Drifting Son

After months of getting hammered by onos with multiple missed strikes every time I go out in my kayak, the Great Ono Plague has finally been eradicated- I’ve journeyed far to find the answers to getting a hook to stay in an Ono’s bony mouth- but I think I had too many beers and got lost. Eventually, I found my way back home and got some big-ass, extra sharp hooks from J. Hara Store and 130 lb sevlon, and finally changed my luck.

I’ve had a long string of busy work weeks and full weekends- I got a out a few times and had some good times paddling, but still no keepers. This past Sunday morning just felt different- new rigs were ready and waiting, I woke up at five totally energized after only 4 hours of sleep, and all the right signs were in place. My truck started. The highway was lit up with the first shafts of light off the horizon, making my way clear against the dark storm clouds in the sky behind. 7-11 was well stocked with fresh egg salad sandwiches. The parking lot was completely empty of cars. One might consider the fact that my sonar died as a bad sign, but I say sonar-schmonar, I’m going fishing.

The extra-low tide was a little freaky and the launch was a little rocky, but once out on the water everything was fine. I half-heartedly dropped the damashi rig for bait and got a lizard fish and two Hinalea. Apparently, nothing eats Hinalea; I trolled those suckers all day with nary a nibble. Dead opelu, however, was quite the hit of the party. In the first hour, I got two of the usual reel screamers that just went slack after about 10 seconds. The second one bit through the last of the old solid wire rigs I had on hand and conveniently took it away from me forever. While I let out a silverback gorilla yell in frustration, I also felt a little relieved that I had been freed of the bad ju-ju. The sparkling new sevlon rig was pulled from the bag and attached. It felt good. It felt right. I let the line out, and started paddling and the air was humming with portent. I paddled on for a while.  The portent went away after about a half hour, but then- I saw birds! The mad dash to reach them got me there just as they had ended their surface-diving snack time. They had been on some fish for sure, but now were just searching intently. There were only about 8 birds total, but they were concentrated on a very small area and I just slipped through quietly and got my bait right under them, and BANG- fish on!  I went through the usual motions of setting the hook, holding tension long enough to swing the bow around, and preparing for the slack line when the hook slips out as usual. I got the boat turned and line was peeling off- and then it stopped.

Ono in the fishbag.

Slack. “No focking way”, I said (my usual response). I reeled like mad just to make sure, and it snapped tight and went peeling off. Fish STILL on! He kept making runs towards the kayak so I reeled up most of my line in the first 5 minutes and the fight only took about 15 minutes total. I had seen a shark just previously, so when I felt the head shakes, I was thinking shark. But no- as soon as he got up to 20 ft from the boat, I could see that distinctive streak of silver and blue, and I knew this Ono was mine. He did two big lazy circles at the side of the boat, and I got the kage into his head and swung it immediately into the kayak. It was a good bleeding shot through the gills, and as I let him hang over the edge to bleed, a shark came and did a few close circles just to let me know that I shouldn’t assume that ono is necessarily mine quite yet. But he left empty handed, and I left with a 27 pound Ono.

It was a beautiful day- wind was down, rain stayed away, and the currents were strong. There were a few big bottlenose dolphins hanging around the area and I was hoping they would magic up a huge ahi-laden baitball, but no. I can only expect one blessing at a time, and that is just fine.

I was going to try for another one since the day was still young, but my wife called and said I should bring it straight up the hill to a friends birthday party. I got it up to the picnic grounds and cut a big slab off on the bed of my truck and had it on the grill within minutes. You just can’t beat fresh fish!

27lb Ono caught off Hilo.