I was fortunate to go out on Erik’s small aluminum boat again and test some lures.  The wind was really light and swell was on the smaller size so we started up the coast, behind the breakers.  The water was pretty clear and maybe 20 to 30 ft deep in the sandy channels. The reefs looked about 15 ft deep. Erik used a casting jig to work the full water column and I used the JDM sub-surface lure I’ve been using lately on my inshore rod.  As  good as the spot looked, we didn’t get a single sniff so we drifted in closer to the back of the waves.

Erik switched to the Waxwing Baby to cover ground quicker and I switched rods to a GLoomis  8ft “Backbounce” rod that has a graphite – fiberglass blend to flex more on the cast.  I had the new Tranx 400 mounted and loaded with 50lb Sufix 832.  First time trying the Tranx 400 and first time using Sufix 832 as braid.  The heaviest swimming lure I had was a lip-less with a lead cylinder in its body.  It didn’t swim as well as the lighter swimming lures  but cast well on the Backbounce rod and Tranx.  I was impressed that the Suffix was coming off the reel smoother than the PowerPro I used in the past.

Still no hits so Erik changed to a floating gurgling type of JDM lure that had been very consistent in the past. Omilu came up to investigate but didn’t commit.  I was enjoying casting the 1 oz heavy swimmer but really didn’t have confidence in its fish attracting qualities.  Then a fish hit it about 10 inches below the surface, halfway to the boat and flipped its tail at us. Hanapa’a!  We were getting close to the back of the breaking waves so Erik started up the motor and pulled us away a bit.  The fish felt strong on its initial runs back to the safety of the reef but the Tranx drag was smooth and its gears brought the fish boat side after a few mins.  Electric blue Omilu!

Erik filmed the fight and landing and netted the fish with his other hand.  Not only did he put us on the fish but he captured the action and did post production on the pics and video.  Can’t beat that service! The fish taped out at 20.5 inches (FL). Not sure how many pounds that equates to but it was definitely bigger than the 4lb omilu that were my previous best.  I tagged and released it and it splashed me in the face in its hurry to get back home.

I broke one of the flimsy treble hooks when I unhooked the fish prior to tagging and releasing.  It seems like the JDM lure manufacturers choose light hooks so the lures swim as well as they can.  The US domestic lures have stouter hooks but don’t swim as well.  So we’ve been changing out the JDM hooks to larger Owner trebles that don’t adversely affect the action.

Back to the action: After seeing the omilu swim off strongly, we looked up and could see a wave building. Erik put us in gear and we scrambled to safety.  Whew. It’s definitely dicey fishing that close to the impact zone where the fish hang out.  The sinking swimmer’s broken treble didn’t dangle properly so I switched to another untested lure, a larger floating pencil style bait meant for small pelagics. It was lighter than the sinking lure so I backlashed the first cast into the wind. Ugh… the tangle looked bad but once I picked it off the Suffix cast fine. That was my only backlash of the day, much unlike my experience with PowerPro and a bait caster.  The pencil lure didn’t have much action on its own and I struggled to make it walk from my seated position on the boat.  Then there was a blow up but the fish hit just in front of the tail hook.  It left teeth marks but didn’t come back. We think it was a big papio/small ulua.

We moved away from the waves to the safety of the inner bay.  Erik put on a JDM walking top water lure he had success with in the past and some omilu too small to take the hook followed it in.  Going further inside, I threw the JDM sub-surface lure I started the day with.  A small omilu checked it out on the way back to the boat that was first attracted by Erik’s 1/4 oz Yozuri popper.  It eventually hit it but was too small to tag.  Erik got more papio to come off the channel bottom to investigate his popper but not commit.

We suspect the action was slow because of the mid-day sun and the mostly slack tide.  The fish weren’t aggressive enough to commit to hitting surface lures but did occasionally hit my lures that ran up to 1 foot under water. It was good to try such a variety of lures for comparison.  Sub-surface swimming action isn’t as critical as I thought if you run the lures over where the fish are hanging out in the impact zone.

I was really pleased with how the Tranx and Sufix performed.  Smooth casts and fast, powerful retrieves. 2 products I need to test again!