin) to take a bonefish bitter but after a few minutes it was able to break off. Maybe 3 pounder. Friday afternoon I went back to see if I could entice another Moi. I saw even more trevally, but none took. I did land this small snapper - a fish is a fish is a fish for the purpose on not getting skunked!