Lake Wilson get Crabs?

[WET]

Where was everybody? got to the ramp around 8 am saw no trailers... Worked my way all the way to BBP throwing every lure i ever got lucky with, nothing, didn't even get a chase. It was dead besides a small bust here and there around BS island, always way way out of casting reach.

At around noon i arrived at BBP to use some live bait, it took around 10 mins before i got a 2lb tuc then it was dead for a while before i got lucky again with a 5lb tuc. However across the lake at the Saddle was a guy pulling fish out left and right. Right after releasing my second fish he yelled out that he needed help, so i paddled over... he had a huge hook lodged in his finger and there was no way neither of our rusty pliers was getting it out, he attitude from there was "f*ck it" lol, hook didnt even phase him...

Long story short, we ended up fishing together for the next 4 hours catching non-stop, I'm estimating 40+ (all peacocks) between the two of us, what was even more crazy was 95% of the ones we caught were 2+ lbs (I'm not exaggerating, weighed the first few) idk were all the little ones were at, usually its the opposite for me. Anyway, the guys name was Robert old timer said he'd been fishing the lake for 40 years, actually caught the bus from Waihole and walked in by the dam, he said he didn't have a computer so he made me promise i would write a report including him. I'm sure others of you have ran into him before, he's really knowledgeable about the lake and a fish MAGNET!

At around 4:30 i started my long paddle back to the ramp, saw only one kayak way in the distance from the saddle, not sure if they were even fishing, seemed like me and robert had the lake to ourselves.

There wasn't much time for pictures cause the catching was non-stop and my gopro battery died early, heres a few...



5lber taking flight




Average one, 3lb according to the scale. Robert's biggest was 6.




Doubles all day








Forget the the peacocks this was the most exciting catch, Robert spotted it in the shallows and jumped in and grabbed it, he thought about keeping it but i reminded him he still had to stop by Wahiawa emergency to get the hook out! hahaha... But add it to the list of Lake Wilson species if its not know of yet... Samoan Crab... thriving in the lake, like i said earlier he said he has been fishing the lake for 40 years and its the first he heard of or seen... HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN ONE OR HERD OF ONE IN THE LAKE BEFORE?! *if you look closely you can see the hook stuck in his right hand*

[WET]

forgot to mention, this was Thursday 10-11-12

[roadwarriorsvt]

Looks like it was a great day of fishing. Thanks for the pics. I've never even heard of crabs in the lake!

[SeaEagleKayaker]

Sounds like you had a great day.

[Ahnkochee]

WOW I didn't think sole' crabs could handle pure freshwater. Get plenty in brackish stream like the one in my backyard. Good thing he didn't keep it as it looks undersize, has to be 6 inches across the back of shell, and only males allowed to be kept.


Samoan crab
Minimum size 6 inches (width across back)
No spearing.
No taking or killing females.
HAR 13-84, HAR 13-95, HRS 188-58
http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/regulated_fish_mia.html

[Stan Wright]

Crab: That's amazing, never heard about that before.

Hooks: And you guys wonder why I always bend down the barbs on all my hooks... even the lures I use. Been there and done that. Believe me, a barbless hook is easy to remove.

Nice pictures... that's where the action was today too.

[skunked]

Glad to see this post because I saw a baby Samoan Crab in the water near the ramp a few years ago. Never bothered mentioning it because I thought no one would believe me without pics. The little guy was just cruising the shallows looking for food. I also saw a baby snapping turtle that day too. Red eared sliders are common, but that was the first non-red ear I had seen. Later I read about someone catching a big adult one in the upper north fork.

[roadwarriorsvt]

I would hope that the crab would have been removed from the lake. Thats all we need is more non-target species in the lake. That was my neighbor who caught the snapping turtle up the North Fork. We've never seen another since.

[Ahnkochee]

When I was a kid growing up in Kailua not just the pet stores but also most of the department stores had a pet department, and they sold aquarium fish but also little baby turtles imported from the mainland. They were marketed as "Coin Turtles" and sold for less than a dollar each. Everyone back then had pet Coin Turtles with their little plastic turtle bowls with the island and plastic palm tree in the middle, just add water, and the feed was dried ant larvae. Does anyone else remember these? This was in the 60s and 70s before the state started banning the import of certain reptiles. Petland in Ala Moana even had Iguanas and Horned Lizards back then. Anyways the term "Coin Turtles" was not limited to one species but covered all small turtles imported as pets. I remember waiting for new varieties to arrive at the local Ben Franklin store and I know without a doubt that one of the shipments at least was several dozen baby Alligator Snapping turtles. They were brown with jagged shell edges and a different look to them besides just the color, very different from the more common Red Ear Sliders. I bought one because he looked so fierce. My turtle eventually died before he could grow much but I can image a few were dumped into various bodies of freshwater around Oahu back then when kids got tired of their pets.