The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-20
MOONLIGHT FISHING.

10 be had along reef and shore and
in the channels. after the sun has set.
On the darkest night or when the
moon is shining brightly there are fish
to be caught; fish for which one would
angle in vain in the daytime
Between Kaalawai and waialae there
is a section of the reef which abounds
with deep holes such as the night
feeding fish delight to disport in The
best time TO go there is when the moon
is young. for then the FISH are more
fearless and bite more readily. The
full moon illumines the water so much
that the fish become restless at the
slightest cause. such as the release Of
one from the hook, and a school is apt
to leave a hole for no apparent reason.
On the contrary, a thin moon sees
the fish swimming round and round a
hole in seemingly orderly procession.
and they may be hooked until they
cease feeding.
1t requires a walk of a quarter OF a
mile over the coral before the holes are
reached and il is best to commence
operations aS SQOn 6AISE low lIOE as
possible. as at high water foothold on
the reef is somewhat precarious and
between the holes and the shore are
spots so deep that they have to be
swum when the tide is in.
A Silly night with a calm sea is
best for night fishing. A bamboo will
be found to be the best pole and the
tackle should be light but strong.
Oh ~
bait.
If possible get to the reef about sun
down. for when the water is tawny
in the sunset glow there may be a
paul or pualo to be picked up.
AS soon as dusk has fallen the upa-
palu will commence biting. They are
ghostly looking little fish when taken
from the water. their bodies trans
parent and their fms bordered with
a narrow line of black. They lose their
beauty Immediately after being caught
and turn dingy brown. They are
bold biters and make good eating when
cooked over the Goals.
You will begin to hook the aalaihi
presently. This is a small red and sill
YER fish with spiny gill-plates and
needle-p pointed fms which are apt to
infiict a burning wound unless careful
Iy handled.
In the course of your fishing you are
pretty sure 10 get few uu, symmetri-
cal red fish which is most sought after
of all the night feeders, with the ex-
ception, perhaps, of the aweoweo and
the kumu. The aweoweo is another
red fish, longer and fiatter than the
uu
If you haven't been fishing by the
light Of the moon before, you viii find
the experience a novel one. The sigh
of the water sucking through the reef,
the thunder of the surf in less pro-
tected portions of the great coral bar
rier. the moon lighting up the snowy
e-ests of the rollers, the glare OF the
distant city. the lights peeping out
from kuleanas along the shore, a set
ting star and the cry of a bird in
the night. all conspire to furnish the
fisherman with a sensation absolutely
unique and not a little eerie.
After the rising water has warned
you to make your way shoreward and
YOU are again treading the sandy
beach, you may, IL you feel so inclined,
cast your line here and there along
the shore and by so doing you run a
chance of materially increasing the
weight of your bag.
IF you can strike place where there
is ledge of coral running out little
way from the shore and can locate
runway through which the water
surges shoreward and draws seward
again. you are very apt to hook an
aholehole. another night-feeding fish.
which haunts the shore and which
bites greedily when hungry.
Also there are kumu to be taken
along the beach. and good-sized ones
at that. You are likely TO hook five
or six-pound fish in two feet Of water
and not ten feet from where you are
standing on the shore. If you do hap
pen to get fast into fish of this size
he will test your skill 20 the utmost,
and if there be a weak spot in your
tackle he win surely find it, The
chances are that you viii have to go
into the water up to your waist orr
even deeper before you are aAle 70
tire your fish sufficiently TO turn him
and drag him up on the beach.
The night feeders all have large
eyes, this being particularly the case
with the uu and the aweoweo.
You are sure to lose hooks when
fishing By moonlight, and until you
have acquired the knack you viii have
quite time threading and tying a
hook on the gut II is as well to have
a number of pieces of gut with hooks
already attached. so that all you have
to do when you lose a hook is 70 join
the gut with the hook attached TO your
line.
In the channels off Kalia and Wal
kiki good sport may be had By moon
light, fishing from a boat or a canoe.
If you are fortunate and find the red
weke running you viii be kept busy
as long as YOU care 10 stay out They
are grand fish and win average three
quarters Of a pound in weight. White
woke are also taken at night, though
they bite best along about sunset
time
Sometimes when you are fishing in a
channel a great kumu or a big nenUe
viii come cruising along. and II your
bait is taken fl viii most likely be
goodbye TO your tackle, unless you
ara using a reel-
In the channel may be caught any
Of the fish which you got acquainted
with v-Fz1 orara4fug from the reef