Bearded Fish

Tara and I took our handpoles out to Hawaii Kai yesterday. We often take friends or visitors fishing at this spot which means I usually spend a lot of time tying and re-tying knots for people. This time it was just the two of us, so after a quick picnic on the sand we were onto the reef in search of some fish.

A low tide and small surf meant we could easily access the best spots. I hooked a number of fish including a nice moano. Moano are a type of goatfish, so named for the pair of sensitive barbels under the chin which the fish uses to search the sand for food. These long, colorful "whiskers" make goatfish seem especially expressive and they are one of my favorite fish to watch while snorkeling or diving.
Tara also had some good luck, pulling several hawkfish from a single deep hole:

We have been taking advantage of the Winter vacation to spend lots of time outdoors, fishing, body-surfing, hiking. We also had plans to do some surfing before Tara goes back to work but since she won't be swimming for a couple of weeks I guess we'll just have to keep on fishing!