Bassin' in Hawaii
Bass fishing in Hawaii? Although most people usually fish for marlin here, when the blowin' gets tough, the semi-tough go bass fishing.
February 11, 2006
Tom Christy stops briefly at the entrance of the road leading to one of his favorite bass
lakes, turns, and grins at the passenger sitting beside him in his pickup truck who's exhibiting a
look of total disbelief. The alleged "road" is a muddy orange slash through the tropical forest
that's corrugated with gnarly tree roots as big as your thigh. Shifting into low, Christy creeps
the truck up the twisty trail while towing the trailered Tracker, which bunny hops over the roots
and occasionally slithers sideways in the rich, oxidized-iron, volcanic mud; mud of a tenacious
sort that becomes a permanent souvenir on what were formerly your new, sparkling-white tennis
shoes.
This is Kauai, the elder statesman of the eight major Hawaiian Islands (there are 137 in all) at 5 million years old, compared to the Island of Hawaii, which is only 450,000 years old. As volcanic islands go, the Hawaii islands are mere pups, considering islands like Midway are 28 million years old. One of the best known bits of Kauai trivia is that it features the wettest spot on earth, Mount Waialeale, located at the center of the island, which receives an average of 466 inches of rain a year. Even stranger is that only a few miles away at Barking Sands, the average rainfall is only eight inches per year.
Hawaii is a land of extremes. It features 10 of the world's 12 climates, ranging from polar tundra (yes, you can even go snow skiing on Mauna Kea) to wet tropical. It's the most remote place on earth, with the closest place being California at 2,400 miles away. It was also one of the last places discovered by man, having only been settled by the Marquesans who came here 1,600 years ago in oceangoing canoes over thousands of miles of open ocean. They brought with them staples like taro, from which the vile purple substance "poi" is made from, pigs, and chickens that today roam wild all over the island from the jungles to the manicured grounds of the Hyatt Regency. Known as jungle fowl, their number is unknown, but it surely eclipses Kauai's human population of 60,000 by many times over.
Although the abundant rain helps Kauai to live up to its nickname of the Garden Island, the recent deluge - combined with the rooster feather ruffling, palm frond crackling winds - isn't helping the fishing. Earlier that morning Christy inspects the mouth of the Kealia River in hopes of hitting one of his favorite spots for butterfly peacock bass, but the normally clear river looks like a café latte with extra cream. So plan "B" is to hit a smaller impoundment that might not have been so affected by Kamapua'a, the ancient hog god who's also a mischievous spirit of rain and plants.
As the rig traverses the challenging trail to the lake, you get a flashback to a scene in the movie Jurassic Park where Wayne Knight (better known as Newman in "Seinfeld") is driving the jeep in the rain to the dock. It's not too much of a reach considering that Kauai is where they shot the film (along with South Pacific, Blue Hawaii, Six Days Seven Nights, Outbreak, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dragonfly, Jurassic Park III, To End All Wars, Dinosaur, Mighty Joe Young and George of the Jungle). After reaching a clearing at the water's edge, Christy launches the aluminum Tracker V-16 at the "ramp," fires up the Honda 30 outboard, and idles across the impoundment where he and the writer begin casting bright pink bubblegum worms and spinner baits.
The rain comes and goes, but Christy hooks up a small bass that does an impressive impersonation of a larger fish. These are northern-strain largemouth that were introduced in 1908 by the sugar companies to help control the rampant proliferation of tilapia that were also introduced by the same folks four years earlier. The bass has fit in with the ecosystem pretty well, and although Christy has caught several near-10-pounders, he would love to see Florida-strain bass introduced, because they grow much faster and attain larger sizes. But the state of Hawaii is reluctant to try anything new, considering the track record of man-made eco-disasters, like the introduction of the mongoose. Again, it was the sugar companies who brought in this fierce predator to control the exploding rat population running rampant in the sugar fields. The only problem is that rats are nocturnal, and mongooses (mongeeses?) sleep at night. So instead of feasting on rodents, they turned their attention to the native birds, who had never known a land-dwelling mammal predator; in fact, there's only one native mammal in Hawaii: the hoary bat. Fortunately, Kauai is one of the only islands without mongooses, so species like the Hawaiian goose or "nene" (which looks amazingly like a small Canada goose) flourish here.
Access to some of the island's best fishing is limited since many places are privately owned. For instance, Kauai's best-known bass fishing spot, Waita Reservoir, was recently purchased by Steve Case, the principle owner of AOL, and is now off-limits to fishermen like Christy. "That was my reservoir for 15 years," says Christy. "It's a sad story, but true. They fenced it off. But actually, some of the places I fish now are better for sight fishing." It's unknown at this time if Case will open the reservoir that produced the state record largemouth bass (9 pounds, 9 ounces) to fishing, but Christy is sure there are bigger fish elsewhere ... in fact, he and his clients have caught them. "Last week a lady fishing with me caught an 8-pounder," says Christy. "She about died." He has also seen bass that he estimates to be at least 12 pounds.
Since Christy is the only active professional bass guide on Kauai, he doesn't need records to attract clients. Besides, he once held the world's record for butterfly peacock bass. Although he and his clients have caught both largemouth and smallmouth bass that would've broken the Hawaiian records, he doesn't want to reveal the location of where they were caught and doesn't want to kill the fish. Says Christy, "It's more important to me to keep the fishing strong than to set a record. Besides, gill netting is legal in Hawaii, and I don't want the commercial fishermen to find out where they are."
There are more than 165 lakes and nine major rivers on Kauai, and Christy has fished most of them, although his short list of favorite reservoirs numbers fewer than 10. Today's lake is less than 100 acres, and despite the bad bassin' conditions, is providing plenty of action. Christy graciously allows the author to catch the biggest fish, a hard-fighting sub-two-pounder, and after several bass are boated and released, we shift our attention to trying for peacock bass. Being late November, this is the wrong time of year to target this spectacular species, but Christy rigs up live maydocas (minnows), and we give it a try. The best months are April through September, but you can still catch them year-round - when conditions are good (A-hah).
A glance over at the barefooted Christy reveals that the wet, cool conditions have caused the former AAA baseball player from Michigan to shiver slightly. Having made Hawaii his home since 1982, he's acclimated to the usually clement weather. Having learned to fish on Lake St. Clair near Detroit (arguably one of the best fishing spots for musky and smallmouth), he was sure he could catch fish on Kauai, so when he arrived, he began his guide service, "Cast and Catch." "It took me a few years to learn their idiosyncrasies and habits," says Christy. "I like to use Yamamoto Senkos, Lucky Craft Flash Minnows, jigs and pigs (pork strips), and spinner baits and bubblegum worms like we're using today."
Even though the big fish don't cooperate, the intermittent rain produces some spectacular rainbows, and combined with the tropical setting and backdrop consisting of a rookery of white egrets that blanket the trees, it's a scene that gets hard-wired into the angler's synapses. Memories that will stay with you a lifetime, or at least as long as the mud stains on your tennis shoes.
This is Kauai, the elder statesman of the eight major Hawaiian Islands (there are 137 in all) at 5 million years old, compared to the Island of Hawaii, which is only 450,000 years old. As volcanic islands go, the Hawaii islands are mere pups, considering islands like Midway are 28 million years old. One of the best known bits of Kauai trivia is that it features the wettest spot on earth, Mount Waialeale, located at the center of the island, which receives an average of 466 inches of rain a year. Even stranger is that only a few miles away at Barking Sands, the average rainfall is only eight inches per year.
Hawaii is a land of extremes. It features 10 of the world's 12 climates, ranging from polar tundra (yes, you can even go snow skiing on Mauna Kea) to wet tropical. It's the most remote place on earth, with the closest place being California at 2,400 miles away. It was also one of the last places discovered by man, having only been settled by the Marquesans who came here 1,600 years ago in oceangoing canoes over thousands of miles of open ocean. They brought with them staples like taro, from which the vile purple substance "poi" is made from, pigs, and chickens that today roam wild all over the island from the jungles to the manicured grounds of the Hyatt Regency. Known as jungle fowl, their number is unknown, but it surely eclipses Kauai's human population of 60,000 by many times over.
Although the abundant rain helps Kauai to live up to its nickname of the Garden Island, the recent deluge - combined with the rooster feather ruffling, palm frond crackling winds - isn't helping the fishing. Earlier that morning Christy inspects the mouth of the Kealia River in hopes of hitting one of his favorite spots for butterfly peacock bass, but the normally clear river looks like a café latte with extra cream. So plan "B" is to hit a smaller impoundment that might not have been so affected by Kamapua'a, the ancient hog god who's also a mischievous spirit of rain and plants.
As the rig traverses the challenging trail to the lake, you get a flashback to a scene in the movie Jurassic Park where Wayne Knight (better known as Newman in "Seinfeld") is driving the jeep in the rain to the dock. It's not too much of a reach considering that Kauai is where they shot the film (along with South Pacific, Blue Hawaii, Six Days Seven Nights, Outbreak, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dragonfly, Jurassic Park III, To End All Wars, Dinosaur, Mighty Joe Young and George of the Jungle). After reaching a clearing at the water's edge, Christy launches the aluminum Tracker V-16 at the "ramp," fires up the Honda 30 outboard, and idles across the impoundment where he and the writer begin casting bright pink bubblegum worms and spinner baits.
The rain comes and goes, but Christy hooks up a small bass that does an impressive impersonation of a larger fish. These are northern-strain largemouth that were introduced in 1908 by the sugar companies to help control the rampant proliferation of tilapia that were also introduced by the same folks four years earlier. The bass has fit in with the ecosystem pretty well, and although Christy has caught several near-10-pounders, he would love to see Florida-strain bass introduced, because they grow much faster and attain larger sizes. But the state of Hawaii is reluctant to try anything new, considering the track record of man-made eco-disasters, like the introduction of the mongoose. Again, it was the sugar companies who brought in this fierce predator to control the exploding rat population running rampant in the sugar fields. The only problem is that rats are nocturnal, and mongooses (mongeeses?) sleep at night. So instead of feasting on rodents, they turned their attention to the native birds, who had never known a land-dwelling mammal predator; in fact, there's only one native mammal in Hawaii: the hoary bat. Fortunately, Kauai is one of the only islands without mongooses, so species like the Hawaiian goose or "nene" (which looks amazingly like a small Canada goose) flourish here.
Access to some of the island's best fishing is limited since many places are privately owned. For instance, Kauai's best-known bass fishing spot, Waita Reservoir, was recently purchased by Steve Case, the principle owner of AOL, and is now off-limits to fishermen like Christy. "That was my reservoir for 15 years," says Christy. "It's a sad story, but true. They fenced it off. But actually, some of the places I fish now are better for sight fishing." It's unknown at this time if Case will open the reservoir that produced the state record largemouth bass (9 pounds, 9 ounces) to fishing, but Christy is sure there are bigger fish elsewhere ... in fact, he and his clients have caught them. "Last week a lady fishing with me caught an 8-pounder," says Christy. "She about died." He has also seen bass that he estimates to be at least 12 pounds.
Since Christy is the only active professional bass guide on Kauai, he doesn't need records to attract clients. Besides, he once held the world's record for butterfly peacock bass. Although he and his clients have caught both largemouth and smallmouth bass that would've broken the Hawaiian records, he doesn't want to reveal the location of where they were caught and doesn't want to kill the fish. Says Christy, "It's more important to me to keep the fishing strong than to set a record. Besides, gill netting is legal in Hawaii, and I don't want the commercial fishermen to find out where they are."
There are more than 165 lakes and nine major rivers on Kauai, and Christy has fished most of them, although his short list of favorite reservoirs numbers fewer than 10. Today's lake is less than 100 acres, and despite the bad bassin' conditions, is providing plenty of action. Christy graciously allows the author to catch the biggest fish, a hard-fighting sub-two-pounder, and after several bass are boated and released, we shift our attention to trying for peacock bass. Being late November, this is the wrong time of year to target this spectacular species, but Christy rigs up live maydocas (minnows), and we give it a try. The best months are April through September, but you can still catch them year-round - when conditions are good (A-hah).
A glance over at the barefooted Christy reveals that the wet, cool conditions have caused the former AAA baseball player from Michigan to shiver slightly. Having made Hawaii his home since 1982, he's acclimated to the usually clement weather. Having learned to fish on Lake St. Clair near Detroit (arguably one of the best fishing spots for musky and smallmouth), he was sure he could catch fish on Kauai, so when he arrived, he began his guide service, "Cast and Catch." "It took me a few years to learn their idiosyncrasies and habits," says Christy. "I like to use Yamamoto Senkos, Lucky Craft Flash Minnows, jigs and pigs (pork strips), and spinner baits and bubblegum worms like we're using today."
Even though the big fish don't cooperate, the intermittent rain produces some spectacular rainbows, and combined with the tropical setting and backdrop consisting of a rookery of white egrets that blanket the trees, it's a scene that gets hard-wired into the angler's synapses. Memories that will stay with you a lifetime, or at least as long as the mud stains on your tennis shoes.
related articles:
Bassin' in Hawaii: Bass fishing in Hawaii? Although most people usually fish for marlin here, when the blowin' gets tough, the semi-tough go bass fishing.
