Sat. Aug 9 report

[Stan Wright]

It was a fun morning with a mix bag of fishing action. As we rounded Cow Point at 7:00 AM one boat was taking advantage of the schooling peacock bass.

We stayed there catching fish on a variety of lures. Forrest did well using a small Zara Spook. (topwater lure) These schooling fish were running in the 1 pound range. First cast with this strange looking Japanese lure and I caught a little peacock bass.



Moving down the shore 100 yards we got into a bunch of red devils. They were taking small jigs.



Then another 100 yards down the lake we noticed two fly fishermen just hammering another bunch of schooling fish. These fish seemed to be a little larger. The "secret" fly was a small white and purple streamer with a red head. My RoadRunner in white worked just fine.







As the sun rose, the schooling action slowed down so we moved on down to Blue Boat Point to try some live bait. On our first casts, we both hooked fish... then the fishing action improved. The fish here were also larger.... more 2 pounders and several 3 pounders.



This one, a 3 pounder, was a tagged fish. I'll pass the information along to Annette at Aquatic Resources... We tagged several other fish.



Then another boat joined the fun. The little boat looked like a rubber slipper. It was wild action with everyone catching fish. We did notice that
the lighter the line test, the more fish you caught. My #4 pound test averaged a lot more hookups than the guy using #30 pound test line.



On the other hand, they could land their fish a lot quicker than I could. And when one of those big boys cruised by... I quickly took my bait out of the water.... while they stood a good chance of landing the bigger fish with their stronger lines.

One fish just hanging around was this big punji... snake head.



Check out those teeth. You do not want to get your fingers near this bad boy.



That is a nice fish. Hope these guys check in and post their names. Thanks for a very exciting morning. We all had a great time.

[Ahnkochee]

I'm just happy to see there are still large Pongee to be caught in the Lake, I haven't seen one in there for years. I just think they're so Jurassic cool.

[Fresh&Salty]

Ever filleted a Pongee? It has double spine bones, but taste soooo good. Like MAhiMahi breaded and fried.

[skunked]

I'm just happy to see there are still large Pongee to be caught in the Lake, I haven't seen one in there for years. I just think they're so Jurassic cool.

Agreed. I used to catch them all the time but I've only seen one in the past 5 years or so. People used to think of them as pests, but I am sad to see them in a decline. On the mainland, they are feared. They are trying as hard as possible to prevent them from spreading. They would hurt the bass population and that means less $$$

[Boatless]

Did you guys see the nat-geo program- monster fish- about that? the first pongees were smuggled in for food, then discarded in the washington Dc area waters. now they're trying to get a grip on the population and the rapid infestation.

[Fresh&Salty]

Was that the same pongees that we have here in the island?
I don't think so. Does our pongees walk on land? like the ones in DC.

[Ahnkochee]

I think the mainlanders reaction to this "monster fish threat" is based on fear and paranoia and not on real science. I think half these guys watch WAY too much cheap CGI SciFi channel movies. Hawaii has the best environment for these "monster" Snakeheads to propagate, multiply, and take over the ecosystem. They have had 150 years to do so but I don't see them crawling up the banks of my backyard. We had a similar fear induced paranoia when the freshwater needlefish showed up in the Lake a few years back, oh whoa to the Lake. But all the fears proved unfounded, and the Needlefish wound up being an additional food source for the bass. It is my understanding that Snakeheads are tropical to subtropical so do not do well at all in freezing temperatures.

[Ahnkochee]

Ever filleted a Pongee? It has double spine bones, but taste soooo good. Like MAhiMahi breaded and fried.

They used to be the only fish in the Lake I considered worth eating, yes very comparable to Mahimahi. Nowadays though I'd let them free to make more babies, and eat them stinkin cichlids and hoprfully baby Plecostymus too.

[Ahnkochee]

Pongees, Puntats, and Rice Paddy Eels were the perfect foodfish for transport over long distances via ship because they are all air breathers so can be kept alive aboard ship during long voyages, and also alive in the market place just by keeping them wet. The Chinese brought all 3 species here in the mid 19th century for this reason. All 3 are feared on the mainland as monsters but obviously even with ideal habitat Hawaii offers they have not taken over, not by a long shot.

[Crash]

It seemed like we used to catch those Pongee fairly often in the late 80's early 90's, and always on a medaka or baby tilapia. I never had the guts to eat one and always released.

I do remember hearing from more than a few people that if you took them live to a Chinese restaurant w/ a large aquarium that they would pay a good price for them. Wonder if that was just a rumor?