Justified

I finally made it back onto the water with Chris.  This time we were better prepared and both the weather and the fish were cooperative.  Together, we scouted a couple of new reefs and rocks, including "monster rock" where I hooked up to a big fish that peeled line off my reel for a few thrilling seconds before I lost it (and all of my tackle with it).

Unfortunately, that lost fish was not the only casualty of the day.  Upon returning to dry land I noticed that my rod had a six inch crack where the two pieces join together.  For the $20 or $30 I paid, it has been, dollar for fish, one of the best rods I've ever owned.  I don't usually believe in spending top dollar for fishing equipment, but I do firmly believe that when I break or ruin something through proper use then an upgrade is justified.  I guess it's time to do some shopping...

The Secret of Chan's Reef

I have been fishing with my friend Kirk for more than a decade.  During that time we have fished all over Oahu; on sandbars, reefs, flats, docks, streams, lakes, bays and islands.  We have caught everything from tiny native gobies to hammerhead sharks.  Just before New Year's I had a chance to join Kirk for an afternoon of papio fishing.

Papio are an ultra-popular game fish in Hawaii but Kirk has his own method for catching them.  It is hard fishing but the rewards are commensurate.  The scenery is spectacular and the experience of fighting a strong apex-predator fish over a jagged and pitted reef in the pounding surf is a truly unique thrill.

Kirk picked up the first fish and narrowly missed a second, much bigger one.  I caught the next two fish, with each successive fish a bit larger than the last.  The second fish was so strong I had a moment of panic as I felt the plastic reel-seat on my rod bend nearly to the breaking point. 

Eating sashimi on New Year's day is something of a tradition in Hawaii so we kept most of the fish to share with friends and family.
I don't keep fish very often so I had dust off the sushi knives and try to remember how to cut fish. You can see the results of my effort below...

A Sea Apple a Day...

Way back in March Tara and I spent two weeks in Korea. We spent time in Seoul, visited the DMZ and took a short trip to Jeju Island. Besides hiking the famous Mount Hallasan we also booked a morning fishing trip. I wasn't sure what to expect because everything had been arranged through the Hotel's concierge, a very friendly man who spoke very little English.

We took a short taxi ride to the harbor and were greeted by the captain of a local fishing boat. Together with three or four other Korean tourists we boarded and were soon underway.

Bottom fishing, not surprisingly, has everything to to with the sea floor. It took about 25 minutes to reach whatever reef or ledge or outcrop was our destination. The captain deployed a sea anchor which I had read about but never seen in action and then broke out the rods.

For bait we used long worms that resembled a cross between an earthworm and a hellgrammite. Whatever they were, they worked well and we were soon hooking fish by the ones and twos! Many of the fish looked familiar to me, lots of hawkfish and wrasses, but Tara pulled up one exotic specimen with beautiful pectoral fins.

Back in Seoul we took the train to the Noryangjin Fish Market to see what other fish inhabit the waters of Korea. The market was lively and colorful with a wide variety of seafood. (Including sea apples - ask me what those taste like!) I was especially surprised to see tanks containing large red drum which are a prized game fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

A Fishing Story for Tomorrow

I was inspired this morning by a NerdFitness blog post to try something new. Last time I went fishing I had some success but access to the prime spots was limited by deeper water and waves. Today I decided to pack extra light and bring along an old boogie board to help keep my rod out of the water if I blundered into a deep hole or needed to swim across a channel. Things were going pretty well at first. The board was definitely helpful in getting out to the reef and I started casting at a likely looking spot. I had the board fastened by a 6 foot cord to my belt and it would tug slightly when a wave came through. Pretty soon the tugs got a lot harder and I noticed the board was foundering a bit in the passing waves. Then this happened:

The board broke in two. One half was still tethered to me but the other half was floating free in the waves. I couldn't in good conscious let the big chunk of Styrofoam drift away but I was not ready to admit defeat. So, I splashed after the piece, broke it into smaller chunks, shoved them in my shirt and kept on fishing!
When I graduated from the academy in October, a friend and former co-worker gave me a fishing themed lei and attached fishing lures to it.

I don't know if it was coincidence but these are one of my favorite papio lures and this was my first chance to try them out. I waded/swam my way along the reef with my broken board in tow. I stopped at any spot that looked promising and eventually found myself on an unusually shallow outcrop right in the surf zone. A perfect place for papio. Sure enough, on the third or fourth cast my little squid lure got hammered and I pulled in a nice fish.

Biathalon

For the first time in months I managed to fit in a morning of fishing. Chris, a classmate from the academy, joined me for the short drive to one of my neighborhood spots.

The plan was to look for bonefish but after 30 or 45 minutes of fishing in poor conditions I suggested that we instead take advantage of the low tide and wade out towards the edge of the reef to try fishing for papio. We made it to the break and fished hard for a while. The surf wasn't big but when the sets came through it felt more like we were swimming than fishing! Despite the challenges we had a great morning and I managed to hook up one nice little fish.

It felt healthy to take a break from work and remind myself of the reasons I live in Hawaii. I believe Chris felt the same and I think it's likely we'll be out on the water again soon.

Sole Searching

My parents spent the holidays with Tara and I in Hawaii. We had good luck with the weather and were able to get plenty of beach time in, including an afternoon at one of Hawaii's most famous snorkeling spots, Hanauma Bay. The bay is a nature preserve and has been closed to fishing since 1967 so despite being consistently crowded with beach-goers, the fish are bold and plentiful. Some of my most memorable wildlife encounters occurred there and nearly every visit I spot something rare and wondrous. Ironically, this always leaves me excited to get out and fish. This time, within thirty feet of dry land I discerned an irregularity on the sandy bottom - Hawaii's master of disguise, the peacock flounder:

I have never caught a peacock flounder before but I did have a memorable flounder fishing experience back in 2007. It was our first Spring in Nashville and Tara and I were so beach-starved that we drove 1000 miles for a single morning at the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I waded out with a light spinning rod and some bait and was soon catching little Atlantic croakers.

Every ten or so croakers I would feel a heavy tug and then ... nothing. It felt like being firmly hooked to a shag carpet. If I kept the pressure on, and changed the direction of my pull slowly then eventually, with no warning, the shag carpet would start swimming and fighting for all it was worth!

I probably landed half a dozen flounder that morning. Only about one fish for every three hours of driving, but well worth the trip!

Pele's Bounty

Our trip to the Big Island of Hawai'i, while short, was packed with fun. As I had expected, much of the coastline was rocky. Unfortunately, much of it was a little too rocky and fairly inaccessible for fishing.

I did fish in a few sheltered harbours, including Hilo Bay, where I hooked a hungry lizard fish right before sunset.