March Madness Kona Style 3/23-3/24 Yak and Non-Yak

I started planning my trip to Kona a few months ago and contacted Andy1976 for some intel. I haven’t fished in Hawaii for 5 years so wanted to know some locations and tactics. Andy was very helpful and suggested trolling a live or dead Opelu around for “miles and miles”. I like fishing on the move so that works for me. My only concern was the risk of attracting or even worse hooking a tiger shark. Andy said to bring my “Tuna stuff” 60# test or higher. I have really big rigs for long range fishing but only fish 20-40# kayak fishing in Baja so I compromised with a 30# and 50# rigs running Izorline copolymer topshot with spectra backing on a Newell P322 and 533. I have 2 piece 7’ St Croix and Lamiglas rods I built for travel and I also use in NCAL for surf launches. Anyway, the first day I headed to the tackle store and bought the biggest circle hook I have ever seen. Decided to book a 6 pack share charter out of Kona to get the lay of the land before heading out on a kayak.

I ended up on a boat named the Sea Wife II with 3 other anglers. It only cost me $99 which seemed pretty reasonable. We spent most of the time trolling from the airport to Kailua Bay. Things were slow but ended up with 2 small Ahi caught on hairy lures which looked like bass lures. The deck hand taught me a cool fillet technique for small tuna. Really great crew. We ate half of the tuna a sashimi and the other half as Poke and OMG those little tuna taste better than the big ones.

The next day we headed down to Keauhou for some kayaking. This wasn’t one of the places Andy recommended but the kids wanted to do some cliff diving and sea caves so we ended up in Keauhou. The kids headed south and I headed west to “Ono Alley”. After clearing the bay I started rigging by trolling rods. I turned around and realized I forgot the Opelu. Decided to troll lures rather than paddling back in. We rented Scupper Pro’s and will have to say they paddle great but are not as stable as the Prowlers or Tridents and don’t seem to handle the chop as well. I was a little uneasy paddling the yak alone in unfamiliar waters. About 1-2 miles out I ran into 2 kayak anglers coming in and they said it was dead at 50 fathoms and suggested heading south. I thanked them and headed south. One thing that has confused me is the frequent use of spinning reels by Hawaiian kayak anglers. I was going to ask them but they were really big dudes so I decided not to. After a few miles I finally started marking bait suspended from 60-100 feet in 120-150 FOW. There were scattered fish working the bait so I decided to stop trolling and try jigging. I decided to use the 50# rig just in case I hooked a big Ulua. I started with a 4 oz butterfly jig which got hung on the bottom. After 10 minutes of jack hammering I ended up cutting the line because I couldn’t break it off.  Switched to a 5oz green knife jig rigged with a tail and assist hook which did better since the drift was super fast because the current and wind were in the same direction. Eventually got it dialed in and ended up with 5 small Kaku from 4-8# all caught on the assist hook.  I have eaten Hawaiian barracuda in the past and they are pretty good, much better tasting than the California barracuda, but Andy said it was only safe to eat the pelagics so I released them all. Will have to say it was nice to have the Boga grip. Eventually got hung up and lost the knife jig and decided to call it a day. Paddled in to watch the cliff diving then headed to the Pine Tree Café for the infamous “Chicken Katsu Dip” plate lunch. While heading in the sun finally broke through, life is good.

Scott

The kayak pics...

Scott...I didn't realize you were going to Kona. I have a good friend (formerly from the Bay Area) that now lives and operates a charter boat in Kona.

* If anybody wants to charter a fishing trip in Kona, PM me and I'll hook you up with a great guide!!

[email protected]

*ask for Capt. Russ Nitta, tell him Joel from "Team Hana Pa'a" sent ya

Awesome read from the Island Scott. Thanks for sharing. I hope you can learn
some recipe there and bring it back here. Looking forward to more report and
pictures.

Jedmo

Sound likes you're having a great time there!  The Sashimi & Poke dishes look yummy    Thanks for the report and pictures Scott.  Keep them coming...

have not been to hawaii in five years myself but next time I go I will do exactly like what you are doing now.  Nice report

I want to head out that way one day just need to. Find some time and money.

You are the Man!  I went to Kona and then south past Ka Lae (South Point) to Punalu'u in January and was mystified by the fishermen I saw there and some yak fishermen I talked to back up at Ho'okena.  To see South Point and hear of its currents and to see just how rugged the coastline is there along the Kona coast...  I was in awe of it and knew I needed to do much better homework in order to come there to fish.  Well done.  Thank you very much for the excellent report.   

Scott,
Thanks for the great report.  Looking forward to GS4.  Let's get together and talk about tackle some time before Shelter Cove.

Martin

a $99 kona charter, AND you get to keep the fish?  Man life is good scott.  Thx for that!

wow looks like you are having a great trip, congrats on the fish, mmmmmmmm....poke, thanks for the pics and report, cameron

Living the dream bradah! Great report. Island fish taste so good!

sweet report Scott.
 I soooo wish we little tuna like that around here. Can you imagine routinely hooking those little bullets of tastiness on 10-15lb rigs from the yak? yummy and fun!

Thanks for taking us along with you Scott. Great photos and report.

Big teeth on that baby..

Rich

a $99 kona charter, AND you get to keep the fish?  Man life is good scott.  Thx for that!

Amen. That is a screaming deal.