Hawaiibassfishing Forum

Catch a Smallmouth bass, a largemouth bass, and a peacock bass all in one day.

At the moment, the water is clear up in the river and the smallmouth have been active.

The peacock bass seem to be back on the feed.

And the largemouth are active in the grass.

Might be a good time to give it a try.

Since the SMB seems to be the "HolyGrail" of fish, anyone got any tips for catching a smallie? That do they prefer? I tried today and got skunked...

Way back in the day when I fished "da Creek", we used 1" - 2" long crawdads/crayfish hooked through the V between the eyes. If they had the soft shell, that was a guaranteed hit.

That was almost 20 years ago, but I know for a fact that taking 50 crawdads down to "da Creek" resulted in at least 20-30 SMB on a trip.

If it were me and I really wanted a SMB, I'd go to a small stream and net up some small crawdads. Then I'd head up the N. Fork just past the waterfall where there should be clear water. 4lb test, small 1/32oz spiltshot about 6" up from a # 10 mustad baitholder would be what I'd do.

Is the transportation and use of non-lake crawdads even legal? I know that a lot of lakes on the mainland prohibit this.

I see kids catching crawdads in the little stream that runs into the cove there at the fishing park. We use to catch them in Manoa stream and bring them to the lake. Use to catch some huge largemouth on them too.

Just like using goldfish or bringing mosquito fish or talapia to use as bait. Can't do that in lots of states. As for the gold fish, they are a cold water fish so they can't reproduce... probably so dumb they couldn't survive the peacock bass from what I've seen.

Even if it were illegal... there is no one to enforce it.

i use small trout spinners for smallmouths. bait wise, id use small mosquito fish. pound for pound i say smallmouth fight the hardest so use 4 pound test for some fun

No clean sweep for me today... it was those un-cooperative smallmouth..
Or rather, the lack there of.

Lots of the same techniques for bass work for smallies...sometimes you need to down size. The smallies I've caught at wilson were on hark jerkbaits and my buddy caught a biggun on a spinnerbait. I would bet money a 3 or 4 inch softplastic of just about any sort on a split shot rig cast up to where the "rapids" flow into the lake and let the current give most of the action to your bait would catch a few. If caught hundreds of smallies with softplastic jerkbaits on the black river in arizona.

Mark white lures( yellow green w/red eyes or white w/black eyes)1/8 oz on 4# ande mono

LAKE WILSON TRIFECTA! The should be a patch or bumper sticker awarded to all those who have achieved this remarkable feat of fishing prowess (luck).

Try a 1/8 oz. shakey head with a 4" green pumpkin finess worm or a 3/16 oz finess jig with a small crawfish trailer. If you can find a tiny Paca Craw in green pumpkin, you can rig it on a 1/8 or 3/16 oz Spot Remover jig head. This will make the craw stand up in the water giving it a defensive position.

If you grew up in Wahiawa we used 4lb test ultra light rod with mz hook dug for earth worms and find a dry twig that floats for a floater and cast in deeper ponds in stream. I know medakas work. anything could work but the worms were best and easiest. Don't need nothing fancy keep it basic the fish are normally under a pound!

Used to catch smallmouth bass with a small stiff-hair marabou jig. Caught on brown or yellow hair. 1//10th ounce - with the stiff hair (like deer hair). We used 4lb. line with ultra light spinning tackle. Those were the days I used a 4'6" trout rod and a Mitchell 308. Retrieved the jig like a little fish or crayfish. We caught them far up the north fork. During those times, there was a point where the water became, literally, crystal-glass clear. You could look down into the water (we paddled up with a small inflatable) and see 3-foot carp swimming near the bottom, and ALL KINDS of fish! You could actually just look at bass, pungee, catfish, wild goldfish, bluegills, and jeez, strange unknown fish just milling about underneath the raft. It was about ten feet deep, with a interesting looking underwater grass on the bottom. The water was so clean you could drink it. "Up there" we called it. It narrowed to about 25 feet wide (the entire river). I took us HOURS to paddle that far up the north fork. Smallmouth bass liked the environment there. Very clean, flowing water. The banks of the river there was teeming with totally wild growing papaya, avocado, lilikoi and mountain apple trees. There were even wild banana trees. It was like the Garden of Eden. Just a friend and I would paddle there - there was never ever a soul in sight whenever we paddled "Up There". We would get back at eleven at night (our parents would be furious). There was a place further south with a very tall 100-foot cliff on the Whitmore side of the river - that was a place that had pungee as long as your leg. They would rise to the surface and gulp air then just curve back down out of sight. They were kind of scary. The crayfish were like small lobsters - just huge, and dark red with giant claws (you had to avoid betting pinched).