Montana Meets Hawaii (Pic Heavy)...and pretty cool!
Well this won't be your typical Big Sky Montana type fishing adventure. While I absolutely love Montana I do venture outside of the state on occasion. So this adventure took place with my wife and three youngest children in Oahu Hawaii. This is my wife and I's third trip to Oahu and now all 6 of our children have been there as well.
As you can see by this photo Hawaii is agreeing with us quite well. It is a great place to get one's mind right for a while. The mountains in the background by the way have appeared in many movies including Jurassic Park, Kong, Jumanji to name a few. This was actually taken right at the movie location.
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As mentioned earlier this was my third trip. Each time I went I told myself I really need to try fishing here. So on my second to the last day I'm snorkeling in this little cove in the morning pictured below. Over to the left I notice a guy fishing (he is not in this photo). I walk over to him and visit with him for a little while. He is a native Hawaiian and I watch as he pulls in a couple of reef fish. It is illegal to fish in the cove/lagoon, but perfectly legal to stand on the reef and cast out into the ocean to fish. This gets my wheels turning in my head... My wife and daughters want to go shopping that day. My son wants to sleep and chill at the condo (he was worn out.)... So after hearing everyone's plans I tell my wife that I'd like to run to Walmart and buy a cheap rod/reel and a few hooks and weights. My family thinks I'm a little crazy for wanting to fish, but I think they are equally crazy for wanting to sleep and shop. I particularly do not enjoy the latter. So I get myself set up and then my wife and daughters drop me off to fish on their way to go shop. We are all happy. :)
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My daughters were teasing me that I was being a little too cocky about thinking I could just walk out there and catch fish. Hmmmm, I assured them that I was very confident I would catch plenty of fish. My comment only brought more skepticism. As I made my first cast I was a only slightly nervous they might be right. I shouldn't have worried. I had a strike on my first cast, but missed it. On about my third cast I caught this fish.
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From there I proceeded to catch a number of fish, but missed way more strikes than I connected on. I was using bread as bait as recommended by my oldest son, who has fished there a couple of times, and by a couple YouTube videos I watched. It was frustrating constantly rebaiting. Basically if they hit it, when you set the hook, you either had a fish or it was a miss, either way your bait came off the hook. Most were misses. However I still landed a few Like these two different species that remind me of sunfish/bluegill back home.
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While fishing, a relatively young man (in his 30's) showed up with his three boys. He was there to fish and teach his boys to fish. He himself had only been fishing about a year. I thought it was cool he was spending time with his boys and trying to teach them to fish. I told him that I'd just bought the rod/reel that morning and I really didn't want to take it back on the plane. I asked if he would accept it when I was done and maybe give it to his boys. He was surprised but pleased by the offered. So much so he offered to share some of his bait with me. He had shrimp and squid. Frankly the shrimp didn't stay on the hook much better than the bread, but the squid was a game changer. Many I really started to yard the fish out once I put the squid on.
I don't even know where to start check out all these cool fish. It seemed every other cast produced a different species of fish. I love variety and I was in heaven! I do know which to post first so I will just post a bunch.
This fish was I'm guessing a little over 3 pounds. One thing I did notice is fish like this fight harder than anything in fresh water except maybe smallmouth bass. These fish may not look too feisty, but they are solid muscle.
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This fish is the Hawaiian state fish. It is a trigger fish of some kind and pretty cool looking.
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It's hard to see but this one has a little horn looking thing on it's right above it's nose. This fish really fought hard.
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Speaking of hard fighters this trigger fish gave me a work out. I lost three other fish that felt bigger including one that completely straightened my hook out. However, it I ever go back I will know a little better what hooks to use and I guarantee things won't always go in the fishes favor.
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We did a lot of snorkeling and while I have a pile of photos from that I will not bore you with them except to say this was the high point of the snorkeling. I love seeing sea turtles and it's even cooler when they are swimming beside you.
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Before I left the reef I was fishing on I did give the rod and reel to my new found friend. I also looked at this set up and made few suggestions to help him simplify things. While he was catching fish he was spending a lot of time untangling his line. I was catching about 5 to 1 for every fish he landed. I showed him a few tips before I left. On the flight home I received a message from him along with a photo of a big pile of fish. He said that he had switched everything over to how I recommended to set up his line and it was a complete game changer. Him and his boys really cleaned up on the fish that next day. I was just glad I could help, and better yet, I have a new friend on Oahu. :)
Alas my fun had to come to an end so I will leave you with this Aloha photo. It's pretty tough to not love Hawaii when you are greeted with sunsets like this nearly every evening. Until we meet again Hawaii Mahalo and Aloha.
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