Best Bass Fishery in Hawaii?????

[Filthyfisherman]

I was texted by James Hall this morning asking in my opinion in which Lake in Hawaii is the best bass fishery.... James and Bassmaster Mag is puttin together a article on the best Bass Fisheries in every state.... He said they put together a List : Halalii Lake, Halulu Lake, Lake Wilson, and Nonopapa Lake?? I don't know the other ones?? I know people on here know these other lakes, are they even better then wilson??? I told him I haven't fished the others, but wilson is the biggest, and my home, so I had to go with Wilson.... Anyone else have an opinion? I am curious about the other lakes now!

[roadwarriorsvt]

Maybe get in touch with Mark White on Kauai. Lots of freshwater fishing there and some of their lakes/streeams may be better than Lake Wilson. Or contact the fishing club on Kauai and get their opinions.

[shanai]

If you do a google search of Halalii, Halulu and Nonopapa Lakes, the search comes up as lakes found on the island of Niihau. As this is a privately owned island - not sure if anyone can go there to fish. I was unaware that there were lakes on Niihau so someone with knowledge might post about that. Maybe the Robinson family transported bass to Niihau a long time ago and stocked the lakes.

When I lived on Kauai I remember fishing for bass in the Waita Reservoir as well as the smaller plantation reservoirs scattered throughout the island. Bass and Tuc fishing was pretty good but most of the smaller bodies had to be fished from shore or with float tubes. What Kauai has that is probably better than Oahu are the streams that hold smallmouth bass.

steve

[Stan Wright]

Your right about Kauai... lots of small private ponds. I wonder if Waita is open to the public... use to be. Niihau is private and I never heard of fishing in ponds there.

I think that Lake Wilson is the only lake open to the public all the time...
and the fishing is pretty good. LOL

[BASSTRACKER]

had a friend who used to get over to niihau to hunt all the time. said the small lakes that existed there had dried up during the droughts. not sure if any of the stocked bass survived, may no longer exist. maybe google earth will show. in any case not fishable to the public. waita and ipo are pvt and you need permission and permits to fish them. ipo is smaller than wilson but similar in the way it looks, deep sides lots of trees narrow. waita big round bowl shaped with little to no trees lots of grass edges. dam on one side and some rock walls underwater in places. i think waita may have bigger fish but much less of them than wilson. if i had to choose id pick wilson for the diversity of the cover and structure. more scenic, easier to access. and these days you can nearly always come away with some kinda fish. i still hear about many days where guys come away empty handed from waita. but when it comes to the amount of reservoirs and streams to fish, kaui has us beat hands down!

[Ahnkochee]

I'm surprised Waita Res. on Kaua'i not mentioned on OP.
Ho'omaluhia, Kaneohe was a pretty hot Smallmouth Lake a few years ago but not sure now with the Red Devil infestation. The county needs to encourage the taking home of Red Devils to keep their population in check.