Week in Hawaii

[kgselect]

Spent a week vacationing with the family in Hawaii through Aug. 10. Sorry this report is a bit late. Stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, Oahu. Beautiful resort with lots of amenities. Although the Big Island, Maui and Kauai offer a more secluded, pristine environment, the family always enjoys all of the attractions and activities in Honolulu (malls, restaurants, theatres, civilization, etc.) Anyway, we tend to spend a lot of time on the East side of the island, in Kailua. This is a beautiful blue water beach with lots of sand and water activities (snorkeling, kayaking, surfing, wind surfing, skim boarding, boogie boarding, etc.) See pictures below.

When we travel to Hawaii, we come prepared with mask/snorkels, boogie boards, skim boards and light fishing rods. My son & I like to spend time fishing the harbor near the HHVC. There is a stretch of rocks off the Ala Moana Park that goes from the inside marina to the outer water. This stretch of the marina has a variety of fish that love to eat squid, shrimp & octopus. We fish med fresh water rods with Shimano Speros reels with 8lb main and 6lb fluoro leaders. The catch generally includes wrasse, puffers, triggers and Moorish idols, but, sometimes can include tangs, butterfly fish, trumpet fish and crevally (Ulua).

Wrasse, puffers and triggers tend to be more prevalent and willing to bite as we caught & released these fish both in the Ala Moana Harbor and on the North side of the Island in Haleiwa. It really didn’t matter how good the fishing was because the scenery was always stunning. Clear blue water, light breezy wind and plenty of sun.

In the near future, my son and I will charter a six pack boat in Hawaii to fish for outer water game fish. For now, however, catching shallow water reef fish is plenty of fun.

Tip #1: The Ward Center has many shops, restaurants and a theatre complex. There is also a Marukai Grocery Market in the Ward Center that has lots of fresh fish, bento box lunches and Asian/Japanese foods. We generally pick up our bait here (fresh shrimp, squid & octopus). Take time to see the great looking sashimi, sushi and sweet mochi confections. Wow, really fresh.

Tip#2: Zippy’s Restaurants are convenient to pick up a fast meal or snack of Hawaiian plate lunch specialities. There are lots of Zippy’s in and around Oahu.

Tip #3: Maui Tacos in Kailua serves yummy Mexican food. We generally eat there for late lunches when spending the day in Kailua. Also, Wally Amos of Famous Amos cookies lives in Kailua and has a cookie store named Chip and Cookie. Same great cookies and Wally is frequently in the store greeting customers.

In any case, a week in Hawaii goes by much too fast. But, we have a lot of pictures and memories to remember our stay. Thanks for viewing.

[basscatcher]

hey kgselect i was in waikki beach from jul 20-26. good job fishing we were to busy too. you just missed the hammerhead migration that happens to the north side of the island. Good Job on the fish. The pic with Dimond head in the back groud is really cool.


God Bless

basscatcher

[chris]

really neat pictures. i've never been there it looks great

[Troutman65]

Looks like you and the family had a great time. Thanks for the post and pics.

[deanhall32]

That was a really good report!! Thanks for the tips on eating there. I went to the University of Hawaii a long time ago and survived by eating at Zippy's. Plate lunches and saimin were cheap and delicious. We did alot of trolling in Waikiki and had alot of luck with the mainland girls but the local girls were a little line-shy!!

Did you carry a guide that describes all of the local fish or did you already know their identities?

[one_leg]

Great pics/report. Thanks for the post.

Congrats on the nice vacation. Maybe I will take one someday too. That'd be !!!

[kgselect]

Thanks for all of the nice Replies.

Basscatcher: A couple of pics were from the north side of Island area of Haleiwa. We noticed a lot of diving boats going out of the harbor with shark cages. Not sure if they were looking for hammerheads or tiger sharks.

Deanhall32: Actually, my son has a tropical fish chart that he memorized. I just ask him what fish we caught & he always seems to know. He's a fishing fanatic. I think my daugther and son would love to go to UH. Trolling in Wakiki? That's great.

Take care all.

[Badfish2]

Love that Hawaiian water.. can't beat it. They have some amazing fishing there, I go there 3 times a year and have my favorite charters out of Maui