It’s Holiday time in The Islands! After cinnamon rolls and presents we packed up and hit the beach to enjoy some fabulous winter weather.

I spent some time fishing the surf for papio with the hope that we might enjoy sashimi for the new year. While I didn’t find anything big enough to eat, I did pick up a few fish, including a nice lai, or leatherback. Lai don’t get huge but the bigger ones are pretty good eating and their tough, colorful skin is used to make lures.

After a quick portrait I let my fish return to the sandy channel where it had likely been hunting for it’s own Christmas dinner.

Last weekend we took advantage of some idyllic conditions to paddle around Diamond Head. I don’t have much experience trolling but I did experiment with laying out a 50 foot handline with a whole frozen oama as bait. I didn’t hook anything but I think I must have attracted some small hungry papio because my bait got devoured in the first mile. Since I am all out of frozen oama, at least until summer returns, I may have to try towing a small lure next time we paddle out into deep water.