My First Pelagic
Kawa Kawa
It was Father’s Day, I woke up 4:30 am because I wanted to be sure I was at the Boat Ramp to secure parking space because I felt many people would be fishing that day. I arrived at the ramp 5:00 am and to my surprise it wasn’t very busy. There were only two other kayak fishermen unloading their kayaks. I asked them if they had VHF radio so we could communicate with each other if any of us catch bait. Unfortunately, they didn’t have VHF radios. I launched at 5:30 am and managed to catch two opelus at 6:30 am. I put one live bait on my Penn SSVI Live Liner, I was jigging my handmade damashi when I noticed my line started peeling off fast. I immediately set the hook on my live liner and sure enough there was a fish at the end of the line. I hooked the fish at 7:06 am at a depth of 130 ft. When I started reeling in it did not feel very big, I thought it was only around a 3-pound Uku. Then all of sudden it made a nice run! I was having fun fight reeling in the fish on a light tackle (Penn SSVI Live Liner 4500 + Ugly Stik GX2 Medium Heavy Rod). I still wasn’t sure what fish it was, then I started seeing color. I was pumped when I saw the fish and recognized the color. Kawa Kawa. Finally, my first Pelagic ever! I was so stoked and started screaming for joy when I landed the fish, it was 15.5 lbs fish. It was just the best feeling in the world, finally all my efforts had paid off and a dream had come true.
I started my Kayak Fishing Journey this year, when my Husband bought me a 2020 Hobie Compass as a present for my birthday in February. I had very little knowledge about Kayak Fishing. Luckily, I met an experienced couple, John & Jane, who helped me get started and showed me the ropes. What was very cool, was before I even had my own kayak, John took me fishing with him one day so I could experience what it was like to go kayak fishing, I was hooked and ever since then I go kayak fishing as often as I can.
Recille Coble
Kihei, Hawaii