14 August 2011
Buzzer Beater!
08/19/11 08:23 AM
Had a day off on Friday, August 19, so we figured what better thing to do than go fishing! =) Stayed up a bit too late on Thursday night, so we got a late start on Friday morning. Got to the beach, unloaded our gear, and started setting up. We realized that morning that have A LOT of stuff on our kayak and we think we’re going to time ourselves the next time we set up our kayak. It must take us 45 min to an hour just to set her up!
We only had 3 pieces of bait, but when I pulled them out of the bag they practically fell apart! Oh no! BUT thankfully for us, Gareth is usually really good at catching bait. We started paddling out to one of our bait spots and we see this boat there, but we figure there’s enough room for all of us...then we notice their little buoy...Damn...they’re netting the Opelu! On Gar’s first drop something slams the damashi rig and starts ripping out line on the little rod...the POP...it seems to come off, but then runs again. Gar ends up landing a nice size Weke Ula (red goat fish). We think he had 2 on, but one broke off during the battle. After that he gets a double Nunu (trumpet fish) stike, and finally he manages to get a few Opelu even if the Opelu boat pounded so much Opelu their boat was riding LOW in the water.
Dragged the Opelu around for a while and NOTHING. Not even an Aha strike for HOURS, then zzzz. Small Aha strike which kills our bait. Rebait and zzzz...small Aha strike again. Rebait and zzzz...small Aha strike which killed our last opelu. =(
We paddle back to our spot and catch more. The Opelu boat has finally left the area and the Opelu school is pretty spread out, but we manage a few again before a second Opelu boat comes in and sets up their nets too. =/
Hours and hours of no action again, so we start exploring areas we haven’t fished too often with no action. It’s starting to get late, so we decide to make one more pass at this one ledge before heading in and zzz...zzz...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! At first the strike didn’t seem like an 0no, but a minute into the battle we realize that it is! Video cameras on...ACTION! Screaming run after screaming run and we think he’s done. I get the kage out and he screams our line again! We finally get him in the kayak, snap a few pics, and sail back to our landing with big smiles on our faces.
We only had 3 pieces of bait, but when I pulled them out of the bag they practically fell apart! Oh no! BUT thankfully for us, Gareth is usually really good at catching bait. We started paddling out to one of our bait spots and we see this boat there, but we figure there’s enough room for all of us...then we notice their little buoy...Damn...they’re netting the Opelu! On Gar’s first drop something slams the damashi rig and starts ripping out line on the little rod...the POP...it seems to come off, but then runs again. Gar ends up landing a nice size Weke Ula (red goat fish). We think he had 2 on, but one broke off during the battle. After that he gets a double Nunu (trumpet fish) stike, and finally he manages to get a few Opelu even if the Opelu boat pounded so much Opelu their boat was riding LOW in the water.
Dragged the Opelu around for a while and NOTHING. Not even an Aha strike for HOURS, then zzzz. Small Aha strike which kills our bait. Rebait and zzzz...small Aha strike again. Rebait and zzzz...small Aha strike which killed our last opelu. =(
We paddle back to our spot and catch more. The Opelu boat has finally left the area and the Opelu school is pretty spread out, but we manage a few again before a second Opelu boat comes in and sets up their nets too. =/
Hours and hours of no action again, so we start exploring areas we haven’t fished too often with no action. It’s starting to get late, so we decide to make one more pass at this one ledge before heading in and zzz...zzz...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! At first the strike didn’t seem like an 0no, but a minute into the battle we realize that it is! Video cameras on...ACTION! Screaming run after screaming run and we think he’s done. I get the kage out and he screams our line again! We finally get him in the kayak, snap a few pics, and sail back to our landing with big smiles on our faces.
Papio Open Tournament
08/14/11 08:08 AM
We participated in the Coastal Kayak Tours/Windward Boats Paddlers Papio Open on Saturday, August 13, 2011 which was held at the Manu O Ke Kai Canoe Club on the North Shore of Oahu. We had a great time in this run, well run tournament. 64 competitors entered to try and catch the biggest Papio (jack under 10#), the biggest Aha (needle fish), and the biggest other fish (Ulua not included). Coastal Kayak Tours has a slot limit for this tournament, so competitors are given a numbered measuring stick w/a string attached to it. Any fish smaller than the stick needs to be released and any fish bigger than the stick and the knot in the string is probably over 10# and should be released too.
We did pretty good considering we don’t really target Papio throughout the year. We ended up with 5 Papio, 1 Aawa, 1 Hage, and 1 Lai for the tournament. We got our first Omilu, but with 64 kayak fishermen in the water we knew a 13”er wouldn’t put us in the money, so we threw it back. Our second Omilu was a little bit bigger, so we kept it and right after putting it in the bag we hooked up a white papio. Conditions were getting bad, but we kept pounding trying to get something bigger and as luck would have it we hooked up with an even bigger white papio. Thinking the weigh in was from 3-5, we stayed out and kept fishing...then around 2:45 we get a call from our friend who was wondering where we were because we had the scale in the truck and I (Kevin) was supposed to be weigh master! We pulled up lines and started sprinting back to the tournament site. We got in and our fish weighed in at 4.98#. Just out of the money, but enough for 4th place!
PPO Results
1st Place - 8.78# Omilu - Isaac “Rocket” Brumaghim
2nd Place - 7.36# Omilu - Chris “Hammah” Paglinawan
3rd Place - 6.52# Omilu - David “Boogie-D” Elgas
4th Place - 4.98# GT - Uyeda Brothers - Gareth & Kevin
5th Place - 4.68# Omilu - Shiloh Oliberos
Biggest Aha - 7.57# - Dustin Young
Biggest Other Fish - 14.3# Kahala - Zack Balmoja
Thank you to David “Boogie-D” Elgas, Trina, Windward Boats, and all the sponsors for this great event.
We did pretty good considering we don’t really target Papio throughout the year. We ended up with 5 Papio, 1 Aawa, 1 Hage, and 1 Lai for the tournament. We got our first Omilu, but with 64 kayak fishermen in the water we knew a 13”er wouldn’t put us in the money, so we threw it back. Our second Omilu was a little bit bigger, so we kept it and right after putting it in the bag we hooked up a white papio. Conditions were getting bad, but we kept pounding trying to get something bigger and as luck would have it we hooked up with an even bigger white papio. Thinking the weigh in was from 3-5, we stayed out and kept fishing...then around 2:45 we get a call from our friend who was wondering where we were because we had the scale in the truck and I (Kevin) was supposed to be weigh master! We pulled up lines and started sprinting back to the tournament site. We got in and our fish weighed in at 4.98#. Just out of the money, but enough for 4th place!
PPO Results
1st Place - 8.78# Omilu - Isaac “Rocket” Brumaghim
2nd Place - 7.36# Omilu - Chris “Hammah” Paglinawan
3rd Place - 6.52# Omilu - David “Boogie-D” Elgas
4th Place - 4.98# GT - Uyeda Brothers - Gareth & Kevin
5th Place - 4.68# Omilu - Shiloh Oliberos
Biggest Aha - 7.57# - Dustin Young
Biggest Other Fish - 14.3# Kahala - Zack Balmoja
Thank you to David “Boogie-D” Elgas, Trina, Windward Boats, and all the sponsors for this great event.