Makahiki Day 5

Day 5

5/30/09

     Day 5 was a weird but fun day.  We decided to launch from Hickam Harbor, something easy to make up for the hard paddle from the weekend before.  Stan sponsored me to get on Hickam AFB, which was pretty damn cool.  I haven't been on that base in a long time.  It was nice to see the area again, there were few changes but all good ones.  At the launch area, we met up with Mike, Donovan and (gdamnit I forgot his name) a friend of Stan's.

     After another long gear up, we were in the water by 8am.  It was much later than our usual 6am launch, but no complaints from anyone.  Stan went tandem with his buddy while me, Mike and Donovan, who was borrowing Stan's Prowler, went solo on our yaks.  It was another nice morning, although we did see some  sets starting to build out on the reefs to the left and right of the channel markers.  The plan was to hit outside of the channel to about 50'-150' of water.  Aside from the shuttle boat taking surfers to and from the reef breaks, there was little boat traffic.  I gotta mention that those damn shuttle boats driven by the lifeguards didn't follow the no wake rules inside the harbor.  It made for some tippy paddling when they went by.

     The tandem and Donovan were out of the channel first and hooked up to some fish almost immediately.  Me and Mike followed shortly after.  While passing the last channel marker, Mike hooked up to something but lost it a few minutes later.  I had dropped down some damashi after seeing a small school on the FF.  I pulled up a few Moano, 1 keeper and 2 released to grow up.  I noticed Stan was hooked up to something and also watched Donovan pull up a pretty big Moano along with a couple little ones. 

     I stuck around the 30-50ft area and bottomfished with the damashi.  Got a few hits here and there but no keepers.  At around 10am the conditions started to get mushy and the wind started to pick up.  The chop grew to about 3ft and the swells hitting the reef were almost double from what they were just a couple hours earlier.

     I then got the call over the radio.  Donovan got hit sideways by some chop and huli'd over.  Stan was on something big so I was asked to help out.  I looked about 100yds over and saw the red prowler and started to paddle over.  I was moving against the chop and the current so it took me longer to get there than I had liked.  Once there I saw Donovan holding on the one side the yak with one leg halfway on.  I told him to relax as he already looked exhausted from trying to re board.  It was important to make sure he was calm before starting off with the next few steps. Now we had to clear his deck.  One of the rods had fallen over parallel to his deck and damashi hooks were all over.   He couldn't reach so I maneuvered around and cut the lines out of the way. Once the deck was clear, I tried to get into a T position to provide the most stable position for the both of us.  The now stronger wind, chop and current wasn't making it easy.  Once finally getting it the best I could, Donovan got back on with some coaching and situated himself.  Although this was only his second time out with us,  I'm glad this didn't disuade him from being excited about kayak fishing.  I went around and gathered the gear that had fallen off but was still floating.  I think he had just lost his tackle bag and got his cell phone wet.  Also, I had my video camera running the whole time.  Although it was running, my main objective was his safety and not taking video.  Most of the video doesn't have him on film, but the audio captured most of it.  

     We all paddled back through the channel and fished a little bit inside the harbor with little luck.  The wind picked up even more and everyone decided to call it a day.

So.  Day 5 score

0

0 

And one Moano kept.

***I will add the video soon.  I'm still editing it.***

Makahiki Day 4

Stan taken for a ride.

Day 4

5/23/09

New Moon, big high tide at 1245 and light Kona winds at 5-15mph.

     I was up at 0-dark-30 again.  Loaded up the rods, tightened down the straps, went through the check list:  Bait? check. Ice? check. Rigs and safety gear? check and check.  The destination was Haleiwa.  We agreed to meet up in front of Jameson's and launch from Haleiwa Beach Park.  I arrived at around 0515. Still a bit dark, the sun was just trying to peek up from the East. I unloaded and noticed the guys start to arrive one by one.

     Stan, Dave and Mike arrived.  We greeted each other and started to do the dreaded gear up.  I think we all agree it's just never going to be a quick process.  Once geared up, we dragged the yaks to the edge of the calm water and slowly made our way out the red harbor buoy.  The plan was to make our way past the harbor marker and out to around 120-160 feet and then troll towards Waimea Bay.

     The sun coming out from behind the Ko'olaus was beaming.  The water was cool and calm with just a hint of breeze licking the surface.  Dave and Stan were well ahead while me and Mike kept pace a few hundred yards back.  I rigged up an Opelu on a wire rig and dragged it behind me as well as a Ballyhoo on a longer troll line.  Mike looked to be skipping an Opelu also.  We were all hoping to get the elusive Pelagic we have all been wanting to do battle with.  

     We reached Waimea Bay and started to do some bottom fishing after an uneventful troll.  I tried to look for structure on my fishfinder but the bottom was like a desert.  It wasn't until I drifted closer in-shore did I see signs of life.  I marked a couple of big fish and dropped down my Opelu.  Something took it and gave a couple of good tugs, then my drag screamed out.  I got excited and tried to set the hook.  The line slacked and I got back my rig sans the bait.  The same thing happened about ten minutes later.  And that's when I noticed Stan had hooked up.

     Stan and Dave had passed Waimea and were more towards Sunset.  Mike was still bottom fishing in front of Pupukea just to the North of my position.  I wanted to get some footage of someone fighting a fish so I paddled NW  towards Stan and Dave.  I got to their position and could see Stan was on to something with size.  He was starting to get pulled South towards the bay.  I had already started filming but had to put down the camera several times to keep up with him.  I noticed after a few stop and go paddling we were near Mike who was still bottom fishing near Pupukea.  Stan was still getting dragged to the bay and into shallower water.  By then Stan decided to cut line, that sucker wasn't coming up.

     And then high tide started to hit along with some stronger wind.  The seas started to get rougher and the swells were rolling in more than the 3ft that was forecast for the day.  We decided to head back towards Haleiwa.  As we paddled, it didn't seem we were moving.  I marked a house on the coast and watched it as I paddled, it didn't move.  We were in a strong current heading opposite to our direction.  I took out my GPS which I usually only carry for emergency to keep track of heading and how fast we are going (or not going).

     I noticed I didn't make any headway unless I hit at least 2.5mph.  Which meant the current was at least moving 2mph or stronger towards the North.  It took us all of our energy, grit and stubborness to get past that rip and into safer water, which happened to be a cove to the right of the bay that Mike had expertly navigated us into.  The rest was very much needed.  That had become one of the most grueling paddles I had ever endured.  My back, ass, arms and shoulders were burning, still pumping lactic acid and adrenaline.  My legs had started to cramp from the bracing and my throat was so dry it was hard to swallow.  But, we were safe.  Thanks to a bunch of guys that look out for each other.  I think if I had been solo, I would have had to risk a surf landing.  

     The rest of the paddle back was tiring but not as grueling.  The fear was gone, it was now just the need to get back to the launch and get back on dry land.  As far as fish caught that day, I think it was Mike that had the luck and pulled in a nice size Tableboss (A'awa) for a few points on the board.

     Looking back at the small adventure.  I'm glad to be paddling with a great group of guys.  It was fun, scary, tiring and adrenaline pumping.  

Day 4 Score for me:

0 and 0.  OH... at least it wasn't a total whitewash.  I did score a set of Maui Jim sunglasses on the beach.  LOL.

Here are a couple of videos of that day: 

Enjoy!

Practice Catch & Release

Found on a barstool in some bar somewhere....

Mahahiki Day 3

Dave  Mike

I am toasted. Yesterday was @$#$'n awesome! We couldn't have asked for better conditions. The downside was because of the great conditions, the Sun beat the hell out of us. We launched from under Makai Pier and paddled straight out to Rabbit Island to the East. Paddled out with Dave and Mike into calm seas for a cruising day of bottom fishing.
       Once we got to the spot, we dropped down the damashi and started to pick up the usual suspects. Moana, Ta'ape and of course the dreaded Hagi. Dave was lucky enough to pick up a Tableboss (A'awa) and Mike had hooked up to something big but got the hook spit back.  The Opelu we dropped down was hit and miss. Most of them torn up by the Hagi schools below the surface.  

I was able to get points on the board with a Ta'ape and Moana. The other Moanas I caught were dropped back down as bait. They got hit but I never hooked up. One of the hooks I used, 15/0 circle, had bite marks on it. So I was thinking a small shark.
Points or no points, it was a beautiful day. I guess the pressure to get points on the board is off so next time I can just concentrate on having a good time.

Here we are gearing up.

The bird sanctuary at Rabbit Island

Some of the catches

Mike Hooked up? Turns out he was...

The plan for 5/16

Planning on a cruise day bottom fishing tomorrow. I've got some tried and true rigs and a few new ones I have picked up from a few sites on the net. And a couple of rigs I have come up with during down time. All of the gear is ready, bait is packed and sealed. Palu is cut up and bagged. Now just need to get some sleep.
Trolling has its benefits of course but since the weather is going to be so nice the crew has agreed to relax, drop bait and drift.
We'll see how it goes. I'll post pics of the rigs (if they work).

Good luck crew!

Targeting Sat 5/16

Ooooh. The forecasts look good for this Saturday. It's going to be hot, light surf, and very light winds from the East. Crossing my fingers that the weather isn't going to change.

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=159&Isection=Wind+Forecast&day=3&model=true

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/pages/forecast.php

Also picked up a new waterproof camcorder to try out on the kayak. No more crappy cellphone images!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWomMMrnokw

Makahiki Day 2

The call was made the night before. I was still nursing a back injury and it has been flaring up something mean the past week. I wasn't too sure about going but I just had to give a try. Well I was up at 0dark30 to meet up at Pokai Bay beach park for a Westside paddle at 0600. Evan and Dave were already there. Me, Stan and Mike filed in shortly after one another. We all noticed Evan had set up pretty quick and was ready to go while we were still groggy and unloading our gears from the trucks. Something we all agree on is that we need a better system of gearing up at the launch site, we take too damn long.
We decide to partner up, so I buddied along with Dave. Stan and Mike stuck together and Evan, well he was already on the water. That guy can paddle, he was halfway to Makaha by the time me and Dave hit the water. Out past the point and headed straight out, we hit deep water within a hundred yards. Another klick and my sonar bottomed out, my FF only goes to 600, so I asked Dave and he mentioned over 900ft. We were both dragging some good baits so we agreed to troll for awhile towards Makaha.
It was a beautiful day. The water was calm, just a slight breeze coming down from the ridge and even though it was still around 7am, the morning sun was already starting to heat everything up. The view from the water towards Waianae was incredible, so peaceful.
And then there was the splash. Dave called out from 50yards to my right.
"Did you see that?"
"I think it was a shark!"
I replied, "I saw something." But I wasn't sure what it was.
We paddled a few more strokes and then I saw the biggest damn shark I've ever seen. Dave's kayak is about 15 feet long and from tip to tail the shark that was just under his kayak was about as long. The dorsal was in line with Daves stern so that mean it's head was just below Dave's seat. I suggested I paddle up closer to make us look like a bigger "target" and it seemed to work. The shark must have dove down deep. The next thing we heard was the ratchet from Dave's reel going off hard. The pole was bent double and that thing was taking off. Dave fought it for just a few moments and then bit off it's meal. He was just happy to get most of his line back.

That certainly made for an exciting start. The rest of the day wasn't too exciting for me. Trolled here, bottom fished there, but only ended up with a few Hagi (Triggerfish) which don't equal to any points. The other guys did catch some fish on their damashi rigs. Moana and weke were the usual suspects, but nothing big hit the big baits. That is until Mike and Stan were on their way in.
During the troll in, Mike got a hit and fought up a decent size Kaku (Heller's Barracuda). There was some joking around when he told the story after we were all on shore. Apparently, when he was trying to dispatch the fish on deck he was giving the sucker "love taps" (according to Stan) instead of giving it the beat down.

It was a fun run with a great group of guys. It wasn't a total skunk of a day but we know we'll bring in the bigger ones sooner than later.

Score for Day2
0
0

Mahalo to Dave and Mike for the images