Spent last week in Maui with the family, but managed to sneak off on a few mornings for a few reef fishing adventures. Huge thanks to Mingo for some tips which got me excited and going... Fish were not huge, but a ton of fun to target and C&R. Pics first, then a short summary:

First fish, still not sure what he was:


Saddle Wrasse


Blue-Spot Grouper (my favorite)


Black Triggerfish


Goatfish (caught a bunch)





Another Cool Wrasse


Day 1 - 0/0 - flyfishing. Lesson: need to bring much smaller flies next time, clousers and the larger crazy charlies I brought were too big to tempt anyone

Day 2 - 0/2 - baitfishing. Lesson: when you hook up these fish, they will immediately break you off on the reef/coral if you let 'em. Hooked a BIG fish this day, it sucked to have him break me off.

Day 3 - 4/4 - baitfishing. Lesson learned from day 1 & 2... Put on smaller hooks, and put on 10 lb leader so I could put the screws to any fish I hooked and keep control of them

Day 4 - 7/7 - baitfishing. Less bait theft because I tied up mini bait loops on my rigs.

By the end, my rig consisted of a small float, about a 6' leader of ten pound test ultragreen, with a size 6 gamakatsu. I'd put one tiny piece of split shot about 6" above the bait to help get the bait down in the surge. Tons and tons of action, though I'd miss tons and tons of takedowns because the fish are such light biters.

Next time I'd bring even smaller hooks and flies. I'd love to catch some of the more colorful butterfly fish and tangs, but they will just peck at your bait and never take anything as large as I was fishing. Thanks again to Mingo for the excellent tips!

Cool Report and Pics Irish!

Nice pics, Brian...looks like fun!

Fish on...

Todd

That's awesome! I will be picking your's and Mingo's brain in the coming months. I have a 15 day vacation planned on Maui in July.

I have 7 days on a ground level condo on Ka'anapali, and 8 in a big rental house south of Kihei. I was tellin' one of my cousins (who will be there for the house part) yesterday while we were plunking that we should bring something to fish with off the rocks on Maui. Now I am sure we will.

Just remember that if you get a chance to scuba dive with these fish, bring a can of Cheeze Wiz and a bag of hotdogs with you.

All fish love bits of Cheeze Wiz.

Also, the multiple-hundred pound groupers will suck a hotdog out of your hand from a distance of about 3' away. Get your hand any closer than that, and you're gonna lose it.

Nice photos, Brian!

psychedelic fish

RR: Glad to help, shoot me a PM when you get closer.

Parker: Hilarious re: hotdogs and groupers. We didn't dive but snorkeled these same reefs (excellent for working out leader lengths!), the hilights of those snorkels were the surprisingly abundant green sea turtles. Good stuff!

Great report and pic's.

Looks like that would be a lot of fun just because of the variety.

For snorkeling, a few frozen peas gets quite a frenzy going.

Cool tropical fish pics, Brian!
I like that blue dot grouper also.
Thanks for sharing.

I believe that top fish is called a Sgt Major.

Those pics sure bring back a lot of memories of the 5 years I spent in the islands. I've caught every species you posted except the blue spot grouper using small pieces of squid for bait. One thing about reef fishing, you never know what will bite next.

Did you keep any of the goatfish? Locals refer to them as weke - pronounced veh-KEH. They are great steamed, but you gotta use chopsticks to pick around all the bones).

fNp --- I thought so too, at first, but doesn't the Sargent Major have the reverse color scheme? There is so much diversity it's hard to know on all these.

I didn't keep any of the fish, because I didn't know which of any were good to eat, plus living in a hotel didn't have a great kitchen setup. It certainly would be worth it to learn a bit before next trip--maybe we could have had an authentic dinner! Ah, next trip.

Cool pics,
reminds me of my times in cozumel as a kid.
Love those blue dots on the snapper.

It is always neat to get down to those waters and give it a whirl. You just never know what will grab a hold of your line. Same kind of thing in Florida. Awesome pics.

Close. Note the black spot on the top of the tail.

Link

Give that man a GOLD STAR!

I'll bet parker would have called it a coho.

Come on, gimme a break.

That fish has STRIPES on it.

Chum, for sure!

Although.....

That single spot is a good indication of an Atlantic Salmon.

Hmmmm.

It's a tough one.

I'll have to consult with some ichthyology experts and get back to you on that one.

Cool pics.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Maybe it's a chum/Atlantic hybrid...

I think it was a smoked up Chum and I think Sol just ate it.