Fishing report and a request for a rod

Started by Ron Jones, December 24, 2015, 04:19:23 AM

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Ron Jones

So,
Some other CHIEFS and I went to a new to us fishing spot that is on a base here on Oahu (Ford Island by the old golf course for the locals.) The Oio (bonefish) were wide open hitting ika and opae (squid and shrimp) on dropper loops just like you fish a half day out of San Diego. My family and I just found out that oio fishcakes are AMAZING.

My issue is how I caught them. I was using a 12ft Torque surf rod with a big Diawa spinner rigged with 30# line. Not a lot of fun, sort of like bringing a nuclear warhead to a cat fight between two 3 year old girls. What I'm looking for is a 9ft ultralight (15lb ish) casting rod. One piece preferably. I have found a couple of steelhead-salmon rods but most are above $300.00. This just isn't that kind of fishing, I'd really like to spend $100.00 or so. I'm gonna run a Penn 180 with a 100 aluminum spool and a Newell kit.

I guess what I'm looking for is an 8 weight fly rod set up as a casting rod with a taper that will work to fling lead. I have read that they will hit curly tailed jigs from deep water, that would be unbelievable fun.

Thanks

Ron
Ronald Jones
To those who have gone to sea and returned and to those who have gone to sea and will never return
"

Dominick

Hey Ron lotsa tackle shops on the islands.  Send out a couple of emails.  You should be able to get what you want.  Dominick
Leave the gun.  Take the cannolis.

There are two things I don't like about fishing.  Getting up early in the morning and boats.  The rest of it is fun.

Tightlines667

Ron...

That is a good little Oio spot there..shhh :)

Also, If I'm not mistaken base regs dictate only catch and release fishing off of Ford Island.  I would run up to J&E or Brian's and buy an Okuma, Shimano, or Penn lighter weight shore casting rod.  Not sure what specific model you would want for your 180.  I like to start with a rating, and length, thwn bring the reel along, and check the balance and feel.  
Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

Ron Jones

Catch and release would be news to me, I will find out but I'll do it "casually" so I can say that I didn't know. Most everything I find in the local shops are either 6ft long or made by Nitro and as thick as my arm. I'll keep looking. If I was made of money I'd buy a Seeker SS 980-9 CT. I could fish that rod all around the world and die happy.

Thanks
Ron
Ronald Jones
To those who have gone to sea and returned and to those who have gone to sea and will never return
"

Tightlines667

Ron,

I'm not sure I would eat fish caught in Pearl Harbor either.  Just because I know there can be really high bacterial counts (Lepto. spp., & others, esp. after alot of rain/brown water).  I picked up a nasty bacterial infection just from swimming in the water (I was conducting vessel safety training) last September that I am still fighting off.

I would hook you up with a rod, but I don't think I've got one that fits your criteria. 

Not sure if you say this fly rod combo on CL?...

https://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/spo/5333175180.html

Best of luck!
Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

oc1

These are my oio rods.  One built on a Rainshadow 11.5' IST1384F blank for throwing 3/8 oz jigs.  The other built on a Rainshadow 10.5'  IST1263F blank for throwing 3/4 oz jigs.  Inexpensive Fiji Concept double foot guides.  Minimalist wrapping conserves weight at the tip and can be done in an evening.  Just some old school cord wrap instead of a reel seat and handle.  Each rod cost about a hundred bucks for blank and guides.

I was hesitant to try to help if you are killing oio.  Go buy a Filet-O-Fish sandwich and release the oio  ;)


-steve

Ron Jones

Sorry, for some reason the system didn't tell me that there were new posts. I know that there are signs that say don't eat the fish, but there are a lot of fish eaten and some of them have been from me. Hickam also takes people bottom fishing and most of that fish is eaten. I understand the caution and appreciate the backup. OC1, those rods look perfect. Definitely what I'm looking for other than I'd prefer one piece, but that isn't a deal breaker.
I'm curious why you are concerned about the oio population? Every piece of information I have is that the population is healthy. If you know something different I'd love to see it, I enjoy eating the fish but I also want to be responsible with the resource.
Thanks
Ron
Ronald Jones
To those who have gone to sea and returned and to those who have gone to sea and will never return
"

oc1

Hi Ron,

I would prefer one-piece rods also but they're too expensive to ship.  Mail-ordering a long one-piece is really expensive if you can find a seller willing to jump through all the hoops to send it to you.  It's easier for a tackle shop to get them, but they still pay a premium for shipping such an odd shape.  I suspect this situation is what led to development of half-and-half ulua poles.  Just stick three to five feet of bamboo or, later, aluminum tubing on the end of an off-the-shelf six or seven foot rod. 

The catch-and-release topic is a can of worms.  You can find optimistic and pessimistic opinions but no one really knows what the oio (bonefish) population is doing here.  The Oceanic Institute and University of Hawaii have been trying to get a handle on it and say recruitment of juvenile oio on windward Oahu has declined since the 1990's which may indicate overfishing.  One thing for sure, the number of fishermen specifically targeting oio has increased dramatically; especially the fly fishers.

I only fish on the windward side where fly fishing is out of the question most days.  Hence the need to come up with tackle and blind casting techniques that work in a 20 knot wind.  It is not very productive but I manage to find a few.  While targeting oio, I catch more than a dozen one-year-old papio (small trevally), and several two-year old papio (both omilu and white) for every bonefish.  The oio and papio are competitors for the same forage and fall for the same jigs.  I release everything except two-year-old omilu (my wife's favorite dinner).  This is like the pot calling the kettle black because the guys targeting ulua (trevally over ten pounds) would say I am killing their future big ulua. 

If the world made sense, all papio/ulua and oio would be released in Hawaii because they are too valuable to eat for dinner.  In addition to the huge recreational value, they have an economic value in terms of supporting tackle dealers, boat dealers, guide services, etc while also contributing to the tourist industry.  It is difficult to put a dollar value on an oio.  If I wasn't oio fishing I would probably be working and figure every oio caught represents about $1,000 in lost revenue to my business.  For the guide services, every oio they catch probably represents almost $1,000 in revenue.  Their customers may have invested several to many thousands in plane fares, hotel, restaurants, etc. and much of that money spreads through the local economy.

The oio and papio/ulua have modest size limits but no bag limit.  I expect we will eventually have bag and slot limits.  For the regulators, this means they have to do more research and launch more education campaigns.  The research and education sort of go hand-in-hand but the research may be the easy part.  Convincing people that tighter limits are in everyone's best interest is really tough.  It took over twenty years to convince people they should not eat sea turtles and their eggs.  They have spent forty years trying to convince people that gill netting is not an cost-effective use of near-shore fishery resources and it's still a hotly contested issue.

Smartphones, GoPros and social media should make catch and release more acceptable.  A photo or video of your catch lets you show your friends and walk away with something besides a memory.  But, photos also makes catch and release more difficult.  They say an oio needs to be released within one minute of capture to increase the odds that it will survive.  That's sixty seconds to constrain the fish, remove the hook, and take photos without hurting it.  As bad as I am at catching oio, I am even worse at getting a decent photo in the allotted time without fumbling either the fish or the phone.  A whole other skill set to work on.  But..... enough rambling,

-steve

Tightlines667

#8
Well put Steve!

Here is a link to the UH Oio Tagging Project website...

http://www.hawaii.edu/oiotaggingproject/

When I called a few months ago looking for a tagging kit, they directed me to the DAR who apparently are supposed to take over the project due to funding constraints, they did not have any kits available at the time.  I should give them another call.  I myself have tagged thousands of Ulua and Papio under the DAR Ulua tagging project, but admittedly most of those fish were caught aboard commercial vessels while I was conducting a year long bottomfish tagging research project in the NWHIs.  Here is a link to some information regarding the Ulua tagging program...

http://www.hawaiigoesfishing.com/papio_tag.html

and a few documents summarizing project results for the 2000-2004 period are attached.

Here is also a link to the PIFRP bottomfish tagging program, which I cooperated with extensively during the course if the NWHI tagging project...

http://www.fishtoday.org/cooperative-research/bottomfish-tagging/




Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

Tightlines667


I have also attached the results of a study on fish and crab toxicology in Pearl Harbor...
Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

mackereljoe

A 10' steelhead rod worked for me over 20 years ago for whipping grubs and small kastmaster for papio.  Hooked a nice bonefish estimated at 10 pounds around battleship row and right at color it finally bent the hook enough and earned her freedom.  A lot of fish got away from that setup but I wouldn't changed a thing.  Of course bonefish over 5 pounds are getting rarer and best to be released for future fun. My biggest bonefish is by the admirals barge and released immediately.  Since you're not really meat fishing, go light as possible hooked more fish and the ones that got away makes a happier memory, at least for me.  So a decent whipping rod sold locally would work nicely.

Ron Jones

I don't know about 5 pounds being rare. We haven't caught one less than 5.5. Maybe it is the time of year. Of the ones I've eaten so far, it seems like anything over 7 pounds or so is highly likely to be a female. I'm thinking a self imposed slot of 5-6 pounds would be all right. Honestly, we are probably talking two or three times a year I would take fish for fish cakes.

Ron
Ronald Jones
To those who have gone to sea and returned and to those who have gone to sea and will never return
"

Bryan Young

Steve, very well explained. Thanks. I, for one, love to eat papio and oio. Two of my favs. But I do let little ones go. I often don't take any pics.

Ron, I think 5Oceans 7Seas have 1 piece blanks that will fit your needs. Call Lance.
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

Ron Jones

Ronald Jones
To those who have gone to sea and returned and to those who have gone to sea and will never return
"

oc1

John, I tried to get a tagging kit too but to no avail.  Maybe that's for the better as it's one less thing to do in that sixty second window.  If you're wading or in a boat with a live well and can keep the fish in the water it would be easier. 

Bryan, does 5Oceans 7Seas sell blanks or only build rods?  I would like to check out those blanks too but do not want to insult the guy.  Thank you very much for the tip.

-steve