Makahiki Days 19 & 20

Makahiki Days 19 & 20
Sat 9/19 and 9/20/09

9/19
Made the call to head out to Rabbit Island launching from Makai Pier, East Oahu. Forecasts were fuzzy, some sites said 10-15mph and a few said 25+. I "went chance 'em" and met up with Rob, Doc and Roman. I woke up late, well I just hit the snooze button too many times and didn't leave the house till 7am... way later than I preferred.
Driving over the hill at Makapuu I could see the guys already paddling out towards Rabbit Isle. I radioed to let them know I'll be meeting up with them in a few. The conditions at the launch were 'OK'. The winds were definitely up and the swell on the outside looked like it was peaking. Met up with "AFYaker", a friend of Doc's, as I was unloading and gearing up. He had just paddled back in with a somber report. His first time out in open ocean and he was introduced to 4 to 6ft swells on the outside. I'm glad he decided to cut it short and come in, it wasn't for the inexperienced. After talking story a bit, I paddled out towards Manana. The inside or lee of the island was OK with about 2-3 foot swells inside and some flat water in the more protected areas. I saw Doc and Roman on the North side of the island and decided to test the waters. I got out as they were making their way back to the inside and I should have followed. I wanted to drop deep so I gave it a shot. The swells were picking up as the tide was changing and it was a struggle to keep pointed towards the waves. It took me 10 minutes to decided to turn tail and get back inside. Even then, I had to find a channel so I wouldn't get blindsided by a wave or pushed too close to the island's rocky face. Found a small channel and punched through. And of course I get a hit, a big one.  Thirty feet from the rocks and with swells still coming up behind me. I turn to face the waves and try to "boos'em", leader got bit through, but at that point I didn't care. Turned and got back to the lee of the island. Amazing how calm and crystal clear the waters were just 50yds from where I was being tossed around.
Anyway, another couple of hours and no hits so called it a day and went home. Bus'up and tired.

Hrs Logged:
0800 - 1100hrs

Sun. 9/20
Forecasts were finally dead on.  Calm and clear and light winds. Headed out to Pokai bay to meet up with Mongoose, Rob and Doc. Woke up late again!  But that was due to being drained from the day before. It was a complete 180 from Makai Pier which gave me much more confidence on how the day was going to be. Got out on the water by 7am and headed South towards Kae' pt. On the way out I saw Mongoose about a half mile away and headed towards him.  I had just put out an Opelu and Crystal Minnow and started the troll.

 Not more than 50yds from the mouth of the bay I got a big hit on the Opelu. My 6ft Barefoot jigging rod bent and the PowerPro was screaming out of the Okuma Cedros reel.  Sweet! Without clearing the other line I grabbed the singing rod and started the fight. A few hot runs got my adrenaline pumping and a few minutes later I boated a nice size Omilu with it's blue colors flashing bright. I saw that it was a good hookset, so I took out the Kage and brained him so as not to get hooked up by the stinger if it decided to go into death throws on deck and in proximity to the crown jewels.

Met up with Mongoose and he had already boated a couple of Omilu himself. I decided to do some drifting and bottom fishing and ended up with a couple of large Hagi that I decided to keep.  All of the others were released to steal bait again.
After a couple hours, I noticed the drift was stronger and the tide was starting to change increasing the speed of the current. The launch was North of our position and the current was a good 2kts heading South. I'm glad I have a Hobie Revo with the Mirage drive, I have paddled against that kind of current before and it isn't fun at all. Even with the peddle power, it was still slow going, but I had more confidence in my legs than if I was battling with my arms and back. I peddled perpendicular to the current and headed more inside to shallower water. I got out of the rip and was able to make good headway at around 3.5 to 4mph. I missed another big strike that took my rod out of it's holder and into the water.  So glad I had it leashed or it would have ended up on the reef. I lost whatever it was due to slack in the line along with my last Opelu. I was about a mile from the mouth of the bay and put on a 3" black/silver crystal minnow. Not five minutes of trolling and it got hit and I pulled up a decent sized 2# Uku. Not a monster but even Uku at that size are great eating so in the cooler it went.

Got back to the beach with Rob and Doc following a bit later. Rob showed off with pride his catch of a 32# Kaku (Great Barracuda).  A lot of beachgoers came up to give their congratulations and take some pictures. It really was an impressive catch.  Doc had an Uku in the boat but while removing the hook it had flipped and went overboard. We all decided that it counted as a Catch and Release.
It was definitely one of my better days fishing this year with my first decent catch after a long dry spell.

Hrs logged:
0700 - 1200hrs