blast from the past

[typical8o8]

does anyone have some earlier pics or stories of fishing lake wilson? earlier meaning pre-catch & release regulations or even from the 70's, 80's or 90's. i'll try to get a picture up of my first & biggest largemouth from the lake. after that fish, i was the one that was "hooked" on fishing. sorry for the pun.

[Stan Wright]

Back in the late '60 and '70 I wasn't taking as many pictures as I do now. I'll look around.

Everyone tied their boats up behind Kemoo Farm. There was no freshwater park or launch ramps is those days. You slid your boat down the hill and left it tied to a tree. With the irrigation by the plantations, the water level might drop 30 or 40 feet in a day or so. (leaving boats high and dry) When ever it rained the water level might rise that same 30 feet over night. When ever it rained everyone who owned a boat would race to the lake and spend the night (in the rain) moving their boat up the hill as the water rose.

The Hawaii Freshwater Fishing Associan (HFFA) met at Kemoo Farm Resturant each month and showed a 16mm fishing movie that was shipped in from the mainland.

There were no kayaks back then too. I started fishing using a "belly boat". Which was exciting when you hooked a pungi. That's the Snake Head. Looks like an eel in camo, has human looking teeth sharp as razor blades, and a very nasty attitude. Good fun.

Aloha,
Stan

[skunked]

I used to ride my bike from Whitmore Village to the Wahiawa Intermediate School (now known as "middle school") just to go fishing there behind the school. One day (October, 1987) my friend who was pretty cocky went along with me. I had my UL spinning gear and 4 lb. line and he had his "big" 15 lb. test line and 7 ft heavy action rod. I was using just a 3" curly tail on a 1/16th ounce jig head. He laughed at me for my "girly" set up. He used some big salt water plugs. Well, guess who caught a personal best 5 pound largemouth and who went fishless? HEHEHE! I have another pic of this fish in which it looks as big as it was. In this one, it doesn't look very big, I don't know why. (we weighed it on his scale) I also caught a few tucs that day. He didn't speak to me for the rest of the day and he never made fun of my UL tackle again! It took me 20 years and a trip to Texas to catch a new personal best bass!

[Al Towner]

Aloha!!! Fished Lake Wilson from 1980 until I left in June 1984. Back in the days of Bob Kincaid. He lived on the lake and was active in the Hawaii Freshwater Fishing Association. Heard they found him dead in his boat where he had been fishing on the lake. Too bad, he was a true bass fishing bud. I was tournament grand master in HFFA in 1981 and 1982. Had a real good time fishing lake wilson. I'm going to try to post a picture of me and the 6 lbs 12 oz. Largemouth that I caught in 1982. It was the largest in the state for that year. Sounds like the fishing has changed alot since then. I remember the big schools of tilapia at the water treatment plant. There were numerous peacocks around but I could only manage a personal best of 3 lbs. I would'nt fish them on the beds. There were some smallmouths in the upper part of the reservoir that is opposite the ramp. Being from new york I was an avid smallie fisherman but the fish on Wilson were small. Best I can remember might have been 13". I caught a 20 lb. catfish down from the ramp. Managed to boat several Oscars with the largest being about 2 pounds. Hope the fishing is still good. Guess I can't post pictures.

[kahuna bass]

Greetings all,

When I was stationed at Barbers Point from 1981-1985, I spent many Saturdays, fishing at Lake Wilson. Tucs back than were every where, chasing anything alive.

Didn't spend much time fishing large mouth bass, tucs had all my attention.

It's good to know, that there is much more attention now to catch and release. This could only enhance growth potential. Maybe in a few years, they can look at slot limits, to prevent stint growth of the large mouth and Tuc's.

Lots of fish is good, but too many of the same size can prevent fish meeting it size potential.

Just my thoughts.

Regards,Mel "kahuna bass"
Dark side live baiter

[Al Towner]

This was in an HFFA tournament Dec 1983. Stringer aside, fish were released. One may have died. Picture makes them look like them toothy critters.

[Ca_Bass]

Kahuna bass,

I couldn't agree with you more about the slot limits, one of the things I believe is affecting the the LGMB population is the large amounts of tucs. I see schools of hundreds eating shad throughout the day with very little LGM getting in on the action. Sometimes it's nice to go out and catch 20-30 fish but the days I really remember are the ones where I catch a monster. Since fishing lake wilson for a little over a year I have only caught 3 really nice fish, a 7lb and 6lb tuc and about a 5lb LGM. I remember every little detail about those fish, from the exact lure/spot I caught them, they way they ate my lure, how they jumped during the fight. The days I've gone out there and caught 20 or 30 I can't describe in much detail other than they were fun.