After getting settled in we decided to get a few lines in the water while we still had some daylight. The fish did not cooperate, but while attempting some slide baiting on the big ulua poles a few pesky puhis (eels) decided to take the bait. It made the evening eventful, but it was not what we were looking to catch. Uluas were the sought-after prize. They are the commonly known outside of Hawaii as Giant Trevally and they can reach weights of over 100 lbs. Catching a 100 lb. ulua can be the experience of a lifetime. Our evening gave us no such experience.

After managing no hookups on any fish we settled in around the fire to share some food, share some stories and gaze at the amazing number of stars in the sky. Life couldn’t get much better than laying on a black sand beach and staring up at the stars. It’s simply a breathtaking view.

The next day we awoke to discover that rain had crept in on us during the night. Several campers had the wonderful experience of getting soaked through leaking tents. Thankfully, we are in Hawaii and during the day it was warm enough to dry the wet belongings (except for the trashed cell phone). I was one of the earlier risers and I decided I was going to get right back into fishing. I walked out to fish a point where several Omilus have been caught on previous trips. If you missed that post, you can check it out here. I enjoyed about an hour or so of fishing (to no avail) and then decided to head back to camp.

On the way back I decided to hike up the hill and get some pics of the views and of our camp down below. The views did not disappoint, as you can see in the pictures. After arriving back at camp I enjoyed some warm oatmeal (the best camp food) and few cups of coffee.

Our group decided it was time to get back to fishing and we headed off to a spot up the coast a little ways to set the ulua poles up. We tried fishing for anything that would bite. Plenty of Hagi (the chattering fish mentioned in my other post here) were being caught, so we decided to keep a few for a quick afternoon snack. Nothing like eating fresh fish off the grill!

After several hours of fishing it was time to head back and pack up for the hike out. On our way out we stopped, as always, at the cool spring to rinse off and rejuvenate on our way back. Nothing is better than taking a dip in that cool freshwater after you have been hiking for a while.

As usual, this trip was full of stunning views of the ocean and the island. The fish did not cooperate, but it was still an enjoyable trip for everyone involved. Stay tuned for the next post about the journey to Ka’aha Point that took place a couple days later…

Anyways, this past weekend I had a deja vu of the first trip. Once again I was joined by Paul McCarty. He had a trip he will never forget. More on that in a second. We were also joined by some newcomers to the sport of fishing, Jeremy and Elliot Sugai. Details of the trip were exactly the same because we went to the exact same location. So, same 3 miles in and same 3 miles out. Once again, the weather was gorgeous.

Now for the good part. We happened to arrive to “the spot” just in time for high tide. What does that mean? Well, that means fishing is at its best! It makes fishing along the small cliffs a little spooky because of the high surf, but it was worth it. Paul managed to have a huge strike shortly after our arrival. Unfortunately the fish ended up coming off the hook. We never even got a glimpse of the creature, but we did get to witness its power. The fish was running and tearing line off his reel so fast that he immediately tried to tighten the drag. The fish was not phased and it ended up winning round one.

On to round two. This time Paul did manage to win, but with a slight consequence. He ended up snapping his Ugly Stick in two. Fortunately, I managed to climb down to the lower rocks and grab the line just as the pole snapped. We somehow got the fish onto the higher rocks and then the celebrating began! Let me tell you, teamwork is key to getting these powerful fish onto shore. Hooking and reeling them in is only half the battle. This Bluefin Trevally or Omilu, which is the Hawaiian word for the fish, weighed in at right around 13 lbs. Paul’s biggest to date!

Not to be outdone, Elliot had quite the trip on this day as well. For a young man relatively new to the sport he managed to have several hookups with some Omilu. He landed a 2.5 lb fish and managed to fight another decent size one for what seemed like an eternity. Props go to him for being extremely patient while fighting the larger fish. Most people that have a first time encounter with a fish that size over compensate and end up snapping the line. He did not technically “land” the larger fish. Unfortunately the fish literally jumped right out of Paul’s grasp and back into the ocean. What a persistent fish. He did not want any part of being involved in our fish fry later that evening. This picture to the left was actually supposed to be a video, but the cameraman ended up accidentally taking some panoramic snapshots instead. It actually still gives you an idea of the teamwork needed to get these fish on shore in those conditions. The fish in the pic is the 2.5 lber that Elliot landed.

We did manage to still get some time in at the slide baiting spot. No big strikes too place, but everyone did land some sort of fish. I landed a few small fish and Jeremy was the king of catching baitfish. We slid several of his baitfish down the line, but to no avail.

The trip ended with a quick swim in our favorite little spot, the spring fed water. It was still amazing how cold the water in the small spring is. That place will never get old.

I’ll end this post with one more shot of the 13 lb Omilu. These fish are amazingly powerful and also extremely beautiful. The bright blue along their spine stands out in the ocean. The best part though, is that they taste wonderful. There is no better way to end a long day fishing than to reap the rewards and enjoy feasting on your catch!

The day trip was planned to consist of a hike and some fishing. No big deal, right? I’ve been on plenty of hikes and logged hundreds of hours with a rod and reel in my hand. Not quite! This was a fishing experience like I’ve never had before. We started our journey by hiking  3 miles along the coast to our fishing spot. Along the way we did some “whipping” which is the term used  for casting or whipping your lure out off the edge of the coast and retrieving it at a fairly high rate of speed. You usually won’t hook into any giants by any means, but you can catch some wahanui like I did. I managed to land two on our hike into the spot. One got thrown back and the smaller one was taken as bait for our next fishing tactic. Wahanui reminded me of a largemouth bass in looks, but with a little different colorization. There were several other hookups along the way; however,  it is tough to not only hook a fish, but bring it up the edge of the cliffs without losing it.

After taking in all the scenery and enjoying some fishing on the way in, we finally arrived at the spot. I was in awe. With the beautiful view of Mauna Loa behind us and the vast Pacific Ocean in front of us, this place was surreal. It was cool to realize that this was truly a rare place on this earth. Where else can you hike across 3 miles of hardened lava and still enjoy such beauty all around you? And, to top it all off, the weather was absolutely gorgeous.

Well, now that we had arrived, I was in for the treat of learning about “sliding”. Sliding is where you take a bigger pole and cast the line out with nothing but a lead weight on it. You let the weight get snagged on the bottom and then you slide additional small lines with your bait on them down the line. When a fish is hooked it will basically break off the line that has the lead weight and allow you to fight and bring in the fish without the hassle of the weight too. It is also best to attach a bell to your rod to notify you of any strikes. It was a completely new concept for me, but made sense for dealing with the conditions of the surf and the depth that you are trying to get down too. We set our sliders up with some white eel and the small wahanui. After setting up the sliders, I jumped right back into whipping and managed to snatch a nenue, which looks like a giant bluegill. We added this to one of the slider setups as an additional meal for a larger gamefish. I did not manage to take a pic of the nenue, but just imagine a bluegill on steroids.

After several hours of whipping and several false alarms from the slider rod we finally got some action on one of the sliders. The bell started going crazy and then all of a sudden stopped. The line and the rod seemed to be greatly relaxed so we decided to check it out and see what was going on. After reeling the setup in we were stunned to see that the nenue (which was not tiny) had been bitten completely in half and the piece of white eel was gone. To top it off, the steel leaders that were used to slide the bait down had been mangled and twisted together as if they were pieces of yarn! After seeing the evidence of power we knew that whatever had decided to grab our bait was no small fish. It was definitely exciting!

During the afternoon, while hanging around our spot, I did manage to land several of these guys. Apparently they are equivalent to a sucker fish or carp. So, why did I even mention the catch? Ah, glad you asked. These little guys make quite an interesting sound which I was unaware of. So, after catching the first one and trying to remove the hook from him, I first noticed that the little guy had an amazing set of teeth. His mouth was very small, but the teeth quickly caught my attention. Secondly, I was abruptly introduced to the loud chattering sound these guys make. I will be perfectly honest here. Between the teeth and the chattering sound, I was a little intimated by this 10-12 inch fish. It was quite the experience for me!

As our fishing time was coming to a close we decided to take a little swim on this tiny remote black sand beach. After spend most of the morning and afternoon in the hot sun, it was a great way to cool off. Of course as soon as we decided to take a dip the cloud cover did roll in, but it was a great way to re-energize for the 3 mile hike back out.

We did manage one other spectacular tidbit on our hike out. We managed to discover a natural spring that was merely feet from the ocean. It was down in a large crack in the hardened lava and was completely shut out from the saltwater. It was epic! It was the highlight of the day and allowed us to take a dip in the cool water and rinse off all of the saltwater from swimming earlier. Just as a sidenote, I will not divulge any information pertaining to the location of the spring!

Well, I can honestly say that I was truly impressed with my first island adventure. Thanks to Paul McCarty (a former Michigander) and his son Kaikoa for taking me on this amazing trip. It was a long day, but worth every ounce of energy. I thoroughly enjoyed every second. Who knows whats in store next? I can’t wait!

The first day did allow us to see much of the park and the wildlife at a rather quick pace. So, the second day we decided to concentrate on the northeast section of the park and take a little more time to explore outside of our vehicle (which is not easy with two children). We headed towards Tower Falls first and checked out the gigantic waterfall and the beautiful canyon area. On the way, we did manage to catch a quick glimpse of a black bear wandering in a  swampy valley in search of food. As for the canyon and waterfall, it was awesome to see a “different” side of Yellowstone. Shortly after checking out the falls we made our way to the Lamar Valley area, which thanks to my brother’s recommendation, was probably the highlight of the day for us. The valley is absolutely stunning when you first see it. Bison are everywhere grazing and the mountains provide a picturesque backdrop. We did catch a glimpse of a wolf. He seemed to be scoping out the gigantic herd of bison, but was too far away for our simple camera to pick up.

It is hard to take all scenery in while moving in a vehicle so we made our way to a little creek called Pebble Creek. We spent a little bit of time outside the vehicle and the kids enjoyed all the rocks at the creek (for one kid specifically, water was more of a thrill than rocks!). It was a great little break from the car and it made us realize that just being barely off the road was very tranquil and peaceful!

Next, we made our way back to a little trail that led to a somewhat secluded lake, called Trout Lake. The hike itself was not very long, but the incline that we had to hike at made it very difficult for not only the little legs that were with us, but also the out-of-shape people too. I know this sounds crazy, but the lake might have been the highlight of the trip for me. It was awesome to get off the “beaten path”, so to speak, and retreat to such a place. And, to make the views even more spectacular, I quickly noticed that the lake was full of some nice rainbow trout! The only negative is that some little legs did, indeed, become exhausted and make the journey back down a little bit of a hassle.

By this time our journey to Yellowstone was near its end. We decided to make our way back towards the north entrance so we could relax and get ready for the early departure that would greet us the next morning. We had one problem. The animal that I most wanted to see, a grizzly, had not made an appearance for us yet. Well, things were about to change! As we were rounding a corner in the road we noticed that up ahead the traffic had come to a halt and there was a police officer and several park rangers directing traffic. Our first thought was that an accident had taken place. To our surprise the closer we got, the more people we saw scampering all over with giant cameras in tow. I looked directly at my wife and told her this HAD to be it! This much commotion would not take place for a bison or elk. Sure enough a grizzly and four cubs had been spotted in a valley down below the road. After a long attempt at trying to find a place to park we made our way to the scene. Sure enough, the grizzly and four little ones were wandering and feeding in the valley below. They were probably at least 400 to 500 yards away, so it did make viewing kind of difficult (not that I wanted them ANY closer!). But I had seen the giant, elusive bear, and my one goal was now accomplished. Our trip to Yellowstone was now complete.

After an exhilarating couple days at Yellowstone we were in for a long drive to Seattle. We did manage to make one interesting stop in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. It is a very scenic city nestled right on Lake Couer d’Alene and the views are stunning. The weather was not the greatest but we still managed to get some glimpses of the beautiful terrain in Idaho. After crossing the short northern stretch of Idaho we were finally in the state of Washington. If you have never been to the state, it is extremely unique. The east side of the state is somewhat flat and almost reminds you of the Midwest. The west side is completely opposite and has towering mountains and hills everywhere. It made for an interesting journey across our last state.

I am glad to say that we did arrive safe to the Seattle area. After spending a few days with some family on Mercer Island, which again, has some breathtaking views of the city of Seattle overlooking Lake Washington, we boarded for the very last leg of the trip – the six hour flight to our new home, the Big Island of Hawaii.

Well, I know that this has been a long series of posts, but I hope this gives you some insight into the journey we took. Thanks to Arthur for allowing me to share these long winded posts. Also, thanks to all our family and friends, we will miss you guys, but will definitely stay in touch!

Hopefully in the near future I will have some more posts and updates on the outdoor activities that I find to do out here in beautiful Hawaii. I already have a list of things I want to check into (recently I discovered there is actually fly fishing for largemouth, smallmouth, and peacock bass on the island of Kauai!!!) and hope to give you, the readers, a different perspective from Simply Outdoors!

After our incredible visit to Mount Rushmore and the stay in the awesome little town of Keystone, we headed for our next stay, Belgrade, Montana. Since Keystone is a little off the beaten path, we had to first make our way north to the city of Rapid City in order to get on the highway that would take us in the direction we needed to go. On our way to Rapid City we decided to stop at a “touristy” spot called Bear Country USA. It is basically a park that you can drive through and see tons and tons of wildlife. These animals are wild, but not truly wild, if that makes sense. They are animals, and can be dangerous, but they are fed everyday and basically live in giant fenced areas that you can drive through. We knew we were going to be eventually going to Yellowstone, but this was an opportunity to let the kids see some animals up close and personal…and they did. We had close encounters with black bears, grizzly bears, elk, caribou, big horn sheep, rocky mountain goats, bison, and some wolves. I will vouch for the fact that the bears are a little intimidating. They were all over the place and a couple times I thought that my wife and daughter were going to either have a heart attack or kill me (I was driving). My son on the other hand went nuts and loved every second of it. For those of you that know him, you can only imagine! Bear Country USA was a great way start to the third day. We got our fill of viewing wildlife. Oh, and we did even get to see quite a few bear cubs. They were awesome. They pummeled and chased each other all over the place like puppies do.

After leaving Bear Country, we headed towards Belgrade, Montana, which is right outside of Bozeman and not too far from the priority of our trip, Yellowstone National Park. The weather did not cooperate at all and the drive consisted of nothing but rain and wind. It made the driving tedious, but kept us alert! We did arrive in Belgrade safely and went to sleep thinking of our visit to Yellowstone which was to occur the next morning.

The fourth day we awoke and quickly headed for the west entrance to YNP, which is located in, obviously, West Yellowstone. I was amazed that during our hour and a half scenic drive to the entrance we saw a few vehicles, but not that many. Upon arrival at the gate, I was stunned to see the amount of cars lined up to get in. People and cars were everywhere. After only a few minutes of being in the park we were quickly introduced to “wildlife viewing” in Yellowstone. Now, I do understand that for many people, myself included, seeing elk, bison, and the many other animals of Yellowstone is not an everyday experience. Anyways, upon our first “encounter” (which was a small herd of elk crossing the river) I literally thought that someone was being attacked by a grizzly or maybe there was car a accident. Nope! People were just throwing all common sense and driving etiquette out the window to get a picture of these creatures. Don’t get me wrong, it is amazing to see this wildlife in their natural environment, but people go to any length to get close. One thing a lot of people seemed to forget. These animals are WILD! Here is another classic example. We were at the paint pots area viewing the hot springs and stuff and my wife spotted a coyote about 30 yds away. I told her not to say anything because pandemonium would occur if she did. So we kept walking quietly. The yote did not seem disturbed by the human presence and kept wandering closer in his search for food. Finally when he was about 15 yds from us, someone else spotted him and shouted, “Coyote!” Man, what a disaster. Some lady about knocked me on my tail trying to get “the pic” of the animal. It was crazy. People began running from all over to get as close as they could. Luckily the park ranger stepped in and reminded people that these are wild animals and they should keep their distance! Funny part is, I was more concerned about getting hit by a fellow tourist than I was about getting attacked by a coyote. What an experience.

The highlight of the first day in Yellowstone had to be seeing Old Faithful erupt. The legendary geyser was no disappointment. We did arrive shortly after it erupted, so we spent some time in the gift shop and store area waiting for the next predictable eruption. The eruptions occur roughly 90 minutes apart, give or take 10 minutes on either side. It was an incredible experience and one we won’t forget. I do think that the kids got more enjoyment out of the chipmunk that kept coming close to them though.

After the first day in Yellowstone, we did manage to see tons and tons of bison, lots of elk, a moose, a black bear, and several coyotes. The one animal that I had my heart set on seeing was a grizzly. Day one did not provide that opportunity. However, there was more than just wildlife to see and the scenery  is as good as you can imagine. The valleys, mountains, lakes, and streams made for some stunning pictures. Although, we were wishing that we did have a better quality camera.

Well, that about sums up days 3 and 4 of the trip. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have a post detailing our second day in Yellowstone (day 5 of the trip) and the last leg of our trek to Seattle. Stay tuned!

P.S. Thank goodness for McDonald’s and their WiFi access. Without them, the post would have not been up till tomorrow

The first day involved us traveling through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and a sliver of Nebraska. I have never been to Iowa or Nebraska, so I was excited to at least get a glimpse of these two “new” states. Well, similar to most of the rest of the Midwest, they are mostly farmland and were not much different than Michigan. They even had the same weather. It was extremely hot and humid! We did cross the Mississippi, which was probably the highlight of the first day. Unfortunately, not much else happened the first day. It was the longest day spent in the van, which can test your patience with two kids in a vehicle for over 11 hours. I think I picked up a few more gray hairs from that day!

The second day is when the fun really began. We left fairly early from our motel in Nebraska and headed towards Keystone, South Dakota. Keystone is the tiny town just below Mount Rushmore. Along the way we did manage to stop at a rest stop just before we crossed the Missouri River. This was not any ordinary rest stop. We (or should I stress “I”) ended up doing a lot of reading about Lewis and Clark and their expedition across America. It was very, very interesting and the scenery at the rest stop was absolutely amazing. You could tell we were starting to get further west because of the drastic change in scenery. Gone were the farmlands and crop fields. We now saw grasslands and hills. We also saw dozens and dozens of antelope. To some that may not be a big deal, but being from the Midwest and South, antelope are not exactly abundant. I think I did get on the wife’s nerves though, because I kept calling them out every time I saw them. They were everywhere and it made the time spent in the vehicle go by faster (at least for me).

The highlight of day 2 was the stay in Keystone and the stop at Mount Rushmore. I had actually been to this giant sculpture once before, but this time I spent a little more time and actually enjoyed it a little more. It is mind boggling to look at the size of the artistic piece and realize all the manpower that it took to create it. I did learn a lot more on this visit. One thing in particular stood out this time too. The man responsible for directing the sculpting did not live to see its completion. If you want some interesting reading, check out John Gutzon Borglum, the famous sculptor known for his large scale projects.

That about sums up the first two days of the trip. Not a ton on the wildlife side of life…yet. Stay tuned for the update on days 3 and 4. Wildlife become much more abundant. Almost too abundant in one situation.