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Positive Affirmations

Written by Paul Belmudes   
Saturday, 06 August 2021 03:29

Delivering on a Promise for my Mother-in-law

Honokohau repeat performance this last Wednesday.  I made it out to Honokohau Harbor again hitting the same spot where I came across the mahi school. Just before I left for my launch location, I promised my mother-in-law to fulfill her request to land an ono. Low and behold, I hooked up the ono thirty minutes into the morning after setting out. Actually... I was real lucky and all things worked out. I call it possitive affirmation as I said, "I will get an ono this morning" and it did come true. Also in the video, I did throw out a plug for the chin weights I have been using this year by Barefoot Fishing for my trolling rigs. Take advantage of this great fish hook made by Tim as he provides an excellent product with exceptional delivery of product. The chin weight speaks for itself in my last two videos. Here is a link to his website. Enjoy the video.

 
 
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Productive Fishing Area

Written by Paul Belmudes   
Saturday, 06 August 2021 03:03

Honokohau Harbor

Having not fished much this year, I have really been selective of the areas I choose based on the cost of fuel. Last year I concentrated on fishing the south side of the big island giving me the pleasure of discovering some of the most beautiful areas of the island. Trade winds have been strong this year which has limited the north side. A few weeks ago, I had a tip on Honokohau Harbor just north of Kailua-Kona. I won't be specific to the area, but I watched and studied the area where the charter boats have been fishing in the Hawaii International Billfish Tournament. They were giving the coordinates by grid names.

I also understood that it was very possible to catch live bait out of the harbor. After opening up the bellies of my latest catches... the opelu is the treat that the mahi and ono desire. Not new news for us kayak fisherment on the island, but if you study the great kayak anglers of Hawaii, you'll start to notice what works and what does not. It's been five years of trial and error and finally I am very happy with my setup and the storage space the Hobie Oasis provides. But mostly I have been lucky to be fishing in an area that has some hungry pelagic waiting for my line. I guess I'll know more in the following weeks during the peak time of the fishing season here in Hawaii.

Well anyway, I want to show my latest videos if you have not seen them yet on YouTube. I apologize for not keeping up the YakHawaii site. I am going to be making changes in the near future as the design of this site was made a couple of years ago for the contribution of my members to help build a community of Hawaii Kayak Anglers. What I realize is that the readers of YakHawaii just want info and rarely does not want to contribute. It's not as fun anymore and does take up a lot of time to maintain YakHawaii and fight off the hackers who always seem to find pleasure in bringing down good sites. So expect changes for the better with better information on where to fish on the Big Island of Hawaii. Aloha!

 
 
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What's Up?

Written by Paul Belmudes   
Saturday, 11 June 2021 18:59

Nothing Really!

Looking for some updates to YakHawaii?  Time prevents me at this moment... but I will "holoholo" soon! My fishing buddy Chris moved to the mainland and now I will be back to kayak fishing solo!  I've been working five days a week and have been doing activities on my days off. Lucky me... I get to try all the island activities (ATV, ZIPline, Helicopter) that visitors pay from $75 to $700 on the Big Island... and I even get to take a guest with me... and it's usually my wife or kids.

Nowadays... I just read what others post here on YakHawaii. Gosh... if you have something to really say... post your own article here... this website is self driven and I'll even walk you through it to get you posted. Just make sure it follows the content of kayak fishing. It's really easy. Let me know if I can help!

Managing a website is time consuming and sometimes I question myself for doing it. You couldn't imagine the head games that go along with a website and Hawaii kayak fishing. But I still have a passion for it when I have the time for fishing. Here's the latest video and a sendoff for my buddy Chris who fished with me for the last 5 years here on the Big Island of Hawaii. Aloha... 

Visit my You Tube channel (http://www.youtube.com/yakhawaii) for latest video postings. 

 
 
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I'a Palua Kayak Fishing

Written by Paul Belmudes   
Saturday, 16 April 2022 00:46

The Tail of "Two Fishes"

It's been several months since I've made the move from the Hobie Revolution to the Hobie Oasis. The initial thought and the reason behind my kayak purchase to a heavier tandem fishing vessel was for storage space on top (not in the hull) when hooking-up a large fish in Hawaii as a solo kayak angler. I truly loved my Revo... the speed, the way it turned corners and the ability to work a rod around it... but what it truly lacked was the capacity to store a large fish. Even outfitting it did not do the trick of transporting a large ono. If I was a lake fisherman cathing bass or small fish, the Revo would have suited me fine just dropping the fish in the front hatch. Hawaii fish are of a different story... they are BIG! Rapidly we are seeing a large sector of Hawaii fishing anglers making the move to the Hobie kayak and the Mirage Drive system. Even my fishing partner Chris said that he is now sold on the Hobie after five years on the Ocean Kayak Prowler 15.

I remember trying to keep up with him while fishing on the water when I had a different brand. Then I purchased my Revo and I was passing him up as he tired from all the paddling. Pedaling does make sense for the older (age) kayaker as our legs are much stronger then are arms. Less stress on the upper body and the ability to have your hands free is a plus! So if you could afford the best product, do consider the Hobie brand as the only choice for kayak fishing. But if you are on a budget, look for a good used one instead of making the mistakes of selecting a brand that will not give you what you want just because of the dollar cost. Just give the Hobie Mirage Drive a try before you buy. Sorry to make this so commercial in placement for the Hobie product, but it's the hull truth.

Now back to subject of the article... "I'a Palua - Two Fishes." Being challenged to maximize the potential of the Hobie Oasis, I asked my fishing buddy Chris to join me in attempting to make tandem kayak fishing popular on YakHawaii. There are some great tandem anglers here in Hawaii like the Uyeda Brothers who live in Oahu. We model their innovatons and adapt ours to make a better fishing craft.  Not only have we proven in the past as individual anglers that we can land decent fish, but we must prove that we can get along together on a kayak for eight hours or longer during an outing. Actually entertaining is the proper terminology. It's hard enough to have a conversation with a man for longer than 15 minutes unless you have an expressive person in front of you who wants to talk about themselves. We are neither expressive... well Chris is to some degree... I am analytical if you have not figured it out yet... so we have adapted right into our fishing style as fishing buddies into truly decent fishing partners that entertain ourselves for hours on end. It's a blast!  And with a fishing partner... I now have a fishing storage problem again until further testing proves we can carry a fifty plus pounder back to shore. So far... all our large fish have been catch-and-release.

We have learned to maneuver together as a team, dropping lines to bottom fish, trolling the outriggers for the pelagic (even though we have not gotten one yet on one of our three outings as "I'a Palua - Two Fishes"), turning, furling and communicating for hours at a time. I've grown as an angler with what Chris has taught me even though he's not directly teaching me... I'm like a sponge watching his moves as he drops bait, trolls, fights the fish, watches the current, puts the boat in the right position to avoid tangles and the list goes on. 

I'a Palua... our team name. It means "two fishes," a name given to us by Kumu Keala Ching, a great hula teacher of our children, adults and elders on the Big Island of Hawaii. The name fits us well as we are "two fishes" hunting the waters of Hawaii on kayak in pursuit of hooking-up and landing or catch and releasing two fish a day in the Aquahunters Makahiki tournament (www.aquahunters.com). I always throw in a plug for Issac, the founder of Aquahunters. Do join their website and learn from the best in Hawaii. They are not going to give you the book of Hawaii Kayak Fishing 101 and make it easy for you to be a pro... you must search and respect the information and learn the safety of our sport before you begin and they have it all on their website. Another great website to learn from in Hawaii is the Hawaii Kayak Sailing Club at www.hawaiikayaksailingclub.com.  Great info there on kayak sailing from Hobie to other products. In fact, I need to update the YakHawaii website links to updated information on kayak fishing and sailing. You can help by submitting your links as well to our site.

On Tuesday of April 12th, Chris and I managed to pedal 13 miles that day in Kawaihae in pursuit of pelagic so we could try out the new outrigger system that I installed on the Oasis to give a bigger spread on a tandem kayak with four rods out. So far, we have not been lucky enough to get action on the end of the lines to test them out. Seems to us that the bite is not happening on the surface, so we have resulted to bottom fishing to gain points in the 2011 Makahiki tournament that will last 8 months. I have learned from my experience last year in the Makahiki that if you do not get strikes on top, you must go to the bottom to remain a contender in the tournament. Surface fish will eventually land... but in the mean time, let's get in some action. The newest video is pretty much self explanatory of the day we had out there. I know that you will enjoy day three of our adventure as a tandem team. Aloha.{mos_fb_discuss:5}

 
 

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