Bonny and I had the pleasure of going fishing the other day with one of the gentlemen that helped build our guest house.  His name is Rex and he lives about twenty miles down the hill form us close to the town of Pahoa.  His neighborhood is called Hawaiian Park Place and ends at the ocean, so we drove to his house and hopped in his truck so he could show us around.

Here in Hawaii, when you’re fishing from the shore with a pole in the ocean it’s called “whipping”.  So Rex drove us out the back of his neighborhood to a close little whipping spot to show us the ropes.  First off, the road we took to get to this spot was re-routed through the back yard of a bank owned home (no kidding).  Apparently the local HOA regularly tries to block the local roads to the ocean with rocks and the locals that have lived and fished here long before the subdivision was built will have no part of it, so they always find and make ways around the road blocks so they can access these spots.  After you drive off the grass in the back yard the trail turns to black lava almost instantly.  Four wheel drive is a must.  It’s only about 5 or 10 minutes of slow rock driving until we’re at the spot.  Here are some pictures of what it looks like.

   

  

  

Trying to fish from the shore in a place like this is extremely dangerous, the rock cliff is about 15′ or 20′ down.  It’s winter and the swells are large, so a big wave could easily knock you off the cliff edge if your not paying attention to where you’re standing.  I got soaked trying to find different places to practice whipping.  I can see why so many people are killed fishing here every year, the ocean demands your respect.  I didn’t catch any fish but Rex caught a few.  I can’t remember what they are called but he said this one was really good eating.

  
It’s a much different fishing technique then I’m used to.  Fighting the waves and rocks with a large 14′ fishing pole that has a 3 or 4 once weight is a new fishing realm for me and I guess I got my ass kicked this time but I’m excited to try again.  The fishing hole it’s self was incredibly beautiful, it was kind of a stormy day but it added to the beauty.  So beautiful and so lethal all at the same time, it’s almost enchanting.  We stayed and fished until just a little after dark, which once again added a new element of danger.  Not a place you want to be drinking and stumbling around at night (don’t worry, we weren’t), the black lava and cloud coverage makes for a very deceiving terrain, even with a flash light.  All and all we had a great time, even though I didn’t catch any fish.  We got to see a new local spot not far from the house and Rex pointed us in the direction of some other fishing spots we could try in the future.  Next time, with any luck, I will be posting the picture of the very first fish I’ve ever caught in the ocean.