going to kauai

[getten old]

i am leaving for kauai this week. The family is going for a month!!
can anyone tell me about fishing from shore?

everything i find on the web is for boat charters.

[bdowning]

With good reason. I was there 6-7 years ago and the shore fishing frankly wasn't all that great. My understanding is that it improves somewhat later in the winter and early spring, but that won't help you any. I mostly jig fished off the reefs and caught a few small goatfish and jacks, using light spinning tackle. To protect your feet, it's a good idea to wear diver's shoes or booties. The best spot was Anini City Park which is a camping area (crowded) with a protected beach on the northern end of the island. A few spots at the southern end looked good too (at Poipu) but I didn't have time to fish them.

I would ask around in Lihue and get some recommendations on beaches to try, but my sense is it's 95 % boat fishing there.

The Big Island seems to attract the most surf fishers of all the islands.

My 2 cents,

-bd

Originally Posted by getten old

i am leaving for kauai this week. The family is going for a month!!
can anyone tell me about fishing from shore?

everything i find on the web is for boat charters.

[ppatricelli]

[QUOTE=getten old]i am leaving for kauai this week. The family is going for a month!!
can anyone tell me about fishing from shore?

Well, there are worse thing, I suppose, than a month on Kauai. Mostly what BDowning said. Good flyfishing on all the islands is either very limited, or very secretive, or both. There is a wade, sight-casting bonefishery on Oahu, and guides to take you out. There are trevally from little blue spottted to giant blacks available everywhere on all islands, but they are scarce and fished very hard. I have watched locals catch bonefish on bait from the rocks just east of Brenneke's Beach in Poipu. The sandbar the bones were holding over was not reachable with a flyrod from shore.

There is a peacock bass fishery (accessible only with a guide) in the (only large) private reservoir near Koloa, and a laughable, planted, poke thru the undergrowth trout fishery way up on the plateau west of Mt. Waialele. There is a promising wadeable reef east of the Hyatt Regency in Poipu. See my website about that area.
http://www.flyfishingfotography.com/kauai_001.htm

Unless I am going to Oahu, I have stopped bringing my rod to Hawaii

[Tie-Dye-Fly-Guy]

dont know kuwai specifically, but just had recent kona trip to see parents. fished exclusively on my own from the shore. mostly coastal rock fishing, some fish ponds and skinny water. 7 and 9 weight flyrod from shore fun for reef fish and small grouper. shad patterns good for my spincasting brother. caught fish for free everyday but nothing too big. saw some guys on yaks more offshore for ono. t'is the slow season per the locals. but hey it was beautiful and chance to always hook a humpback with trout patterns lol! skinny water in fish ponds very nice cause they harbor turtles and small jacks and few bones. small shrimp on 7 floater fun to catch needle fish small jacks and other reef fish. again small hungry fish.
Perhaps kuwai has more, but thats my report for 12/25-12/29/03.

PS if you do fly fish, never drop your back cast into the lava rocks that coat the shoreline. 100% no tolerance. you will lose the fly every time like a barracuda at the dentist office. pm me if i can be more specific.

[schwilp]

A month in Kauai -well, you can't beat that... I've been there twice - and I agree with what everyone has said, but.... if you have to fish - try the estuary that flows into the ocean at Anahola (there's a state park) - also IF it's not rough you can fish the surf there - use intermediate line 8 wgt and clousers - you can actually catch stuff there (but forget it if the surf is up - which it often is). The estuary has some smaller bass like fish in it - you can also see Koala (sp?) the Kauaian duck here as well.

There is a fishery offshore - I had some great days catching small yellowfin tuna off Kauai, but, as of 4 years ago, - no one on the island flyfishes for them. When these fish are up they are definitely catchable (you would need at least a 10 wgt and if anything bigger than 10lbs showed up a 12+ weight). We trolled through big pods of these fish and caught them on feather rigs..- the charter guys had never even heard of fly fishing in saltwater - but if you had a big whaler/mako/parker etc, you could definitely try either chumming up some of the tuna - or simply looking around the FADs.. (fish aggregating devices)
The problem is finding someone who will take you out and is willing to try something new.

it's so beautiful... the hiking is sublime. You'll have a great time.

aloha...

[Wish2Fish]

If during that tedious month on the "green island" you decide to go to Oahu, there are actually some decent bonefish flats (at least two that I fished).

I first fished them wish a great guide from Nervous Waters (I think its nervouswaters.com, if not try google.) then just explored. Some good sized bones come on the the flats with the tide, south side, on the way to Koko Crater.

[getten old]

you all seem to be right on, no real shore fishing. i did run into some locals fishing for bones off the rocks, very slow and boring.

sorry about the cold up there, altough i was chilled today, spent to much time snorkaling with my five year old!
The whales off the beach are a co0ol sight!