Focus on Securing your Catch or You are Going to Lose It!

Nothing could be more frustrating than to bring a fish on board or near the boat only to lose the catch because of stupid mistakes. Well this happened Wednesday morning to Aloha Dan and myself in Keauhou. The conditions were perfect with light variables winds due to a high pressure system west of the islands. With Mauna Loa and Hualalai Volcanoes and the cascading morning sun as our backdrop, it was a beautiful Big Island morning in the blue Pacific Ocean. The ocean activity was at its best with "malolo" (flying fish) everywhere. They were not spooked by us... but by lurking pelagic's chasing them out of the water... always a good sign for kayak anglers.

Aloha Dan lead the way as he set out first on his Hobie Adventure Island. Reggie followed on his Ocean Kayak Prowler 13 and I followed on my Hobie Revolution. At about 25 fathoms, we dropped our opelu overboard and began to troll. Aloha Dan was the first to hook-up within the first 20 minutes with a mahi-mahi. I watched his battle with the mahi-mahi and listened to him shout with joy on his hook-up. I am not sure how old Dan is, but I thinks he is in his 70's in age. This guy has no fear and is always a 'hoot' to fish with! He has done some incredible navigation on his Hobie AI. But unfortunately for Aloha Dan, the analytical side of him came to play... he brought the fish on-board and started to fuss about the trailer hook being down the mahi-mahi's throat. Then as I was getting my camera out to take a photo of Dan and his catch, Dan accidently lost control of his mahi-mahi and the fish slipped overboard only to do circle dance to the bottom of the ocean floor for the bottom dwellers. What a disappointment for Aloha Dan. I wish I had that blooper on video!

As I put my camera back in the dry bag, my reel started to sound off with a "bizzzzzz." It was a mahi-mahi on my line. The battle lasted less than 10 minutes and I worried about getting the video for this website more than the fish on board. To my amazement, the mahi-mahi was not dumb as it wrapped the line around my Hobie Mirage Drive (pedal system) and made it's last attempt to break free in which it did. What a dumb and careless mistake of not tiring out the fish and letting it go though its color change. It took me about 45 minutes to shake off my loss and error, but redemption was looming around the corner.

As Reggie and I moved south, we were commenting on all the "malolo" flying around. Reggie then notified me that he took an "ono" strike and half his bait was slashed. He hurriedly set-up a new rig of opelu to his line and "bam" he was hooked up again. Then moments later, my reel started to scream with another mahi-mahi on the other end of the line. This time I made sure to manage my hook-up and not worry about the video so much and I brought the mahi-mahi on board. Both Reggie and I claimed victory and we called it a great day for fishing and headed back into Keauhou Bay where we launched. As for Aloha Dan... he stayed a little longer, but to no avail... he came home empty. Aloha!