# My Hawaiian Vacation (Fishing Pics included)



## Tigru

I spent 8 days in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. My bro-in-law lives on the north shore in a town called Waialua right next to historic Haleiwa. The fact that we stayed on the north shore opposed to staying in the tourist trap of Waikiki made my trip soooo much better. My wife and I we're able to roll in his truck the whole week and were able to see the entire island. Waikiki was cool and all, but one day was enough for me. He lives right on the beach so we we're able to log a ton of beach days. It is safe to say that it was my favorite trip of my life. We did a lot of sweet things.
-Pearl Harbor
-The Punch Bowl Cemetery
-Snorkeling 
-Polynesian Cultural Center
-Dole Pineapple Plantation
-Submarine Ride
-Hike up to waterfall up the Waimeia Valley
-Ate at a ton of awesome little restaurants
-Fishing
-and tons more
I love Utah and it was nice to come home, but that for me at least, was heaven. Open (very accessible) water, surfing year-round, fishing year-round (I know we can do that here too, but I like open water fishing better), 75-80 degrees year-round, and I just love the vibe and atmosphere there.

_*Fishing Experience*_
When we first got there I looked into chartering a fishing trip. This however proved to be a bit challenging. The majority of the outfits had a flat rate for a group of people ranging from 4-7. Problem was there were only 2 of us. We either had to pay the whole rate or put are names on a list and hope for another smaller group to join up with us. I didn't want to sit around waiting for a group of people that may or may not sign up so I went out and bought my own gear at this sweet little fishing shop on the north-shore. Every time we had an hour or two to burn would drive up the coast a couple miles to this awesome little spot and I would toss in for a while.

_*What I was using and catching*_
I primarily was using small strips of squid and shrimp with a 1.5 pound lead. I also threw out some bigger spinners and some grubs. I could believe how quick I would get hits. I had a freaking blast fishing out there and had pretty good success. I ended up catching 7 species of fish some of which several times and 2 eels.

_*Fishing Pics*_
'AWELA or CHRISTMAS WRASSE 








Humuhumunukunukuapua'a or Trigger Fish (Hawaiian State Fish)








HINALEA LAUWILI or SADDLE WRASSE 








Kupipi








One of the eels I caught








'A'AWA or Hawaiian Hogfish








Papio, Kupipi, and I'm not sure abbout the black and blue one









_*Some Pics from the Trip*_


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## schaueelab

Sweet!!! Some day....
Im goin to Malaysa and Tiland hope to do some fishin in the sea as well.... those fish are awsome  all edible???


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## Tigru

Some of them yes and some no. I guess some of the reef fish (the more colorful ones) don't taste very good, but I guess that depends on who you ask. Good luck in Southeast Asia. That should be awesome


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## Puddles

Sounds like a great trip! Those fish are incredible looking.


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## LOAH

Dude...

Jealous!

Tell me you tried some of the eel. ??

Some of my favorite sushi and sashimi is the Unagi (eel) and I can only imagine how much better it would be fresh.

Now I don't claim to know anything about the ocean, but if I were there, this is where I'd throw out a "minnow":

[attachment=0:1gj312do]rocks.jpg[/attachment:1gj312do]

Not in the wash, but I'd imagine that you can use live minnows there and I'd cast out and let it swim around until I got some hungry takers. :twisted:

Awesome report, man. Lucky you. Rapalahunter's gonna get homesick when he sees this.


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## Tigru

The spot I was fishing was very similiar to that one from the pic. That pic was taken at the south eastern tip of Oahu and I didn't have my pole with me then. We had just got done snorkleing at Hanama Bay and where taking a drive around the eastern half of the island. Beatiful shot though huh? No, I didn't even think to try the eel. I should have though.


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## LOAH

Hell of a shot. Hawaii is a beautiful looking place. 

I suppose someday, I'll get to see the ocean.


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## rapalahunter

Awesome pictures. I'm glad you had a good trip. I'm soooo jealous. I bet is was real nice to get out the touristy spots.

How'd that omilu' papio taste? I loved eating those. I bet it put up a fight to huh? We used to catch them on ultra light gear using maribou jigs. It was sick.

Those rocks would be prime for big papio and ulua. There's a little black fish that lives on the rocks called an o'opu. Catch one of those, put a hook in him, and let him get tossed around in the surf and you'll hook up for sure. You can also use a black curly tail grub on a jig head to imitate them. We also used to throw big surface plugs in areas like that. It was awesome... On a completely unrelated and depressing side note it is 30 degrees and snowy today   

Glad you enjoyed your stay in paradise. I hate your guts! :wink:

LOAH- lets give plasma for a few months and save up for a trip to molokai. you'll get to see the ocean, hook into some good fish, and see the local side of the islands.


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## LOAH

Honestly, I'd be waaaay too irresponsible with my plasma money, but I still plan on donating sometime soon.

I can only dream of the ocean for now.


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## Treehugnhuntr

Nice! Did you eat at Rosie's in Haleiwa? Mmmmmmm. How about jumping the cliffs at Waiamea? Sounds like a great trip.

LOAH, that there eel is nothing like Unagi (Fresh water eel). I speared one of those in Turtle Bay one year and we decided to cook him up, I almost spit my previously consumed Steinlager all over the kitchen floor, not good.

goose, how did Sunset Beach look? I always loved this time of year over there with the big breakers. We sat in the Maikai parking lot during the 100 year storm and the waves were slamming the lawn at Sharks cove and washing sand all over the road. It was way cool.

Thanks for sharing.


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## Greenguy88

Very cool pics! Those fish are colored beautifully! I went to Oahu a few years back but never did any fishing...  I think another trip is warranted! Thanks for sharing with us!


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## LOAH

Let's start up the plasma crew. :lol: 

goose- I keep looking at those pics over and over. Dream on, I will.


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## Nibble Nuts

Wow. Beautiful pics. Looking at that places almost makes me want to break down and cry.  I love the sunshine. Glad you were able to catch such cool looking fish. I guess next time I head down to visit some of my family in Mexico, I will have to bring the fishing pole and try fishing the reefs and structure there. Have thought alot about doing that next time and now I know I will.Thanks for sharing the pics.


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## Tigru

Rapalahunter
The papio was awesome and it fought like a champ. I'm so glad I stayed somewhere other than Waikiki. I loved Oahu, but next time I go to Hawaii I want to hit up Maui, Kuwai, Molokai or one of the other islands. Having my bro-in-law on the north-shore was a huge hook up. No hotel, no rental car, military discounts, and some local knowledge. 

Do you know the name of the black fish with blue polka dots?

Treehugnhuntr 
Sunset and Pipeline beaches were awesome. The surf was super big. I grew up in California and am no stranger to the coast and beaches, but those waves were a lot bigger than what I was used to. I had a freaking blast on those beaches and at Waimea and I caught some awesome waves.

We did eat at Rosies it was pretty good, but we liked Cholos better. I don't know if hit up Killer Tacos or Cafe Haleiwa, but we loved those little joints too. 

I was pretty sad going home to snow and shoveling my driveway.


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## DBL

WOW! those fish are beautiful.


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## Tigru

Nibble Nuts when you go down to Mexico you should definately bring a pole or buy one when you get there. I wasn't sure how I was going to get it home, but I just stopped at a hardware shop and bought some PVC piping and checked it with my luggage. It's a pretty heavy duty pole so I had to buy a wide pipe, buy it'll be really handy if I ever need to ship a pole or two for a future trip where I can do some fishing.

Pipe ended up being about 5' feet tall and 3" thick. It checked in and shipped just fine with my luggage.


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## rapalahunter

That spotted guy is a grouper. It isn't native to Hawaii. It was introduced like 50-60 years ago. I don't know if it has an hawaiian name, the locals call it a "Roi".


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## .45

rapalahunter said:


> That spotted guy is a grouper. It isn't native to Hawaii. It was introduced like 50-60 years ago. I don't know if it has an hawaiian name, the locals call it a "Roi".


Is that cause it taste like 'poi' ?


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## rapalahunter

It doesn't taste nearly as good as that purple gold does :wink: 

They actually taste really good, only I don't recommend eating them often unless you want ciguatera poisoning. _/O


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## Riverrat77

Man, great pictures. I've never been to Hawaii but my brother used to be stationed at Pearl. Missed opportunity I'm sure.... those fish are beautiful, as is the coastline if your pictures are any indication. Its a special place, one I'll have to keep dreaming of visiting for now. Thanks for sharing your experience.


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## Nibble Nuts

That PVC pipe is a good idea. I could have used that when I flew to Oakland last summer. I ended up buying a pole there, and of course I broke it at Clear Lake. I guess I wouldn't want to have any wires attached to that pipe if I try and get it on a plane.


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## wiperhunter

Great report Goose and cool looking fish, sounds like you had a great trip. I'll be going to Kauai in May and would like to get some info about the fishing equipment you used. How long was the pole you were using? What type of reel did you use? How far did you have to cast out to catch fish? Thanks for any help you can give me. WH


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## Tigru

Well it depends on what kind of fishing you want to do. If you're looking to cast out deep and wait for a bite you'll want a bigger style rod. If you're looking to do a more retrieve style of fishing you can get away with a smaller rod. I already have tons of rods and don't do a terrible amount of deep sea fishing and didn't need a big long deep sea fishing rod. I usually never buy rod and reel combos, but didn't want to spend tons of money on something I already had so I went with one that was in between. I bought a 9' Okuma rod and reel combo. It was long enough for distant casting, but still maneuverable enough to do some retrieving. I would go with 15-25 pound test. As far as how far you need to cast. It depends where you are. My brother in law lives right on the beach and I did a little fishing there. In order to get to where the fish were I needed to cast out about 80-100+ feet. However where I did the majority of my fishing was off a rock jetty and I didn't need to cast out very far (maybe about 10-30 feet). I was getting a lot of bites on shrimp and squid. I liked using the squid a bit better because it seemed to be a tougher meat and stayed on the hook better. I was surprised how quick and often I was getting hits.


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## Huge29

Awesome, thanks for sharing!


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## orvis1

Yea, thanks for rubbing it in! I am with fatbass getting sick of snow every other day, can't wait for spring!


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## wiperhunter

Thanks for the info Goose, I'm guessing the rod you bought was a two piece? You said you bought a rod and reel combo, what style of reel was it? Spinning, level wind, bait caster? It doesn't look like the reel would fit in the same container that you shipped the rod back in, did you just put it in with your cloths? I've done the charter fishing on my last two trips and would like to try fishing from shore this time, probable just bait fishing. I might check out the local tackle shops just to see if other methods would be more productive. I'm planning on eating some of the fish I catch but was wondering if some of the fish that I might catch are poisonous? WH


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## Guns and Flies

Sweet report. Those are some interesting looking fish, love the colors. I heard someone today talking about the youth in Hawaii, and it was said that even the youth in Hawaii claim "there is nothing to do around here." Looks like there is a wide variety of fish to catch!!! Kids these days


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## Tealboy

great pics sounds fun! i went on my mission to hawaii. It was a blast i fished almost every pday and caught all those same fish and more, we even caught some hammer heads in pearl harbor. My favorite fish would have to be the papio, them buggers can fight! we would catch a lot of mamo's too they are like big bluegill! last time i was there we skipped fishing and went pig hunting now that was fun!!


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## Tigru

WH

It is a regular spinning reel








I didn't store it in the PVC, I took it off prior to shipping and put it in my luggage. The pole seperated in haves and I slip them into the PVC and put small towels (or even plastic bags would work) in the ends to prevent them from banging around. I don't know of any posionous fish so you'll have to either do further reseach or ask someone there.

Tealboy,

That's freaking cool! Did you serve your whole mish on Oahu or did you hit up other islands? How big were some of the hammers you caught?


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## JAT83

Looks like I'm going to Hawaii for the first time this may, I hope I can get a chance to fish while I am there!


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## Poo Pie

JAT what time in May and which island? I'll be on Kauai the middle part of May.... Maybe we could fish togethe


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## wiperhunter

That is the same island I'll be on but we don't arrive until May 17th, what is your departure date?


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## LOAH

So I guess may is officially declared Utah goes to Hawaii month.

Sheesh! Lucky buggars.


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## Poo Pie

wiperhunter said:


> That is the same island I'll be on but we don't arrive until May 17th, what is your departure date?


I come home on the 19th I think...


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## JAT83

Pretty sure we are flying out the 19th and coming back the 26th!


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## wiperhunter

We will be staying at the Pono Kai. I was planning on doing some shore fishing while I was there this time. If either of you would like to get out for a few hours and do some fishing, send me a PM and we can work something out.


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