February 7, 2016

2016 Hawaii - Hawaii (Day 17)

Michael and I woke up before sunrise to try for Aweoweo and Menpachi again but nothing wanted to bite early in the morning. The seas were rough after an entire night of strong wind. It might have threw everything off.

After the sun rose, Jeffery and Peterson joined us to whip for a bit but none of the fish wanted artificial lures. Michael and I were finding better success fishing micro fish finder rig and micro squid strip for bait.

I've been waiting for a long time for this fish and finally found one!

Pinktail Triggerfish (Melichthys vidua) - Species #539

A nicer picture of the Boomerang Triggerfish for the list.

Michael caught an Ornamented Wrasse at first light and I have been fishing all morning for one. Reeling up every wrasse from the 40ft cliff gave me some hope, but each hopeful moment was squashed by yet another Saddle Wrasse. I was not about to leave this spot without catching one...but we were running out of time. Finally, in the dying minutes of our time at South Point, I finally got my Ornamented Wrasse!

Ornamented Wrasse (Halichoeres ornatissimus) - Species #540

One last look at our camp and the silent slidebait poles before they were taken down.

We finally broke camp and said farewell to Jeffery and Peterson at noon. Thank you so much for your aloha, Jeffery and Peterson! And thank you for your gift of homegrown Kona coffee and local macadamia nuts! I look forward to fishing with you again and hope I have the chance to host you in Toronto one day.

We checked out Honaunau on the way back to Kona. Michael spotted on small Moray that quickly disappeared. There were too many bathers and snorkelers during the day, so we made a mental note to try another morning.

We decided on a much need nap before hitting Kona Pier again.

There was nothing new caught...just a lot of the usual reef fish. Michael continued to hunt for his Whitespotted Boxfish while I continued to try for the Orangespot Surgeonfish. I did add a Manybar Goatfish (Moana) to our dinner plate. We decided to have an early dinner back at the hostel before heading out for the night bite.

At dusk, the surface suddenly erupted with bait flying out all over. Michael and I tried fishing lures for a bit, thinking the bait were small Mullet and either Trevally (Papio), Great Barrcuda (Kaku) or Houndfish (Aha) were busting them. Michael snagged one of the baitfish on his lure and it was a Tropical Half-beak.

Using light lines, #20 hooks and a float, I soon caught one...and then some more for bait.

Tropical Half-beak (Hemirhamphus depauperatus) - Species #541

Michael poked the rocks for Moray systematically, ie rock crevice by rock crevice. After working the entire jetty once, he was going through it a second time when he spotted a Paintspotted Moray, aka Peppered Moray, swimming around looking for prey. Since he had caught one already, it was my turn at the species. Using a chunk of Half-beak, we got it to bit on the second try. With the Moray completely on the sandy reef completely way from rocks, it was no problem landing this 3ft eel.

Paintspotted Moray (Gymnothorax pictus) - Species #542

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