Hawaiibassfishing Forum

I just moved to the Island last week and am anxious to do some freshwater fishin' out here. I don't have all my gear here yet, but had to run out to Wal-mart and grab a few things. I tried my luck off a pier on Hickam only to catch a couple eels. Saltwater fishin' is new to me having been raised in Michigan, but I'm gonna do my best to figure it out. I want to catch a tuc in the worst way though. I'm gonna try to find my way out to Wilson today to check things out. If anyone is over here close to base with a place to fish or a boat, I got the gas money! Any tips is greatly appreciated.

My two months in Hawaii gave me a little bit of experience fishing saltwater. Here are a few things to try...

1) Use a rig similar to a carolina rig (slip sinker on the main line, connect the main line and your 7-8' leader with a swivel, and a #13 AH hook). You can use 1-3" plastic grubs, in colours such as firecracker, "obake" (ask the locals what it means), motoroil/red flake, clear/gold flake...lots of other colours as well. Just cast and retrieve it and try different retrieve speed...nothing is too fast for saltwater fish.

2) Use a pyramid sinker or a bank sinker. Depending on how much weight your rod can handle...but if you are fishing in the surf, you will need at least a 3oz lead. Attach a 3-way swivel to your mainline. On one ring, use a lighter dropper line and attach your sinker to it (if you are casting 3oz lead, you need at least 15lb mono...or else your lead will break the dropper line on the cast). On the remaining ring, add leader line that is heavier than your main line. I usually use about 9"-12" of dropper line and about the same for my leader line. Attach a circle hook to your leader line. Put on a strip of squid, octopus leg, shrimp or small reef fish. Cast out as far as you can, tighten up the line, and set your rod into a rod holder. Now you wait for a big strike from bonefish, trevally or other reef fish.

3) Lures such as Kastmaster spoons, poppers like the Mark Whites or Kaku lures, or crankbaits like Yo-Zuri and Rapala will work on predators like barracuda, trevally and other predator fish. Cast them out and retrieve with various speed and action. Again, no speed is too fast.

As for the peacock bass, you can try to fish feeder mollies or guppies under a float. You can also fish 2" white senkos like you would fish for largemouth bass. You can also cast small spinnerbaits, crankbaits or jigs for them. The peacock bass in Lake Wilson do not behave like their amazon brethen...they do not go crazy over large splashy bait. Use smaller lures but fish them fast. If that fails, then you can slow down. But always start fishing fast first.

Stan would have lots more to add...I'm just an imposter

Thanks for the info Ken. I'll put it to good use!

Oh, I forgot to add...

If you're fishing method #2, you should be using a surf rod, at least 15lb main line if not much heavier, and be prepared to lose a lot of lead. Essentially, you want you lead to anchor on the bottom (reef or rocks) and keep your line from washing back to shore by the surf or current. Every so often you will not be able to pull the lead loose from the reef/rock and you will have to snap off your line (hence the lighter dropper line compared to your main line).

I've tried fishing this method without success...but my friends who can cast further were able to catch a couple of bonefish, an eel, a few snappers and other reef fish. Depending on where you fish, you may need to cast out 100 yards to reach some deeper waters. My best cast max out at about 70 yards on a 10' spinning rod with 25lb mono and a 6oz lead.

Casting and fishing around structures will greatly increase you chance in hooking up when fishing this method (well, any method for that matter actually...). Look to fish near sand channels between reefs, ledges, current areas and anywhere with some white water. In the case of white water areas, you do not need to cast out 100 yards as long as the depth is deep enough (more than a few feet).