Hawaii 2007

[MuskieBait]

This trip took place between May 7, 2007 to Jun 30, 2007.

On my flight to Vancouver, I flew over the Rockies and the weather was beautiful.

Here's a shot of the Rockies from the air, a forest fire below and a volcano cone in the distance.



Here's a "close up" of the mountains under the wing



On the first morning (May 8th), I went fishing at Ala Moana Beach Park.

5" Lizardfish on a Carolina rig with 1.5" twister tail



10" bluefin trevally using the same rig



The next day (May 9th), I did a bit of "whipping" at Kewalo Basin.

5" saddled wrasse



Yesterday (May 10th), I went "dunking" at a place called China Wall. We also whipped a bit while we wait for the bites on the dunking rods.

Here is the baitcasting rig that we used. We used pieces of squid, octopus or shrimp for bait.



Here's the cliff side spot known as China Wall



Jason started the day with a manybar goatfish that was about 12"



Next, Jake pulled up a pinktail surgeonfish



After a while, the bell rang on one of the dunking rod and Jason brought in a moray eel.



Fianlly, I hooked up to a 4" hawkfish



We caught too many sergent majors and a few saddled wrasse that we didn't take pictures.

But this is my biggest fish of the day...a 10" unicornfish.



That night, my uncle, cousin and I went to the Waikiki area for an evening stroll.

This artist is amazing! I visit his gallery everytime!



An evening shot of the streets...



Turtle statues at the hotel



A reef statues at the hotel as well



A pic with my cousin at Waikiki beach.



Today (May 11th), I went bonefishing with a local fishing celeb, Stan Wright. I didn't know he was a celeb until the day I arrive (when I was reading this book...)

He treated me with an amazing day fishing one of Oahu's bonefish flats. Long story short (because I'm limited in time), We spotted about 15 fish and had shots of maybe 5-6 of them. The most amazing thing was 1 min into fishing on the flats, we saw two tailing bone!!! What a sight!

It is really hard to spot the bones in the beginnning but soon, I got really good at it. The furtherst I could spot them was about 40 feet away...but most of them we wouldn't see until they are 20 feet away.

Here is the only fish we got to hit during our 3 hours of fishing. The line melted off the reel and half the line was gone within 20 seconds! 8O

This fish weight 4lb even



Here's a look at the flats



And a look at the bottom type that we were fishing.



On May 15th, I went trolling with a friend I met on a Hawaii fishing forum and he took me trolling. It was my first time trolling here in Hawaii.



All morning, we saw lots of spinner dolphins and birds...but they were not chasing after bait.



Near the end of our fishing session, we were on our way in and saw birds and dolphins both working in the same area. It looked too good to bypass so we headed over. As soon as our lures reached the area, BOOM! Outrigger pole went and the reel was screaming!

I fought the fish for half the time until my arms were tired...then my friend Todd took over and I took care of the boat control.

Finally we had it to the gaff and it took both of us to get it in on the second attempt.





We put the fish on a scale and it registered 120lb even. Any yellowfin tuna over 100lb is called an "ahi". Those smaller than 100lb is called a "shibi".

You have to keep the fish on ice for a night before filleting (to firm up the flesh a bit).

The next day (May 16th), we went trolling again and found a few skipjack tuna. I had one skipjack tuna grabbed by something big but the hooks didn't stick. Oh well. We also had an outrigger pole hit...but it was probably a marlin just playing (smacking) with the lure.



May 17, I just wasted time around the Ala Wai canal. I meant to find some small barracuda and trevally...but it was low tide when I was fishing. There were only tilapia around and the two barracuda I saw were super spooky. Just when I was about to leave, the tide is rising and well, there were more barracuda but I couldn't get any to bite. The only blessing was getting a 3" tilapia on Gulp Maggots to keep my skunkless streak going strong :lol: Next time, I'm going to catch some tilapia and send them out for the barracuda...they are only keyed in on those little fish and not interested in anything else.

On May 21st, I took an early flight to fly from Honolulu, Oahu to Hilo, Hawaii (Big Island). The purpose of my visit to the Big Island was to see red hot lava and visit the world famous telescopes/observatories on Mauna Kea.

I arrived in Hilo at about 10am. After checking into the hostel and settling in, I went to visit the local fishing store to buy a few terminal tackle and bait (shrimp). Next, it was a shopping stop to get some food for the next 4 days.

Returning back to the hostel, I had a quick lunch. Then it was off to the beach with my rod and reels in hand and lots of hope.

But after about 3 hours of fishing with shrimp, I only ended up with one 6" Hawaiian Sergeant Major.



Some of the locals fishing next to me caught 3 chubs each about 1lb …or otherwise known as “nenue" to the locals. They were using bread for bait…so I’ll need to get some bread for the next day.

The highlight of this day was seeing green sea turtles for the first time in my life. At first, I spotted one about 50 yards from me. I could only see it when it came up to breath. But while I was fishing, I heard a snort. There, below my feet right off the rocks, was a turtle grazing for limu (seaweed). Was that ever exhilarating!



To get a good shot of them, you have to time it. Once a turtle come up to breath, it will come up to breath again in about 2 to 3 mins later. So I would just keep the camera pointed at the turtle until it return to the surface to breath.

Next morning (May 22nd), bright and early, I met up with the tour to visit Volcano National Park. We hiked about 1 hour on black, solid lava rock until we reached some red, hot, flowing lava.



I was about 2 foot from the lava in this shot.



It was extremely hot just standing 2 foot from the hot lava. Putting a stick into the lava resulted in a burning stick…hahahaha.

In the afternoon, we returned to the hostel. I brought some bread with me and tried to catch some nenue. But the stupid (or smart I guess) butterflyfish took all the bread off the hook before the nenue even gets to it. So I got a skunking on the second day of fishing. I saw the turtles again…even though some of the hostel visitors said they saw none…I guess I was lucky again.

The morning of May 23rd, I got up at 7am to have breakfast and get fishing. This day, I fished with bread again to attempt for nenue. I had one on the hook for about 2 seconds before it shook off. They have a hard beak that is difficult to get the hook into. But, I did get a 7" Christmas Wrasse on bread.



Then, the butterflyfish bandits returned to strip the bread off my hook. So I switched to “whipping" with 1oz egg lead and 2�? plastic grubs. I tried different colours of grubs from pearl/purple, gold glitter, green glitter, firecracker and motoroil. The only grub that worked was the green glitter.

I don’t even really know the true identity of this fish…It is 11" long fork length (which is the way they measure fish here). I think it is either a waha-nui (fork-tailed snapper) or it is a kalekale. **Okay...now I know it is a wahanui...



Being a respectful anglers, I released this fish since I were not sure what it was. Although I was hoping to bring a fish back to people working at the hostel since they like to eat fish.

I also saw a 1lb bluefin trevally chasing something below the rocks…but my grub was WAY out there. I also casted to a 2’ barracuda…but it got scared off by the 1oz lead before the grub could be presented close to the fish LOL.

Hm…I saw the turtles again today…weird luck eh?

The same afternoon, we have a trip to Mauna Kea (literally “mountain white"? in Hawaiian) to see the telescopes. Here is a shot of Mauna Kea looking toward the town of Hilo.



The ride was long and windy up the mountain. We stopped at the visitor center at 9000 feet altitude to acclimate to the thinning atmosphere.

After a 30 min stop, we continue another 4 miles on a bumpy road, then another 6 miles on paved road (to prevent dust pollution for the telescopes). Finally we arrived at the telescopes close to the summit.



Here is a look at the summit.



This is the highest point in the Pacific Ocean. At 13796 feet above sea level, the air is very thin. Everyone suffered a bit of light headedness due to the low levels of oxygen. Once we got a bit used to the thin air, it was a hike up to the summit just so we can say we did it LOL.

There was a small monument on the summit for offerings. Mauna Kea is a sacred mountain to the Hawaiians and many grounds has never been stepped on.

**Please forgive me for my dumb tourist moment...now I know much better than to lean on the offering area. Ever since, I have not did something so stupid again. Sorry guys if you are offended...I deserved to be told



The main attraction on the mountain top was viewing of the amazing sunsets.










And once it got dark…I was going to take lots of pictures of the stars…but the half moon was out and I could only capture the brightest stars.

For some strange reasons, when we returned to the visitor center for a quick washroom stop, it presented better shooting conditions. I only had 10 mins to shoot…but managed a couple of nice pics.

Scorpio (head region…tail was unfortunately below the horizon…)



Lupus, Centuri and Crux



By the time we got back to the hostel, it was 10pm. Although it wasn’t too late to fish…fishing alone as a tourist is not the best idea LOL.

The next morning, I planned to fish as much as I could before catching the 3:30 flight back to Honolulu. I got fishing by 7am. The turtles almost showed up immediately. By this time, I think they saw me as a friend of something LOL.

The fishing was SLOW. Well, the action was okay…only because I was getting bites on shrimp but no hook-ups. Those bait stealing Sergeant Majors and Wrasses just won’t give me a chance to hook into a bigger fish!

Then it started to rain softly…then harder…then it poured!!! I got totally soaked fishing and it was starting to get a bit cold. So I went back to the hostel to shower, change and have breakfast at 9am.

And what do you know…it was bright and sunny after I took my shower LOL. So I had a quick breakfast, packed my bags and went fishing. I only managed a 5" Saddled Wrasse on shrimp and nothing on the plastic grubs.



And more turtles when I was fishing LOL.



Finally, at 1pm, it was time to get to the airport. I had a lot of fun in Hilo…although I wish I had arranged a few days in Kona…because the big game charter in Kona were quite cheap. A couple of charters could be hired at US$400 for a full day of fishing! I guess I’ll have to do that next time LOL.

May 26th, I went trolling again for the morning...all we caught were a few nice naps and some rocky rides with white caps all around us. We saw quite a few bird piles, bait balls and fish busting surface. However, everytime we got the boat close to the activity, everything would come to a halt and quiet down. I guess the fish are scared of the boat noise...

I took it east on May 25th since I got back to Hilo the day before. On May 26th, Todd and I went trolling again with his cousin. The weather was nice and the sea was not too bad. We saw some pilot whales but couldn’t find any fish…



May 28th, Jason and I went dunking at Kemo’s place in North Shore. We got to Kemo’s place at 5:30am. The action was a bit slow for dunking but Jason managed to get a pufferfish and a 4lb bonefish. Jason and Kemo also caught a few bluefin trevelly (omilu) and leatherskin (lai) casting with grubs and plastic strips. I got a big skunking LOL.





May 29th was my cousin’s birthday and I spend most of the day with her. I promised her that we’ll go swimming at Hanauma Bay the next day. I purchased an underwater housing for my Canon camera but haven’t had much use of it. Well, The water clarity was much better on May 30th and I put it to some use.















The morning of June 1st, I went whipping (casting lures) at the Ala Wai canal with Jason. We were using 2lb mainline and 1lb or 2lb leader. After about 45 min, I saw a to’au (some kind of perch) followed my pink plastic grub. The next cast resulted in a solid hookup and after a good fight on the 2lb test and ultralight rod, I brought a 9" to’au to shore (the one that followed in)…but the the 2lb test, it is next to impossible to lift the fish 3 feet up the breakwall, not to mention trying to keep the fish away from the sharp rocks lining the wall. In the midst of all the finessing, the fish jumped off just as I was lifting it up…Oh well. You’ll see a pic of a to’au a little bit below.

Since my arrival, my uncle bought a new Canon G7 camera and we also picked up a couple of tripods. We spent a couple of evenings shooting sunsets and night time scenery around Ala Moana and Waikiki.









Every Friday night, there are firework shows on the beach of Waikiki. I couldn’t resist. We had picked a spot earlier to shoot the fireworks…but the security pushed us back since someone was hit by the burning amber a while ago…so we had to settle for a spot where a few trees were in the way…









June 3rd, I went fishing in North Shore again. This time, we fish from 5pm to 9:30pm. The action was slow again, even with the full moon rising just as evening fell…and with fresh blinking tako (freshly dead octopus) for bait. Kemo caught a 3lb bonefish 10 min into the fishing…and then a 1.5lb to’au just before we pack it in.

Ah...this is the life!!!





But who cares if the action is slow…We were treated to a nice sunset and we had some great eats. That’s pulehu tako (grilled octopus) on the left and ahi poke (raw yellowfin tuna chunks with soya sauce, Maui onions, green onions, chili flakes and sesame seeds) on the right. As the Hawaiian would say “Broke da mouth brah!"



And while we’re waiting for the bells on the poles to ring…I just had to aim the camera toward the sky…before the clouds ruined my fun *boooooo*

June 5th, I went trolling with Todd in the morning. Man, did it ever rained on Oahu! You can’t even see the island under all the rain!



We launched and planned to fish off the south shore…but action was slow so we headed toward Waianae (west side). I was driving the boat for most of the day! At about 9am, I saw a big splash and Todd and I both saw a second splash! So we trolled toward the splash and had our 5 lines circled the area twice…but nothing. We found a few bird piles but the fish didn’t wanted to play. When we pulled in the lines, we found a big scrap on one leader. Todd thought it must have been the marlin that we saw splashing. Oh so close!!! I don’t even want to make a guess as to how big it could have been…but I’m sure it was bigger than the ahi I caught before!

That’s okay…since I’m going peacock bass fishing with Stan the next day LOL. Stan’s son is a peacock bass guide on Oahu. The day before, his son and his clients had some good action. But on June 5th, the water had risen 5 feet overnight and it kinda threw the fish off. We were tossing the fly rod around for most of the day. We managed to get many 8-9" peacock bass to go kamikaze on small white flies (lots of fun on the 6-wt)…but the usually suicidal red devils (a species of cichlid) were just not cooperating…neither were the larger peacock bass. Stan lost a 4lb bass to the submerged trees. We had a few 2-3lb fish chase but they gave up halfway. One 2lb fish barely nipped the tail of my fly before backing off. My biggest fish landed was just over 1lb.



At the end of the day, I was still looking to hookup my first red devil…and Stan put down his fly rod and gave me one of his special red devil fly…after many, many attempts, I finally got one and we called it a day. The big surprise today for me was hooking up a bluegill as my first fish of the day. The bluegill population has been decimated by invasive plants and they are now just beginning to see a few bluegills again.



The fishing continues. On June 7th, Jason and I went whipping at Makai Pier (windward aka east side). We were going to do a bit of whipping at this place called Bamboo Ridge. However, someone was washed off the cliff side by a wave a few days earlier and had lost his life. The condition on June 7th wasn’t too favourable as there were quite a few roque waves crashing the rocks and we didn’t want to chance it. We fished Makai instead. At first, I was bottom dragging some shrimp for weke (a type of goatfish)…and I caught a pufferfish LOL.



After not receiving much action, I switched to a plastic grub to try for the giant needlefish that were around. I had one hooked for about 3 secconds until it jumped repeatedly and threw the hook. But while targeting the needlefish, I had a surprise attack from a 10" lai! Awesome!



My cousin began her summer break on June 8th. I promised to teach her how to fish on her break. So I took her to Makai. I guess she is quite a lucky girl since she caught a pufferfish on her first cast! But then it took quite a while for her to get the next fish LOL. We had to really downsize to #22 hooks and 3lb test to catch a few small and very smart reef fish. But she was all smiles.







June 9th, I went to take a few sunset pics with my uncle (I think I have spawned a photo-bug!!!) There is a scenic point just before Hanauma Bay that overlook Hawaii Kai. You can see Diamond Head in the distance (the “little"? hump …umm…crater…that points into the sea).





June 11

I went to North Shore with my uncle and my aunt. Here’s a shot of the mountains as we were getting close to Hale’iwa.



We walked around town as well as checking out some road side stands…





As the day ends…of course a few pics of dusk. Here’s one from the windward side



On the way back to Honolulu, we stopped at Chinaman’s Hat (that island resembles a Chinaman’s Hat).



June 12

I went fishing with Stan Wright in Kaneohe Bay. Our target was trevally, barracuda and bonefish. We happened to picked a super low tide time to fish…and with a 15-20 knots wind, the slight chop became a little bit rougher.



Kaneohe Bay is a large sheltered shallow bay with many reefs surrounded by deeper sand areas. Stan and I quickly worked a reef patch, Stan with crankbaits and myself with a 7" black plastic worm. We didn’t get a hit…so off to another reef patch.

In the second reef, a few casts into the area resulted into a good hit on my plastic. The fish pulled really hard on the steelhead rod. As I tightened the drag, the fish continued to pull line out and rubbed my 15lb mono across coral heads…then ping! Gone! The fish was on the line for about 30 seconds before it rubbed throught the line. Our guess was a fish in the 2-4lb range.

Next, we headed for a sand flats. The wind and water was pushing us fast across the reef…all we accomplished were scaring a couple of bonefish with the boat. We saw a school of about 20 fish at one point…which we had no clue what it could be…maybe mullets…maybe something else…but our lures only scared them away.

So we set up with crankbaits again and trolled across the reefs. We landed a 6" lizardfish. Next, I brought my first trumpetfish into the boat. It was 24" long. I would have taken a pic but the fish was too slimy to bring into the boat. Another 10 mins later, I finally caught my first peacock grouper. It was about 9" long. Beautiful blue spots on the body…but the fish would not cooperate raising its first dosal, which has a bright red margin.



We finally saw a nice reef/sand area where we anchored and cast around a bit. I saw what appeared to be two small trevallies zoomed by. So I changed into a Kastmasters spoon. A couple of cast later came a sharp tug and the fish was speeding around. It fought to the bitter end and a 1lb bluefin trevally came into the boat.



We fished until about 12pm and called it a day.

June 13

My friend Jason and a couple of his friends took me fishing. Before we went fishing, we stopped in Hawaii Kai to visit a special place in my heart…Beard Papa’s Cream Puffs! I wasn’t told to delete the pic by the manager…but little did he know I took two pics and deleted only one LOL.



We were hoping to fish Bamboo Ridge for broomtail surgeonfish and chubs (nenue). However, the surf was up and Bamboo Ridge was too dangerous to fish. So we fished around the windward side. We found a nice shoreline area with tongues of lava outcroppings and small sandy beaches in between them. The sandy areas ends abruptly into reefs about 30 feet from shore. The waves was crashing as well and it made fishing difficult. We were fishing with 1.5" plastic grubs. My friend Jason caught into a eating size goatfish (which I took home). I lucked into a 6" flagtail (aholehole).



That was all the fish caught (aside from a couple of lizardfish…which we didn’t count LOL).

After the fish, my friend Jason took me to some local eats. I have been wanting to try Kalua pig. Kalua pig is a whole pig wrapped in large banana leaf slow roasted in the sand over hot rocks. Once cooked, the meat is shredded and served. The meat is very soft to the point of almost melting in your mouth.



Jason then took me up to Pali Lookout. This place has a couple of stories to it. First, Pali (as the locals call it) is the place where the first Hawaiian King, King Kamehameha, chased the Oahu warriors up to the Pali. The steep cliff (pali) gave the Oahu warrior only two choices – to surrender and become slaves, or to jump and keep their dignity. The Oahu warriors decided to jump. This was how Kamehameha conquered Oahu. There were still sighting of Hawaiian warriors (night watchers/marchers) on the Pali on some nights…I guess it is one reason why the Pali is now closed between 8pm and 4am.

The second story about Pali has to do with local deities. Long time ago, Pele, the goddess of fire, lived in Diamond Head. The pig god (name slipped my mind) lived in the windward side. The mountains around the Pali separates the two. Since the land around the windward side was occupied by the pig god, it was considered a taboo to carried pork (cooked pig) over the pali. There were many stories (even today) of cars stalling going over the pali when pork was part of the cargo in the car.

Well, after our Kalua pig lunch, I had some leftovers and decided to pack it home. On the way to the Pali, I suddenly realized I had Kalua pig in the car! Luckily, I was carrying the pork from the windward side over the Pali…so the taboo was much less…and the car didn’t stall LOL.

Okay…here are some sweeping views from the Pali.







June 16

Todd and his cousin picked me up at 4:45am today. We headed to Waianae to troll some ahi and marlin lures around. We first looked in shallower waters about 5-6 miles out and found no birds or porpoises. On the radio, we heard fish were being caught out further…so we headed out. We drove into a current line where the wind bended around Kaena Point and the waves started to white cap. The water was rough and we were trolling in 6 foot waves. We got out as far as 26 miles from shore but found nothing. We trolled our way home and found some birds piles but fish were not hitting. That’s the typical results trolling the deep blue sea LOL.

June 17

I went fishing at Ala Moana Canal on my own. I was hoping to find a juvenile giant trevally or some juvenile barracuda. I tried different lures from 1.5" plastic grubs, small Yo-Zuri Pins Minnows, inline spinners, and finally Zara Puppy. I scared off a few barracudas that were sitting very shallow and close to shore. Just as I was about to go, I spotted one last barracuda and cast a firetiger pattern Zara Puppy past the fish. The topwater disappeared around a tree trunk. As soon as the lure landed, something tugged back. I thought I was snagged, but a barracuda came running toward me! Woohoo! After some jumping and thrashing, I brought the 15" barracuda to hand (okay…to the lip grip LOL)



June 18

This morning, I went fishing with Jason at 3am so we can coincide with a rising tide. We fished on a stretch of beach between Waianae and Nakatani’s.



We were baitcasting big poles, circles hooks and 6oz lead using squid, octopus and eel for bait. While we were waiting for the bells to ring, my friend Jason cast his ultralight around and found a small bluefin travelly and an Island Goatfish (moano kali). Here’s a pic of that beauty goatfish!



That was about all we caught that day (aside from another lizardfish that I caught). The Waianae coast is so beautiful.

[MuskieBait]

Peacock Bass fishing in Hawaii is very different from what you expect in Amazon. The species of Peacock Bass stocked in the reservoir was the Butterfly Peacock, as opposed to the Speckled Pavon of the Amazon.

Butterfly Peacock of Hawaii are less likely to attack surface lures, but a fast twitched 2" white senko often gets their attention...as long as they are actively feeding. When the schools are deep, it could be tough to get a bite. Juvenile Butterfly Peacock often travel in roving schools or hide among shoreline grass beds. If you find the school of juvenile, it can be non-stop action! It's fun on the 6-wt fly rod...and a 1lb peacock will give that 6-wt a very good bend.

LOVE fly fishing for them...can't wait to do it again on my next time

[T Dot]

less likely to attack surface lures!? oh how disappointing. this is one place i thought i could try for peacock bass. have you tried for them in florida?

[MuskieBait]

(01-23-2013 11:45 AM)T Dot Wrote:  less likely to attack surface lures!? oh how disappointing. this is one place i thought i could try for peacock bass. have you tried for them in florida?

I haven't really try for them in Florida since I've already caught them in Hawaii and it is the same species in Florida, so I concentrated my effort on other species.

When I say they are less likely to attack surface lures, these lures are usually buzzbaits, prop baits, poppers...etc.

But if you run a smaller lure just an inch or two subsurface, it is a different story.

The forage base in that particular lake in Hawaii is mostly shad, small cichlid and needlefish. You have to match the hatch so to speak...and smaller lures are much better than large ones.

In Florida, I know people catch peacock bass with spinnerbaits, Rapalas and plastic swimbaits. Most of the time, you want a lure between 2.5"-3".

Again...different species...different presentation...different baits. Butterfly Peacock max out at 10lbs...with average size between 2-3lbs...and less aggressive than their larger cousin...so don't be expecting to throw 6" Luhr Jensen Woodchopper for the smaller species of peacock.

[T Dot]

thats the thing though... i would rather be throwing a lurh jensen than a subsurface lure. after all, i would be on vacation and would want more top water action

[MuskieBait]

(01-23-2013 03:35 PM)T Dot Wrote:  thats the thing though... i would rather be throwing a lurh jensen than a subsurface lure. after all, i would be on vacation and would want more top water action

For that, you'll be looking at $5000 for a Amazon river boat trip down Rio Negro or similar river...

Definitely not the same price as fishing in Hawaii or Florida...

A look on Google will show you that most Butterfly Peacock are caught with subsurface presentation...and X-Raps catch a good fraction of the fish.

If you want surface action...try fishing a Zara Puppy or Zara Spook for barracuda...that is WAY MORE exciting than topwater peacock bass. The ferocity of the attack and the ensuing runs and occasional jumps are 10x better. There is really no comparison between the speed of a barracuda and the speed of butterfly peacock...a barracuda wins any day.

[T Dot]

barracuda is on to fish list as well! i know my gear can handle salt water - so that shouldnt be an issue.