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Shout Out To Yakabout (aka YakAss)

Written by Paul Belmudes   
Tuesday, 24 November 2021 04:44

Inspiration from Josh Holmes @ Yakabout.com.au

Much aloha and mahalo to Josh Holmes, aka "YakAss" of Yakabout.com.au. Yes... if you are visiting this site from Josh's recommendation to see the similarities, it's because of the software program "Joomla" that I am using.  With limitations to Joomla, YakHawaii is not meant to be a copy of Yakabout.  I've made changes to my website on the request of Josh, but there are limitations  The software I used for the template came out of the box (Artisteer) that you can see by their demo from the Internet that gave me the options of having 2 or 3 columns.  Yes I chose a center based main content feature with side columns on each side similar to Yakabout and designed my own header.

Before I started this site, I did communicate with Josh and he recommended Joomla as his content management system (CMS) and said it was not an easy program to work with but managed the content well, so I went with it.  To have a CMS for articles, photos and videos, it's important to have the options of extensions that work in Joomla (photo gallery, comment section, etc...) in comparison to designing your own... that is why I chose Joomla CMS over others such as Wordpress, Blogger and Drupal.  Design your own site and you will see why.

Now I really want to say that YakAbout to me is the best content driven website out there dealing with videos and article writing about kayak fishing.  If you have not visited this site, I highly recommend visiting Yakabout. This site is a great place to learn from on rigging a kayak.

What draws attention to videos on a great website are shark stories that are on edge, whale stories because they are so huge in comparison to the size of a kayak.  Great websites share personal experiences in the water... you never know what you are going to hook-up from a plastic floating device.  And of course you need informative product reviews on "how to" equip a kayak for fishing.  Josh is a fantastic writer that gives an Aussie spin on things and I enjoy his camera angles from his AI with his commentary on videos with suspenseful sound editing.

No my site is not a copy of Yakabout but shares foundations from the building blocks of CMS and videos in which everyone adds text and music to video.  Since Yakabout started way back when, he will always be an original one no matter if he changes his look.

Everyone who accessorizes a kayak for fishing uses various vendors on the web who pretty much sell the same thing.  Your rigging can be very simple to heavily equipped based on your pocket book $$$.  Our world of kayak fishing is very limited to the manufacturers of equipment and we will have some similarities including the waterproof cameras we use. Nowadays, I see more and more cameras out there on kayaks and videos posted to YouTube from the Big Island as well as all over the world.  You are not alone Yakabout!

The bottom line to all of this... kayak fishing is kayak fishing.  As I explained to Josh in an email, a newspaper company is a newspaper company.  Pick one up and it shares the same similarities of design and content to all newspapers through out the world... news of the day, articles, photos, classifieds and so forth and focuses on local content. Same with a kayak fishing website using Joomla such as Kayak Fishing Magazine.

I am sorry that his website is experiencing a hacker and I only wish him the best as he designs Yakabout 2.  As you discover new videos that fancy kayak fishing, just enjoy the content and don't worry about the "Artisteer" cookie box web site that YakHawaii uses. Thanks for the inspiration Josh and you deserve a lot of credit.

And I want to thank Chris Finch at Reel Islander Adventures, my kayak fishing buddy and friend who got me involved in kayak fishing after we read an article about it in 2006. And since I spent my time on the water video capturing his catches this last year (he catches often and posts his videos), I decided to mount my camera for myself featuring my hook-ups.

UPDATE: I have not been out on the water for three weeks as I was on holiday in California and hope to share some new future experiences as I get back out there.  Aloha!

 
 
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Miloli'i Sight Seeing Tour... WRONG!

Written by Paul Belmudes   
Sunday, 01 November 2021 22:53

The Solunar Table and Moon Phase said "Average Fishing at Best"...

Got a call from Reggie Thursday night asking me if I wanted to fish South Point on Friday morning. After spending the morning kayak fishing with Reggie paddling (pedaling) 10 miles up and down at Keauhou with no success, it was definetly something I wanted to do, I just had to clear it with my wife. With her o.k., the plan was to launch at 7 a.m. at South Point. It took me two hours to get to Reggie's house Friday morning. The winds were a little alarming and we could see that the South Point was going to be called off. So we decided on a alternative plan to fish Miloli'i.

Miloli'i is located 30 miles south of Kailua-Kona at mile marker 89 down traveling down a long and winding road. It was my first time to fish there. This village is considered to be a very tight local fishing community. As we scouted our location to launch, Reggie pointed to the protective cove on the right side of the bay close to the old boat launching and the specific angle to travel through the bay to avoid the wave break. He also commented that this would probably be a day to get to know Miloli'i as it looked as though the fishing was going to be quiet, especially since we blanked the day before in Keauhou. There were no boats or fellow anglers in sight to confirm this feeling. It looked as though we had the whole bay to ourselves. Maybe the solunar calendar was right saying that the fishing was going to be average at best for the west side of the Big Island!

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The surf was up and it was low tide as when we departed the launch area around 8 o'clock in the morning. Reggie led the way and the current was soft moving south to north. The winds were calm in this protected village and the water settled like a lake past the wave break. The drop-off shelve was very fast to get to, directly west and we were only one-half of a mile out at 40 fathoms. We decided to move south and started talking about how slow we expected the day to be. Boy were we wrong as not more than a few moments after our conversation, Reggie took a strike. You never know if you'll catch a fish unless you are out there.

The sudden strike for Reggie was thought to be an ulua hit by its characteristics. Then within a minute of Reggies strike, I took a hit to my line. The reel screamed fast as the fish peeled out and ran out another 150 feet of line before I slowed it down. It was heading towards Reggie's kayak and his fish on his line was heading towards my kayak. We thought for a moment that maybe we were on the same fish but that thought quickly changed. My fish dove straight down and as well as the fish on Reggie's line. Again we thought we hit an ulua school with those signs.

Not wasting anytime, we both reeled up our lines and five minutes later, we both spotted an ono down sixty-five feet between our kayaks. Whose was it? Reggie and I were within 30 yards of each other. Since I use a Hobie Revo with a pedal system, I quickly changed my rudder direction to the right as I held my line tight to pull away from the area so our lines would not get caught up with each other. Dragging my fish behind me, it was now clear that both Reggie and I had ono on the end of our lines. Within moments of each other giggling, we hauled in our catches, took photos and headed back in.

It was an unbelievable day on the water as this sight seeing advenure definitely turned out to be a recommended tour on the Big island of Hawaii. We were in and out of the water within an hour and it was an exceptional day for fishing.

 
 
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The Launching of YakHawaii.com

Written by Paul Belmudes   
Saturday, 24 October 2021 01:18

img_0815Aloha and welcome to YakHawaii.com.  We have now been online since our first article debuted October 16, 2009.  Starting an online journal for kayak fishing requires content to post and that means catching fish, fishing with friends and having something to write about with videos and photos.  This is a hobby and not meant to be a professional site with a full staff behind it.  Hopefully in the next couple of months, I will have other kayak anglers contribute their success stories with knowledge of the sport for those seeking more information on extreme Hawaii kayak fishing.

There will be more sections added in the near future in addition to the core already in place.  It's been a learning curve to understand the layout of Joomla 1.5, a free open source code and the foundation program for this website. I knew nothing about Joomla and its extensions before I started this project 60 days ago.  All I know is this is something that I have been wanting to do for sometime now.  To some degree, Joomla is simple once you get the hang of it with some organization. I wish I was a fast typist and a more creative writer to go along with it, but I'm a fast learner with an old school mentality!

The great thing about Joomla is that it does not cost anything for the program.  It only requires a hosting company that supports Joomla and a domain name like YakHawaii.com .  Learning to shoot videos on the water, positioning the camera angles, editing the videos with sound will only get better as time goes on. This is a work-in-progress and in the beginning stages of development... but I believe that if I remain healty at the age of 52 and I am able to keep paddling (pedaling on my kayak), I will do my best to keep an online journal of my kayak fishing experiences in the coming years.

If anyone should have any questions about what I am using to make this happen, feel free to contact me with your comments or questions.  Aloha and Mahalo!

Paul Belmudes

 
 
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Mistakes and Redemption in Keauhou

Written by Paul Belmudes   
Thursday, 22 October 2021 10:00

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!

 
 
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