3 Hour Tour, the Big Island

    So just finished up a vacation with the family on the Big Island.  This was my fourth trip to Hawaii and I had yet been able to fish. So told the wife I wanted to fish while we were here in Kona and she gave me the go ahead. Said I could book a charter / half day if I wanted. So after reading reviews and me being  a  tight wad. Decided to buy a rod and reel and a couple of lures and have a go at it from shore. Spending $125 bucks to go out with up to eight strangers and possibly watch one of them catch one and I myself never get the chance to touch a rod didn't make sense.  Figured I had just as much chance on my own as on a charter and I'd get a new rod and reel out of the deal. So hit Walley World up for rod and reel and after working out some excursion changes do to rain outs, finally got a small 3 hour window Friday morning to sneak off. Headed just south of Kona to an access I had see a couple days earlier.  Shore was all lava and dropped off right at the bank, 20 to 30 foot of water. Started casting with a top water plug for about an hour for nothing so switched to a jerk bait. Started seeing  Ulua / Trevally case my plug. Casted about 30 minutes, then BAM, hard take down then nothing. About 20 minutes later BAM, another hard take down and this one sticks. Fought it for a little bit, with a couple good runs. It's a good size Barracuda.  Heart is ponding at this point as I find a spot to drag it up on to the lava. This thing is big, 30" to 36". Nervous as hell even handling it, this thing had some mean looking teeth. Not to speak of that I hadn't bought any pliers to remove the hooks. After quickly, and carefully removing the hooks with a stick I grabbed on the way in, a quick picture and back in the water it went. Couldn't bring my self to take a selfie with it, didn't want its teeth anywhere near me. Awesome vacation with the family topped off with and awesome fish.

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Darn cool, a total DIY and it looks like a good fish. I've been thinking Hawaii lately.

Nice fish man!  I've been over there 4 times, and on every trip I always take my travel rod and a small assortment of tackle/flies.

Sweet catch!


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Holy cow, those teeth are no joke!

Awesome report; I like the way you think regarding charter vs. solo mission. Glad it worked out for you.

I used to live there (Oahu), some of the best fishing I've ever experienced from a kayak or shore.  Ulua are such hard fighters but I'm glad you got to fish this time around.  I have in-laws there so I just keep my gear in their garage haha.

Nice.  I'm going to Maui soon and was planning on shore fishing too.  I thought about the guides too but also didn't sound worth it.  I can get them myself from shore or with a paddle board or kayak rental.

Nice Catch. I have spent lots of time on Big Island over the years. Completely addicted to shoreline Papio/Ulua whipping. They put most other fish to shame with their speed and power. That is a really good size kaku, from the shore.