Time for some tropical “Panfishing”
January 28, 2007
Not at all knowing what to expect, I lob a 1/4-ounce Kastmaster high across the water and watch it shimmer in the morning sun. When it plops back to earth, I let the silver lure sink for a moment before I start cranking. I’ve never wet a line in this place and don’t have a clue what may be lurking around the rocks…if anything.
In short order - on the second crank of the reel handle to be exact - I get abrupt and violent confirmation that there are indeed some fish here when something incredibly strong atomizes my lure.
It rips 10 yards of line off my reel in a nano-second and then dumps my spoon. The whole thing is over before I can blink.
Cast number two yields another nuclear assault-type of strike. The fish must have sharp teeth because it relieves me of my Kastmaster. With trembling fingers, I tie on another lure and toss it out. This time, the bite comes after I’ve cranked the lure alomst to my feet. I set the hook and bulldog style wrestling match ensues. Eventually, I work the fish out of the rocks and beach it. It’s the most bizarre and amazing fish I’ve ever laid eyes on. The thing’s a brilliant, almost electric blue color with neon green fins and a long, elephant-like trunk of a mouth that’s banana yellow. I unook the stange beast, carefully release it and continue casting.
The next fish is a metallic pink affair with two horizontal rows of perfect neon green rectangles across its back, purple fins and an orange belly. Throughout the morning, I catch a wild assortment of vivdly-painted creatures - none of which I can come remotley close to indentifing. All I know is I’m having a ball.
This is all taking place on a reef in Princeville on Kauai’s North Shore. I hadn’t planned on fishing, but the water just looked too inviting so I bought a cheapie spin outfit with 8-pound test at the local store and a gave it a whirl. I’m glad I did! After my morning session, I head to town to purchase a Hawaiian fish I.D. book so I can figure out what the heck I’ve been catching. It turns out that the blue fish with the long yellow snout is a bird wrasse and the pink one with the rectangle markings is a Christmas wrasse.
The next day, I add a couple Hawaiian lizardfish (they look like the demonic offspring of a lingcod crossed with a trout) to my tally, along with a couple brilliantly hued species of goatfish (they have long yellow goatee-looking tendrils protruding from their chins). I also catch some needlefish, which are long, silvery guys with long beaks full of wicked teeth. A pair of snapper also inhale my spoon. One has canary flanks with a few impossibly flourescent blue stripes running down the sides. The other has a vivid orange body, black tail and bright yellow fins.
After some investigative web surfing, I have since found out that there are several other reasons to take an 8-pound outfit (or maybe an 8-weight fly rod) with you the next time you visit the islands. On Kauai, for example, there are a few lakes and rivers that harbor nice largemouth and smallmouth bass, along with Amazon tucare (peacock bass). Next time around, I’ll be sure to try some tropical trout and bass along with my reef fishing. And if the weather stays like this here, I may just have to head back to Kauai soon!
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