what a rush

[mems]

Aloha, this afternoon I headed out to the breakwall in Hilo to look for some predators. I got a new casio watch that is supposed to tell you when the fish are biting, so I decided to test it out. I was fishing with my 8wt and got a small aha that jumped like crazy. After I released him I looked at one spot and just thought that it looked very fishy. I stripped out some line gave a double haul and let fly. I was using my oama fly which is a baby goat fish immitation. I let the fly sink and then started to strip pause retrieve. I saw a large shadow come out of the rocks, it was an ulua of about 20 lbs. He headed for my fly and I increased speed ever so slightly to make him mad. He rushed the fly and took off. The reel just peeled off line as he headed for deeper water. I kept the tip high and applied pressure, but couldn't turn him. I did get the fish to parallel the breakwall, but I couldn't run fast enough to keep up with him. After about five minutes the line went slack. I reeled in the backing and the fly line and the leader was chaffed. He must have cut it with his teeth of maybe even his tail. It is so cool to see a fish like that take off, and you just pray that you can get him in. I will need to check my watch tomorrow and see if it predicts another good bite. Mems.

[Tony Buzolich]

Right on Mems,

Gotta love those big jacks. All of them.
I managed a couple of good ones at the mouth of Honokahau Harbor last Feb. Got there before daylight as the opelu were coming back in and used an 11w.
You must have felt a little undergunned with that #8w. Had to be fun while it lasted.
TONY

[Darian]

Hey Mems,.... What a great time that must've been.... :D :D

The closest I've been to that was hookin' up on a Striper off the Half Moon Bay Breakwater. 8) It was about 18 lbs and hit early in the retrieve.... Nearly yanked the rod out of my hand.... :shock: Lotsa swells that day so I was movin' around like an NFL running back (and thinkin' it was really cool 8) 8) ) when I stepped on a very slippery rock and took flop on my derierre.... :o :o After recovering my composure and enduring the laughter of everyone on the breakwater, I got up and landed the fish.... :lol: Man, talk about ambarrassed.... :o :o :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Adam Grace]

Mems, I finally made it to Hawaii. I spent 9 days on Maui snorkeling and boogie boarding. While I was snorkeling I saw what I believe to be a blue fin Trevally. The pictures below.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/cropofHonoluaBay2day815.jpg

These fish looked very cool underwater, the blues were vibrant.

What is the name for this fish in Hawaiian?

[Tony Buzolich]

Great picture Adam.

This is definitely a Blue Fin Trevally and depending on size called an Omilu. Papio are a little smaller, and Ulua are a little larger but all have the same basic jack shape.

Great fighters and good eating,
TONY

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Unreal.......how did you get it to hold still for a picture? They are usually moving pretty fast in schools.

When we go to Christmas Island ~1200 mile south of HI we would catch theses daily that were only a few pounds on bonefish flies.

[Adam Grace]

Bill, I asked it for directions.... :lol:

We were surprised to get a shot like that as well. We tried to get good pictures of them at multiple locations but they were always moving fast enough to miss the picture. The day this picture was taken we visited a fish sanctuary, maybe they felt safe in that protected area. I think the major reason why they were not swimming away this time was they were following an eel along the bottom of the cove. There were also a ton of baitfish hugging the bank, they might not have wanted to leave their food.

I wanted to have some fun with the baitfish and scare them to watch them flee from me as a group. So I swam about twenty feet away propelled by my trusty snorkeling fins, turned around and sighted in my target. Then I put my legs into high gear and kicked towards the school like a torpedo hoping to scare them into a scattering cloud of silver. As I kicked through the middle of the fleeing school I noticed two dark shapes blasting past me and into the front cloud of baitfish. The dark shapes disappeared then re-appeared back through the cloud. It was that same pair of Trevally. The panic I caused the school of baitfish also triggered the Trevally into a breif feeding frenzy. Throughout the whole trip I had hoped to see some Trevally go crazy and eat some fish. After it actually happend I couldn't beleive that I got a chance to watch it take place, even better, I caused the frenzy to happen. After all of the awesome snorkeling and site seeing that Trevally moment made the trip for me. I am very thankful that my friend/roomate took this picture to share with you guys just how cool they look under water.

The blues were incredible. A truely beautiful fish.

[Adam Grace]

Here some of the many underwater pictures we took.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/Hawaii/IMG_0870.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/Hawaii/day747.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/Hawaii/Molokinitripday310.jpg

I will try to post more a little later, I have some even better shots.

[jbird]

Adam

That is awesome that you were immersed in a world of predator and prey. Were you on Maui at Ahihi Bay? I have seen a few goodsized blue fins casually patrolling that area. Last time in Maui I had just purchased an underwater housing for my sony dsc p100. I came home with a couple hundred beautiful underwater photos. One of the coolest things was when I'd dive down to where the pressure filled my ears, I could clearly hear the songs of humpbacks.

Jay

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC01060_0142.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC00984_0076.jpg

[Darian]

Wonder of that Moray Eel would take a fly :?: :?: :?:

[jbird]

Wonder of that Moray Eel would take a fly

:lol: :lol: :lol: Spoken like a true addict! :wink:

[mems]

Aloha Adam, yeah that is an omilu. If the jack is under 10lbs then it is papio, over 10lbs then they call it ulua. I had one whack me this morning. I didn't see how big he was, but I would guess about five pounds. He took out line, and I coldn't turn him. My line got down to the backing, but the biminii knot tangled and the backing wouldn't come off the spool. I think this happened when I was reeling in from the big ulua I hooked the other day. I was at kinda a stand still, so I tried to reel in some line , but that upset the papio and he broke me off right where my tippet meets my leader. That really bummed me out, but it was my own fault, I should have checked my line. It was also my fault cause I ate one bannana before I went fishing. It gave me bachi, bad luck. I locked my keys in the truck, and lost that papio. I thought the bannana curse only worked on boats, but I was wrong.
Anyway cool pictures, those omilu are great fighters. If you watch them they actually can change color from black to almost silver. They flash blue like that when they are going to kill something.
Yes Darian you can catch eels on the fly. I have a small baby one in my friends fish tank that I caught fl fishing down at the river. I feed it when I go fishing, cause I park my car at his house. Problem with eels is they go into the rocks, and are very difficult to get out. Other problem is they bite and don't let go. You have to cut the head off and break the jaw with pliers. I always fish with pliers and a knife here, for just such creatures.
The black fish are trigger fish, we call them hagi. They suck, they eat all the hackle off your fly. The real big ones hang out at the off-shore bouys and their beak bends your fly in all kinds of wild shapes, so do those puffers.
Adam, you should have brought your rod. Those papio are good fun on an 8wt. Just make sure your backing isn't all jammed up. Mems.

[Adam Grace]

Awesome pictures Jay. :fish2:

That picture was taken in Honolua Bay near the Slaughterhouse area.

Mems thanks for the info. Good luck with that backing problem.

Gotta go study :cry:

[Jasonh]

Nice pics Adam and Jbird!

Jason Hartwick