Ulua Fishing
A Quick Guide to Ulua Fishing
Ulua fishing takes place in Hawaiian waters. Ulua can refer to many members of the trevally family. The most common species are the white ulua and the omilu. The white ulua is prized by all fishermen as they can weigh over a hundred pounds and no matter the size, give a tough fight after they have been hooked. The average catch is usually in the neighborhood of ten to twenty pounds.
The omilu is also known as the blue-fin trevally. They are smaller, hardly ever weighing more than twenty pounds, with most being under ten pounds. They prefer to live around reefs while the white ulua can be found anywhere, even down at the sand level of the ocean floor. The most popular method of catching omilu is by whipping, or casting a lure over a reef and then retrieving it quickly but with lots of movement. Poppers are the most common lure used in this method.
If you are serious about catching the biggest ulua or the greatest quantity of ulua, the technique to use is called slide bait fishing. This method was developed because the baits being used to catch ulua started to get heavier than what could be cast comfortably with a normal casting method. The size bait most often used is five pounds. The poles used are in the twelve to fourteen feet long range and usually have a fifty to eighty pound line.
In slide bait fishing, a weight is first cast out and anchored to the bottom. This is usually a drop sinker that has four wires protruding from the bottom. These wires are somewhat like grappling hooks which means the sinker and line can be held securely. Next, the bait and leader are attached to this main line and slid down it. There are several methods as to how this can be accomplished.
You can attach a stopper ring onto your main line, and then a slide-bait buckle to the main line. The buckle will slide down the line until it reaches the stop ring. If you tie the main line to the stop ring it is more apt to break, so many people tie a more hefty rubbing line to the stop ring. Four feet of leader attaches to the other side of the stop ring. The leader has a hook that is circular on one end and a slide buckle on the other. The bait is slid down the line until it stops.
Slide baits can be used anywhere but are most popular on rocky shores that drop off into very deep water. A new slide buckle that is one-way means that you can even slide a bait from shore out through the incoming waves. The most popular live baits for ulua are striped mullet, moi, opelu, bonefish, and akule. The largest ulua are most often caught with these fish. Others that work well that are found in Hawaiian waters include surgeonfish, menpachi, damselfish, aweoweo, wrasses, hinalea and nenue.